Question for Moms of Children with Asthma and Eczema...

Updated on April 23, 2017
B.P. asks from Birmingham, AL
5 answers

My daughter will 3 in July. We have tried many different medications to manage her asthma and eczema. She is currently taking Flovent and Singulair. She saw the allergist this morning and Xyzal and Nasonex are being added to her daily medications. Does anyone else take this combo? 4 daily meds seems like a lot for a 3 year old.

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M.C.

answers from Chicago on

Does she have a pediatric pulmonologist? I suggest she sees one to go over these medications. My son developed exercise induced asthma and tried various medications and had many tests done. He ended up being on asmanex, flonase, and singulair daily with xopenex emergency inhaler if needed. He was also allowed to take claritin and use afrin if allergies got bad. So, it can take a few medications to get things under control. I would definitely want the allergist and pulmonologist to be included in all this.

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M.G.

answers from Portland on

I can't answer this exactly - because my son didn't take all 4 at the same time.

He took the (2) puffers as a little kid - he would sound 'asthmatic' after colds/congestion. He had terrible eczema. Nothing helped.

Then we saw an allergist. At this point, we just tried the 2 meds (one sprayed up nose, one pill) daily and his eczema went away for the most part (now just a bit on his arms). It had been so bad he didn't want to go to school.

So for us, his congestion, colds, coughs, and eczema were directly related to his allergies. The daily allergy meds takes care of all of it now. It was trial and error for us. I'd follow what your doctors recommend, and take notes so you can review with them when you go back for check in.

T.D.

answers from Springfield on

for eczema i added fish oils to the diet and the eczema cleared up. my son has bad allergies. hes on zyrtec. my hubbs only has issues with asthma when the allergins are bad. if you have an issue with your kid taking so many meds i suggest finding a different dr for another opinion.

T.R.

answers from Milwaukee on

There are 2 questions important than the # of medications your daughter is taking:
#1: What is the severity of her disease(s)
#2: How well are they are being controlled by the medications she is currently taking.

In many cases, we can measure children against a standard to see how well they are doing, & if whether what we are doing in their care is appropriate. For example - height & weight charts in babies & young children can give information about their nutritional & calorie status. But when it comes to medical conditions, it is dangerous to look at what other children are doing as a basis for how to manage your own childs' care - not every child has a given disease, and those that do experience it in varying degrees. Perhaps 90% of children can be treated similarly, but another 10% may be extreme & need specialized care.

Asthma & eczema are two conditions that go "hand in hand", and sometimes other diseases can emerge with age that are related. Asthma itself can be mild or severe, and even in mild cases can escalate without appropriate treatment. Every asthma attack a child has causes some scarring to the lung tissue - so it is important to prevent any exacerbations, and minimize the ones that do occur as much as possible. Based on the medications you listed, it seems that your daughter has asthma related to allergies - so if the allergies can be controlled, the asthma is more likely to also be controlled.

My biggest recommendation to anyone dealing with medical concerns is to make sure you are fully educated about the disease state you are managing, and to be an "advocate" for care - ask questions of your doctor & pharmacist about the therapies:
What is being prescribed, Why is this drug necessary, How it will help, What is the expected benefit, How soon should you see that benefit, What some of the side effects are that you should commonly expect, What some of the long-term implications of the treatment are, What the risks are for using the treatment vs. not using it, What other treatments are available if this doesn't work, etc.

Having these conversations with the health professionals involved in your daughter's care (or your own, etc.) will help develop a relationship, & hopefully instill a level of trust in the doctors/pharmacists involved. If you do not get satisfactory answers, or you feel that the risks of a therapy are not being balanced with the benefit that will be seen, make sure you pursue that, either with the current doctor/pharmacist, or by getting a 2nd opinion, or even changing care to a different healthcare provider that you feel comfortable with. But make sure - your comfort level should be based on how your doctor communications & provides evidence for the care they are prescribing, not based on whether the doctor is prescribing more medications than your neighbors daughter might take for what seems to be the same condition.

A big long answer, but I strongly believe in patient advocacy (working towards understanding & mutual agreement in care), and I hope some of this information is helpful for you as you continue to put your daughter's health first. Feel free to reach out privately with any additional questions. T. :)

D.D.

answers from Boston on

The Flovent and Singulair are for asthma treatment. They do nothing to treat her allergies. I'm going to guess that her allergies probably make her asthma worse since they can trigger congestion so adding allergy medication seems to be the way to go.

Personally I'd probably run everything by her ped for his/her input. I also might look into a ped pulmonary specialist who can make sure your daughter's asthma is being treated correctly and give you an action plan if she has breathing issues that aren't responding to treatment.

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