11 Year Old Who Is Always Sick.. NO REASON??? Has Asthma

Updated on October 01, 2008
A.W. asks from Las Vegas, NV
26 answers

My 11 year old daughter has asthma. She is always sick it is only the third week of school and she has already missed 6 days of school. I don't know what to do to prevent her of getting sick and getting her better.. I took her to the doctor last wedensday but she is still sick.

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A.B.

answers from Las Vegas on

my son was the same way until his doctor prescribed a multi-vitamin with fluoride. You could also try giving her vitamin C supplements or airborne.

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J.W.

answers from Reno on

I would fight with the doctor until he tests her for chemicals that would be in a school. My son had the same problem. He was fine until school started, then got sick. The doc put him on medication that did not work. I would fight for him to test her.

There are older schools that have a chemical in the walls that effect certain children. Don't wait, or you will have problems later too. My son is out of school, and has had no problems at all now.

J.

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S.O.

answers from San Diego on

Have you tried taking your DD to a chiropractor? Sometimes kids, even infants vertebrae get a little of out line. Something simple as a little finger pressure from the practitioner in the right spot will align the spine which then keeps the body and it's organs better balanced and better functioning.

Not sure if it will help with asthma, but I know my chiro worked with a few young kids who were constantly sick with cold like symptoms, and after a few finger pressure treatments (that didn't hurt the child at all), they didn't get sick nearly as much.

If you are in the area, her name is Jill Paisley and she is on Pomerado Rd. in Poway just across from Pomerado Hospital. And she takes insurance too.

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

I (had) asthma growing up when I was younger. As an adult, now I only get it IF I get a cold. But I guard myself well and do not go near sick people. LOL. which is hard to avoid.

Main thing, for me, was to avoid foods with preservatives, or sulfites or sulpha in it.... even preserved dried fruits have it. It would make me have a hard time breathing and exacerbate my asthma.

Also, of course is trying to assist her immune system (vitamins)... and check your environment or air in the home. Perhaps get a good air purifier to circulate and clean the air in your home too.

There are so many "trigger" factors for asthma... seek an Asthma help group or childrens group too perhaps. This can help a great deal.

All the best,
Susan

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L.R.

answers from San Diego on

Asthma is the body's way of getting rid of toxins. Mucus is especially high when large amounts of dairy are consumed. You might consider avoiding cheese and using almond milk {NOT soy} for two weeks to test the results. Analyze the products in your home and what products you use on her body. There are many toxins in laundry detergent, cat litter, cleaning products, lotions, soaps, etc. You daughter is more sensitive than your other children with a lower immune system to protect her against something in the house, stress, lifestyle, or the diet that affects her. Stress creates an acidic condition in the body so help your daughter learn to reduce her stress level and make sure she gets 7-9 hours of sleep. Medicine is not the cure and asthma is reversible when considering lifestyle habits. Its finding the cause(s) that creates the mystery. Best of luck in regenerating her health. L. at www.TutorResourceCenter.com

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J.W.

answers from San Diego on

It seems you are saying she was sick before school started. Look at home first. What chemicals are you using to clean with? Are there preservatives in the food you serve or the snacks she eats? Is there something in the area that outputs chemicals? My husband is sensitive to lots of things and we use only 'green' cleaners and detergents and take an organic vitamin. I cook simple meals and we plan on buying an Atmosphere air purifier.

There is an immunity booster for allergy sufferers called Cleargaurd that he uses also. I know they have a full like of childrens vitamins also. You can look at these products online at www.we-us.mychoices.biz or send me a message, I have a catalog. (Provided you live around here somewhere) Or just to ask questions. We have been taking the same vitamins for over 12 years and swear by them. They also have a 6 month money back policy.

Also, you might try a chiropracter for her, Dr. Mace Richter is awesome. He cured my migraines when the DR would only give me more drugs.

Good luck, it is always better to treat the causes than the symptoms.

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B.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi A.! There is definitely a reason for why your daughter is always sick. Asthma is often triggered by stress on the body, whether it be an allergen from something she ate or something in the environment. I would strongly recommend that she see an allergist to get tested for what may be triggering her asthma. Sometimes doctors will just treat the symptoms and forget to find the cause of the symptoms so you may need to push them to find out. It may be that she's just stressed out about starting school again but you'll never know until you rule out other causes. And it would be important to find out what the causes are now that she's getting older so that she can be aware and prevent it from happening. You can't always be there for them and you want to make sure they can take care of themselves. An asthma attack is a serious thing, I'm sure you know that. Hope this helps. -B.

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D.G.

answers from San Diego on

Make sure you meet with her teacher and explain your daughter is getting sick a lot with asthma/something else also. That she is seeing a docter and that you are trying to rectify this as soon as possible. The more you corespond with her teachers/councelor the better for your daughter.It will take a lot of work on your part but you don't want her to feel overly pressured about the school she's missing. See if her teachers will modify her work assignments in the meantime. Is she able to do any work at home while she is sick? If not let them know that also. If yes then contact each teacher make sure to meet them at least once in person and ask them if they could please put together some modified homework and send it up to the front office for you to pick up 2x per week etc.Math might be a prob if she doesn't know how to do it. Ask the teacher if she can tutor after school when your daughter is better? Maybe 2-3 times per week. After that keep in constant corespondence with your childs teachers via email once a week. Don't wait, start now. If things don't get better with your child medically keep taking her back to the doctor and get a doctors note whenever posible. Good luck D. G

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J.B.

answers from Los Angeles on

are you sure shes sick? this could be a big spike in her asthma. my 18 month old has asthma and she was sick with a cold from december to febuary. my daughter takes a daily asthma preventative (pulmicort) and albuterol for durring the day via an inhaler and nebuliser. i would get your daughter re evaluated. also it could be allergies too (asthma allergies and eczema all run together). good luck!

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J.L.

answers from San Diego on

I am going to come at this a different way, but only because of my background. Its possible she may be experience somatic symptoms. I know that asthma and stress are linked and she's right around the age where somatic symptoms can increase. (Again, just throwing this out there because of what I do. I am not at all an expert in this realm...!) You may probe to see if she is experiencing stressors in school, maybe talk to her teacher(s). Regardless, it must be stressful for you! Hope you and she are able to get some relief.

Take care,
Jen

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J.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

Have you tried to see whether she is actually allergic to something? i.e. cutting out milk for a week, then trying to cut out week, etc? You could also have allergy tests done too.

She might also have "leaky gut syndrome" which lots of kids nowadays get. Check out natural homeopathic books for more info. on this.

Doctors often use "asthma" as a catch-all category when really other things are going on.

Good luck!

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L.O.

answers from San Diego on

Today, children are exposed to thousands of substances in the environment, most of which have never been tested for toxicity to children.
Source: Center for Children's Health and the Environment of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Out of 1,435 pesticide poisonings in a one year period, over 40% were due to exposure to disinfectants and similar cleaning products in the home.

Remove all your cleaning and laundry products outside. Laundry detergent needs to be switched out to non-toxic products. Anything with bleach in it is the worst.

Cancer is now the number one cause of death from disease for children over the age of 5. Only 20% of the cases of childhood cancer are due to genetic factors. Some experts argue that 30% of all cancers are caused by exposure to toxic chemicals.
Source: Philip Landrigan, M.D. of Mount Sinai Medical Center
Did you know: Women who work in the home have a 54% higher death rate from cancer than women who do work outside of the home.

Source: 15-year EPA study
******
Please visit:
www.saferisbetter.com/freedon

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P.L.

answers from San Diego on

Hi A., I am on a nutrition program that feeds your immune system to stay healthy. It is for men, women and children. I am possitive it will help your 11 year stay healthy. If you are interested let me know and I will be glad to send you a DVD that will give you all the information you need to know.

P.

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J.V.

answers from Santa Barbara on

I bet your daughter has allergies along with her asthma. I'd take her to a good allergist, so that the asthma gets under control. When my son was little he'd cough like crazy at night- and the pediatrician recommended putting his head lower than his body and thumping his chest to get the secretions out. I don't think that was helpful. When I began taking him to an allergist- the asthma/allergies were recognized and dealt with better. The pediatrician had said "Why give him shots? for allergies". Of course there are a lot of other avenues to take with allergies/asthma. Probably some of the time when your daughter is feeling lousy, she's not really ill with a virus or bacterial infection- it's the asthma triggers and allergies. I know myself if my allergies act up I can feel pretty yucky, but not actually be sick.

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D.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

Ask to see a specialist! My son is two and has allergy induced asthma. We had to get him on a combo of inhalants, like Ovpar and Albueterol to help ease his breathing issues and Claritin for the allergies. Once we found a combo that worked, he's been fairly healthy...no big cold issues. His constant colds the doc said were related to lack of control over his reaction to pollen and dust.

Good luck!

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M.C.

answers from Las Vegas on

Unfortunately kids who have a compromised imune system due to their asthma tend to get sick all the time. My son was sick constantly. I tried to make sure he ate healthy food, got lots of vitamins and had plenty of rest. You can also ask your doctor to test her immune system to see if it is low and ask him about supplements to build it up. You might try pediasure to make sure she is getting the vitamins she needs. Good luck.

M.

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S.Z.

answers from Reno on

Kids with asthma often have allergies as well. We always thought I caught colds constantly until we discovered I had allergies - to furry animals, dust, pollen and more. Get her tested for allergies, or see if she gets better with OTC allergy meds.

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S.F.

answers from Reno on

Hi A.,

I would encourage you to start investigating what it would take to get the school to provide a teacher to teach your daughter at home while you work through the medical issues (I can't remember the "official" name for this). If approved, your daughter's teachers at school would send home all the work and a teacher would visit five hours a week to teach your daughter, review her work, discuss, etc. That way, you don't have to grapple with attendance issues and your daughter doesn't fall too far behind.

This, of course, puts a huge burden on your mom who will likely be watching her. Is she up for the challenge?

There's always homeschooling or even on online schooling (be sure the online school is accredited so the credits are accepted).

Good luck!
S. F.

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M.C.

answers from Honolulu on

Do some experimenting and research on food intolerances. She may have a weakened immune system because her body is having a hard time digesting milk or wheat or soy or some other irritant. It will take some time, and some changes to her diet and recording all of this in a journal, but you might just find that even though she is not allergic to anything, her body just has a harder time processing some kind of food. Or maybe it is something else in her environment (pets??)

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C.A.

answers from Los Angeles on

A., I had asthma when I was little. :(

I am now 33, and have spent thousands of dollars to figure everything out. I recently started working with a clinical nutritionist and cannot believe the incredible results!

I have seen the best doctors, and no one comes close to the help she gave me. She works with kids too. She owns Balanced Vitality in Corona del Mar. ###-###-####

Give her a call!

C.
www.momeezpt.com

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V.F.

answers from Los Angeles on

There is always a reason why the body's immune system creates symtpoms, whether it's pain, a stuffy nose or otherwise. If her doctor is not telling you why she is continuing to have this immune response, it would be beneficial to get another alternative opinion. I agree that chiropractic and nutrition would help tremendously, but I always hear the common compaint that it's too expensive. Well, it's expensive to be out of work with a sick child, too. Allergy testing would be optimal. You need to test for the Antibodies of the food, pollen or what have you. A simple scratch test may not show anything. Antibody testing is the most accurate. If have any questions please do not hesitate to email me:
____@____.com

Fighting for Prevention,
V.

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N.J.

answers from Los Angeles on

Have you seen an allergist? My husband has asthma and allergies. I finally made him go to an allergist, he did the scratch test and now he goes in for weekly allergy shots. In another month he won't need to take an antihistamine every day and his asthma is under control and much improved. In another year he will be cured of his allergies. I highly recommend taking to her an allergist.

N.

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S.H.

answers from San Luis Obispo on

Hi A.;
We use this to maintain our daughter's immune system. I open a capsule and mix about 1/4 or so into a drink. We used it all last fall and winter and I love it. We also use it for ourselves.
Best,
S. H

http://www.iact1.com/enikken/ShoppingCart/Shop.cfm?CurrPa...

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L.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

A., hi, I have 4 kids and 3 have asthma. Do you trust your doctor? That is very important. Where do you live? My boys are the worst with their asthma. Both are athletes too. This time of year, the grasses are going dryer and the nights are a bit cooler, and the air quality just sucks! My youngest was having problems with his allergies and asthma and I remembered the regimine that his doctor put him on and started that up again. I tell my oldest to do the same but he is 20 and of course knows it all so he is on his own. He is doing better because he is just resting until he starts school. Your daughter is in a school envirment where the kids all have different scents, germs and the school probably is using cleaning items that she is just not used to breathing. I live in Santa Clarita and I have a great pediatrician who is in the San Fernando Valley, if you need a referral let me know. You have to work with the doctors, teachers and your daughter as a team to feel that she will be healthy. Good luck.

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T.H.

answers from San Diego on

I would say get her tested for allergies. A few years back I was getting sinus infections about every 6 months. Found out I was allergic to something that I had never been told before... Sorry... it's gross... cockroaches!!! Couldn't believe it. At the time my fiance (now husband) was moving out of a horrible apartment. Not saying that it's that, but you never know what you're allergic to. Now that I'm taking Zyrtec I'm feeling better than ever. If a doctor suggests shots, do it if you can. I had them when I was a teenager and it drastically changed how I felt.

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L.G.

answers from Los Angeles on

A.,

I feel for you I'm a divorced Mom and its so extra stressful when one is sick!
If the doctor didn't find anything wrong with her other than asthma I would check the stress level. Is she coping well with the new teacher, classmates etc.
I would also look into her diet and vitamins, I found that when I stopped the school provided lunch and made healthy alternatives, all three have functioned better, and have been helathier. A good vitamin C to try is Emergen-C I've seen it everywhere add it to a little water and it is a sweet tart drink all my kids love it. You can't over do vitamin C whatever isn't absorbed is removed from the body.

Good luck to you and your daughter.
L.

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