Specialist for son who keeps being sick

[stament]

Our son is quite often sick in his sleep. After going to bed he sometimes starts coughing and this more often than not leads to him being sick.

I've taken him to the doctors in England and they ran some tests on him but we could never get to the bottom of it. We thought perhaps it was something to do with his breathing or perhaps what he is eating as maybe it's to do with his digestive system. Not being an expert on health or CM hospitals I wondered if someone could point me in the direction of someone who could help identify the problem.

Has any other readers heard of or experienced anything similar?

[Seligne2]

By "sick" you mean what? Vomiting?

[worgeordie]

By "sick" you mean what? Vomiting?

In the UK sick also means vomiting

regards worgeordie

[NickJ]

Really not enough info. Age, overall health weight loss. failure to thrive. bathroom habits. and the list goes on and on. To diagnose a broad base of differentials needs to be established and elininated. SO ......MY advice is find the right Dr who asks the correct questions.........

[stament]

Yes vomiting. Without going into too much detail then can anyone recommend to go to or should I just pick the nearest hospital as we are covered by insurance.

im told to choose the doctor first here but I have no idea hence the post.

NickJ what does failure to thrive mean exactly? No bathroom issues, slightly overweight does have heavy breathing sometimes which makes me think it might be something related to that. 8 years old, other than that perfectly fine.

[northernjohn]

^{Normally I would say find a doctor. But in this case I would recommend finding a hospital that is set up to do an over night sleep test. They will have a list of doctors to choose from. I had one back home and I was wired up in so many different ways to check every thing. The result was that I had to increase the pressure on my sleep apnea machine. Now they set automatic. Also I was not getting enough oxygen I needed another 6 liters a minute at night. I also had a case of RLM Rapid Leg Movement. I am glad that I had done it in a hospital where they could monitor every thing.}

^{I had done it at home once with one of those do it your self kits and all it said was I had sleep apnea.}

[LarryBird]

Wow, I feel for your son, that must be difficult. I would go to the hospital now and get working on figuring out what is happening.

Northern John game some sound advice in perhaps having him monitored over night, but I am guessing that this doesn't happen every night?

I recommend having a list of questions prepared, and writing down as much as possible when you meet with the doctor. It should also be noted that he might have TWO problems.. One with the coughing, and then that triggers something else?

If he is only coughing at night, that might have to do with the fact that he is laying horizontal, instead of being upright. Perhaps if he slept in something shaped like a hospital bed that could change the angle, that might help him....

[scorecard]

My Thai son took his two daughters numerous times to McCormick because they were regularly getting colds and serious coughing and sometimes vomiting, every time the doctors issued the same over the counter cheap cough syrup.

Son asked around and heard about an old Thai children's doctor at Rajavet hospital (opposite Holiday Inn Hotel). Son called to see what day/time the said doctor was working and took both girls. I went also.

Very professional, very pleasant, very thorough older doctor, quite tall and slim, speaks excellent English and makes kids and parents feel at ease very quickly, no rush. Also likes to have detailed discussions with parents and welcomes all comments and questions from parents and he listens, also asked my older granddaughter (10 yrs old) to tell him about being sick, and he listened. Doctor also takes the time to explain the body functions etc., involved.

He did a number of tests and concluded both girls have a hereditary sinus condition, which cannot be cured but it can be well controlled especially if the treatment starts quickly when there's any sign of the condition coming on. He made a fun game out of teaching both girls how to use a longer version of a ventolin type spray.

Sorry I can't quickly find the doctors name but this hospital seems to be very helpful and I suspect if you call they would quickly realize who you mean.

(Rajavet is not the most beautiful hospital premises but the health care seems to be pretty good and they have a Philippino lady there who helps with communications, coordinating things, international paperwork if needed, and she's very pleasant and proficient.

Charges well under RAM or McCormick. Way way under Bangkok hospital.)

Good luck.

Edited May 30, 2015 by scorecard

[Gonzo the Face]

from a earlier post " Charges well under RAM or McCormick. Way way under Bangkok hospital."

Is the new Bangkok Hospital replacing good ole "Ram" as the most expensive in CM ?

[elektrified]

...they were regularly getting colds and serious coughing and sometimes vomiting...

My son went through this exact same thing. Constantly get colds, and then coughing so much at night that he would vomit. One cause was the air pollution here. For a while we would take him twice or maybe even three times a week for respiratory therapy. He was on some different broncho-dilators, steroids, etc. They would put them in the mask along with the oxygen.

Eventually he got better. We still take him out of C.M. beginning in March, down to the beach, returning in May, and he hasn't had the problem in years now.

[elektrified]

from a earlier post " Charges well under RAM or McCormick. Way way under Bangkok hospital."

Is the new Bangkok Hospital replacing good ole "Ram" as the most expensive in CM ?

YES.

[harrry]

There is an American Familily practitioner at Sripat...Dr Greg Geer.

Last time I saw him he was not on the 13 the floor but somewhere below on his own.

not sure he gets on too well with some of the local practices. Nice person good doctor....google dr greg geer gives some contacts

[stament]

wow thanks all for the great responses. I will start at Rhajeev hospital as per the very useful post earlier.

if you can remember the name of the dr that would be great

[Beetlejuice]

My son as a child had shown similar systems right from an early age. The doctors just gave him a load of cough jollop and some pills that had no affect whatsoever. We tried changing his food, took him off soft drinks and candy, propping his head up in bed, but nothing worked.

Then we took him to the Klaimor Hospital in Hang Dong for a full medical check up. Their diagnoses was that my son was suffering from a form of asthma. They gave him an inhaler to help his breathing during the night and some anti inflammatory and allergy pills to ease congestion and stop the coughing and vomiting. The doctor told me that the vomiting is caused by the heaving, choking and stomach stress due to the coughing.

After only one month the systems eased, no more vomiting, then a few years later after he reached adulthood and then big and ugly like his dad, my son grew out of it.

In my opinion the OP`s son is suffering from a form of asthma, that could be allergy related, which is causing the coughing and vomiting attacks.

Edited May 30, 2015 by Beetlejuice

[scorecard]

wow thanks all for the great responses. I will start at Rhajeev hospital as per the very useful post earlier.

if you can remember the name of the dr that would be great

My son is away at the moment but I'll ask him to check some old hospital reports etc., for the name when he returns mid week.

Unfortunately the best I can today is the doctor is as I described and he is specific to the pediatrics (children's) department on the 4th floor. But you would need to register at the lobby first.

I'm pretty sure a phone call would quickly reveal the doctors name and then his day / hours etc.

Good luck.

[stament]

Great many thanks

[LarryBird]

Update?

[bangmai]

It's always amazing to see how many people like this have cats in the house. Also, what measures have been taken to see that the kid gets a proper amount of exercise. At what age did you permanently take him out of the stroller? The inhalers aren't a means to an end, but unfortunately, that can often be the attitude. Not eating for a few hours before bedtime should at least reduce the vomiting during the night. Have you charted his daily condition with the AQI, to see if there is a correlation?

[MaeJoMTB]

Vomiting at night,

You should also consider 'Munchhausen by proxy'

[canman]

There is a condition called Pyloric stenosis which could be the cause. It is a narrowing of the passage between the stomach and the small intestine. Food does not pass through quick enough and ends up being brought back up.

I had a hell of a time getting my infant son diagnosed in the west for this. It wasn't until during one doctors visit he projectile vomited across the docs desk and into his lap that he understood the problem.

He was diagnosed that day, in surgery that night and back home two days later.

[Oscar2]

bangmai and MaeJoMTB, two useful, helpful posters.

[bangmai]

bangmai and MaeJoMTB, two useful, helpful posters.

Oscar, your posts indicate you were Arnold Horshak's classmate for five years in a tenement "Bwookwin" Public School. The only helpful comment you've ever made was you acknowledging your motorbike accident head injury. At least it was a partial explanation.

[Chicog]

Only one mention of a paediatric specialist. Is that it in CM?

[rebo]

In case your son sleeps in an air conditioned room: Let a professional thoroughly clean your entire AC unit (even though you may clean the filters on a regular basis) with a high pressure cleaner. You will wonder what a mess you'll see coming out ...

This was the reason for the same symptoms a friend suffered from and which completely disappeared after the cleaning action.

I wish all the best for your son ...

[Sheryl]

To me, the critical clue is that the vomiting always follows coughing. It is quite common for a coughing fit to lead to vomiting in children; severe coughing bouts will even have that effect in adults.

So assuming I read the Op right that this is what occur, the thing that needs to be investigated is the coughing.

Coughing at night is often a sign of asthma in children, but I would expect the UK doctors to have ruled that out.

It may also be due to post-nasal drip which in turn is often due to an allergy.

Assuming that the work-up in the UK sufficiently excluded asthma, I would start with a pediatric ENT specialist. I suggest Dr. Nuntigar Sonsuwan at CMU Hospital, can be accessed through Sripat http://sriphat.med.cmu.ac.th/eng/doctor (click on "on duty" and "Otolaryngology" to bring up the doctor list then on the name to get the schedule).