There are some moms on here that have asthma, and have kids with asthma that have been doing this longer than I have... but having spent a month and a half hospitalized (in total, 3 weeks here, 1 week there, lots of ER trips) and back and forth to specialists as we try to figure out what is up with my son's lungs over the past several months... here's what we've learned about asthma:
- MOST of the time it's discovered/diagnosed around age 2-3. It can happen earlier or later, but the vast majority of kids present as toddlers
- It is a diagnosis of inclusion / exclusion. Nearly always comes along with
* allergies (specific, like to dogs; or severe, like to a LOT of things)
* reaction to cold air
* exercise (can also be purely 'exercise induced asthma')
* emotional excitement
* coughs
* reflux
* often, but not always, worse at night... occasionally only presents at night (nocturnal asthma)
* responds to albuterol & steroids
My son doesn't fit in ANY of the above categories, except that he responds to albuterol. We've actually had an asthma diagnosis 4.5 times, but it keeps getting 'taken away' because he in no way fits the profile / aka we're still trying to figure out what is up. All we know is that it's similar to astham, and isn't a heart problem. Working with pulmonology and rheumatology people currently (and using albuterol, steroids, and an o2 sensor several times a day). The only thing we know for sure is that when his body is under stress (sickness, surgery, etc.) his lungs first start swelling shut (like with asthma), then systematically start shutting down (atelectasis, aka collapsing in many different areas at once, filling with fluid, plugging, and the pleural space starts filling with fluid). Phooey.
In any event, the two things we've been asked about 60 times in the past few months are :
Does he have allergies? (and we've at this point determined he's *neither* allergic *nor* sensitive/reactionary to almost just about anything on the planet from dander and mold to smoke and exhaust)
Does he cough a lot, or cough and sneeze a lot.? (nope)
Because it's an 'inclusive/exclusive' diagnosis (meaning that they fit the 'profile' AND aren't positive for something else) it can take awhile to sort, or it can take a very short time.
You'll need to see a pulomologist (and allergist) for a definitive diagnosis.