Moms of kids with asthma, I need your experience

[melissel]

DD6 was diagnosed a few months ago with mild asthma. It only seems to show up when she's sick, and even then it's not every time. However, she is sick CONSTANTLY. She picks up every single bug that goes by, and they linger in her chest for days. Right now she's on day 8 of a mild upper respiratory thing, and the coughing has gotten so bad that the urgent care doc we saw today put her on OraPred (and amoxicillin for an ear infection) because he said it sounded like a croupy cough. She does have a problem with croup, but she never had the classic croup attack this time. She's just been coughing a dry, deep cough for days. And the more I'm reading tonight, the more I'm worrying about OraPred vs. albuterol vs. something else I should be doing.

 

So here are my questions:

 

I did try twice with the albuterol (last night and the night before), and it didn't seem to help ease her cough at all. Does that mean this isn't asthma-related?

 

Should I take this back to the ped (last time they gave her an in-office treatment and the rescue inhaler), or should I just go straight to a pediatric pulmonologist? I don't need a referral to see a specialist, but I'm wondering if there's some kind of work/analysis the ped needs to do before I go up a level in care. There are several options around here, all of which look good--one associated with the local teaching hospital, one a ped pulmonary and asthma specialist, and some individuals.

 

I think I remember someone telling me that the number of respiratory illnesses their asthmatic kid picked up dropped dramatically after starting maintenance treatment. Is that usually the case?

 

Is there somewhere I can go/something I can read to learn more about all this? I'm a good researcher, but I find myself all turned around and confused when I try to understand more about this :confused: I need a good, clear, "for dummies" approach, I think! My dad has asthma that he has always managed very easily (it seemed, anyway), so asthma never seemed like a big deal to me. I think I'm having a hard time really comprehending that it IS a big deal, especially in children.

 

TIA for reading this far.

 

ETA: I put her to bed about 45 minutes ago with a dose of OraPred, a dose of Boiron Chestal Honey, and a dose of amoxicillin. She coughed badly for about 15 minutes, and I haven't heard a peep from her since, so I'm hopeful--for this night, at least!

Edited October 15, 2011 by melissel

[Joker]

My youngest has asthma that is illness induced as well as an abnormality with one of her bronchial tubes. She used to get sick all the time and it would linger and she would end up with what sounds like croup. She would need the albuterol but she also needed steroids. OraPred is a steroid and I would bet if you give it another day along with the albuterol she will start to improve.

 

ETA: As far as maintenance goes, my dd was on Flovent until about 8 yrs old but only during cold/flu season and it did help. As she has grown, her airway has grown and her problems aren't as severe.

Edited October 15, 2011 by Horton

[FairyMom]

Dd 7 is a mild asthmatic, mostly colds and allergy season. We use Flovent as a preventative about three months out of the year during the worst part, which is right now. Kids are so different, but we do notice her dry cough and constant clearing if her throat are pretty much eliminated using Flovent. Sigh, I don't like her on cronic medication, but it's working for us.

 

Good luck. :grouphug:

[5kidsforME]

My 3 youngest all were diagnosed with asthma as infants. :glare:

 

Fortunately it was only when they got sick. I would try the albu. every 4 hours for a day and see how that works. My kids never needed an ongoing preventative steroid either so I don't know if the above will work for her. It's worth a shot.

 

One of my kids became really sick at 10 months and when I took them to the Dr. they did a treatment than waited about 15 minutes and did another to see if the combination of the 2 would work. Unfortunately it did not work but I knew for future reference that I would try that before I would take them to the Dr..

[sbgrace]

did try twice with the albuterol (last night and the night before), and it didn't seem to help ease her cough at all. Does that mean this isn't asthma-related? It's hard to tell. If she's in a really bad episode sometimes the steroids are needed. That said, I would have expected albuterol to do something here. Even when my son has needed a steroid short course the albuterol tends to do something for a little while. That said, if this is asthma I'd expect the steroid to tamp it pretty quickly. :grouphug:

 

Should I take this back to the ped (last time they gave her an in-office treatment and the rescue inhaler), or should I just go straight to a pediatric pulmonologist? I'd do the pulmonologist if they let you make a direct appointment. They did all their own tests for my son.

 

I think I remember someone telling me that the number of respiratory illnesses their asthmatic kid picked up dropped dramatically after starting maintenance treatment. Is that usually the case? My son can get respiratory stuff without asthma attacks when he's doing Singulair. It's not a steroid but for some people it makes a big difference and my son is one of those. I'll be curious about the response to this. I could see maintenance reducing asthmatic response to illness but not contracting viruses themselves.

 

The pulmonologist will be able to give you information specific to your child. I think it will be your best source. I never found anything super helpful online in a general way anyway.

 

 

[MrsJewelsRae]

My dd was also diagnosed with sudden onset of asthma several months ago, at age 6.5. Hers is mostly exercise induced, but if she gets a chest cold I start her on Flovent to prevent her from getting too bad. It seems to be working for her so far. The doc actually prescribed the Flovent for daily year round use, but if this continues to work for her I would rather her not be on steroids daily if she doesn't absolutely need it. I am a looong time severe asthmatic myself and have used every med out there so I feel comfortable adjusting her meds. As for that nagging asthmatic cough, when I get sick there is just no amount of asthma meds that will make that cough go away till it works itself out after a couple days. The mucous is loosening up and irritating. When my coughs get really bad I use a prescription cough med that has codeine in it, from my doctor, but I don't think that's an option for children. I also have a nebulizer which is much more effective for the long lasting coughing fits, but I don't always use meds in it, for bronchitis I have found that saline in the nebulizer (an ER nurse gave me this tip) helps loosen up the mucous so I can get it up and out. I hope you find a balance that helps your dd, I know how scary it can be dosing children. Also, it is so important that you cut out diary especially when she is ill, it can really irritate and add more mucous. My dd drinks almond milk exclusively.

Edited October 15, 2011 by MrsJewelsRae

[Alyeska]

My dd is mildly asthmatic that is mostly allergy induced. We manage with albuterol. So not much experience there.

 

But what did stick out to me was how often you said your child is sick. My dd was sick all.the.time including pneumonia and a hospital stay, she got every cold that went around, and was getting sick when no one else seemed to catch anything. She had influenza twice and spent much of her younger years being ill. Then I took her off of all dairy. In the last 3 years since I removed dairy from her diet, she has had only one mild cold that I can recall. Even when my ds got a nasty upper resp. infection last fall, she did not catch it. The turn around in her health has been amazing, and all due to a dairy intolerance/allergy.

 

My suggestion would be to start your child on an elimination diet starting with dairy and see what happens.

[veggiegal]

My younger has asthma and was diagnosed as a baby/toddler (along with his severe infantile eczema and major allergies). All have improved dramatically over time, but his asthma was the hardest to control without 'mainstream meds', which we are now doing. He had a pretty major attack in July, and we ended up in emergency at the Children's hospital. But so much good came of this. Five minutes of talking to a respiratory nurse gave me more helpful info than years of going to clinics and doctors who don't specialize in this area, and most important of all, we got a referral to the asthma clinic. I was nervous about our clinic appointment, expecting a "we the medical profession have all the answers" approach, but it so was not! They asked us about our son's specific symptoms, acknowledged asthma looks different and seems to be caused differently for different people. They asked us if we were open to alternative approaches as well as mainstream meds. It was awesome. Do you have anything similar near you?

 

As for our son:

 

He takes flovent (orange puffer) once per day, using an 'aerochamber'. It's the device you attach the puffer to when administering the meds; otherwise the vast majority of the puff simply hits the back of the throat and doesn't get where it is needed--in the lungs. This was one of the first things I learned we had been doing wrong. Second, my concerns about steroids in the drugs were put into perspective. Yes, there is steroids, and yes, steroids have side effects. But having his asthma get out of control to the degree it did in July required doses or oral steroids to get it under control--and there is way more steroid in the oral meds (think multiples of 100 to 1000 times) than in the Flovent. Live and learn.

 

Younger also has a blue rescue inhaler, though we haven't used it at all since getting his symptoms under control after the July incident. I learned that you can give a lot more of the blue inhaler if you need to (they did in hospital--several rounds of 10 puffs per hour) than we had been giving, but the reason they want you in hospital is because a side effect can be making the heart race, which can be dangerous if it goes on too long. But I certainly learned I can give him more than a puff or two if and when he has his next attack.

 

I also learned that little kids can be in the middle of a major attack yet still act like little kids, unlike when they have a bad flu and are lethargic, for example. Younger, despite his clear breathing difficulties BOUNCED and RAN from the car to the emergency room admissions, where the attending folks took one look at him and his laboured breathing (the neck/chest suck-in thing happening) and told dh to pick up younger and take him to the treatment room immediately. They didn't want him walking at all! I was kinda shocked--didn't they just see the kid bouncing in here? Anyways, this was a big thing for me to learn. Sick asthma kids do not behave like kids sick with other illnesses, where you can tell easily how serious it is. My Mama intuition was way off on this one.

 

The other thing we got at the asthma clinic was a peak flow meter. Now that we have a record of younger's "normal" levels, we can (hopefully) see ahead of time when he might be getting sick due to a drop in the level. We are to double up on his Flovent if we see this, as we are if he develops a cold. Nip it in the bud / keep it under control is the philosophy here, and based on our now years of experience with him with asthma, eczema and allergies, I have to say this is the right approach for him. It is so much harder to get him back to a stable state once he has gotten out of it.

 

That's about all I can think of for now. Feel free to PM me if you have any additional questions or just want to chat. My experience has been that asthma is a lot trickier and has had more impact on our family life than I thought it would.

[DawnL]

My youngest ds has asthma, and it can get really bad sometimes. He was a preemie, born at 30 weeks, so his lungs have just never caught up yet. He just turned 5.

 

Every person has different triggers for asthma, and it's common to have more than one trigger. I dont' know all of my son's triggers, but we figured out he's allergic to cats. If he spends too long at Grandma's, he gets pretty wheezy. Sometimes it's exercize induced. If he gets a cold, it's always bad.

 

My son was in the hospital due to asthma just this past February. His asthma had been waking him up with a cough every other night and we would either give him an albuterol treatment or a couple of puffs on his inhaler. He wasn't sick when the asthma attack came. But I gave him a bunch of albuterol, something like 4 treatments in 6 hours, and it wasn't touching it. Our Dr was the emergency contact that night and she told me to take him in.

 

The Drs in the ER were surprised that the albuterol hadn't touched his breathing. They took x-rays. His lungs sounded clear but it was obvious he wasn't breathing well. They even gave him epinephrin ( this is basically a rush of adrenaline, which is supposed to "open" everything) and that didn't work, either. They were getting ready to admit him into the ICU (thank God they didn't tell me they were considering sending him there!) when he completely opened up. His lungs were suddenly full of all the crap that couldn't get through before.

 

He had fallen asleep by this time, but his heart was racing and he was jittery in his sleep, because of the large amounth of albuterol he'd had. The drs said that was normal and fine, but it made me nervous.

 

He wound up staying 4 nights in the hospital. He is now on a steroid every day. He has been much better after that hospital stay, but now that autumn is here and cold and flu season approaches, he's gotten somewhat wheezy again. I had to give him albuterol and his steroid before bed tonight, and he needed a puff on his inhaler this afternoon.

 

My son has never been to a pulmonologist, but I imagine he will at some point. His dr has been handling everything well. If I felt she wasn't, I would definitely be looking to get him into a pulmonologist.

 

Does your dd have an inhaler? Or just a nebulizer? I would request she have both, just in case.

 

I would also consider Alyeska's experience. Allergies can have VERY weird reactions, and sometimes it's not even an allergy. It's technically considered an "intolerance". What that means is that a person may not test as having an allergy to something, because no histamine is released, but their body simply can't tolerate it, anyway.

 

When the reaction is respitory, milk really is the most common allergen to cause the problem. Wheat is a pretty funky allergen, too. I've even heard of it causing psychological reactions that disappear when wheat is removed. Weird but true!

 

Good luck. None of us want to see our kiddos sick and it's extra hard when the issues are ongoing on unknown to us.

[Rosie_0801]

Some asthma is a chiropractic issue. Not all kinds, of course, but that's something to check out if you like.

 

Rosie

[melissel]

I really appreciate the advice and information, everyone.

 

Unfortunately, we just got back from the emergency room :( About 10 minutes after I posted my OP, she woke up a bit and started coughing and didn't stop for almost 40 minutes, even after a few puffs from her inhaler. I finally took her to the ER, where, of course, she coughed maybe a total of five times :glare: By the time the nurse listened to her, and definitely by the time the doc listened to her (3:00 a.m.), she was completely clear. Both said her cough sounded croupy (which it so did not to me, and it didn't present the same way her usual croup does at all), so they thought maybe the drive in the cool air helped, or maybe the combo of the OraPred and the albuterol finally kicked in hard. I don't know.

 

At any rate, I'm scared for her and so tired of all this. It is going to suck so badly, but I've been thinking about dropping dairy from our diet for awhile, and it seems now is the time. This same DD has been sporting a mysterious rash off and on for about a year now and it just recently kicked back in. DH has also developed a lovely rash that's he's been treating medically (he'd rather coat himself with an oil slick daily than contemplate giving up cheese :001_huh:). Argh!

 

I'm still :bigear: if anyone else has more advice. Thank you so much for your detailed information, it's really helping. I'll call one of the specialists tomorrow or Monday and see when they can get us in. Right now, I'm going to catch a few hours sleep!

[TheTwinsMom1]

I have a cough variant of asthma and any time I get sick, I get that horrible never ending cough. For me, inhalers did not work at all and I have to use the nebulizer any time I get sick. I would ask your doctor about using a nebulizer instead of the inhaler during illnesses. I know at the first sign of a sickness I have to start nebbing that day and continue every 4-6 hours and usually I feel better in a few days instead of 8-10 days of sickness.

 

Hope this helps.

[love2read]

Do you have a peak flow meter? Your ped can prescribe one and it will help you to deal with these things. Three of mine have asthma. It does become more manageable.

Edited October 15, 2011 by love2read

[littlebug42]

I am sorry your babe is experiencing this. My youngest has asthma and it has scared the life out of me on more than one occasion. Maintenance meds have made a big difference for Boo-Boo. She is on Flovent and we recently added Singulair to the mix. It has helped keep her asthma under fairly good control. Also, when not on maintenance meds, her condition could deteriorate so rapidly it was scary. I resisted the idea of year round steroid use but her ped explained to me the difference in the Flovent vs the need for the oral steroid and it is more reasonable. Also, it is her breathing. I cannot take chances with that. When she does get a cold or whatever now, she is also able to get through it more easily whereas without the meds, it would turn to pneumonia overnight. It has proven to be what is best for her.

[Mrs Mungo]

My son doesn't have asthma, so albuterol does *nothing* for him. He has been through allergy testing several times because he reacts to environmental things as if he has allergies, but he doesn't. He has an obstructive lung disease. It took over a year of seeing a pediatric pulmnonologist to even start to narrow down what he has and eliminate asthma from the equation.

 

It has been over four years now of seeing specialists and they still don't know what the underlying problem is. He has been on lots of different meds in the past, but is currently on Advair and a chronic zithromax. I also have 5 prednisones on hand. Any time he even starts to get sick I am to start the prednisone and take him to the nearest hospital with a pediatric pulmnonologist. They don't want him sick at all.

 

He was on Singulair for a while, it caused bed wetting and horrible mood problems for him. There have been a few discussions here about other people's kids having similar problems.

 

I have a friend whose son's asthma was caused by reflux, and it calmed down a lot once the pulmnonologist started treating him for that.

 

There are just so many things that can go wrong in this area, and the potential risk of permanent lung damage is so high, that I strongly recommend anyone whose kids have problems like this try to see a pulmnonologist at least once.

[TravelingChris]

I totally:iagree: with Mrs. Mungo. Yes, if a kid is sick with coughs, albuterol is probably the first course of action. Asthma is much more common than other problems, however, it doesn't help you if it isn't the problem with your child. As someone else said, even if it is asthma, you may need more or different (nebulizers, steroids). Since the regular doctor isn't helping, I would definitely go to a pulmonologist, preferably a pediatric one, if such a doctor is available within driving distance.

[Negin]

Our ds has viral-induced asthma. Fortunately, he's now slowly growing out of it, which, I've heard is common, or at least can happen. The past few times that he's gotten sick, he has coughed quite a bit, but he hasn't needed the nebulizer/meds. Before, he was on a strict regimen given by our pediatrician as to how many times a day he needed to use the nebulizer, although he only used it when he was sick and when the coughing would start.

 

You mentioned that your dd picks up everything. Sounds like our ds. If I were to pick just one supplement that has helped us incredibly, not just ds, but all of us - I would say it's D3. Works like a charm and I'm so grateful for it. We might still get sick, but we recover far more quickly and our symptoms are less severe. D3 is great also since the gel capsules are tiny and she should be able to swallow them just fine.

 

Here's lots more info:

 

Diet

• Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds, oatmeal, brown rice, whole grains, and onions

• Try cutting down on colas, cold drinks, chocolate, sugar

• Avoid BHA and BHT additives, F, D, C Yellow #5 dye, sodium bisulfite, potassium metabisulfite, potassium bisulfite, sulfur dioxide, metabisulfite (shrimp and chemically-dried fruits – especially apricots), and MSG (Chinese food).

• A 1.5 oz daily serving of vine-grown vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, zucchini, or eggplant can decrease a child’s risk of developing asthma.

• Eating LOCAL honey can help diminish asthma. The theory behind it is that the bees use local pollens to make their honey, giving your body a boost against those particular pollens. If you can find a good supplier of local, raw honey, it might be worth a try. Although, I don't know how quick it works.

• Limit dairy and soy. Dairy and soy sources stimulate mucus formation in the lungs and airways. Replace them with calcium-enriched, rice-based milk and cheese products, which do not have that effect.

• The more vegetarian the diet, the better. The less beef and chicken, the better. Chicken and beef contain arachidonic acid, a substance that produces pro-inflammatory chemicals.

• More oily fish

• Eat at least 4 different-colored fruits, veggies, and beans daily to get a full spectrum of antioxidants

• Sulforaphane helps Asthma - Broccoli, Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, Bok Choy

 

Children who eat a Mediterranean diet have a lower risk of developing asthma.

[Negin]

Supplements

ESSENTIAL

Omega-3 Oils and fish oil supplements provide the fats you need to form natural anti-inflammatory biochemicals - Carlson's Fish Oil is great, there are other good ones, such as Udo's, etc. Make sure to get a good, high-quality fish oil. Vitacost is wonderful to order supplements from and has helpful reviews.

 

D3

 

• Research links low levels of vitamin D with asthma
  
• Vitamin D3 reduces inflammation in infected lung tissues
  
• Without D3 the body’s immune soldiers—T cells—can’t fight infections
  
• Vitamin D3 boosts immunity against the flu – in fact, the vitamin D/flu connection theory is based on solid science
  
• Vitamin D3 is a very strong antibiotic
  

 

 

Don't be concerned that 2,000-5,000 IU will give you too much. The human body can make 10,000 IU of Vitamin D in 30 minutes of sun exposure – children included – with no ill effects.

In addition, no adverse effects have been seen with supplemental vitamin D intakes up to 10,000 IU daily.

To this day, medical textbooks mention the risk of vitamin D toxicity. Yet, the scientific literature suggests that toxicity occurs only with very large intakes of vitamin D over prolonged periods (more than 10,000 IUs daily for longer than 6 months). Except in people with disorders known as granulomatosis (such as sarcoidosis or tuberculosis), little risk (if any) is associated with vitamin D supplementation.

 

When you feel like you’re getting sick, you can safely take:

10,000 IU 3 times per day for 3 days

8,000 IU 3 times per day for 3 days

6,000 IU 3 times per day for 3 days

4,000 IU 3 times per day for 3 days

Back to normal intake of D3 – whether you normally take 2,000, 5,000, or whatever

We follow this and it's helped us all a lot.

 

WHO IS DEFICIENT IN D?

Most people are deficient!

• Body-mass index (BMI) and obesity

• Older people

• Dark-skinned people

• Strict vegetarians

• People with celiac, Crohn’s disease, and cystic fibrosis

• Heredity

• Certain medications

• Regular use of sunscreen

• Northern Latitudes (above that of Atlanta, Georgia)

 

D3 in pill form is very poorly absorbed.

 

Be sure to take the oil-filled gelatin capsules, and take them with a meal that contains fat to help with absorption.

[Rosie_0801]

@Sick of croup momma The OP hasn't been on this forum for years. You are welcome to start your own thread.