27 answers

Treatment for Allergies and Mild Asthma

Hello Everyone. I really need some advice on what to do for my 6 year old son. First a little background: he was born with severe acid reflux and was on Zantac syrup for 3 years; then at age 4, he was tested for allergies (in which he is mostly allergic to grass, pollens, and trees) and put on Zyrtec. After a while, the Zyrtec stopped working and his allergies got worse. At age 5, he starting getting allergy shots (he still gets them every 2 weeks). At age 6, after a bout with pneumonia, we found out he has mild asthma. September through February, his allergies/asthma get worse. He has been coughing everyday since September 1st. He is now taking Singulair in the evening and a Pulmicort flexhaler twice a day. The allergy doctor is also having us try out Zyrtec during the day, Nasonex (if Zyrtec doesn't work), and some other inhalers. So far, nothing seems to be working. We have another follow-up appt in December, but I need help from people who have already been through this. Can any of you mommies please help me?

2 moms found this helpful

What can I do next?

So What Happened?™

Thank you all so much for all of your help! I can't believe how many responses I received -- it's nice to get advice from people who have been in the same boat. I knew deep down in my heart that I needed to get my son off as many meds as I could without causing any major problems. Two days after I took him off all his meds, we went to see his pediatrician and found out that he had a sinus infection. After one round of antibiotics, his cough slowly went away. Of course, he still has allergy symptoms, but not severe enough to have to put him on meds again. I really loved all of the ideas that were sent my way -- especially the helpful websites on how to change the environment (in my home) for the better. Thank you all again very much!!

Featured Answers

I would talk to the doctor about some other kind of allergy meds - perhaps Allegra - that seemed to work wonders for my son (who also is getting allergy shots - though we are up to 1x a month now - been doing this for over a year).

And also perhaps a different medication for his asthma - maybe albuterol or advair (I personally take both).

If my son has an allergy 'fit' I give him Alavert(over the counter medication) and it works fine for him.

Good luck!

I personally have horrible allergies and moderate asthama - I was always sick , had bronchitis every year, constant sinus infections, even pneumonia a couple of times. This was all while on prescription medecine. A friend introduced me to a product called OPC-3. after a few months on it - I no longer needed my inhaler and I even got through ragweed season with carely a sneeze. I have been using it for almost 5 years now and maybe have had ONE sinsu infection since. No more respiratory infections. This product is amazing. The company that makes it just came out with a version geared towards kids. you can find it at www.marketamerica.com

I am a walking testimonial - I never believed in supplements before this one - It really works wonders!

I had a similar issue - allergies, pneumonia, asthma with my son. His asthma was worse from Sep to Dec. I took him back to allergist and got the meds adjusted and now he is doing well. I would try another Dr if the new meds do not work or go back sooner than Dec 1st.

More Answers

Hi T.,
I know exactly what you are going through.
My daughter who is 12 years old now had respiratory problems since birth basically. She was on inhalers, singulair, nasonex, nebulizers, you name it she was popping, puffing and snorting all kinds of drugs. It just kept getting worse. The doctors wanted her on prednisone and I refused. A friend of mine suggested I get rid of my household cleaning products, I did and within 3 months my daughters asthma was gone she is no longer on any medication. As a medical professional I strongly encourage all my clients now to check their environment and get rid of the toxins and chemicals before doing any other type of medication changes. It's amazing what the FDA allows companies to use in cleaning products and every day hygiene products. Become educated and start reading the lables and by all means go green and natural. God gave us one vehicle, we need to maintain it the best we can!

1 mom found this helpful

Hi T.,
I would echo Karen's response to you. You absolutely must get the toxicity out of your home. Little people are close to the ground and tend to inhale all the chemicals in rugs and carpeting, the out-gassing of chemicals under the sink and the pesticide-laden cleaners that I used to have when my kids were sick. Call me at ###-###-#### if I can be of help.
L.

Hi T., noone has mentioned cleaning the air filters in your heating system. They may need to be vacuumed or even washed. Also, if you have a humidifier, make sure to replace the filter and clean the unit frequently as per manufacturer's instructions. If the allergies worsen in the winter, it may be the house making him sicker.

D.

my son takes a liquid steroid omnipred which helps in the bad months.

I would talk to the doctor about some other kind of allergy meds - perhaps Allegra - that seemed to work wonders for my son (who also is getting allergy shots - though we are up to 1x a month now - been doing this for over a year).

And also perhaps a different medication for his asthma - maybe albuterol or advair (I personally take both).

If my son has an allergy 'fit' I give him Alavert(over the counter medication) and it works fine for him.

Good luck!

I have been through the same exact issue. You have a long road ahead of you trying to figure out the best solution for your child. My daughter was on Pulmicort for a year and her asthma doctor realized her asthma was worse than suspected and they put her on Symbicort. It took a few weeks before it started working but it finally did and now after 4 years we have her asthma controlled(are you deligent in giving your son his inhaler?)
She was put on Zyrtec and it does stop working after a while. You just have to keep trying other antihistimines to see if one works because not all of them work on everyone.
You have to keep his environment the best controlled as you can. Keep animals out of his room and put protective covers on his pillows and mattresses.
Also, I swear by Sinupret and try saline nose sprays on him.
Once he gets sick, even a sore throat or the sneezes you HAVE to start his nebulizer three times a day or if he doesn't like that then have him do his emergency inhaler three times a day(Same medicine). This will dramatically help with the length and severity of the cold.
My daughter did not tolerate the albuterol in the nebulizer but she can tolerate it in the inhaler. So she takes Xopenex in her nebulizer and albuterol in the inhaler.
When her asthma wasn't under control and she would get sick it would get so bad her asthma doctor always put her on Orapred.
My daughter was on Singulair too but it gave her awful headaches so they took her off. She use to take Veramyst which worked good.
I wonder if your son had an X-ray of his sinuses. My daughter had chronic sinus infections which made her asthma alot worse and she coughed continuously. I would suggest a peak at his sinuses and believe me all the signs are there for your son. My daughter did not have your typical green snot pouring out all the time because her sinuses were almost completely blocked from her adnoids.
She had to have her adnoides removed and her tonsils and even her left sinus needed surgery to widen it.
I wonder who your asthma doctor is. My daughter sees doctor Sotomayer and he is great and really smart.
Good luck to you.

Hi T.,
My heart goes out to you big time! Allergies in the most part are big imbalances in the body. The drugs do not work because they treat symptoms,not the causes. Hence, the need for stronger and different drugs-THEY DO NOT WORK!!! FEAR keeps us from listening to our inner voices about healing ourselves.
OK now that we got that out of the way! My company has a drink that is a "sea Plant" that is high in fucoidins and trace minerals. The lack of TRACE MINERALS is one of the BIG reasons many and too many people have allergies. Think about it...if your car runs only on Hi test gas and you can not afford it-the car starts to run badly, less good gas millage and on and on. Our bodies can heal themselves if THEY HAVE THE PROPER Nutrients needed to function. First the farmers raped the soil of nutrition and then the Gov said add the minerals back into the soil...OK they did that, but not the trace minerals. So you have to supplement or eat sea weed every day. It is not IN anything else you eat. Not even the fish have trace minerals in them. So you were probably trace mineral "starved" when your baby was in your womb and he came out lacking those nutrients...How else would he have a condition at birth like this. It makes perfect sense and to drink a whole food that contains these elements-may very well help the body balance and correct this health challenge.
My company has a Health Challenge going on for an extended week.They are giving away one bottle of this LIMUPLUS and one box of VitaOnes that are a one a day with 7 tablets of nutrition needed daily for free when one joins the company for only $29.00 and purchases ANY product they offer on the website-there are 46! It can be a $10.00 one or $5.00.So for about $57.00-$62.00 shipping included (my friends orders so far)-you get the free products worth $80 and actually one bottle alone of Limu is $45 so this is a great deal for trying it now. Your commitment is to try it and report after you finish up the bottle!Many of my friends are trying this and everyone should be on a trace mineral food daily too. The LimuPlus taste great and it has also Aloe Vera juice and de-caf Green tea as well. This is their flagship product-seems to balance so many different ailments in people's bodies from allergies, asthma, fibramyalgia, inflamations, stomach disorders....all it did was balance the body to correct the weak points! It is worth a try if you really want to help him. Call me or email me :
____@____.com ###-###-#### before Sat-last day for the free products for try. PS I have two gorgeous twin daughters now 27 and I rarely used the Drs drugs healing them when young. We would go to the Dr to find out what it was and then, I would do my herbal and natural remedies on them. They are super healthy and beautiful. Just a thought to note.

T.,

Instead of loading your son up with all sorts of allergy medications, which don't seem to be working very well, I would ask your son's doctor about the possibiity of his taking weekly allergy injections to build up his immunity against what he's allergic to.

Is he seeing a regular pediatrician, or an actual allergy specialist? If your pediatrician is the doctor which is treating him, I would ask him for a referral to an allergy specialist as soon as possible.

Required Fields

Our records show that we already have a Mamapedia or Mamasource account created for you under the email address you entered.

Please enter your Mamapedia or Mamasource password to continue signing in.

Required Fields

, you’re almost done...

Since this is the first time you are logging in to Mamapedia with Facebook Connect, please provide the following information so you can participate in the Mamapedia community.

As a member, you’ll receive optional email newsletters and community updates sent to you from Mamapedia, and your email address will never be shared with third parties.

By clicking "Continue to Mamapedia", I agree to the Mamapedia Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.