New to Asthma

I know "Asthma" is a very scary and overwhelming thing to deal with, but it is very manageable and treating her for those symptoms will probably reduce her episodes and make her healthy. I am a resp therapist at Children's Medical and see alot of kids that have what is called "Reactive Airways" that is allergy induced. The Singulair is amazing and will help tremendously. The Albuterol does make them jittery but it goes away within about an hour. You may also speak with you doctor about getting the inhaler with a spacer that you give to her. It is 2 puffs and you are done. The nebulizer is very time consuming. You may also think about seeing a pulmonoligist. Children's also has an asthma clinic. Check with your insurance or call the clinic and they could probably tell you what to do. The clinic is very helpful and informative. It is time consuming, but the clinic or a pulmonologist or even an allergist could test her for specifics that she is allergic to so that you know what to avoid! I hope this helps.

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Hang in there!

Both my son and daughter have asthma. My son was diagnosed with asthma when he was 3. He is now 5. He is extremely allergic to many things (including foods and drugs). His asthma is allergy induced. He has taken Singulair previously and it worked well for him with no side effects.

My son now takes Clarinex, Nasonex (nose spray), Flovent for maintenance, and Xopenex HFA as his rescue inhaler. He also has Pulmicort and Xopenex as his nebulizer medications if his peak flow numbers drop.

Xopenex HFA does not make kids as jittery/wired as the Albuterol. Ask your doctor about it.

My daughter takes Allegra and Flonase nose spray. Her asthma meds are the Advair HFA as needed and Xopenex HFA as the rescue inhaler, and the Pulmicort and Xopenex with the nebulizer.

They are both on allergy injections to help which has really made a difference.

Have you seen an allergist yet? Do you have an asthma action plan and a peak flow meter? If you need a recommendation, I can give you one.

Good luck! You are not alone. I've been to the ER for asthma attacks too.

C.

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Oh your poor baby. I really feel for you. My son has "excersized induced asthma." He had been in and out for bronchitis, ear infections, tonsilitis, etc. Then came the asthma word. He does great now, but at one time was on singulair and advair. The singulair was great. Basically it is just a supped up allergy medication. The advair on the other hand is the one I would recomend you stay away from if at all possible. While taking advair, my son became Satan himself. He was very angry, pushing, hitting, yelling, etc. He threw marbles at my windows (thankfully he is not a very good aim). He even pushed a friend off our trampoline (needless to say, we do not have it anymore). Anyway, he was weaned off the advair and continued the singulair until about 2 years ago. He is now only on claritin as needed. YEAH!

Just hang in there. It will get better. My son was about 5 or 6 when his peaked and is now doing so much better. He still has issues if it is very dry and he has been running hard. I think you are doing about all you can for now. Sorry, I don't have more advise for you. Good luck to you.

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D.,
I know how ur feeling but hopefully w the singular n the breathing treatment will get it under control like my son who is now 10 and was diagnosed at 4 he takes singular n abuterol n is doing much better n can play like other kids so good luck n lots of patience will help....

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Do you take your daughter to an Asthma Specialist? Dr. John VanWagoner at Southwest Allergy & Asthma Center is FABULOUS! He can give you ideas on what ways to lower the number of meds for your daughter and prob. alternative treatments for her. His number is ###-###-####. The other Dr's in his practice are great, too. www.southwestallergy.com is the website with more information.

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Sounds so much like us my little Melody Rose is 2 1/2 and it seems like her nose runs and she coughs most of her days. I keep my house as dust free as possible and her hands clean always, however the breathing machine does seem to help so just stay consistent on that and they say most of the time they out grow this, we only put her on the breathing machine if she has a tight cough or wheez the doctor says if it is a cough where you hear it breaking up that is a good sign! I use a ton of salt drops the little noses and it really seems to help her a lot! There is no limit on them either because it is just salt water seems to keep her head a little more clear I can feel your pain it is so hard to see these babies suffer and think being sick is normal good luck and GOD bless

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Hello D.,
I am a pediatric respiratory therapist and know all about the problems you are dealing with. My 1st suggestion is please see a pulmonologist, it def sounds like your daughter has RAD or asthma and she needs the right meds for controlling symptoms and also meds for rescue. I would have to disagree with the person said stay away from advair, its a great controlling med,but pulmicort however also works in the same way. Please write me if you want my recommendation for a doc!

H.

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Xopenex is the best for the nebulizer and Singulair is great too. I have asthma and did as a kid and the things you wrote about your child are a spitting image of me as a child. Be sure to keep your child on allergy med daily and an airway restrictor as well as breathing treatments and inhalers as needed. Its great your not playing around nad waiting when your child is having a hard time b/c I did once and almost died b/c I had like 40% o2 by the time I made it to the hosp. As I got older it did get better and after my child was born its almost gone. There is hope and once you get a good system going for your child it really does help. I saw a pulmonologist instead of just mr reg doc as a child and that was better b/c he only dealt with my problems and new the most current treatments. I am hoping since my daughter was born at 24weeks and was intabated and born w/ chronic lung disease (which is now gone) that she dosent develope it too. Well I really wish you luck and totally understand what yall are going through.

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My 12 year old has athma. My daughter, who is now 6, had RSV when she was itty bitty and recurrent ear infections and respiratory problems for the first 10 months of her life. My youngest still ends up on breathing treatments due to his allergies.

With all that being said, we have tried almost every med out there. Xopenex is the best for the breathing treatments. No bouncing off the walls. My doc started my youngest on Singular during his high allergy time and it has been a blessing. It really reduced him getting sick and having respiratory problems. He takes it from Feb to September since his allergies are a problem then. We he gets real bad we also ise Pulmicort in addition to his breathing treatments.

I love Singular. All 4 of my kids now take it for their alleries. My oldest has outdoor and food allergies and our doc just started him on it two weeks ago and there is a noticiable improvement.

The neubulizer is a great thing to have. It will help you treat the problem before it escalates and you end up sitting in the ER.

I have never had to change the foods my kids eat or do anything else. The right meds make the symptoms almost obsolete. In fact, knock on wood, my youngest hasn't had to have a breathing treatment since 1 week into taking the Singular.

Good luck. I know it is hard when your kids are sick.

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I second staying away from Advair, my daughter turned into a little ball of rage while she was taking it. She was diagnosed with asthma at 4 also, peaked at around 8 or 9 & is completely off all ____@____.com was on Clariten (sp?), Singulair, Nasonex, & Advair - with Albuterol as needed. The nebulizer kept us out of the E.R. alot! Just stay calm & watch for her triggers. You sound like you are already doing a great job!

D.,
My 6 yr old son suffers from allergies and asthma. He takes sudal which i find to work better then all meds he has taken. As for asthma 3 weeks ago he was admitted into hospital with an asthma attack,(which started at school and they chucked up the coughing as just a cold..wrong) his ped at the time was on medical leave herself. when he went in a week later for a check up, wes was taken off singular and put on advair. The advair works wonderful. Organic foods isn't going to help i do not think. But i am curious did the ped give you information on what triggers asthma attacks? If not we can if you would like exchange numbers, or meet somewhere publically and i will show you all the pamphlets and information my son's ped gave me. So far my son is breathing good, and he isn't sniffling.

I have 2 suggestions:

1) Remove all dairy from her diet. Replace with soy products. Dairy makes my asthma flare up terribly.

2) Nasacort!!! If the doctor thinks she can have it, I swear by the stuff. It is the only thing that has kept my allergies and asthma in check over the years.

I am so sorry for her issues. I have fought asthma for so long and these things have mine under control for several years.

Good luck!!!!
J.

My oldest has asthma and allergies. I took her to an allergist and had her tested to see what her triggers were. The process is pretty painless. And knowing what her triggers are will help with controlling the asthma. Once you discover what her allergies are you can discuss with the allergist about possible allergy shots. They are done once or twice a week.

Depending on the severity of her asthma once you get control of it the albuterol treatments won't be needed as often.
Also you can change the type of filters you use in the house. There are some that collect more dust than others. Think hepa is one of them.