Reactive Airway and Asthma...if you have a child with this

[momee]

please chime in...

 

I have a 20 mo old suffering from what they've already diagnosed as Reactive Airway Disease and then moved that to Asthma. Her two big sisters both went through exact same things at her age, only much worse. The oldest actually had an awful case of RSV so I've been through this a long time.

 

My question is for other moms who deal with this.

The rest of our family has a head cold, but for this child, it's moved into her lungs, or airway, and is causing her to cough, cough, cough. Typical right?

 

It's that cough some call the child care cough - wet, constant, yucky.

 

I have two inhalers and an oral steroid. Prednisone, Flovent and Albuterol. I also have a couple of liquid treatments like Acetominaphin with Codeine they gave to help her sleep and one other thing, I'll post back when I find it.

 

We belong to a practice with multiple docs and it seems each time we go, whatever doc we see has a different take on what it is and how she should be medicated. EXTREMELY frustrating. It's all been the same thing, I think, in each child but one thought whooping cough!! really...and they always test for strep and begin with it could just be a virus. COME ON!

 

I'd love to talk with someone with a similar history. Mostly, I'd love to find out how to nip this when it first starts so that we don't deal with it for weeks and weeks. Seems when it starts, it starts strong and stays with her for at least a week, if not two.

I don't want to give her Flovent everyday. Yuck!

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Edited March 11, 2010 by momee

[Chris in VA]

We dealt with this with our middle son (who is now asthma-symptom free, btw). We didn't really get his treated until he was old enough to use a peak-flow moniter every day--that was the key, taking peak flows, b/c then we could see when he was sliding down into having problems. We kept him on albuterol using the "blow by" technique with the machine and tube--gosh, it's been so long I forget what it's called!-- until he was symptom-free for each episode. Anyway,

I'd recommend going beyond the pediatrician and finding a specialist, at least to give you a treatment plan that is consistent.

[littlebug42]

Sorry to say but the only way we have been able to get my daughter's cough under control and keep it under control is with the Flovent. She takes it twice a day every day. We tried to taper off of it and she was one step away from pneumonia again about a month ago which then required prednisone and other meds. In the spring, I am planning to take her to a pulmonologist because I am not certain that her ped doctors really know best what to do with her.

[Marylou]

What's wrong with Flovent? I have two dc on it once a day and it helps.

 

Are you going to an allergist/asthma doc or just a ped?

[at the beach]

My youngest had pretty severe reactive airway disease and it started when she was about 3. She was also using medications like Flovent and nonsteroid inhalers. We had my youngest two kids allergy tested, and it turned out both had serious cat allergies. We gave our beloved Siamese to good friends of ours to see what would happen. Within a few months, the symptoms cleared up dramatically for my youngest and my middle daughter, who'd exhibited just tons of stuffiness, coughing in the morning, red eyes, also improved dramatically.

 

We love cats, but we can't have them. If they get around cats now, they exhibit symptoms, and my youngest will wheeze. They are fine with our dog.

 

All that said, when we looked for help, the specialists were not always very encouraging of trying to figure out what was causing the problem, if anything. The doctor we saw just felt it was better to treat. :001_huh:

[littlebug42]

The Flovent just bothers me because of the precautions of having to rinse out the mouth afterwards to prevent nastiness and the potential long-term side effects. It has worked very well for my daughter though so I value her breathing more than the side effects at this point. :001_smile: The Flovent so far has been side effect free (which is more than I can say for the Singulair we tried before).

 

Thanks,

 

Jenni

[T Baer]

We dealt with this with our middle son (who is now asthma-symptom free, btw). We didn't really get his treated until he was old enough to use a peak-flow moniter every day--that was the key, taking peak flows, b/c then we could see when he was sliding down into having problems. We kept him on albuterol using the "blow by" technique with the machine and tube--gosh, it's been so long I forget what it's called!-- until he was symptom-free for each episode. Anyway,

I'd recommend going beyond the pediatrician and finding a specialist, at least to give you a treatment plan that is consistent.

 

Using the peak flow meter is a good idea as stated above. We also have a ready plan in place when our son's symptoms get at certain point. For sports activities, he takes his albuteral inhaler 1.2 hour before practice or a game. We start him on his nebulizer treatment at the onset or if it looks like it's going in that direction, we start him on it earlier. He does sinus rinses as any allergens can trigger his asthma. We do have a pediatric pulmonary specialist, had him retested for allegies, ENT as he was getting frequent sinus infections esp when he had a cold. We are also helping him to learn what the triggers are and teaching him how to help himself. All of this is an ongoing process. I feel your pain and wish you well and wellness.

[Haiku]

We belong to a practice with multiple docs and it seems each time we go, whatever doc we see has a different take on what it is and how she should be medicated. EXTREMELY frustrating.

 

It sounds like this is just a pediatric practice. You need a pulmonologist. A pulmonologist will give you an asthma care plan and will monitor your daughter on a regular basis (every 1-3 months, depending on how she is doing). Do you have a peak flow meter?

 

I don't want to give her Flovent everyday. Yuck!

 

Yes, yuck, but you may have to. My son takes not one but four asthma medicines every day. It's the only thing we have found that keeps him relatively symptom-free. We have pulled up our carpets, gotten our basement dried, installed a whole-house air exchanger, and removed possible allergens from his diet. (We also did extensive allergy testing to determine whether any of our pets were a problem for him. Thankfully, they were not.)

 

I hate giving him so much medicine, but he's able to lead a normal life this way.

 

ETA: I floundered around for two years, not really having any clue what to do or even any real knowledge about asthma, before a friend suggested a pulmonologist. It's much less stressful to have a specialist involved and to have a clear treatment plan.

 

Tara

Edited March 11, 2010 by TaraTheLiberator

[hsbaby]

I would also say to find a good allergist/asthma doctor instead of dealing with a practice full of different doctors. Our allergist designed a "plan of action" to be implemented any time our dd shows signs of getting a cold (her colds do the same thing...go straight to her chest/lungs). For us, we immediately start breathing treatments and move on to the steroid if those aren't helping. It has eliminated our frequent ER trips. She, thankfully, doesn't need daily treatments as she only has flare ups when she gets sick.

[Guest Cindie2dds]

Rella has asthma too. She's on Flovent right now, but what has helped the most is we have all concrete floors even in the bedrooms. We also have air purifiers running. It's outside running around in the cold air that gets her. Also, the fall is hard because of allergies. Zyrtec has helped lower the frequency of attacks. Sad to say we have no indoor animals either. :hugs:

Edited March 11, 2010 by Cindie2dds

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I would ask the doctor about a nebulizer to have on hand at all times with a prescription for xopenex or albuterol to use as ordered at the first sign of a cold. We bought one for ds instead of renting via the insurance and some out of pocket since I wanted one always on hand since my ds had so much trouble with croup and it has been a godsend for him and me. I would also ask if it is OK to have your dc take plain children's mucinex at the first sign of a cold and what dose. Your doctor may even give a prescription for the equivalent based on your child's weight and age.

 

One other thing is to try and minimize environmental allergens such as dust, pet dander,mold, etc.I found zyrtec to be a godsend for my asthma but I do not know if they use it in children that young. Again always check with your doctor. Has your child ever seen a pediatric pulmonologist? I would since they are experts. I would ask your doctor about this.

 

Do you use the prednisone only during a cold? I hope so unless a doctor says otherwise and then I would get a second opinion. My son and myself needed short term prednisone during bad colds and it does help. I take Flovent and it does help a lot for asthma. Again it would be great if you could see a good pediatric pulmonologist though.

:grouphug:

Edited March 11, 2010 by priscilla
spelling

[spradlin02]

Ugh, I'm sorry to hear this. It took several months of coughing for us to finally realize something was wrong; our son was diagnosed with the same. He's 6 1/2 now and rarely uses a nebulizer with xopenex - only when he gets a cough from a cold. It's gotten much better over the years as he's growing out of it. When he was younger we were pulling our hair out trying to figure it out.

 

We stayed very, very far away from prednisone unless it was absolutely necessary because we couldn't get his cough under control using xopenex and flovent. We noticed some terribly adverse behavior when he was on the steroids.

 

We finally realized that when our child gets sick, we hammer him with Xopenex, Flovent and Advair; again, we avoid steroids at almost all cost. Hammer and don't let up. It's expensive, but we nebulize with Xopenex every two hours if it gets bad. But I can't stress how important it was (and is) for us to stay on top of the treatments and try to stay of ahead of him falling into a state that he has to use steroids. At this point, I think he's outgrown enough that his lungs and body is strong enough to heal itself without steroids.

 

We only use Flovent and Advair when he's having an episode, which is rare these days. Our doctor recommends he stay on the Flovent for maintenance, but we've decided it's not necessary as he only shows symptoms sometimes when he's sick.

 

Also keep your child active. Work the lungs and don't let the asthma deter from physical activity. The TV and couch are your enemies, vanquish them.

 

But, yes, I'd agree with the other poster and go see a specialist. Each child is different and requires a different plan.

[Haiku]

We noticed some terribly adverse behavior when he was on the steroids.

 

So did we.

 

Our doctor recommends he stay on the Flovent for maintenance, but we've decided it's not necessary as he only shows symptoms sometimes when he's sick.

 

 

Our son is on Flovent (among other things) for maintenance because, as well as having reactive airway, he also has chronic inflammation of his airways. I was told by the pulmonologist that asthma has two causes: airway constriction and airway inflammation. Airway constriction causes "asthma attacks," and airway inflammation causes an underlying, chronic cough. (Obviously this is very simplified.) Sometimes doctors want kids on maintenance drugs to reduce chronic inflammation.

 

Tara

[KC in KS]

Flovent, I suppose in your case. We use Pulmicort.

 

I've had one with RAD that went into asthma (but this week his asthma doc declared he's basically outgrown it YAY!)

 

Mostly I learned how to attack it from a mom whose kid nearly died from RSV as an infant and now has TERRIBLE RAD. Multiple-hospitalizations bad. She swears by giving her girl Pulmicort daily all winter long.

 

As far as your doctors giving you the run around, I'd say get yourself to an allergy/asthma doc and get an asthma action plan. Have that placed in your kid's records at the pediatrician. It'll totally affect how aggressively they approach even the sniffles.

[angela in ohio]

I would also say to find a good allergist/asthma doctor instead of dealing with a practice full of different doctors. Our allergist designed a "plan of action" to be implemented any time our dd shows signs of getting a cold (her colds do the same thing...go straight to her chest/lungs). For us, we immediately start breathing treatments and move on to the steroid if those aren't helping. It has eliminated our frequent ER trips. She, thankfully, doesn't need daily treatments as she only has flare ups when she gets sick.

 

I agree. A practice that asks you to see different doctors every time may be okay for a well child, but once you are dealing with a medical issue, I would find one doctor who will walk you through this. There are two things I don't mess around with in my dc: breathing and fevers. We all have RAD or asthma here, and we all see one doctor, so she knows what is going on in the family.

[Jennifer in MI]

Others have already covered what I would say. But I totally agree that you need a pulmonologist - preferably a pediatric one. Asthma is something you need to stay on top of. You need to be one step ahead of it. If that means you put her on a daily med for a while, that really is what's best.

 

I had a really hard time with the daily meeds that my youngest d.s. needed for his asthma. But, I truly believe it was for the best in the long run.

 

Ds was symptom free (and medication free) from the time he was 5 or so. Just this year, he's getting worse again. We're back to a peak flow meter and meds as necessary, but I believe he needs daily meeds again. Ugh.

[HeatherM2]

:grouphug: My husband and both of my kids suffer from asthma. Our Dr. would put my youngest on Flovent for about a month if she had a cold that was causing issues and then we'd take her off. I'm just not comfortable giving meds daily unless the asthma is really bad. My husband needs daily meds, but we use a peak flow meter with our children and only use the meds as needed. I also agree that you need to find one Dr. for your children.

[Amy in KS]

I agree that you need to see an allergy/asthma doc for an evaluation and plan. Our doc put us on a plan that helped at that age. Asthma can be triggered by allergies which can be controlled. The doc may also see other things that could be addressed. We discovered that our son had huge adenoids. In his case, the adenoids harbored infections and swelled often (restricting airway). Once they were removed by an ENT, his asthma has gone from being moderate to rare (only occassional rescue inhaler when he has a cold).

[Mrs Mungo]

I would agree with the need to see a pediatric allergist and pulminologist. Many kids with asthma/lung disorders who *cough* need something to help with their sinuses and/or allergies.

 

A nose spray like flonase, nasacort, nasonex, something like that may help. Some help with allergies and some help with inflammation. This type of medication helped control my son's symptoms more than anything else. I would not recommend singulair as my son had *tons* of side effects from it.

 

I agree with giving prednisone at the first sign of illness, that's what keeps my son out of the hospital.

[Haiku]

I have seen all of my son's meds mentioned here, so I thought I'd go ahead and toss out there that he takes Flovent (two puffs twice a day), Xopenex (two puffs twice a day as well as in nebulizer form when needed), Singulair, and Nasonex. Anything less, or if anything gets skipped, he shows symptoms almost immediately. He takes the Singulair in the morning, even though it's normally prescribed at night, because when he took it at night it gave him sleeping difficulties. He uses a peak flow meter three times a day.

 

Tara

[jenL]

We're dealing with this all right now with my 2yo. who is on Pulmicort and Xopenex at the first signs of symptoms. Last night was a tough night for him (and us) w/ frequent nebulizer treatments.

 

My eldest went through this beginning around 10 months. By the time he was 2 1/2, he was on Pulmicort daily for maintenance. Thankfully, when they tested him for allergies around age 4, he was allergy-free. The specialist (pediatric allergist/asthma specialist) was elated because it meant he'd probably grow out of it. He'll be 7 in a month, and we have not had to take any meds (Flovent, Xopenex, etc) for over a year. I have a feeling my youngest has allergies though, but he's still a bit young to test (they prefer to wait until 3+ for accuracy).

 

I agree with everyone to find a specialist. That dr. will become your go-to person at the first signs of colds and any other respiratory illness instead of your pediatrician. Ours was a godsend.

 

My only advice is to be wary of Singular. My son became an entirely different child (for the worst) on it. Once we switched to another med (which I can't remember now), he came back to us. It was scary for that month or so though. Wishing you all the best! It's tough... :grouphug:

[Mrs Mungo]

He takes the Singulair in the morning, even though it's normally prescribed at night, because when he took it at night it gave him sleeping difficulties. He uses a peak flow meter three times a day.

 

 

 

My only advice is to be wary of Singular. My son became an entirely different child (for the worst) on it. Once we switched to another med (which I can't remember now), he came back to us. It was scary for that month or so though.

 

My son was on Singulair for 2 years before we gave it up. He had sleeping difficulties at night (including bed wetting, something we never had a problem with before) but had mood issues when we tried giving it in the morning. He had a terrible temper and was aggressive and angry. It is one of those that takes a couple of weeks to get out of your system but a couple of weeks after we stopped it, he was a new child, back to his pleasant self.

[Susan in KY]

I have two inhalers and an oral steroid. Prednisone, Flovent and Albuterol. I also have a couple of liquid treatments like Acetominaphin with Codeine they gave to help her sleep and one other thing, I'll post back when I find it.

 

I didn't read the replies, so I am sorry if this is a duplicate.

 

First of all, a precaution. Long-term use of steroids, even inhaled, can cause diverse problems. My ds used pulmicort for a year and his asthma benefited greatly from it—until his whole body began to contract from muscle and joint pain. It took a long time to get it out of his system, and now the asthma is controlled only via albuterol. It's becoming less effective, but I don't know what to do about that..... His doc is still disposed to prescribe inhalation steroids (did he not pay any attention?!), and that's not going to fly, so I think we'll change docs soon.

 

Things to do: remove all triggers (stuffed animals, mold, carpets, clean out mucky airvents) and give her vitamin D3 and vitamin C. Teach her to wash her hands regularly, not to put fingers in her mouth, etc. An airfilter also helped my ds.

 

All the best.

Susan

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I didn't read the replies, so I am sorry if this is a duplicate.

 

First of all, a precaution. Long-term use of steroids, even inhaled, can cause diverse problems. My ds used pulmicort for a year and his asthma benefited greatly from it—until his whole body began to contract from muscle and joint pain. It took a long time to get it out of his system, and now the asthma is controlled only via albuterol. It's becoming less effective, but I don't know what to do about that..... His doc is still disposed to prescribe inhalation steroids (did he not pay any attention?!), and that's not going to fly, so I think we'll change docs soon.

 

Things to do: remove all triggers (stuffed animals, mold, carpets, clean out mucky airvents) and give her vitamin D3 and vitamin C. Teach her to wash her hands regularly, not to put fingers in her mouth, etc. An airfilter also helped my ds.

 

All the best.

Susan

I never heard of that reaction as a nurse. Are you sure that nothing else is going on to have caused muscle contractions and joint pain? Have you gotten a second opinion since from what I have read steroid inhalers are pretty safe and can prevent asthma from worsening.

[Susan in KY]

I never heard of that reaction as a nurse. Are you sure that nothing else is going on to have caused muscle contractions and joint pain?

 

Well, this is somewhat a simplification of what he was going through, but yes, it was due to the steroid and improved only upon discontinuing it.

 

ETA: It was not muscle contractions, but rather muscle weakness and bone pain. It mimicked both rheumatoid arthritis and muscular dystrophy, and included a crippling backache. I believe it's very rare, and only occasionally noted as a side effect.

Edited March 11, 2010 by Susan in KY
adding info

[Haiku]

My son was on Singulair for 2 years before we gave it up. He had sleeping difficulties at night (including bed wetting, something we never had a problem with before) but had mood issues when we tried giving it in the morning. He had a terrible temper and was aggressive and angry. It is one of those that takes a couple of weeks to get out of your system but a couple of weeks after we stopped it, he was a new child, back to his pleasant self.

 

What did you switch to? My son also started wetting the bed when he started Singulair. It was around the time he gave up daytime naps, so I attributed it to being more tired at night, but it has continued for several years. Our son also sees a post-adoption counselor and receives neurofeedback therapy, but I do think he has some mood issues, and seeing other people say that they experienced problems with Singulair makes me wonder.

 

We have been through many combinations of medications in the search to control his asthma, and I don't know whether this is anything we haven't tried that we could switch to, but it would be worth a try. Another drug in the same class as Singulair is Accolate, so I have just been reading about that.

 

Tara

[Mrs Mungo]

What did you switch to? My son also started wetting the bed when he started Singulair. It was around the time he gave up daytime naps, so I attributed it to being more tired at night, but it has continued for several years. Our son also sees a post-adoption counselor and receives neurofeedback therapy, but I do think he has some mood issues, and seeing other people say that they experienced problems with Singulair makes me wonder.

 

We have been through many combinations of medications in the search to control his asthma, and I don't know whether this is anything we haven't tried that we could switch to, but it would be worth a try. Another drug in the same class as Singulair is Accolate, so I have just been reading about that.

 

Tara

 

He was already on a few other medications, the Singulair was intended to help those work better (according to my understanding). His pulminologist took a "well, we'll take him off and see what happens" approach and didn't actually replace it with anything. He is on Nasonex, Advair and a chronic zithromax.

[Haiku]

What is the Advair for? Constriction, inflammation, or both?

 

Tara

[Mrs Mungo]

What is the Advair for? Constriction, inflammation, or both?

 

Tara

 

Advair treats both.

[Haiku]

Hmmm, I will have to look into that. The information for Singulair indicates that it treats both, as well.

 

Tara

[Mrs Mungo]

Hmmm, I will have to look into that. The information for Singulair indicates that it treats both, as well.

 

Tara

 

Let me know if you decide to make the switch and how that goes. I'd be interested in hearing other experiences. It takes a couple of weeks for singulair to totally get out of their systems but I saw major improvements after a week.

[KristenS]

Haven't read all the replies yet, but dittoing that you need a pulmonologist. And a good one. Even once my niece was in a pulmonologist's care, they differed on how to treat her ... she was ALWAYS getting sick. Move to a new state and a new doc, and voila! turns out she has very severe asthma and they were able to get it under control. Her health is WAY better now.

 

My son sees a doc in the same practice that my sister dealt with, so I approach with caution (only ones around here to see), but his is much milder than his cousin's, so we're pretty lucky.

 

My friend with severe asthma (adult) has to not even have drapes, can't have stuffed animals in the same room, has to double up on meds to even vacuum the carpets, things like that. But she's used to it now, though not real happy about it.

[Haiku]

The pulmonologist said that Singulair has nothing to do with bedwetting, but she took him off it anyway. They increased the dosage and frequency of the Flovent to make up for it.

 

Guess what he stopped doing? (You'll never guess!)

 

Oh, you guessed! Yup, he stopped wetting the bed. :001_huh:

 

Tara

[Lolly]

Have it here too.

 

Definitely move beyond the pediatrician.

[Jumping In Puddles]

My son had this from age 2 to age 5. He was taking pulmicort and singulair for maintenance (which really didn't seem to ever help :glare:) and the Singuair seemed to make him cranky and angry.

 

If he had a sniffle, I knew that he would end up with pneumonia or at the very least, on his nebulizer (pulmicort and Xoponex) every few hours for days. There was never a month that went by that he didn't have some sort of cold that would trigger the attack. He had pneumonia 4X!

 

I figured his trigger was a cold, and it was... BUT, then when he was about 5.5, the doctor finally sent him to an allergist. He was highly allergic to dust.

 

Changing his bed frequently, dust covers on all the bedding, leaving his room almost bare (toys in a box in his closet. The shelves clean with more covered boxes), and removed the rug and had the floors finished, was absolutely amazing for him!

 

So why did I think his trigger was a cold? The doctor told me that the cold seemed to be what his body couldn't handle on top of the dust allergy. So I started giving ds claritin and kept his room dust free and took him off ALL other asthma medications.

 

He hasn't used his nebulizer in about a year. Even now, when I hear him with a sniffle, I start to get tense about where he is headed. So far, so good. He will sometimes say he is starting to wheeze and I give him claritin and a few puffs of Xoponex and it hasn't gotten worse yet!

 

Once, about a month after we had his bed covered he came into our bed in the middle of the night because he was scared and he wasn't laying there 5 minutes when he started having a fit. Coughing so badly, the same kind of coughing fit that only a month before, my dh had given him Prednisone because he couldn't get him to stop with giving the nebulizer every 20 minutes for an hour.

 

This time, he said "I think I'll go back to my own bed..." and he climbed into his own bed (and I gave him Claritin) and in 5 minutes, he had stopped coughing and was sound asleep!

 

Sorry if that got long, but all that to say I could have saved him years of grief if I only took him to an allergist at 2 years old!!

Edited April 12, 2010 by Jumping In Puddles

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

The meds she is on is fine. I would ask to be keep a nebulizer machine in your home at all times to use at the first sign of a cold with albuterol. Pulmincort can also be used with a nebuzlier instead of flovent.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

My son had this from age 2 to age 5. He was taking pulmicort and singulair for maintenance (which really didn't seem to ever help :glare:) and the Singuair seemed to make him cranky and angry.

 

If he had a sniffle, I knew that he would end up with pneumonia or at the very least, on his nebulizer (pulmicort and Xoponex) every few hours for days. There was never a month that went by that he didn't have some sort of cold that would trigger the attack. He had pneumonia 4X!

 

I figured his trigger was a cold, and it was... BUT, then when he was about 5.5, the doctor finally sent him to an allergist. He was highly allergic to dust.

 

Changing his bed frequently, dust covers on all the bedding, leaving his room almost bare (toys in a box in his closet. The shelves clean with more covered boxes), and removed the rug and had the floors finished, was absolutely amazing for him!

 

So why did I think his trigger was a cold? The doctor told me that the cold seemed to be what his body couldn't handle on top of the dust allergy. So I started giving ds claritin and kept his room dust free and took him off ALL other asthma medications.

 

He hasn't used his nebulizer in about a year. Even now, when I hear him with a sniffle, I start to get tense about where he is headed. So far, so good. He will sometimes say he is starting to wheeze and I give him claritin and a few puffs of Xoponex and it hasn't gotten worse yet!

 

Once, about a month after we had his bed covered he came into our bed in the middle of the night because he was scared and he wasn't laying there 5 minutes when he started having a fit. Coughing so badly, the same kind of coughing fit that only a month before, my dh had given him Prednisone because he couldn't get him to stop with giving the nebulizer every 20 minutes for an hour.

 

This time, he said "I think I'll go back to my own bed..." and he climbed into his own bed (and I gave him Claritin) and in 5 minutes, he had stopped coughing and was sound asleep!

 

Sorry if that got long, but all that to say I could have saved him years of grief if I only took him to an allergist at 2 years old!!

 

:iagree:

Zyrtec has been a godsend to my asthma and I am now on minimal meds compared to a year ago:)

[Mrs Mungo]

The pulmonologist said that Singulair has nothing to do with bedwetting, but she took him off it anyway. They increased the dosage and frequency of the Flovent to make up for it.

 

Guess what he stopped doing? (You'll never guess!)

 

Oh, you guessed! Yup, he stopped wetting the bed. :001_huh:

 

Tara

 

Tara, thanks for updating. I can't say that I'm surprised. I hope it makes it into the possible side effects eventually, since it seems like a fairly common problem.

[Sandra in FL]

Pulmicort, Prednisolone, Xoponex, etc. I am happy to say that he is now virtually drug-free. In the past year, he's had Xopenex about 3 times total when he's had colds. His allergies are mostly food with a few environmental stuff (ammonia, dust, he's anaphylatic to DTAP vaccine too).

 

We removed all carpeting in the house (tile and laminate flooring only). All stuffed animals, books and toys were removed from his bedroom. All pillows, box springs and mattresses in the house are wrapped in allergy encasings. I bought the best air cleaner that I could afford and run it for 1/2 hour before bedtime. I also run it in the living area (when he's not there) where he spends most of his time. If we travel, I take the air cleaner along.

 

He is gluten-free and casein-free. A lot of kids have congestion problems because of dairy and wheat. He eats a lot of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. I would suggest allergy testing for you little one.

 

His dependency on daily meds ended when he saw a natural doc (MD) and started supplementing with vitamins/minerals daily. He is 8 years old and about 50 lbs.

2 teaspoons cod liver oil (he uses Icelandic Health because he can't tolerate any flavorings)

500 mg vitamin c

50 iu. vitamin e

B-complex with 100% biotin in it (he currently uses B serious from vitalitywellness.com) but Country Life's Basic B caps is much cheaper.

30-40 mg selenium

zinc

calcium, vitamin d & magnesium

Hydrasense nasal spray (pure sea water - from Canada) - twice a day (ds can't/won't use the neti-pot) and anytime he coughs during the day (when healthy)

 

The most important thing IMO is controlling his asthma symptoms when he has a cold. At the first sign of a cold, I increase his fluid intake. I make a big pot of chicken soup with as many different vegetables as possible (boil for 8 hours). I give him 2 capsules/day of Host Defense (mushrooms). I give him an amino acid, n-acetyl cysteine, that breaks down the mucous (Kirkland 100mg every 1 1/2 hours). If there is any wheezing, I start him on the Xopenex. With this treatment, I haven't had to use any Pulmicort or Prednisolone.

 

Susan in KY, I would try other avenues (see another allergist/pulminologist) if the effectiveness of the Xopenex is lessening with continued use. I would even use the Pulmicort daily and "save" the Xoponex for when ds has difficulty breathing. I am deathly afraid of being without the Xoponex or it not working when he needs it.

 

There is a breathing method called the Buteyko method (google buteyko 1 of 17 on youtube) that supposedly helps with asthma. I have been unable to get ds to do it (other than telling him "small, mouse-breaths") but check it out. It's also described in Asthma-free Naturally and ABC to be Asthma Free (kids' version) by Patrick McKeown.

 

Anyway, these are just a few suggestions (if you'd like to try any) of the things that worked for ds.

 

HTH,

Sandra

[Sandra in FL]

and whenever I cook, I have it going full blast. I also open all the windows and sliding glass doors nearby and have the fans going until the fumes/smells clear. I try to keep him in a closed room away from the cooking. His lungs are very reactive to fumes (garlic, onion) and smoke.

 

BTW, the air cleaner I bought is IQAir. It's very expensive, but worth every penny. The hospitals in Hong Kong used this when they had the SARS scare a few years back. Besides, what's the cost of ds' lungs? I figure I'll recoup the cost in not having to buy so much Xopenex and prednisolone + the stress in not worrying about future side effects from steroids.

 

Blessings,

Sandra