<p>I noticed I started coughing every time I faced my night stand when I got in bed…so then I realized it was dusty, and just dusty enough to make me cough a bit. But I didn’t really perceive dust, and therefore it seemed a bit mysterious for a while.</p>
<p>So, I’m inclined to think it is a real physical thing first, and then <em>maybe, although unlikely</em> a tic later. People have different sensitivities, allergies…so my first step would be to vacuum and dust his environments ;)</p>
<p>My son had a very similar problem, we took him to see an asthma and allergy specialist, who tweaked his medication and he improved. And he has been using inhalers since he was five, so his technique had gotten a little sloppy. He has a severe dust mite allergy. The doctor also said that he has low self awareness about the coughing and in his case sniffling. He had him keep a log for awhile rating his symptoms. It did help, he is better at gauging when to use his meds to relieve his symptoms. It sounds awful, but it was really hard to be in an enclosed space with him, like the car. He still has a few physical tics, but they are generally unnoticeable unless you know him well.</p>
<p>When my daughter was a child, she had occasional bouts of cough-variant asthma. Whenever she developed a persistent cough, we would go to the pediatrician, and they would put her on asthma medicine for a while.</p>
<p>Then, in fourth grade, she had what appeared to be a familiar episode of this problem, but the asthma medicine didn’t help. The coughing went on for weeks, driving everyone around her nuts (although she didn’t seem to mind it herself). When we went back to the pediatrician, he did a strep test for the heck of it. It was positive. Within a couple of days after she started taking the antibiotic, the cough vanished.</p>
<p>You never know. </p>
<p>Cough is such a non-specific symptom. It can be caused by so many things. My inclination would be to pursue possible physical causes first.</p>
<p>@Mathmom, thank you very much. I know how hard the acceptances are for students even with the best scores. The tics improved as the doctors had said earlier but he gets them every now and then when he is under stress during the exams though mild just like your son.</p>
<p>Martina99, that is what the doctors told for us too when my son had tics, to just ignore and we were told if we pay more attention they will get more tics. Maybe your daughter will improve with age, as the doctors say.Most of them with tics also may have ocd symptoms.You are right, they are triggered during times of stress.</p>
<p>Honestly, I really think so many doctors are so full of BS! You need to get a specialist, if you suspect tics or tourettes.</p>
<p>We really learned the hard way. Our son started the tics when he was around six. But the doctors couldn’t manage to diagnose it for over seven years, and that’s when I said, “Hello, I’m looking at this kid, and these are obviously tics. Can you refer us to a children’s neurologist?” I was disgusted. We took him to so many doctors, and it is complicated because tics appear in so many different ways, but when you look up chronic tic disorder or Tourettes, all the information is right there.</p>
<p>The family doctor was convinced it was allergies. The allergist was convinced he needed allergy shots. The ENT was convinced he needed a nasal spray. The opthamologist was convinced he needed eye drops. Everyone was convinced it could be cured within their area of expertise. And we tried to figure out what products he just might be allergic to. But the reality was, when we went to a children’s neurologist and read all about it, it was so obvious. The great thing was, we ended up with a guy who did a lot of research, and instead of giving him the normal things they do for Tourettes (anti-depressants), he gave him low dosage topamax, which is generally prescribed for epilepsy. Helped quite a bit. He recently went off it, but still has mild tics.</p>
<p>My point is, you have to investigate this yourself. So many doctors are absolutely clueless. You have to find the right specialist and figure out what is best for your child.</p>
<p>Just want to mention that sometimes kids get tics and it’s not Tourettes. And sometimes kids have compulsive behaviors and habits (nail biting, scalp scratching, etc.) and they don’t have OCD. And sometimes kids with Tourettes or OCD get a persistent cough that has nothing to do with the other condition.</p>
<p>A tickling cough is often due to irritation from post-nasal drip. The throat lining becomes inflamed and the cough response fires and you cough, which doesn’t help because the throat lining is still inflamed and so on. It is then referred to often as a “habit cough”. Treatment is usually two-pronged: knock out the cough and address the nasal passages. The typical first part is codeine. The second can be decongestants and a musinex type of mucous thinner, often connected with an antihistamine (like claritin or allegra or generic of either). </p>
<p>I have had this problem. The cough center - meaning the neural response - sometimes needs to be knocked down so healing can occur. </p>
<p>Since the kid says there’s a tickle, I’d bet on post-nasal drip and would treat that. BTW, mucinex alone can increase the tickle because the throat lining is inflamed by the mucous dripping down and that makes it worse.</p>