Anyone have experience with RSV?

Well yesterday i noticed Alexis was coughing and sneezing abit, then throught the night last night all of sudden she started breathing very irregularly, very heavy and wheezy. Her nose is running like crazy and she has a dry, hacking cough. She wont eat and has been sleeping all day. I took her to the doctors a few hours ago and she put her on an antibiotic, and told me to sleep with her chest elevated and with a humidifier, and is sending us tomorrow to test for RSV.

I am wondering if anyone has experience with RSV, and if these are the syptoms of it? also how severe is RSV? i have no knowledge of it. the only infant i know that had it was hospitalized for week!

 

Mine (who are a bit older - just turned 3) both just had RSV. They didn't have the runny nose or sneezing, but had fever for a couple of days and a horrible cough that went on for weeks. It's a virus, so antibiotics don't help. Elliot got the nebulizer treatments, because his oxygen saturation was low, but Clarissa just got better on her own.

As far as severity, there's a huge range. It tends to be more serious in babies (especially preemies), elderly people, and anyone with a compromised immune system. We got lucky that our kids are big and strong now, and it really was just a bad cold that lasted a long time.

Why didn't your pedi test for it while you were there? Ours did it with nose swab and we had results in 5 minutes.

Good luck, and hope that whatever it is, she gets better quickly!

Rachel

 

What is RSV?

Could it be an allergy or dust in the air?

 

It definitely sounds like something they should test for! Everyone in our house got RSV in January. It sucked.

Both of my twins got it (they were 9 weeks old then). My smaller twin, Cici, stopped eating, and her temp went to 100.5 and was lethargic and listless and pale, so I took her to urgent care (it was a sunday). They immediately put her on oxygen, did a UTI test, chest x-ray (for pneumonia), RSV test, they put an IV in her to get her hydrated. We got admitted to the hospital and were there for 3 nights. My bigger twin, Penny, got RSV too, but it wasn't as serious in her, and she did not need ot be admitted or any of those tests done, she was eating fine and mostly just coughing, no fever. Cici was a low-birthweight baby at 5lb 2oz, but was full term, so wasn't preemie. It's common in smaller babies and preemies.

When we got released, her oxygen levels weren't good enough, so we got released with her on oxygen. She has been on oxygen for the last month, and finally got off this week - that's what RSV (bronchiolitis in older kids) does to the lungs, she just couldn't keep up. Did they test your baby's oxygen levels?

It seems weird they would put your baby on an antibiotic for RSV - it's a virus, we didn't get any antibiotics at all. The only reason we were in the hospital was for monitoring, a couple nebulizer treatments, and oxygen and IV.

I'm not sure I would wait until tomorrow for an RSV test, especially if she is not eating. How is her temp? If her oxygen levels are low, it's hard on their little bodies, you know? The dry hacking cough was the telltale sign for us with RSV.

Jenny

 

My guys had RSV last year. It is VERY serious. My little Will quit breathing and had to be hospitalized for 2 weeks on a ventilator. When we were visiting him at the hospital we had to wear gowns and gloves. We were not allowed to hold him. When we got home, we were advised to take off all of our clothing and shower immediately before even getting near John. RSV is THAT contagious. I would take it VERY seriously. It can be a very very scary thing.

 

All of my kids, except for Justin, had RSV. The smaller they are, the more serious it can be. Hydration is very important. If she does not want formula, give her Pedialyte, small amounts at a time. :hug99:

 

I would get her checked out, RSV is very serious. The breathing heavy and wheezing don't sound too good.

 

Both my boys had RSV in January, but Aiden's was WAY more severe than Conner's. Both ran fevers, neither ate well, & both had awful coughs. Aiden had a LOT of respiratory distress with wheezes, fast breathing, & retractions. He was working so hard . He maintained his oxygen (although, lower than I would've liked it to have been) & didn't respond to the updrafts (very few RSV babies do), so we were stuck waiting for it to run it's course. I syringe fed him formula b/c he was breathing to fast to suck from a bottle, so hydration was never an issue for him. The 'worst' of it only lasted 2-3 days, but it took about a good month for him to get back to himself. I work in a hospital & we've seen a LOT of RSV babes this year, so it must be a tough year for them. Luckily, my little guy was over 6 mos & good weight, which both help in the outcome of the virus. As pp have said, it's VIRAL, so antibiotics aren't going to work. I'm a firm believer in not giving antibiotics when not necessary, so if your DD's RSV comes back positive (why again didn't they check it when you were at the Ped?), I'd take her off of them. Unless they have done a chest xray to diagnose her with pneumonia, it won't help.

RSV can be really dangerous in infants under 6 mos (worse in infants under 3 mos or preemies), so keep a close eye on her! Hope she feels better soon!

 

Both of mine just had RSV before Christmas. Ella woke up with a fever of 105.1!!! I flipped out! We rushed her to the ER to find her little "cold" had turned into RSV and pneumonia. She had all of those symptoms and it happened very quickly. We'd taken them to the dr. several times but it wasn't serious at all at first. She was hospitalized for 4 days and put in an oxygen tent. We came home, both doing breathing treatments round the clock..They are fine now, but wow- it's nasty...It seemed like it took them forever to get well again. I think our whole bout lasted about 2 months. During that time, no sleeping, up with drainage, wheezing, etc..Good luck and keep us posted.

Oh, yes, our dr did the nose swab and we had results in 5 min....interesting.

 

Well I took Alexis to the hospital yesterday morning to have the test done for RSV, which she hated. My doctor then called me back later in the day and told me the test came back negative, thank god! so we are just fighting a very bad cold. She is on an antibiotic and it seems to be helping with the cough and stuffed nose but her breathing is still very wheezing, and she isnt eating well. Hopefully those symptoms will pass as well in the next day or so. She is definetly in better spirits today and more like herself again!

 

Katie had been doing the same thing, and was diagnosed with the flu, she was in the hospital last Saturday thru Tuesday. She is on medication for it, and still is doing it...

When the boys had that they were disgnosed with The Croup.

 

I posted my families experience in an earlier post. Deven is scheduled to be released from the hospital in the am. He has been in the hospital for 2 1/2 weeks with RSV. His twin brother and he were admitted at the same time but Ethen was only in the hospital for 3 days. Deven was on a ventilator for ablout 1 1/2 weeks because this virus almost killed him. Its scarey to deal with but they can work wonders with them once its diagnosed and they are monitored. I wish you and your babies all the best.