Croup -- please help!

While Sarah and I were travelling home today, Amy came down with croup. DH spent most of the afternoon in urgent care with her. She spent some time on a nebulizer and DH says she sounds better now than she did, but she still sounds awful to me.

The doc prescribed the oral steroid (dexamethasone), but it tastes awful and it's a huge amount and she won't take it. DH gave her some and she threw it back up. I know the steroid won't actually cure the croup, because it's viral, but it's supposed to help a lot with the breathing difficulties for the next 24 hours; it will be rough if we can't get it down her.

Any thoughts? I have a call in to the nurse but thought I'd see what you all had to say.

 

Will she sit in front of the freezer? That helped Andrew. Next time she has a coughing fit, sit her in front of the open freezer. That or steam up the bathroom with a really hot shower and sit with her in there. Andrew got the shot last time (he actually has it again right now), but I'm not sure it really helped. I think the cold or steam worked best. I am running a humidifier in his room as well. I hope she feels better soon!

 

Oh no! Sorry to hear that I don't have personal experience, but I've read on here that sometimes they can give a steroid shot. Can you ask about that? A shot is painful but at least it's over.

 

Go from a steamy bathroom to outside. I took Josh to the ER once for it, and had the windows down on the car on the way there, and by the time we got there, he sounded much better. The change in temps/humidity helps. Croup is worse at night. I would just try to get little bits of the steroid in her at a time, so she doesn't throw it all back up if she does throw up. :hug99:

 

Alden, they were very specific about this when Ali had it. Put it on a spoon with chocolate syrup and a bit of ice cream. They'll take the WHOLE THING!

 

do you have a nebulizer at home? Can you mix the medicine w/ something?
I'd sit Berkley on my lap and close the bathroom door while running the shower and sink on hot full blast. I noticed an improvement within minutes each time.

 

My DS just had croup a few weeks ago. When we were at the dr. they gave us the medicine there, she told us that a nurse had to be the one to give it. And that night around 2 am he woke up crying and we did the steam shower for about 20min. That seemed to help him alot, we also did it in the morning after he woke up. It's not fun - good luck.

 

We always did the shot with James (croup 3 times, 1st time in the ER with the neb.) but I liked the idea of the syrup/ice cream trick on a spoon. The food shouldn't interfere with the medicine right?

Hope she feels better soon, I hated when James had the croup.

 

QUOTE(~* dfaut *~ @ Oct 9 2007, 01:59 AM) [snapback]441691[/snapback]
Alden, they were very specific about this when Ali had it. Put it on a spoon with chocolate syrup and a bit of ice cream. They'll take the WHOLE THING!

Alas, DH tried this (actually he mixed it with ice cream, without the syrup) and she just won't eat it. We would have to hold her down to force it into her, but you're also not supposed to agitate them... She's just not interested in eating anything, even her favorites.

QUOTE(kerrmommy @ Oct 9 2007, 02:18 AM) [snapback]441725[/snapback]
We always did the shot with James (croup 3 times, 1st time in the ER with the neb.) but I liked the idea of the syrup/ice cream trick on a spoon. The food shouldn't interfere with the medicine right?

No, in fact they said it should be taken with food (I guess b/c it irritates the stomach?).

DH just sat with her in a hot shower for 20 minutes (she was asleep the whole time) and she does sound somewhat better. She wasn't really having a coughing fit, she just sounded very raspy. I guess there is no miracle fix for this -- sounds like it's going to be a long several days.

I wish they had just done the shot. Our urgent care office doesn't have a pediatrician on staff -- I guess a ped would have thought of this. The on-call nurse said that urgent care should have given us a tablet that we could mix into food (though I don't know what you do if they just won't eat), but now it's 8:30 and all the pharmacies are closed. Now we're waiting for the ped to call us back with further advice.

 

Well good news it they grow out of this around 2 or so. Their larynx (?) gets mature enough that it does not swell as badly when the cold settles in. If she is sleeping soundly, there is no better fix. It never lasted more than 2 days with James and it is not neccessarily contagious.

I was told hot steam, then shock it with a trip out into the cold air right away...not sure why, never tried that one.

 

Doc called back -- DH is off to get the tablet (the doc knew which pharmacy was open till 10). I guess we'll try to give it to her in the morning or when she wakes up, whichever comes first. She is sleeping OK for now, just barking occasionally.

Thanks everyone for the quick advice! I knew I could count on you guys.

 

We have dealt with croup many times with Eli. I always found a ride in the van on a crisp night did wonders. Of course it needs to actually be cold outside & make sure to bundle up in the vehicle.

 

Alden, :hug99: I hope Amy feels better soon!

John just had this but he took reg. Tylenol Cold syrup and I used a vaporizer with the Vapo Steam in it every night for a week. It worked! I couldn't believe it! Good luck!