What Are the Early Symptoms of Asthma?

I would think that the lungs WOULD be clear with asthma. The symptoms are brought on not because of phlegm, mucous or other fluids in the lungs, but because the airways are constricted.

Ask the doc to do a breathing test with a spirometer (?) to see what his lung function is.

My son's doc said that he has exercise induced asthma. And we didn't find this out until a sudden attack at age 12, after a relatively recent recovery from pneumonia in both lungs. He has had allergies (mucous, sinus drainage) to pollens/mold for years....

Go back to the Doctor, and be referred to a Specialist.

I have asthma and have had it since I was a child.
In children, asthma symptoms can present differently.

Wheezing/coughing when active, is common, with Asthma.
Or it could be something else.

Just go to the Doctor... again and again until you have a clear diagnosis.

having mucous or not, does not necessarily determine asthma or not. Because asthma is a constriction of the airways.... not about how much mucous you have in the chest.

all the best,
Susan

Seasonal allergies can cause sinus drainage, which irritates the throat, which causes a cough, which irritates the throat, which causes a cough, etc.etc. Asthma causes wheezing, you said his lungs were clear, and he calmed himself down and it stopped. By all means, talk to the Dr. about what acute symptoms you should be watching for, have a stethoscope at home for a quick check when he gets distressed, learn to take his pulse, and look for common factors when he has a problem. It could be allergies to food, animal, plant, so many types of allergies these days. Be alert and on top of whatever is going on, but don't over-react. Staying out of Panic Mode is the best thing you can do for your son. Your stress is his stress. (Stress can aggravate asthma, by the way.) Find out the problem, make a plan to be ready to deal with emergencies, if necessary, and give a big sigh of relief. NOW, you are ready to take charge!

My daughter was absolutely certain she had asthma. She didn't.
She just didn't want to do P.E. at school or run with the other kids.
Ironically she could run all over the world on Halloween night with no problems, but if I asked her to "run" to the mailbox....sudden attack.
I'm not saying your son is faking, but don't be so upset about it that you feed into it.
If his lungs and chest are clear, it could be allergies and something not related to asthma. Be sure you don't put that idea into his head.
Little kids get over heated sometimes running around too hard and it's good to have them sit down and chill.
I'm not a doctor, but if he's fine after a cool down, he might be fine.
And, if he knows you're getting worked up, he could breathe harder to get a reaction out of you.

Attention. Especially at this age.

I hope he's fine.
Best wishes.

My youngest who is 6 has asthma, my daughter's gets bad when her allergies get bad, she gets a cold, and changing temps all trigger it. She has been in the hospital several times. When her asthma got bad, before we put her on reg meds she would get this weird cough that didn't go away, she had a lot of trouble breathing and got lethargic. Each times her lungs we not clear.

Good luck, I hope your son doesn't have asthma as it can be a pain to deal with even when your child is on daily meds.

It sounds like asthma to me. My son has bronchial asthma. It is also actiivty induced. I am also a lifetime asthmatic. The way we discovered it was that he had a cough that was constant, but he wasn't wheezing or having trouble breathing. Just every 20m or so he would cough a wet cough. Over a few days he became very tired. We took him to the ped. and they said it was a cold. We gave him cold medicine. He had a followup appt. with his allergist a week later. He was still coughing. The allergist looked at him, asked questions about the cough,and then reemed us for not realizing that it was asthma and getting it treated. He gave him a breathing test and he was in the 'yellow' zone for his known breathing. The dr. said that my son was 'so tired' because he was fighting the asthma attack and not getting any relief. I felt aweful! My son came home with 2 inhalers. He had to take the rescue inhaler every 4h for 4 days and then a follow up appt.

I would take him to your allergist for a check. Just to rule it in /out.

Usually with asthma there is audible wheezing. The nest time he seems to flare up put your ear right next to his mouth and tell him to take deep breaths. But there may be times when you can't hear it. If your son hasnt had any signs of asthma yet, it will take awhile to diagnose if he does have it. My sons had it for YEARS and its not fun. Its a very tough disease to deal with. I truly hope your son does not have it. But a keep eye on him for triggers, and make the Dr. aware of your concerns.

Lungs are clear? The only times my kids have had coughing attacks like that (an dmilk respiratory symptoms) were pneumonia. The best way to tell is by x-ray - we had one x-ray and the other time, my husband had it and my daughte rcaught it from him. Just a thought.

sounds like asthma to me

I have had some major coughing attacks after a cold, and I don't have asthma.
Does your child feel unable to breath, have a wheeze (major whistling sound) when he breathes? These are signs but not absolutes.

Suggestion: I am a Shaklee Distributor and until I began my business and started learning and doing research I did not understand that allergies come from low immunity. Get your child on a good multivitamin and probiotic. Help build his immune system, and get started now before flu season is upon us. My husbands allergies are 100% better since I have gotten him on a good program.

There is a kind of asthma called exercise-induced asthma.
The doctor may listen to your child's lungs in his exam room
and say there's no asthma there but if he were to listen
after the child had been running, he'd change his mind.

There are a lot of resources to help you learn about asthma,
in particular how to keep your son feeling comfortable and not frightened.
I'll get some urls and get back here later.

Yes. Allergies and eczema and asthma are closely related.
In particular, you need to be aware of meds intended for maintenance
as opposed to meds for immediate relief from symptoms.

Does your child have any coughing or wheezing
when he hasn't been running?
Does he breathe OK at night, in bed?

S.

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Here ya go.
Good luck.

http://www.aafa.org/display.cfm?id=8

http://www.mydr.com.au/kids-teens-health/asthma-in-childr...

http://adam.about.com/care/asthma/asthma_under5.html

http://www.aafa.org/display.cfm?id=10

This is interesting to me because I have the same question with my 4 1/2 year old son. He gets coughs now and then, and twice, with the cough, I've heard wheezing. On those occasions, I took him to an urgent care facility, and they've given him breathing treatments. We've followed up with his ped, and they don't believe he has asthma. They relate it more to allergies. He also has mild eczema, was allergic to dairy and soy as a baby, and has a peanut allergy. They're all related, aren't they? Or at least they can be. With the combination of all these things, I thought it certainly warranted some discussion with his ped. Again, they said they don't think he has asthma. However, the other day, just as you described, my son was horsing around, running and laughing a lot, and then came the coughing attack. I did as you did, had him sit and calm himself down, but the coughing persisted. Even a half hour or so later, he would still clear his throat a little, as if he still had some residual phlegm or something. I'm not convinced he doesn't have some form of asthma. I will not medicate him unnecessarily, but I would like a more thorough assessment so I can feel more sure about his diagnosis or lack thereof. I am looking into pediatric allergy/asthma specialists...

I'm interested in reading your responses.