Slipper Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 My littlest one (who turns 7 yrs old today!) occasionally has asthma-type symptoms when ill. (Rarely it happens out of the blue). Typically she has the sniffles and a mild cough, by the next morning she is wheezing with spells of turning pale, eyes bulging, panicky and short-breathed. During those times, she takes oral steroids (in addition to inhalers, etc). The oral steroids have had to be dosed very low for her as they made her drowsy, groggy and elevated her blood sugar (upper 200's which our doctor says is normal considering the meds). Last night (out of the blue) she had an asthma attack (she has NO diagnosis of asthma, but I'm not sure how else to describe it). We used her inhaler and she was fine within minutes. But, she immediately became very tired and went to bed for a two hour nap. This morning she woke up with a nasty cough but we typically send her to school unless the sky is falling. (We've had a lot of sky falling days - she's coming home in January for good). I gave her delsym (which she takes a lot without problems) and used her inhaler again. She fell asleep before we could get in the car so I ended up letting her go in late (two hours). Our pediatrician had warned us that inhalers and the steroids she occasionally takes would make her hyper. He seemed concerned that she had the opposite reaction, especially if she ends up with a diagnosis of asthma at some point (which is likely). Any theories out there as to why this type of medication puts her to sleep? Thanks for any thoughts. She's been thoroughly examined by many doctors for her gastro problems and they did a full check up for auto-immune issues. She is, technically, perfectly healthy on paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfgivas Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 well, fwiw, i'd keep her home..... you said you dont' unless the sky is falling, and for me, having a child fall asleep so quickly again would equate with chicken little .... i haven't encountered steroids ever making anyone sleepy..... but i can see how the asthma attack, etc, would wear out just about anyone..... :grouphug: ann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 I have been on steriods many times as has one of my kids and never any sleepiness. Now one time I did get a strange reaction- I stopped being hungry and started losing weight. It was unusual but didn't last. I supposed that it was actually do to my underlying disease (a very bad case of bronchities and a partially collapsed lung) and nothing to do with the steroids. I probably would have lost a lot more weight if I hadn;t been on steroids. I remember that soon after college, I was losing weight because I kept getting bronchitis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipper Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 Thanks for your replies. I did send her to school today but took her in late. We are pulling her out after next Tuesday so I'm trying to NOT look like I'm allowing her to skip school whenever she wants. The medical problems have been such a headache. If she's sick, it's frowned upon if I take her to school. If I keep her out, then I'm a permissive parent. Both pediatrician and gastro have told me to take her to school, even when she's not feeling well (unless she's obviously contagious). We hate taking her to school when she's sick, but she already has about 7 absences that are not doctor excused (doctor excused is a lot more). We are all so happy that we're almost finished with public school for her. Steroids make my other girls hyper as well, we're not sure why our youngest has these issues. It's a puzzle and one that I can't figure out (and I don't want to talk to our doctor about it yet, I really can't take another test or procedure, and neither can she). Thanks for the *hugs*. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 I have no idea. My kiddos don't sleep when they take steroids. Maybe she is finally relaxed after panicking during an attack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom_of_chaos Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 My infant was just diagnosed with asthma and is on a 3 day regimen of albuterol and prednisolone. The very first doese if the steroid and he is out like a light...been asleep for a couple hours and he never naps that long!! Any updates on your youngest and possibly why this happens?? He has been through so much recently, and the docs are helpful but some information and advice from someone e going through the same thing woukd be helpful. I have other kids who either didn't have any reaction or got a lot of energy and rapid heart rate from steroids but never this sleeoiness... Hope your daughter is doing better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 Zombie thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacie11 Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 My son just started taking Flovent and is out like a light 5 min after I give it to him. I can only give him his night time dose because he gets so sleepy. I am having a hard time finding any info on why this is steroid inhaler for asthma symptoms is making him sleepy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 When you have asthma bad enough to get oral steroids you feel pretty terrible and the steroids initially make you feel worse. Not getting enough oxygen and coughing your lungs up is pretty exhausting to start with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts