Negative swabs, contagiousness & homoeopathics questions

[Morph]

My two daughters, my husband & I all had the swabs done on Wednesday. DH's is the only one to come back positive. The girls definitely had/have it too though. Because their results were negative, does that mean they are no longer contagious & are now suffering the results of pertussis rather than the disease itself? I feel fine, so am not surprised mine was clear.

I picked up some Pertussin 200 & Drosera 20 drops from the homoeopath yesterday. Dosage says pertussin 3 times in 24 hours, 8 hours apart. We've had the first two before the call came in confirming DH only. Should I & the girls continue taking it? How vital is it to have it 8 hours apart (as that means 1am tonight)?

GP said tonight we should all take the abx anyway so we're not contagious by the end of next week. We won't, I've read the threads on taking it. I have been assuming we'd quarantine ourselves for 2-3 weeks, but due to the results, is it only DH who should stay away from others now? Is it okay to be in contact with others, even though the girls are still coughing a lot? Most of my friends have young children and/or babies.

Oh, and I joined here back in November thinking DD1 had it then. I never got her tested then, but it was similar to this now, but without the severity of this time. Could she have had it back then & this be a second helping? If it's the same 100 days, she got it (again?) about 6 weeks ago, does that mean she became contagious again? DD2 got it about 2 weeks ago for the first time. DH has only had it since last Sunday.

[Ololara]

Glad they got a negative result,bad luck for g though?

[Morph]

Dunno. Not sure if you can get false negatives - hoping someone more in the know will confirm. I assume you can. And if they are clear now, they still may have been contagious when we were with you. At least we know for sure that it's wc, not just a cold, yk? What will you do about M's sniffles? How's C?

[deesalie]

*waiting for Hilary*

C'mon Hilary!! :chicken:

[TanyaL]

My understanding, when I was trying to figure out a course of action last fall, is that it's easy to have a false negative test. If you don't test soon enough for the swab, you'll miss it. I considered looking for antibodies in DS (eta: via bloodwork, I meant), he's the only completely unvaccinated one, so any antibodies would be meaningful for him, I'd think, but I couldn't get results in time before our scheduled (cancelled) vacation. Could the kids have had it first, and then your DH, and that's why the swabs came out the way they did? I _thought_ contagiousness was about 21 days from the start of the cough, but I'm not sure--I looked it up, counted it on the calendar and then maybe forgot.

[Morph]

Yes, I think it did happen that way. DD1 6 weeks ago (or November), DD2 2 weeks ago & DH 1 week ago. Me, nothing. Yet... I have sore throat & post nasal drip going on. Could be I'm just run down.

Another question. A friend's 9 week old was exposed to us in the last couple of weeks. DD1 was even holding her. Can anyone tell me what the early signs would be in a 9 week old? My GP said she'll stop breathing & turn blue. That's not a comforting thought for my friend. :(

[Morph]

I started coughing this afternoon. Thought I just needed to clear my throat & ended up uncontrollably coughing really hard & long. Feel like poop. :(

[TanyaL]

You've read the thread on vitC? I can say that, in general, I need a lot more vitC than the 375mg/kg body weight dosing guidelines. For me and my kids (and I admit, we're not the norm, we've got issues) that was a starting place for illnesses, and then we'd go up. Frequent dosing for DD was helpful--I could tell a difference in how much she was coughing based on whether I gave 3 doses of SA or 4 in a day (with some time lag).

When we had our coughing illness last fall, I did not get as sick as I expected, I think a couple years of nutritional supps to help with my depleted status was responsible. If you could be worn down, I'd consider regular nutritional support nutrients, zinc and vitamin D, in addition to the C, at least for you, maybe for everyone. My DH didn't get very sick either, he's as rundown as I am, but in different ways, but I think the nutritional supps, and especially the vitD, may have really helped us.

For your friend, I'd strongly consider starting with the sodium ascorbate now. At least in mom (I assume breastfeeding) to bowel tolerance every day, maybe directly to baby, you'd really want to minimize the effects if the baby was exposed. My son was somewhat older when I first started giving SA to him for illnesses, but I took it in high amounts to help with illnesses starting at 3 or 4 months old, and those were just regular colds (he gots lots of colds), not a potentially serious disease like WC--for that, knowing what I know now (I mean with my experience using it for so many of DS's illnesses), I think I'd give it directly to a baby.

Is your friend willing to read the thread from MT? The coughing/pooling of phlegm in little babies seems important to manage properly--I haven't had to do it, but it was one of the things I read carefully when DS was little.

[Morph]

We're up to day 19 since my friends exposure & no sign of anything at all yet, so I'm thinking they're clear - yay! That's a huge relief.

For me, I'm sweating & shivering today. I'm still not 100% convinced I've got pertussis & I'm wondering if it's just a bodily reaction to taking the homoeopathic pertussin drops? Maybe I'm in denial though... lol

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

where do I start with this?

Depends which test you have. If the test was whooping cough culture, then the moon is made of blue vein cheese.

If the test was PCR, then the accuracy will be much higher.

In my experience, pertussin and drosera have never been any use. constitutional remedies, are often better, but sometimes need a dose of sulphur first to "stick".

But others have been, but they've varied each outbreak.

If it was pertussis, your daughter wouldn't be having it for a second time that close. but remember that any cold or infection in the six months after pertussis will result in the same type of cough, because of the hairs being cut off. It takes around 6 months for them to grow back, so the same "reason" that sets up the pooling of the mucus and the coughing with pertussis, will be present in any infection, in the months until the hairs grow back.

see last three paragraphs here http://beyondvaccination.com/showthread.php?349-Got-whooping-cough-The-symptoms-Vitamin-C-and-general-management&p=3096#post3096

to know if you have WC you'll have to wait and see. Again, re-read the symptoms and time frames.

[bbrandonsmom]

How are you guys feeling?

[Morph]

Confused! It's definitely pertussis. All of us have it. DH spent the night coughing & vomiting. He's still in bed. None of us got much sleep. I had a big coughing fit last night before bed, but none since. DD2 is still coughing a lot, but it seems to be getting better. She's not vomiting with it. DD1 only coughs a couple of times a day now.

DH is wondering if the abx will help stop the vomiting part of it?

I am pretty sure now that it was whooping cough back in November for DD1 - the cough is the same. So how come, if it's not a relapse of pertussis, (which has occurred within the '100 days', that it's only now, this time around that DD2, DH & myself have got it? For us it didn't follow the standard cold symptoms first. It was straight into a cough for the girls. The snotty nose only came a couple of weeks into the cough for DD2. DH felt off colour first & had a small sniffle for a couple of days before coughing. I've had a bit of sweats & chills, sore throat & post nasal drip for a couple of days before the coughing.

I don't know what the test was - just a long cotton bud up the nose. DH also had a blood test last Tuesday but we don't know the results of that one yet. His swab was positive.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

There are a lot of different "pathogens" which 'cause' idential syndromes to pertussis, so just because a test came back negative, doesn't mean it IS pertussis.

Like parapertussis, chlamydia, rhinovirus, adenoviruses.

But if it really is pertussis, then remember, each human body is not a mathematical model designed to come up with exact answers for bean counters. How each person experiences pertussis is unique.

What is not, is the toxin factor.

If I was sure it was pertussis, then I'd do two things.

1) Liposomal vitamin C.
2) http://beyondvaccination.com/showthread.php?550-Got-whooping-cough-badly-the-aeroplane-treatment-that-works!

the only thing you have to lose is money.

In my case, antibiotics? No. That would kill me.

[Morph]

There are a lot of different "pathogens" which 'cause' idential syndromes to pertussis, so just because a test came back negative, doesn't mean it IS pertussis.

Like parapertussis, chlamydia, rhinovirus, adenoviruses.



DH's test came back positive for pertussis. The others (DDs & mine) were negative. I'm assuming they were false negatives.

Will read that other thread. Thanks.

[Morph]

Just realised it's the flight thread. I looked into it to see what it would cost. $500. Unfortunately we just don't have $500 around. Unless I can sell some stuff very quickly! The only one I could find who would go to or above 10,000 ft was a skydiving plane, but it has no seats so we would all have to sit on the floor. Not safe at all for a 4 & 2yo - especially for landing.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Try an aero club, twin engined six seater.

$500.00 is worth it, if you get rid of the cough and vomitting..., which it's done for most people I know, who have done it.

but technically, if you're using lipo-c at correct doses, that should sort it out - HOWEVER, it will cost you over $500.00 by the time the 100 days is up, in lipoC for the whole family.

I still wonder how, or why airplane treatment works though.... I have no clue. Mind you, neither does the UK military medics who have been doing it for over 50 years now.... so that's "comforting"...