Asthma - Porter Ranch,CA

I have asthma, have had it since a child.
This is the way it is.
It is a myth that "coughing" is "asthma." It's not.
Asthma is like suffocating and one can't breathe. But, in it's throes.. it IS very distressful. If not in an "asthma attack" mode, it can be more subdued...but it does not mean that it is not there.

You must follow her medication instructions... if asthma is not treated, it can damage the lungs. Or exacerbate her condition.
Also, things in the environment can affect asthma, making it worse or irritating it. Things like: dust, pet hair/dander, cleaning products, stuffed animals, carpeting etc. I was not allowed to have any of these things as a child... because it aggravated my asthma.

ALSO, things eaten can make it worse... things in foods like sulfites or preservatives in dried fruit for example, and processed meats for me, made it worse. As an adult, I cannot drink wine because the sulfites in it pretty much makes me wheeze and I can't breathe. In other words... these things CONSTRICTS the lungs/bronchial tubes making it hard or impossible to breathe.

I would advise getting very educated about asthma... and what can help or make it worse. It is VERY important to do this... you want to help your girl the best and healthiest way possible.

ALSO, cold air makes it worse. Also, running and running around to exhaustion (as in school or in PE) can make it worse or make it come out. You MUST tell her teachers... if she experiences exhaustion, or is hot or her lungs are stressed and she is wheezing, she MUST BE ALLOWED to stop what she is doing. ALSO SHE SHOULD BE HAVING HER INHALER WITH HER IN SCHOOL TOO. For cases of emergency or when needed.

You said you have been giving her medication since Nov. 18th... this is not long. HOWEVER, if it shows no sign of improvement... you should take her in for a follow-up. A follow-up should be done anyway, as a matter of course.

Asthma is a condition which is NOT STATIC. It comes and goes... gets worse or better.... and it is always affected by the self-care of the person. You MUST continue her medication as directed, and be AWARE of what is in her environment.... AND YOU MUST OBSERVE HER CAREFULLY... so that you can "tell" if an asthma "attack" is coming on.

ALSO, SINCE SHE HAS ASTHMA... MAKE SURE SHE IS TENDED TO CAREFULLY IF SHE GETS SICK. Anytime an asthmatic gets sick... this can GREATLY bring on the asthma and make it worse. SINCE SHE HAS A RESPIRATORY ILLNESS....YOU MUST MAKE SURE SHE GETS HER FLU-SHOTS... and any other pertinent vaccinations.

Believe me, it is NOT fun, to get sick AND THEN to get asthma at the same time.

In extreme cases, a sudden asthma attack can put you in the hospital, and there are asthma deaths... because basically, a person is "suffocating" and the bronchial tubes are constricted/inflamed and the lungs can't expand. Thereby, reducing the oxygen levels in the person. And it can put stress on the heart when someone is laboring with breathing and wheezing. THUS THE ALBUTEROL is used as needed to quickly open up the air passages... it is a muscle relaxant.. and you must have her take it when needed.

There are so many other things that are important for asthma care and what can make it worse. Really, get educated about it and that is the best way to help your daughter.

All the best,
Susan

M.,

My son was diagnosed with allergy induced asthma about one year ago, after he was sick consistently for four months with several ear infections and no sign of relief.

He is currently on Ovpar twice a day and Albuterol as needed...and the only advice I can give you is stick with it. My son since I have stuck to the medication as ordered, has been sick only once in the last 7 months and I feel like prevention and the meds are helping us through it. Around the house, I vacuum every other day and dust almost daily, I wipe down our counter tops in the kitchen and bathroom and try to wipe down any toys that he plays with regularly at least every other day...once he had his first major outbreak, it was amazing to me how not dust free my own home was. Also, during heavy pollen seasons he gets Claritin on days when he's going to be outside in the wind or near plants that carry high pollen counts for long periods of time.

If you see any signs that your little girl isn't doing better, go see her doctor again. Don't hesitate to question the meds or the doses or ask to see a specialist. The way I see it, a co-pay is never a waste of cash and it can't hurt to find out nothing is wrong.

Good Luck.

Hi M.,
The first thing that comes to mind is why wasn't the PED able to identify this! That really disturbs me. My entire family has asthma and the first thing I think of is are you giving him anything that triggers a slight asthmatic reaction? Asthmatics should not have aspirin products...tylenol only or non aspirin. I made this mistake when I was an adult, yet younger. I never read the labels. I had the flu and was trying to continue to work so I took the pain relievers in the medicine cabinet at work. The label clearly said do not take if you have asthma. I was taking them every 6 hours for 2 - 3 days. Eventually, I could not breathe. Every breath I took lacked oxygen and I got to a point where when I stood up I was blacking out. I felt like I was being suffocated slowly. Thankfully I had a doctor who knew my history and called in a prescription and got me help right away.

I suggest a pulmonary doctor. As well, check out these websites.

www.askapatient.com
https://www.abms.org/WC/login.aspx

Best of luck!
C.

Hi M.... I had asthma and allergies growing up and it wasn't fun. Although the air quality now is worse then when I was a kid. One thing that helped me out was doing swim team in highschool. It really helped build my lungs. It was a sport I could do that didn't involve any grass, dirt or any other allergy inducing pollens. Your daughter might be too young to do swim team, but she could probably do swim lessons. This is a more healthy way to help with building her lungs so hopefully she won't need all those meds. Although I still carry an inhaler for emergency purposes.
Thanks for listening.

coughing is only a sign of asthma in children under two and the coughing is usually at night. my daughter whos 20m and was diagnose with asthma at 10 months after a 2 month cold never wheezed and always had clear sounding lungs despite the wetness you would hear when she breathed and coughed. she also takes pulmicort and albuterol. what i found that worked best with the pulmicort is to give both doses at once (i am assumining shes on the .25 dosage and not the .50). has she been sick lately or does she have a cold now? or maybe its exercise induced. what i would strongly suggest you do is give your daughter the pulmicort at one time instead of two times a day and give her the albuterol every four hours until she emproves then start to wean her off it going from every 4 hours to every 6 then to 2 times a day plus if she needs it more then to just as needed. now is the albuterol an inhaler or what goes into a nebulizer. if its an inhaler she may not be getting the full dose of albuterol and you may ask for the albuterol that can be used in the nebulizer. also pulmicort can take up to 7 days to show results of it working so give it time. pulmicort is an asthma symptom preventer so when she gets like that give her the proper dosage of the albuterol that will calm any inflation she has (also give it to her if you think shes coughing too much). if shes still having a hard time after a full week then take her back in. i hope this is helpful to you i know its not easy having a child with asthma but its something that can be over come :) good luck!

Hi M.,
I am so sorry that you are going through this. I can't imagine how scary it is for you. I myself had asthma as a child. I was tested for all these allergies...dust,pollen, and countless others tested positive. As I got older, way older, in my 20's, I started to change my eating habits because I wanted to try and heal this issue, mainly eliminating all dairy, and I have never had any signs of asthma or allergies again. I am also very conscience about what I put into my body as far as chemicals. I believe that the inhalers I was on as a child weakened my lungs and made them dependant on the medication to function. I am not saying that we are all the same...everyone's situation is different. I just wanted to tell you my story to let you know that there is hope. Also, my pediatrician is awesome and is a firm believer of no dairy. He has a website if you want to check it out...its www.drjaygordon.com. Good luck to you.

Hi M.,

My son will be 3 in Feb and we went through a similar situation about a year and a half ago. The only difference is my son had this cough that wouldn't go away and any little sickness always turned into pneumonia. He had gotten pneumonia 3 times before he turned 1. I spent many nights in the ER and countless trips to the doctor, not to mention all the work I had to miss...but as a mother you do what you have to for your kids. I've actually lost count on how many chest x-rays that poor little guy has had. It never seemed to get easier especially since I never got any answers. I felt like when he finally was starting to get better he somehow got sick all over again.

The last time it happened he was a little over a year and the doctor sent me home with a nebulizer, albuterol, pulmocort, and saline. I stayed home the first week so I could make sure to give him the treatment every few hours, all the while holding him down...it was a fight each and every time. It was incredibly difficult but I can honestly tell you I don't know what I would do without it. It took a few months before his cough went away but when it did I couldn't believe it. All I ever knew was him with his cough, I was able to sleep better at night knowing my baby could finally breathe easy. Then we switched to the saline for another few months to maintain his progress and were able to cut down on how often we needed to do it, and he never got sick that whole period!! I want to say we used it for like 8 months on a daily basis. Then we moved like 8 months ago and I didn't keep up on the treatment because I figured he'd been fine this whole time that I didn't need to. But a couple months ago the cough fame back and with a vengeance. I started up the treatment again and he still is having trouble breathing, especially at night and in the mornings. Every time he coughs I feel so guilty for ever stopping the treatment. The doctor gave me a few months worth of albuterol and pulmocort so I don't have to keep going back.

I had asthma when I was little and I never had any problems with it until like 6 years ago. But it's still not a severe problem, I just have my good days and bad days. I can already tell my son's asthma is worse then what I've ever had and that it's gonna take a lot of maintenance. I just recently started buying all my cleaning products through Melaleuca. It's a green company that only sells non-toxic environmental friendly products. It's really made the difference not just for my son but for my asthma and allergies as well. I was desperate for something and was willing to try anything. I told myself I was only going to try if for a few months and see if I noticed any changes. Well Melaleuca just gained a customer for life =) You can't put a price on your child's health, and the great thing is the prices are very affordable. I'm a single mom on a very tight budget and it's perfect for me. You may want to do a little research about your cleaning products and the toxins they produce to see if switching products may be beneficial for you as well. I hope I've been helpful in some way and I'll keep your little girl in my thoughts.

L.