Child with Asthma

I was diagnosed with allergies and asthma when I was 8 and have been living with it for 20 years! Things have been controlled so I have never had to go to the hospital. Take her to a allergy and asthma specialist! They will be able to help you!

M. - my son was diagnosed with asthma when he was an infant and was on Neb treatments 2 times a day. I finally took him to see my chiropractor and after a couple of adjustments he was no longer on Neb treatments. He is now 16 and has no signs of asthma.

This is not uncommon and chiropractic treatments can help with many other issues. If you live in the south metro and would like a recommendation for a great chiropractor, let me know.

Best of luck,

D.

Hi M.,
Asthma is a scary thing. I have Asthma and been on different medicines, including the steriod inhaler, no longer am I, makes my throat hurt, did work. There are many triggers to Asthma, for some it's actually household bleach. I am with a company called Melaleuca and I helped a family who cleaned with bleach switch over to our product line and put him on our vitamins. In 2 months with the doctors ok he was off all his medicine but the albuetrol for emergency attacks. If you are interested in looking into Melaleuca contact me, I know it has helped many people for their Asthma, I know mine is much better.
Blessings,
S.

When my 15 year old was younger, he too had asthma like symptoms, was hospitalized for pneumonia once, had a nebulizer, albuterol, etc. I did a lot of reading and one thing I noticed was that dairy products seemed to be tied to asthma issues. After going through the right medical stuff with no solutions, I finally decided one day to take him off dairy - mostly because he was a big milk drinker. I bought soy milk and said "it's different, but that's all they have at the store". The next lung test he did (breathing into a tube to test his lung capacity) came out really good. I told the doctor no more dairy for awhile and he didn't schedule a repeat visit. We've never been back for asthma issues. No problems since and my son now drinks dairy, eats cheese, etc. He never had a full blown asthma attack though, so his case may have been more mild. Bottom line - rule out foods that your daughter could be allergic to or that could be causing problems. Many people have issues with wheat. If she can't be tested, try to remove different things from her diet. As far as the labeling for asthma - it seems normal to wait and I think it's a good thing. Many kids do grow out of it. And I'm sure there are many other reasons they don't want to label too early.

M.,

My 6 year old and 2 year old have severe asthma and I would recomend taking your 8 year old to an asthma specialist for an offical diagnosis. I do have both of them on a daily preventative steriod treatment as well as albuteral as needed. There is also a pill that they can give her that may help. It's called singulair. I know it feels like a lot for you child to be taking but it will really help her lead a full life. My 6 year old has had many hospitalizations due to her asthma and it is no picnic for the child or the Mom. So hang in there and see if there is an asthma specialist in your area you could go to. I hope that my information has helped you!

Take Care,
J.

My daughter(7) has always been on nebs too. However her pediatrician doens't want to "Label" her with asthma because it will and can complicate things in the future, you can have a hard time getting insurance especially life insurance etc.... so our doctor says the medication is for wheezing but no word of asthma is ever used. I'd keep that in mind before you have her labeled. You just have to be careful with having your kids labeled. My brother was denied going into the Marines because he was on ritalin as a kid.

M., I know how you must be feeling. My daughter has had allergy induced asthma for years and when she gets sick, it is a nightmare. It makes me unbelievably sad to hear her struggle for breath, I cant imagine how it makes her feel! I cant suggest a visit to an allergy specialist highly enough! They did tests on my daughter to determine what she is allergic to (pet dander and dust mites) and when we took precautions to eliminate and lower her exposure to those allergens, things got better. She still uses a Nebulizer occasionally but (along with a move) it has made a huge difference! They also described asthma to me in this way, you have a bucket that all your allergies fall into, when you dont know whats causing them, that bucket is almost full all the time, and when you get sick then, bang, your bucket over flows and you have an asthma attack. If you can keep that bucket at a lower level by knowing your allergens and avoiding them, it helps! We got rid of our cat, the dog is outside, took carpet out of her room, bought bed covers, just to name a few things-but it is worth every cent and change of routine!

I hope this helps! Best wishes!

My asthma was diagnosed with a Methacholine Challenge test. It was something that my pulmonologist ordered.

Good luck!

My two youngest children both have asthma. My daughter gets it when around cats mostly, my youngest has had been on preventive meds since he was pretty young. I took him to a pediatric allergist who tested him with some machine that you "blow out the candles" on a birthday cake. Of course this was years ago and he is 21 now so i am sure there is better tests out there. Doctors can tell if it is asthma or some other lung problem by the sounds of the wheezing. I learned that sound early on since my mom and grandmother both have asthma really bad. My son was on flovent and seravent along with an emergancy inhaler and the Neb treatments to use instead of the inhaler when he was at home. If she has a peanut allergy watch out for the generic abuteral inhaler since it has or did have peanut oil in it. We found this out when my son wasn't having any luck with it and told his doctor that it seemed he gets a worse asthma attack after using it. When she checked into it she found that they had peanut oil in it, but not the generic brand. Of course they pulled the seravent off the market also.

My best advice is don't use the asthma as an excuse to get out of things, my son did all the boy scout camps, rode the 20 mile bike ride for the badge and he played sports, although wrestling gave him problems, probably from the dust on the mats. I also had to make sure the teachers for PE and coaches knew that he could feel asthma attacks come on BEFORE he showed signs and to let him decide when he needed to sit down and use his inhaler. I didn't think there would be a problem until I found out that they didn't think he was having asthma attacks because he "seemed" to be doing just fine and figured he just didn't want to run. I went as far as threatening the school with a lawsuit if something happened to him because they didn't let him use his inhaler when needed.

As far as the night time attacks, there is something in your daughters room that is causing some trouble for her, maybe it is a pair of pjs, a pet or a stuffed animal or something she ate for supper that night or right before bed. Best thing to do there is write down everything from what she ate that evening to what she is wearing and see if there is something in common with each night she has an attack.

One more thing that has helped my son is the flu shot and the pnemonia shot. If she isn't allergic to eggs, you should check into those.

Good luck.

I'm not sure what you mean by unofficial diagnosis, unless as someone else suggested, the doctor is trying to protect her from the difficulties of an official diagnosis. I have two children with asthma and for a few years the doctor called my youngest's asthma "reactive breathing" to avoid the asthma label. At any rate, if you fill out forms for school or anyplace where you might not be present when she has an attack, write down that she has asthma. You don't want to take any chances with that!

My son was diagnosed at age 8 and is now 22, so I'm pretty familiar with all the meds. Don't be afraid of all the inhalants, but do research them and know the side effects. Also, it often takes awhile to get asthma under control, which can mean experimenting with different medicines. I highly recommend you find a pediatrician or allergist who specializes in asthma and is knowledgeable about the meds. Don't get discouraged if she has a break through attack and meds need to be adjusted again. That is not unusual, especially in the first year or two of diagnosis.

Also, someone mentioned the long term effects of steroids. There is some disagreement about that in the medical community, so you may ultimately have to do the research and decide for yourself. I can tell you that my 22-year-old was on steroids through most of his childhood and had no effects whatsoever. He currently is off all daily meds and just has a rescue inhaler (albuterol), but does still have to be careful if he gets sick.

HI M.,
I didn't have time to read all of the responses, but as a nurse I know spirometry testing is usually done to officially diagnose asthma. I believe a pulmonologist would perform these tests. I know the inhalers can be scary, but they are definitely necessary. Children and adults die every year from untreated asthma and it is a very manageable disease with education and the right meds. Good luck!

M.,
My 3 year old has asthma and it was very bad we where doing 4-6 neb treatments a day and then I found out that stuff I was using in my own house was causing her to have attacks and with switching my cleaning products, laundry det. and other things we are doing great and no more neb treatments at all.. the only time she has had to have one was right when the weather changed it went from 80 degrees to 30 over night and that caused just a little wheeze so I gave her a treatment and that was it I would like to share more with you please let me know how I can get a hold of you and when you it is a good time to reach you my personal email address is ____@____.com or you can reach me at ###-###-####. My name is K. Richter
I look forward to speaking with you.. Also FYI Steriods are bad for them to be on for a long period of time.. It will cause health concerns down the road..

My son is 12 and has been diagnosed with mild asthma since age 2. All of the various inhalers have kept it very under control. If your daughter isn't seeing a pediatric pulmonologist please get a referral for one and take her in. We started seeing one at age 4 and it made a world of difference. We go to a doctor at Children's Respiratory in the Twin Cities and they see patients in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Minnetonka. Contact me if you have any questions. Good luck.

I don't know if your daughter was premature at all, but all three of my children were 4-5 weeks early. My oldest has always had real bad asthma like symptoms the day or two before a full blown cold. She's cough and not be able to control it to the point of vomiting. Our doctor had her on an albuterol only for these times needed, also because doctor didn't want her on steroid inhaler put her on cingular (allergy and athsma) she took this daily for almost a year maybe 7 months. I didn't want her on medication on a regular basis at the tender age of three. Once she was off of the medicine she has no longer had a problem and it's been two years. Worked for us.

Good luck with that. With any cold she just may cough a bit more than others.

L.

M.
I completely understand where you are coming from for my daughter was doing the same thing for a while until my doctor suggested an allergy test. The reason he suggested this was because her flare ups would be around the same time frame so he believe she had some allergies to something which was her triggers for flare up. It turned out that she was allergic to cats, dagweed and mold. We also found out that it did not matter how long ago a cat or mold was in a house if it was not properly cleaned out than she was going to have an attack. Another one of her trrigers was the cold air. So she would wear an scraf or not go out when it was cold. With all that being said we put her on an allegy medicine, Singular and Advair, and they have prevented any flare ups and we also monitored her activities. I am blessed since the age of 8 she has only had one flare up and she is 13 going on 14. I hope this helps. Take care.

I would make sure I listened to my doctors or find one you really trust first of all. Secondly, I would try to get rid of the pollution in my house as much as possible. Shaklee offers great products from air purifiers to healthy cleaners. Check out my website if you are curious www.shaklee.net/healthier_lives or you can call me ###-###-####. I have heard of many people whose asthma was cured by switching to Shaklee, including the owner Roger Barnett. His wife wrote the book Everything Goes With Green, by Sloan Barnett if you want to check that out as well.
I know you will get great advice from this website.
Good Luck,
~S.

It looks like you want to know two things: does she really have asthma, and will the inhaled medications hurt her? As for the first, as a mother of a child with asthma, it seems really clear that your child does have asthma. It's a shame that it took so long to get it figured out -- she should have been on preventative meds starting a long time ago, and because she wasn't, she had lots of unnecessary attacks.

So first of all, take her to an asthma specialist. Your doctor isn't doing enough for her.

Second, the meds she's taking are safe, and are totally necessary. There are two types of meds she needs -- the ones she takes daily to prevent attacks, and the "rescue" meds she'll need to help stop an attack once it occurs. If she takes the daily meds, her attacks will become much less frequent.

There are plenty of websites and books out there to help parents of children with asthma. I found them really helpful. The thing about asthma is that the parent plays a really important role in recognizing symptoms or problems and responding to them the right way, right away.

Good luck!!

The only way a child older than 6 yrs. old can be diagnosed with asthma is to have a PFT study done (pulmonary function test) this requires that your child can follow directions and have testing done with a respiratory therapist. I would ask your doctor for that, and also if it turns out to be that I would ask for a pulmonology referral (lung doctor) that specializes in the treatment of asthma. I am a respiratory therapist and have had loads of patients that have been misdiagnosed...doctors just put them on meds taking a shot in the dark about what they really have.
Good Luck!!!

Hi M.,

I know I am a little behind on responding to this, but I felt compeeled to respond. Hope you don't mind.

Our son had the same issues with the nebulizers, the flonase, the meds, the meds to counter the meds, the hepa filter, the mattress encasements, etc.

All we did is switch our shopping habits. He hasn't had an asthma attack in 8 years!

It's late, but if you want to know more, let me know. We found the company completely by accident. My friend dropped in at the right time. I was in tears and didn't know what else to do. Enter my friend, who was an EMT. Told me about what she tried and the rest is history!

It is amazing.

Oh and get this book: "The Safe Shopper's Bible!" It will open your eyes! That's all I am going to say! Check it out for yourself!

God Bless!

J.