asthma

Foldnfly, Our 21 month old fs is asthmatic. I knew a little when he came to us do to the fact that I was asthmatic as a child. I can tell you when they are having a lot of mucus with it, its best not to give milk late in the afternoon or bedtime. We still give our fs a cup to go to bed, usually just water. He is allergic to smoke and to almost everything outside. however he is not allergic to our cat. his nose runs and he has a lot of green discharge from his nose when the weather outside is not nice. He is on Abuterol and pulmacourt twice daily through the nebulizer. He is not allowed outside after dark or outside when it is a drizzily day. We can not open our window on a real breezy day because he is allergic to the pollen. So we have to make sure that if we do need to go somewhere it is either nice outside or have the car ready to go with air on to try to minimize the exposure. I hate it at night when he gets that cough. Sounds like an 70 year old man trying to clear his throat. Usually those are the nigths we don't sleep and he will sleep during the day. Those nights are the nights he gets refills with water during the night. Hope that helps alittle. Any questions just ask. jody

There are a lot of things that could kick off the asthma - I know b/c I have had it for over 15 years and I used to coach a swim team that had a lot of asthmatic kids. Cold air exposure can aggrevate it - that's what I have - in that case bundle him up when he goes outside - make sure he always has a scarf or one of those neck gators to go over his mouth - that helps a lot. However - we are getting to spring so you'll have to tuck that piece of info for next winter. I will see if I can find you some good websites. Knowing what triggers it is the biggest thing and how your child reacts to it as well - everyone is different. It could be allergies as well or allergiest that are triggering it.

Hello Foldnfly, Yes, what the others has said is definitely true. Our son is a severe asthmatic and at 6 (almost 7) is really doing well with his medicines. He's on singulair, advair, albuterol through the nebulizer and through the rescue inhaler, daily. My first suggestion is to go to the allergist and have him tested for allergies. Did you know, food allergies can trigger asthma to flare up? (Some allergists say it will and some say it won't, but I will guarantee you, he wasn't as bad, when we took him off of the foods he had problems with.) Definitely cover the nose and mouth with a scarf during cold months. If our son even gets a slight cold, we're in the ER, because the asthma spins out of control. I would also suggest masks for the windy days of spring and fall. I work on a farm and it has helped us tremendously, because the kids are with me a lot during my work. If I'm doing work "blowing" animals, it causes dirt, dust, and pollen to kick up, so he's also wearing a mask for this. (Oh, I realize that may sound bad. We have show animals and we have a huge almost hair dryer that blows out debris from their fiber.) There are many things you can do to help relieve the child, but really, you must have the allergies tested to help decide all that's needed to be done. It really will help. K. PS- I was also warned against ever giving my child any over-the-counter medicine. Some can really hinder the medicine the child was on. I was told with any concern, just call and ask the doctor or pharmacist.

Ok my turn on the asthma. I have a child who has asthma but it was worse when he would go on visits. We would do the hospital run for his lungs to be cleared that we when walk in now they call us by our first names. Our doctor told us that our son is exactly like the rest of his bio family. Except one big difference is our son can play ball run, do soccer and enjoys it all now. He has a cool air mist humifier in his room. He wears a mask when the weather is cold, and I never use any cleaning chemicals in the house when he is here. I do all major cleaning when he is gone to school, or when hubby takes him out for a bike ride. I open windows to air all the chemical smells out. No one is allowed to wear any perfum in our house, that even means we have to check all hand lotions and soaps that are used. Cig smoke could land him in the hospital. He has no prob going up to someone at a ball game or race track and explain why he can't be around smoke. He has had only one case of very bad asthma in the last 4 yrs. Kept him out of school for 3 weeks. It did a number on his lungs. When he gets a cold we put him on his nebulizer as soon as the cough starts and he does great. we did find that when he was little and his coughing was so bad we proped him up in bed and that helped. One of our Dr. in the emergency room said bring this car seat in and have him sleep in that jsut make sure you are close to him so he can get out when he wakes up. That helped so much. There are lots of ways to help the kids out. Just have to learn every little detail and then find out what helps with your little one. Annie6 MOM of 4

I agree with Annie - A humifier should be considered. When I was in MI (I've had asthma since I was 15) that really helped me. Now that I'm down here in FL, I have a great doctor, after a year we have it under control, (adviar worked wonders in gaining that control). My boss is the same way, once her's flared up it took 2 years and a pulmaniary (sp) doctor to return to a somewhat normal function. I will tell you that I have a very open chest cavity. That makes it sound like the asthma isn't as bad. It's written all over my chart not to under estimate the warning sounds. The first doctor I saw down here, didn't deal very well with asmtha. Infact she was horriable. Nice enough, but she never seemed to understand, that when I said it was bad, it was really horriable. So at the urging of a co-worker I switched doctors. Chest x-rays, etc. later... I never had to see a pulmaniary (sp) specialist, but maybe you should discuss this option with your ped.? I would also at that time ask about allgery testing. I have like Mom2J found that when my allergies are okay, my asmtha is too. You mentioned that you didn't feel all of your questions were answered. If I were in your shoes I would ask until I was blue in the face. You paid for the dr. appointment (if only the co-pay). Tell him/her you have more questions. Can you try asking the nurse? As for upping the abuterol, I would call the doctor. Explain to the woman answering the phone all of the stuff you told us. Abuterol more than a time or two times a week is a huge warning sign. Multi-times in a day... ugh, I worry for you. Don't HESISTATE to call your doctor. Note -Please don't confuse abuterol with daily maintence preventatives, such as Advair and Flo-vent. ;) These are supposed to be taken daily.

Anigel you said "Abuterol more than a time or two times a week is a huge warning sign. Multi-times in a day... ugh, I worry for you. Don't HESISTATE to call your doctor. Note -Please don't confuse abuterol with daily maintence preventatives, such as Advair and Flo-vent. These are supposed to be taken daily." this got my attention due to the fact that our fs is on abuterol and pulmacourt daily. What were you told about this. Jody

My general practitioner told me to call him if I need my inhaler multiple times in a week. If I use it more than 2 or 3 times in a week, he will prescribe a steroid pack right away. Since you're son is on a nebulizer, a doctor must watching his progress, right? The nebulizer isn't meant to be a forever thing. When I say that I simply mean that eventually the doctor's goal should be for him not to need use it anymore. When my cousin was on a nebulizer (family history, can you tell?) I think for 3-6 months, eventually she no longer needed it (I can ask her how long if you'd like). When you see your ped. again I would ask him when he/she forsees your baby not to use it. Stabilizing asthma is so important. Like one lady said they knew her by name in the ER. It it were me I would ask about seeing a specialist. Such as a pulmonary doctor. The one I called had quite a waiting list (over a month I think), but isn't symptom free days worth it? I know of a old older man who was using the abuterol inhaler more and more without calling the doctor. He ended up being hospitalized for a week.

My 2yo fd has severe persistant asthma, but in the last several months we have had pretty good control of it. Before that we were in the ER too often and she was admitted 9 times. It took awhile to put all the pieces together and 3 different specialists played a role. Her asthma is complicated by GERDS (reflux), a floppy airway, and aspiration of thin liquids. At 2, your little one should be old enough for Singulair along with the Pulmicort. Singulair has been amazing for my daughter! You may want to check out Ed's Asthma Track online. They have lots of good information and a helpful message board.