I have a 17 year old daughter that is normally very healthy and active. She got what seemed like a cold about 3 weeks ago now. For the first week, she would cough at night and then feel fine during the day. She continued to go to the gym for her daily workout. Then, the next week, she was coughing during the day but still pressed through with her daily workout. By the beginning of the third week, her barking cough was a lot worse so I took her to the dr. They thought she had some sort of allergies bothering her and gave her proair hfa 90 mcg inhaler. She also had a chest x-ray to make sure and that was all clear. After 4 days with no improvement, I took her back to the dr and he did not know why she was having the barking cough. He said that if you looked at her exam without the cough, it was fine. She has a little conjestion but not much. He prescribed a steroid inhaler twice a day. This has helped some but as soon as it wears off, she is really coughing again. It has not eliminated the coughing but it has improved while the medicine is working. She has now been taking this for 4 days and does not seem to be improving. When I look online, the only thing I find is croup when I look up a barking cough. Also, it must not be contagious because none of the other 4 people in the house have it. Also, she tells me her throat does not hurt, when she is in a hot shower it does not help it. It doesn t seem like any of the normal things that you would do for a cold helps her. Any ideas?