Mysterious Respiratory Distress

One of my boys has been using a nebulizer since he was 3 weeks old. I now use this on all of the kids as soon as they start to get sick, which luckily isn't often. It keep their colds from going too deep and it can shorten coughing from a month to a week. I highly suggest getting one and using it at the first sign of a runny nose or cough. You do have to get a prescription for it. It also has prevented my kids from having to use antibiotics the majority of the time.

My son, now 9 was hospitalized for a week last year. Here are some conclusions for us. First of all, does he get a croup sounding cough when this happens? My son's is triggered by reflux. I don't want my kids on a lifetime of medications, so I adjusted his diet and he uses nothing unless he gets an episode brought on by a cold or something (only once so far in a year). Adjusted diet would be, no dairy (almond milk is a great sub. - also good yogurt is okay). But definitely no cow's milk, shakes, etc...and try to avoid acid triggers (spicy, tomato sauces, fried foods). Lots of good fruits and veggies. Apples are great to keep the intestinal tract moving. He should be having bowel movements everyday, elevate head at night (two pillows is good). My son has a diagnosed bad hiatal hernia, triggering the reflux, which triggers respiratory issues when he's sick. Keep them healthy and well - clean hands good after every public encounter. No sickness, good food, good rest, good bowel habits - no problems. Try it....it worked for us.

Do you use cleaners or air "fresheners" in your home that have chemicals in them? Clean does not have a smell, and lots of the stuff on the market can trigger reactions in small children. I use biodegradable cleaners that are not harmful and not packed with smells. My husband has sinus issues and I have to keep smells to a minimum.

Check the environment he is in, schools or a friend's house could have something that can trigger a reaction.

Simple natural foods are also a good idea. I stock snacks that are both convenient and organic.

Try taking him to a chiropractic clinic! They are not just for backs anymore!!

A GOOD children's vitamin also counts. One that is organic, the ingredients and manufacture can be investigated and has a money back if not satisfied guarantee. A vitamin that can be traced back to it's plant source is so much better than the hit or miss in the nearest Walmart.

You are blessed to be able to stay at home. Tell your husband thank you for being a man.

Jacque

i know the feeling-- this is so scary. my daughter came home from school with labored breathing two years ago and had to go to the ER that night and hospitalized with albuterol and steroids... at first the doctor told us it could or couldn't be asthma that after i think the 3rd episode it would be considered asthma. so this was 2 years ago, she's had to go the the ER two more times, but now we have the nebulizer at home and an inhaler so we know how to treat it before it gets bad. I will take her in to see a doctor if i think she needs steroids. on the average she has had maybe 4 episodes a year. some as close as a month apart, others as far as 7 mos. we've seen an allergist, which in my opinion is pointless...and most doctors we see want her on a daily steroid, which we won't do.

i've also seen a homeopath, and we finally found some success with a chiropractor who practices natural/alternative methods. he gave us a natural supplement w/o side effects that is an alternative to the steroids called Drenamin, and recommended kids' calm, which is a powder magnesium supplement you can add to water, that helps the bronchials. so when she has started to have an episode, i will treat her with both those supplements and then her inhaler or nebulizer as needed and it's worked. it was a relief to know there are other ways besides regular medicine to calm things down. one thing too, is she does not eat or drink any dairy to minimize mucous production and also, sometimes depending on her cough, we will use Boiron's homeopathic remedies, i think the last time we used antimonium tantarticum and that helped with her usual treatment. these supplements/remedies are all natural (except the albuterol) and we just take things as they come. one good thing that has come of this is that we don't have all the answers, but know how to treat it and get it under control and know what to expect instead of worrying about another overnighter in the ER.

it can be nervewracking to try to get to the bottom of the cause, so it's been nice to be able to know we can handle it without overmedicating her. hope this helps and good luck!

how long has it been since he has been on albuterol? they thought the same thing about my daughter and it went away ...give the medicine time...pray and relax, give the med time to work if it hasnt been that long..hopefully it will go away like my daughters did

Which allergist did you see. I am thinking of taking my son in because of how sick he has been since he was born. He was a 33 weeker who is almost 1 1/2 and always has asthma issues. We have to keep him on steroids daily right now and anytime he starts wheezing he goes on Zopanex. If it gets too bad we have had to stay at children's. I truly believe that it has to do with dust and dander in my house. I have just recently spoken to a company to install an air purifying unit that attaches to my a/c and kills 99% of dust and germs in the air. In the meantime I didn't know about an allergist. Do you see a difference? Thanks
A.

Hey C.,
my daughter is asthmatic. I used to live in victorville, and my daughter was hospitalized twice for a week each time due to asthma and related problems. They pretty much gave her albuterol/steroids to stabilize her breathing. It ws a scary situation for her and myself as well. It may be asthma, you never know. I know you said that it has happened twice a year. I usually experience changes in her breathing when the season's change. If it does happend to be asthma, (since you are not sure yet), you can get a prescription for either qvar or advair. My daughter is 9 and it does help from having any asthma attacks. Hope this helps. Sounds like asthma to me.

Did anyone mention bronchitis? It just sounds like once his bronchials became very irritated, they swelled up causing bronchitis. My son and I have asthma, and symptons that severe don't occur very often. I have found that preventative is the best way to go. If my son's allergies are really bothering him and he starts coughing a lot, I make him completely stop and rest so he doesn't irritate his lungs/bronchials any more then they already are. Sometimes he can go months without needing his inhaler, this cold season he has had to use it more often. It just depends. I make sure that he takes his allergy pills during the seasons and do whatever else it takes to keep him from developing respiratory distress or infection. He was in the hospital twice when he was less than two and from then on, we have been able to keep it under control. Not all people are born with allergies, and they can get worse as they get older. One thing that helped me a lot was to get allergy shots. Hope this helps

This happened to me when I was little. My mom bought a humidifier and I used it whenever I was sick - just in case.

The one issue that was never mentioned was mold - my daughter who is now a healthy (asthma free) 12 year old used to have nightly attacks and sometimes daily especially when she was sick. We discovered we had toxic mold in our walls that came in thru the flashing on the windows. My other 2 children were not affected nor was my husband. We flew my daughter to Milwaukee's children's hospital where they specialize in the mold/asthma relationship and had her tested for the different strains of mold. She was a 4+ for many of the molds we had found in the house. We had our home remediated and installed a hospital grade air purifier and she has not had any major attacks in over 4 years - only occassional tightness due to a cold. Our home was a newly built home that was only 4 years old - if you have had water intrusion issues and your child is sensitive to dust mites, allergies, etc. check out your home as a possible trigger.

Dear C.:

Here's a story for you. My grand daughter Gwenevere started being sick non-stop when she was about 4 months old. You know the story from there better than I do I'm sure, and it resulted in her having tubes put in when she was about 9 months old. While the severity of her discomfort eased for a bit, she continued getting "sick" and instead of the doctors thinking it was always a cold or flu, they began to say it might be allergies. The doctors then decided she had asthma. The poor baby was receiving wave after wave of antibiotics, and antihistimines and tylenol, and motrin. She was still getting up several times a night. The poor thing thought this was "normal."

During this time I became aware of NAET and began treating regarding some of my personal matters (please visit NAET.COM) and read the book "Say Good-Bye to Illnes." I also bought for my son and dil the book "Say Good-bye to Children's Allergies." Last month Gwen was treated for her allergies to dust an animals. Guess what? No more mucous! And she is eating much more and sleeping longer at night. She is still allergic to a lot of other things, which are being treated one by one in an orderly fashion. Soon she will be allergy free! In the meantime, she feels SO much better.

I hate the thought of medicating when a cure is available, and thought you might like to check this out. Naet is relatively new, but there are more than 9000 certified practitioners world wide now. There is a physican locator on the website, or you can email me if you want to know what Dr. I (and my grandchildren) go to locally.

Best wishes,

M.

I would highly recommend taking him to a chiropractor. An adjustment will clear any blockages and help his body work in harmony from head to toe.

My oldest daughter stopped breathing at birth and continued to have breathing problems. Dr said it was because she was born at 36wks but she would be ok. I took her to our chiro when she was only 3days old. He found a subluxation that was causing the breathing problems. This is not uncommon for newborns due to the birth process. She was fine after ajdusted her and I would take her in every few weeks to make sure nothing was out of place. Chiropractic care is so much better than drugs, especially for kids.

Hello C., My 8 year old daughter just went thru the same thing. I was watching her sleep and she had shallow and quick breathing, also, the night before I heard crackling in her breathing. I called the triage nurse to see if perhaps she was developing pneumonia, she said that if you can hear something, it is good, it means mucous is moving. Every now and then when we are climbing stairs she will complain of not being able to breath. I took her to doctor and he heard breathing problems and diagosed her as possibly asthmatic. He gave her a breathing treatment, took and xray, found that she did not have pneumonia, checked her breathing again and was better. He gave her albuterol and said to use 3 times a day for about a week. My daughter did not complain, she might be asthmatic but it does not appear to be on-going. I trust my doctor and the advice he gives. She does have a 9 year old cousin who is asthmatic, but I think he is growing out of it.

Best wishes, E.