My 3 year old daughter has been coughing at night time since last 4 months. It all started with cold but after the cold went away, the cough did not. Went to several doctors, tried honey, homeopathy, humidifier, air purifier, allergy nasal spray and meds, homeopathic & allopathic meds for thinning mucus and postnasal drop, essential oils, cleaning out her entire room and only keeping the bed - EVERYTHING. Her coughs get better some days and then it’s back again 3 days later and lasts for another 2 days. It’s on and off and when the coughs start, it keeps going until I give her some warm milk and honey, which temporarily helps her.
So when we finally got an appointment with ENT, he looked with a scope and found no polyps or anything, but found her Adenoids to be on the ‘large’ side. He said cough is usually not the symptom of it. Difficult breathing, sleep apnea, snoring, etc are more of a problem with this. My daughter does breath from her mouth sometimes but I don’t feel think there or any sleep apnea or difficulty breathing issues. He said we can surgically remove her adenoids and it MIGHT resolve her cough but no guarantees. I asked him if Adenoids are really enlarged that it needs surgery, and his response was, they are on the larger side. Many doctors like to perform surgeries even when they are not 100% necessary for the $, and I am really concerned whether if this is the right thing to do for her or something that is not necessary?
Any of you have any experiences with adenectomy, previous symptoms, future outlooks, etc? Did you notice any effect on immune system? Please advise!
Re: Adenoids on larger side?
My 3 year old daughter has been coughing at night time since last 4 months. It all started with cold but after the cold went away, the cough did not. Went to several doctors, tried honey, homeopathy, humidifier, air purifier, allergy nasal spray and meds, homeopathic & allopathic meds for thinning mucus and postnasal drop, essential oils, cleaning out her entire room and only keeping the bed - EVERYTHING. Her coughs get better some days and then it's back again 3 days later and lasts for another 2 days. It's on and off and when the coughs start, it keeps going until I give her some warm milk and honey, which temporarily helps her. So when we finally got an appointment with ENT, he looked with a scope and found no polyps or anything, but found her Adenoids to be on the 'large' side. He said cough is usually not the symptom of it. Difficult breathing, sleep apnea, snoring, etc are more of a problem with this. My daughter does breath from her mouth sometimes but I don't feel think there or any sleep apnea or difficulty breathing issues. He said we can surgically remove her adenoids and it MIGHT resolve her cough but no guarantees. I asked him if Adenoids are really enlarged that it needs surgery, and his response was, they are on the larger side. Many doctors like to perform surgeries even when they are not 100% necessary for the $, and I am really concerned whether if this is the right thing to do for her or something that is not necessary? Any of you have any experiences with adenectomy, previous symptoms, future outlooks, etc? Did you notice any effect on immune system? Please advise!
My daughter has enlarged andenoids too. she has no issue just not enough space to eat swallow. i have talked to 2 ENT about it and first one refused to operate as she has no problem and he said no need to operate as she will grow out of it and its not right thing to do. and other ENT gave me option to get removed but again surgery has its own side affects and can lead to bleeding.
so i havnt got her removed yet.
with my son he has sleep apnea no other issue, and he will be having surgery in sept. my nephews had sleep apnea and both had operations.
Re: Adenoids on larger side?
I am told bleeding occurs in 5% patiants which is big number and to fix it need more operations. for this reason i have been talking to different doctors and they all, other than one, told me not to get surgery done on my daughter. Either 3 infections in a particular season or sleep apea is the reason to get it done. but my daughter does not have any issue at all other than swallowing.
Re: Adenoids on larger side?
Thanks for your response. I am curious if taking adenoids out will lower your resistance and immunity as they are first line of defense? I coudln't find much about it online and doctor never mentioned anything about it when he suggested surgery. We are waiting for second ENT's appointment and hope to get more clarification.
Re: Adenoids on larger side?
For chronic cough, I'd suggest exploring the following with her pediatrician: asthma (it can be present in the form of just a cough, without obvious shortness of breath), acid reflux, and post-nasal drip. You can get a second ENT opinion, but from the first one, surgical removal doesn't sound very convincing. I would highly suggest getting an opinion from a pediatrics pulmonary(lung) specialist.