Common cold vs. CF flare up

kaylee04cassidy08 · Dec 27, 2009

Maybe it's me. Maybe I can't separate common illness from CF, but it seems like every time my daughter sniffles...a week to two weeks later I have her in the doctor's office in a panic looking for abx. It seems like she just can;t fight a cold off without abx...it always turns into a bad cough....

I try so hard to "watch and wait" but it always goes in the wrong direction. By watch and wait I mean up her nebs and vest and stuff, but I always end up having to take her to the doc to get abx to make her better. Sometimes I feel like I overreact and don't wait long enough to let her get better and that it will be my fault when she has resistant bacteria.

How long do you wait before you ask for abx? Has the doc ever said anything about resistant bacteria?

By the way - her lungs always sound "clear" even when she is hacking so much that she throws up....why?

kaylee04cassidy08 · Dec 27, 2009

Maybe it's me. Maybe I can't separate common illness from CF, but it seems like every time my daughter sniffles...a week to two weeks later I have her in the doctor's office in a panic looking for abx. It seems like she just can;t fight a cold off without abx...it always turns into a bad cough....

I try so hard to "watch and wait" but it always goes in the wrong direction. By watch and wait I mean up her nebs and vest and stuff, but I always end up having to take her to the doc to get abx to make her better. Sometimes I feel like I overreact and don't wait long enough to let her get better and that it will be my fault when she has resistant bacteria.

How long do you wait before you ask for abx? Has the doc ever said anything about resistant bacteria?

By the way - her lungs always sound "clear" even when she is hacking so much that she throws up....why?

kaylee04cassidy08 · Dec 27, 2009

Maybe it's me. Maybe I can't separate common illness from CF, but it seems like every time my daughter sniffles...a week to two weeks later I have her in the doctor's office in a panic looking for abx. It seems like she just can;t fight a cold off without abx...it always turns into a bad cough....

I try so hard to "watch and wait" but it always goes in the wrong direction. By watch and wait I mean up her nebs and vest and stuff, but I always end up having to take her to the doc to get abx to make her better. Sometimes I feel like I overreact and don't wait long enough to let her get better and that it will be my fault when she has resistant bacteria.

How long do you wait before you ask for abx? Has the doc ever said anything about resistant bacteria?

By the way - her lungs always sound "clear" even when she is hacking so much that she throws up....why?

kaylee04cassidy08 · Dec 27, 2009

Maybe it's me. Maybe I can't separate common illness from CF, but it seems like every time my daughter sniffles...a week to two weeks later I have her in the doctor's office in a panic looking for abx. It seems like she just can;t fight a cold off without abx...it always turns into a bad cough....

I try so hard to "watch and wait" but it always goes in the wrong direction. By watch and wait I mean up her nebs and vest and stuff, but I always end up having to take her to the doc to get abx to make her better. Sometimes I feel like I overreact and don't wait long enough to let her get better and that it will be my fault when she has resistant bacteria.

How long do you wait before you ask for abx? Has the doc ever said anything about resistant bacteria?

By the way - her lungs always sound "clear" even when she is hacking so much that she throws up....why?

kaylee04cassidy08 · Dec 27, 2009

Maybe it's me. Maybe I can't separate common illness from CF, but it seems like every time my daughter sniffles...a week to two weeks later I have her in the doctor's office in a panic looking for abx. It seems like she just can;t fight a cold off without abx...it always turns into a bad cough....
 
 I try so hard to "watch and wait" but it always goes in the wrong direction. By watch and wait I mean up her nebs and vest and stuff, but I always end up having to take her to the doc to get abx to make her better. Sometimes I feel like I overreact and don't wait long enough to let her get better and that it will be my fault when she has resistant bacteria.
 
 How long do you wait before you ask for abx? Has the doc ever said anything about resistant bacteria?
 
 By the way - her lungs always sound "clear" even when she is hacking so much that she throws up....why?

cfgirl1992 · Dec 28, 2009

I believe that taking her to the doctor is the right thing to do because it is better to be safe than sorry.

And as far as why she sounds clear even when she has a hard cough-this happens to me all the time-and typically speaking from my experince I am coughing up post nasal drip, which usually means I have a sinus infection- very rarely do my coughs have anything to do with my lungs (fortunately) however I do have terrible sinus problems that cause some violent sounding coughs-the congestion however coming from my head- and as she gets older she will be able to tell the difference from when its her lungs and when its her sinuses

hopefully that helped a bit =]

cfgirl1992 · Dec 28, 2009

I believe that taking her to the doctor is the right thing to do because it is better to be safe than sorry.

And as far as why she sounds clear even when she has a hard cough-this happens to me all the time-and typically speaking from my experince I am coughing up post nasal drip, which usually means I have a sinus infection- very rarely do my coughs have anything to do with my lungs (fortunately) however I do have terrible sinus problems that cause some violent sounding coughs-the congestion however coming from my head- and as she gets older she will be able to tell the difference from when its her lungs and when its her sinuses

hopefully that helped a bit =]

cfgirl1992 · Dec 28, 2009

I believe that taking her to the doctor is the right thing to do because it is better to be safe than sorry.

And as far as why she sounds clear even when she has a hard cough-this happens to me all the time-and typically speaking from my experince I am coughing up post nasal drip, which usually means I have a sinus infection- very rarely do my coughs have anything to do with my lungs (fortunately) however I do have terrible sinus problems that cause some violent sounding coughs-the congestion however coming from my head- and as she gets older she will be able to tell the difference from when its her lungs and when its her sinuses

hopefully that helped a bit =]

cfgirl1992 · Dec 28, 2009

I believe that taking her to the doctor is the right thing to do because it is better to be safe than sorry.

And as far as why she sounds clear even when she has a hard cough-this happens to me all the time-and typically speaking from my experince I am coughing up post nasal drip, which usually means I have a sinus infection- very rarely do my coughs have anything to do with my lungs (fortunately) however I do have terrible sinus problems that cause some violent sounding coughs-the congestion however coming from my head- and as she gets older she will be able to tell the difference from when its her lungs and when its her sinuses

hopefully that helped a bit =]

cfgirl1992 · Dec 28, 2009

I believe that taking her to the doctor is the right thing to do because it is better to be safe than sorry.
 
 And as far as why she sounds clear even when she has a hard cough-this happens to me all the time-and typically speaking from my experince I am coughing up post nasal drip, which usually means I have a sinus infection- very rarely do my coughs have anything to do with my lungs (fortunately) however I do have terrible sinus problems that cause some violent sounding coughs-the congestion however coming from my head- and as she gets older she will be able to tell the difference from when its her lungs and when its her sinuses
 
 hopefully that helped a bit =]

Mommafirst · Dec 28, 2009

Unfortunately, you've just described what we all go through as our kids start to show signs of illness. Is this going to be bad? Will it clear up on it's own? Just a cold or more? But we all are coughing in the house, why is hers worse? it goes on and on.

Our Cf center says even if its "just a cold" they like to put them on abx if they are coughing for more than 5 days. The point they make is that even "just a cold" can produce more mucous which will create a perfect environment for their bacteria to multiply and become a CF exacerbation. If orals show no progress after a course or two, then we talk about IVs.

Our CF center docs have developed a scale to judge if its an exacerbation and how to treat it. So different symptoms get different scores and if the scores add up to a certain amount, then you go on abx. If they add up higher, they put you in patient. Its an interesting new perspective on CF care. Plus they have created a booklet to explain it to the patients and parents so that we at home can make the judgement for where we are.

Mommafirst · Dec 28, 2009

Unfortunately, you've just described what we all go through as our kids start to show signs of illness. Is this going to be bad? Will it clear up on it's own? Just a cold or more? But we all are coughing in the house, why is hers worse? it goes on and on.

Our Cf center says even if its "just a cold" they like to put them on abx if they are coughing for more than 5 days. The point they make is that even "just a cold" can produce more mucous which will create a perfect environment for their bacteria to multiply and become a CF exacerbation. If orals show no progress after a course or two, then we talk about IVs.

Our CF center docs have developed a scale to judge if its an exacerbation and how to treat it. So different symptoms get different scores and if the scores add up to a certain amount, then you go on abx. If they add up higher, they put you in patient. Its an interesting new perspective on CF care. Plus they have created a booklet to explain it to the patients and parents so that we at home can make the judgement for where we are.

Mommafirst · Dec 28, 2009

Unfortunately, you've just described what we all go through as our kids start to show signs of illness. Is this going to be bad? Will it clear up on it's own? Just a cold or more? But we all are coughing in the house, why is hers worse? it goes on and on.

Our Cf center says even if its "just a cold" they like to put them on abx if they are coughing for more than 5 days. The point they make is that even "just a cold" can produce more mucous which will create a perfect environment for their bacteria to multiply and become a CF exacerbation. If orals show no progress after a course or two, then we talk about IVs.

Our CF center docs have developed a scale to judge if its an exacerbation and how to treat it. So different symptoms get different scores and if the scores add up to a certain amount, then you go on abx. If they add up higher, they put you in patient. Its an interesting new perspective on CF care. Plus they have created a booklet to explain it to the patients and parents so that we at home can make the judgement for where we are.

Mommafirst · Dec 28, 2009

Unfortunately, you've just described what we all go through as our kids start to show signs of illness. Is this going to be bad? Will it clear up on it's own? Just a cold or more? But we all are coughing in the house, why is hers worse? it goes on and on.

Our Cf center says even if its "just a cold" they like to put them on abx if they are coughing for more than 5 days. The point they make is that even "just a cold" can produce more mucous which will create a perfect environment for their bacteria to multiply and become a CF exacerbation. If orals show no progress after a course or two, then we talk about IVs.

Our CF center docs have developed a scale to judge if its an exacerbation and how to treat it. So different symptoms get different scores and if the scores add up to a certain amount, then you go on abx. If they add up higher, they put you in patient. Its an interesting new perspective on CF care. Plus they have created a booklet to explain it to the patients and parents so that we at home can make the judgement for where we are.

Mommafirst · Dec 28, 2009

Unfortunately, you've just described what we all go through as our kids start to show signs of illness. Is this going to be bad? Will it clear up on it's own? Just a cold or more? But we all are coughing in the house, why is hers worse? it goes on and on.
 
 Our Cf center says even if its "just a cold" they like to put them on abx if they are coughing for more than 5 days. The point they make is that even "just a cold" can produce more mucous which will create a perfect environment for their bacteria to multiply and become a CF exacerbation. If orals show no progress after a course or two, then we talk about IVs.
 
 Our CF center docs have developed a scale to judge if its an exacerbation and how to treat it. So different symptoms get different scores and if the scores add up to a certain amount, then you go on abx. If they add up higher, they put you in patient. Its an interesting new perspective on CF care. Plus they have created a booklet to explain it to the patients and parents so that we at home can make the judgement for where we are.

bkc3 · Dec 28, 2009