Parents of dc with asthma...please talk to me.

[5LittleMonkeys]

Could you tell me what your regiment for controlling asthma in your small dc is? She is currently on one does of claritin and one puff of qvar per day. We also have albuterol for when she has a breakthrough attack, which is happening more frequently.

 

I need to make an appointment to re-evaluate since her ped said that if she has more than 2 breakthrough attacks per week that she will need to increase dosages\frequency of the maintenance steroid. I hate, HATE, pumping my little girl's body full of more meds and steroids, but I have nothing to judge this course of action to as this is the first child I've had with asthma.

 

Could you just share your experience with me? (She's the 4yo if it makes a difference.)

[moonlight]

We use ventolin as needed. Sometimes it means that he needs it a couple times a day. It just seems better than the daily steroid intake. Every doctor recommends that we get on a preventative so take it with a grain of salt. We use a preventative for a two week period if there is a flare up

 

We also try to avoid his triggers as much as possible.

 

Drinking green tea helps during an attack. Even soda can help, but we haven't tried it. The green tea can completely bring his breathing under control without the use of an inhaler.

 

Cough syrup during a flare up also helps. We use natural stuff so I prefer it over other solutions.

 

I have had asthma my whole life and my older ds has it...

 

Hth!

[Murmer]

I have a little girl who has been on Flovent for 2 years now. We use it year round. We also have her on Nasonex year round (Claritin made her hyper). We have pulmicort for her neb that we start when she is having a flare up along with albuterol. Plus the rescue inhaler. So yes what your doctor is telling you is normal. That said I would see an allergist or an asthma doctor. Our allergist does a great job of helping us stay away from her allergens but also working with us to keep things to a minimum with regards to daily meds while keeping her healthy.

[Karen in CO]

My dd takes a LOT of medicine and is older. One thing that really helped us (besides identifying her triggers) was to put an air purifier in her bedroom and a larger one in the main area of our house. She's better overall when the air is cleaner.

 

I didn't see that she's on Singulair - it is part of our daily medicine.

[Ewe Mama]

Theodore takes Flonase in the evening, and Zyrtec and Flovent (2 puffs each time)

twice a day, for regular maintanance. He also has proair when he starts to get wheezy and prednisone when he gets really bad. Albuterol in the nebulizer, too. After that, it's a trip to the ER.

[Runningmom80]

My DS is also on Flonase twice daily. He has albuterol for a rescue inhaler.

 

 

I hate the idea of steroids too, but I also hate the idea of him not being able to breathe. :-/

[sbgrace]

I would see pulmonology or an allergist who does asthma.

 

For an acute flair our protocol is:

Albuterol (nebulized vial or up to 4 puffs). Repeat every 20 minutes up to 3 times maximum in first hour.

Then repeat albuterol dose every 4 hours.

 

This is in addition to whatever control medications. Our pediatrician's advice was 2 puffs every 4 hours.

 

My son needs the amount he gets in the nebulizer for major flairs so, for us, a specialist's treatment advice made a huge difference. I wanted to say I've seen studies that a larger number of puffs through a chambered rescue inhaler is similar to response to nebulizer doses. I think the dosage of nebulizer vs. the rescue inhaler is actually what makes the difference here and not the machine itself. This son is also on Singulair and an oral allergy medication. He's rarely needed oral prednisone.

 

I have a new onset of (I suspect it is) asthma in my other child and it looks like he's going to be harder to manage than his twin has been. We see pulmonology Thursday.

[5LittleMonkeys]

Thanks. I need to look into an allergist. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to her flair ups other than cold and hot weather. There is a very short window of time she can actually play outside during the year. I'm also going to talk to dh about getting an air purifier. We had one years ago, before this dc was born, and I noticed a huge difference in my frequency of headaches compared to now.

 

I feel better knowing that all of you have similar procedures for managing asthma...I'm still holding out hope that she may grow out of it like her dad did.

[lovinmomma]

Not trying to hijack, but does the albuterol really help your children? My youngest was recently put on the albuterol and I don't hear any noticeable difference in her wheezing or coughing???

[Joker]

Both of mine have dealt with asthma. One thing, are you using a nebulizer at all? That has always helped the most but especially when they were younger. Even today, I notice the albuterol through the nebulizer works better than the inhaler. I don't really know why. Also, when they were about that age they both did Pulmicort (again via nebulizer) and it really helped during the season when theirs would flare. I second going to an allergist. I don't know what we'd do without ours.

[Woodhaven]

I know how you feel. We went through that with my youngest son. He isn't as little anymore, but here are some things we have done/do.

 

1st we took him to an allergist to find out what his triggers were. (Are they in the air, laundry, food?)

We have all the air vents cleaned.

We put in an air filter that cleans the air in the whole house. We have to clean the filter every 10 days or so.

Vitamin D - Even though my kids play outside a lot, they still don't get enough D. Shortly after I started giving it to my ds, his asthma problems went WAY down. Check with your doctor to see what your daughter's levels are. It is said to reduce swelling which can help.

 

Yes, caffeine can be a life saver in an emergency. Our ped. doc. said to give my ds a whole can of coke in an emergency.

 

You do what you can, some things help one person, and not another.

 

If one allergy medication doesn't work well, another might. Also, the body can become used to an allergy medication, so switching to a different one might help.

 

My son doesn't have the constant re-occuring attacks he used to have. I can't say for sure why. It might be something we are doing or these things might not even be what has made the difference. But they have seemed to help.

 

Hope you find a good routine and system to keep her from those awful, frightening attacks!! Hugs!

[Nakia]

My 9 year old has allergy induced asthma. I agree with the others about seeing an allergy/asthma specialist. Emma is currently getting allergy shots, and she is responding well.

 

She takes Zyrtec every day year round. She takes Flonase as well, but not year round. She takes one puff of Flovent twice a day and has an Albuterol inhaler for rescue. Thankfully we have a good regimen going and she very rarely needs the Albuterol.

[sbgrace]

Not trying to hijack, but does the albuterol really help your children? My youngest was recently put on the albuterol and I don't hear any noticeable difference in her wheezing or coughing???

 

 

With my son currently struggling child two puffs of the inhaler (chambered) did absolutely nothing. The nebulizer though, which is a much larger dose, does help. You may need something more than the rescue inhaler dose in a flair. Beyond that do you have a chamber on the inhaler to help it get to the right place? Both my kids use chambers and research shows they make a huge difference. Still it wasn't enough for one child.

[lovinmomma]

With my son currently struggling child two puffs of the inhaler (chambered) did absolutely nothing. The nebulizer though, which is a much larger dose, does help. You may need something more than the rescue inhaler dose in a flair. Beyond that do you have a chamber on the inhaler to help it get to the right place? Both my kids use chambers and research shows they make a huge difference. Still it wasn't enough for one child.

 

Yes, she has a spacer. Her inhaler isn't for all of the time. She's been using it for the past few weeks because every time she gets a cold she starts wheezing pretty bad.

[Ottakee]

I agree with seeing a pulmonologist and/or an allergist. Can she do a peak flow meter? Those are very helpful for figuring out when things are starting to go south. When my daughter was younger she had a peak flow whistle. It was set for her green zone. While it didn't give us the exact number, it was easier for a little kid to use.