Asthma-or Something

My twin daughters coughed until I thought I would go mad. It was especially bad at night and after exercise. The pediatrician diagnosed asthma, but it just didn't seem to fit to us. We went to see a specialist, Dr. Richard Mayse of the Texas Regional Asthma and Allergy Center to find out more. Dr. Mayse found that our daughters both had cronic sinus infections. They were treated with antibiotics (took more than one course to completely knock it out that first time). Subsequently, they were rather susceptible to sinus infections for several years. The cough and circles below their eyes were the symptoms. At this point, they have these infections much less frequently. I am so thankful that we found Dr. Mayse (who is very nice and good at educating and communicating with parents). I really did think I would go mad with all the coughing and he saved us. No idea if this would help you too, but I would definately suggest seeing a specialist.

1 mom found this helpful

My daughter has the same thing. There are two kinds of asthma. most dont know about the second which is the barking/coughing one. Our daughter rarely wheazes. Its mostly the cough. She used to throw up alot when she was younger. It was diagnosed as asthma. We ran through all the tests, reflux, esophageal problems etc. Xrays, scans of her throat, etc. Went to Childrens many times and never got an answer until we saw an allergist. We found out her asthma was worse when she ate certain foods. I always thought asthma problems were caused by bad air or pollen in the air etc. Asthma can be triggered by many things. We ended up moving to a house with no carpets because she is severely allergic to carpets or rather what is in the carpet. Since then she has been much better. We also do not feed her wheat which triggered her asthma. Those two things seemed to cut her problems in half. Not saying your sons problem is asthma but it could be. Good luck.

Don't know if this will help, but have you tried an air purifier? i think this sounds more like asthma due to allergies, my 3 year old has to have a air mister when he sleeps

Hi -- I'm not experienced on this subject but I was wondering if you've been on Singulair yet? My twins started coughing (really ugly sounding cough) when the weather cooled down a few weeks ago and haven't stopped since. We just started Singulair 4 days ago and although they are still coughing it has lessened. I'm also giving them some Robitussin DM to help make the cough productive. This is all new to me and scary, I hope both of our children get better sooner than later. Good luck.

Has your doc considered the possibility of an allergy? Since he's had the problem since 3 weeks, something like dairy could be a problem (either milk-based formula or if you ate dairy products while nursing). There are a host of other food allergies that could cause chronic problems. There's a book by Joel Furhman, M.D. that addresses a lot of children's illnesses and chronic conditions called "Disease Proof Your Child" that can give you ideas on what to eliminate from his diet. Milk is easy to eliminate. Things like wheat gluten are a little more difficult to control, but it's getting easier with so many specialty grocers and whole foods type places popping up.
However, I would definitely consult a pulmonologist if you haven't already.
Also, I have heard that glyconutrients help kids with asthma. A friend's daughter has been taking glyconutrient supplements for a few months and she ran in a track meet last week without using her inhaler -- she's never been able to run without her inhaler before!
Hope you find a solution soon!

I think this sounds like Croup, not asthma. My daughter has asthma and is on a maintenance med and an emergency med like Arbuteral but never barks. With croup they bark and almost sound like a seal, my nephew gets that alot and they require antibiotics, the following link gives you info on this, good luck. http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/c...
Copy and paste it into your browser if you cannot click on it.

For my boys, the products that we found out that the chemicals we were using in our home were triggers for their eczema. They have also displayed signs of early asthma. They are almost 3 years old. We have since converted our home over to environmentally friendly & naturally based products (cleaning, laundry, personal care products, vitamins, etc). The difference is AMAZING! As a mom, I am so glad that my boys aren't suffering like they were. The switch is so simple. I didn't have to spend a lot of money to switch either. I just shop at a different store. Let me know if you want the details about where I shop.

its allergy induced asthma most likely, my son has the same thing we use a PCM chewable(allergy pill) with singulair pill form and have to use our flovent/albuteral a few times a year. the flovent seems to keep under control when acting up. It really hard b/c he never complains and once had only 40 % use of lungs. hope this helps, also recommend allergy testing

My son has asthma but nothing like you are describing but I would like to offer my 2 cents anyway. I think you should take your son to see a pulmonologist to see what he/she thinks. A visit to an ENT can't hurt either.

Hope everything works out and you get some answers.

My son had the same problem. He will be 3 on the 20th. We went through this for almost a year, and then his doctor recommended that we try using natural products. She thought that all of his problems were "chemically induced" I did tons of research and found that this is a growing problem in kids today and it springs up out of nowhere. We are now customers of an AWESOME company, save money on better and safer products! We switched at the end of May and Brayden has not had a breathing treatment or any medication for over 2 months now. I would love to give you all the details of the company if you are interested.

My younger girl who is 5 went through similar situation like yours. The pediatric thought she has asthma. After a few months, I took her to see a allergist who asked her to do a blood test which will disclose all the opponents that your son will have. It greatly helped your understanding. However, after 7 months due to the high no. of antibiotics she was finally referred by the pediatric to see an ENT who then did a surgery by taking her adnor out which was the part behind the nose and it is kind of like the tonsil. Thank God that it really works. She was on antibiotic only once after the surgery for the last year.
My advise:
You need to take your son to see an allergist and a ENT for the sake of figuring out the correct source of the problem. Among the 3 doctors that we manever. They all have some to offer and some to oppose for. However, we still get the right clue at the end.
You owe it to yourself if you don't do a blood test or a skin test for your son. All the emails that were sent to you are solid. They all have good suggestion. Take one step at a time, the answer will come out. Hang in there and keep praying. He will look after you when you give it back to Him.

Oh this sounds so familiar! My daughter is 12 and when she was eight, developed the same thing. She was diagnosed with asthma (which is true), but she would get this barking cough and the only rest she would get was with Promethezine (a medication that put her to sleep)and the coughing would stop. Of course during the day she would cough once every 5 seconds. It was a nightmare, lasting for over a month and every once in a while it starts up but not near as bad as the initial time.

The doctors finally found the problem - Vocal Chord Dysfunction. The vocal chords close when you swallow, otherwise stay open. When they close the reflex is to cough to make it open. She couldn't breath, but it was coming from the throat rather than the lungs. We had to take her for biofeedback and some steroids. She had a little reflux, but it was nothing compared to the VCD.

We were going to Drs.Silvers and Mondujuano out of Medical City Dallas until insurance changes. They are great and are the ones that brought in an ENT doctor. If you have any questions, please e-mail me at ____@____.com and we can even talk by phone if you wish.

Good luck.
T.

Hi S.,
I also have a son that gets this cough your talking about several times a year, he would start coughing we would give him every kind of cough medican under the sun and nothing would work and the cough would just get worse. we finally switched to a doctor that also said its asthma and allergies mixed and when something that he is allegic to is in the air he starts this coughing all night sometimes.
Did your son start coughing last week around Wednesday or Thursday because there was something in the air that started it for my son. Anyway we give him these breathing treatments and there is two kinds of medication that you use this is the only thing that helps him at night normally you would do it every four hr but you can go every two if he needs it .It will normally clear up with in a few day of treatments. Im at work right now but I will email you the name of the medications if you want also I take him to Kidsfirst pediatrics. Dr Conger or Counger sorry not sure of the spelling thats who I would recommend you take him to they are located in Highland Village.

Hello

I have asthma it sounds like he is having a asthma attack. Is he on a regular medicaine to help prevent asthma attacks. If not you might want to she a pulmonaligist (a lung doctor) I got it when i was pregant and thought it was just a cought but it turned out to be asthma. The mediciane i am on helps out so so so much. Also he might be one the few like me that the albuturol only makes the attack worse. I am no another inhaler which works wonders. I hope this help

M.

I see that you have received several responses already, but I thought I'd add my two cents as well...
I am a pediatric nurse and worked at Children's mostly with pulmonary kids--kids with all sorts of lung problems. It does sound like asthma. It sounds like he needs to be taking maintainance medications and be on more of a regimen. Advair is great because it is a dry powder that is inhaled and is very easy for kids to use. It's also a good idea to premedicate with Albuterol before any physical activity where he's going to exert a lot of energy. It's important to drink lots of water. He may also need a nasal spray and/or allergy medicine. He may have drainage running down the back of his throat causing him to cough. I could go on and on, and I could also recommend a great pulmonologist. Let me know if you are interested in more info. Good luck!