Breathing Problems

My youngest son has this as well. They will not diagnose asthma until after 6 years old. Until then it is just reactive airway disease. Most doctors will not test for allergies until 4. I can recommend an excellent pediatric allergist - Dr. Michael Ruff. He's near Presby. He's Allergy & Immunology. It was really frustrating for me to not be able to ge that designation, but having a diagnosis is not always the best. A good decongestant to keep his snot running and slightly elevating his matress will help. Good luck and feel free to contact me if you get additionally frustrated. I will be glad to share anything I can.

We have ear nose and throat issues, Asthma and sleep apnea. I wish you luck and peace of mind.

I recommend you take him to a pediatric pulmonologist, who will have all the equipment necessary to evaluate his lungs. He can better determine if he needs an allergy test. It's a long process. We went through it with our son. Good luck!

My nephew was tiny like your child. They tested him probably when he was 2 or 3, but he is an adult now and things could have changed. My son was older and seemed to outgrow it, and I know things now that I did not know then.

This may help. If you haven't already, consider what you use to clean your home. Asthma has been on this rise and household cleaners are a major concern.

https://www.shaklee.net/healinghappens/getclean/yourhome/...

That's a good place to start, but also have you recently installed new carpeting, painted or bought new furniture. Is there a smoker in the home? Pets? All these things can give off toxic fumes that may cause or trigger asthma.

Hey -
It looks like you are getting some great advice. My son got RSV at 4 months and continued to be seriously ill (with breathing problems for years). At 10 months, it continued to be severe and so they did allergy testing by doing the sticks of the key things kids are allergic to down his back. They stick them with the key thing and then wait about 20 minutes to see if their skin reacts. It is a VERY easy test. Fortunately for us, my son was not allergic to anything. However, he continued to have breathing problems. Around that age (10 months), we were referred to the pulmonary specialist. The pulmonary specialist told me that allergies, eczema and asthma are all on the same gene (my son also has skin problems). Anyway, he was on albuteral and pulmicort for a very long time. They were both a liquid given to him in the nebulizer. WHen his breathing is very severe, the albuterol has to be given to him every 4 hours. So, this may be why your son appeared worse in the morning, he had not had a dose in a long time. Further, your son's breathing my have appeared worse immediately after a treatment because mucous was loosened in his lungs and so he may have sounded more rattled (just a theory from me - not really based on anything). When I give my son a breathing treatment, I don't notice a perceptible difference in his breathing for probably an hour. Anyway, the pulmicort is a steriod that also helps them - when my son was on it, he just took it morning and night (with the nebulizer).

For the first 3 years of my son's life, he was constantly on the nebulizer. He is now almost 6 and only has to be on it once or twice a year. He is using it right now and I think it is because of allergies (pollen). He developed a dry cough that they call an asthmatic cough and the nebulizer helps with that.

Also just FYI, when my son was seeing the specialist and embroiled in all of this, they told me that they could not officially diagnose asthma until the child is 4 or 5 and they can do an official lung capacity test. But, the child has to be old enough to listen to and follow instructions (breathe in a deep breath, hold, release, etc.). Since my son started getting better after age 3, he has never been "officially" called asthmatic. However, they totally treat him like he is asthmatic and have NO problems giving me the albuterol for him. This week when I called the pediatricians office and told them that he had the dry cough, they wrote the prescription and sent a note to the school so that the school would do the breathing treatments. However, they wanted to see him if he did not improve after 2 days of treatments (he did improve).

Anyway, trust me, I KNOW how stressful it is. But apparently, the breathing issues are fairly common and your pediatrician should be able to help you. However, if the issues continue, request to see the pulmonologist. I don't know how it is here in the Dallas area, but it took months for us to get a pediatric pulmonary specialist appointment back in Virginia. So, if you feel you need to go that route, start looking into it. But, the nebulizer should really help. I too am unclear on what you mean by "syrup", so if you are not using a nebulizer, ask your doctor about getting one.

-L.

HI,
my son also has asthma and was diagnosed very young too. I also had asthma but when i turned 17 it jsut went away. Praise God! As for my son, we try to keep him in on very windy days, bad ozone days, keep his room free from stuffed animals and dust his furniture and wash his comforter on a regular basis. When he does get the wheezing, well just before it gets to that stage he ends up getting a small "asthma cough" kinda a cough with a little wheeze to it. We try the natural way first and usually helps right away. He is eight but have been doing it for the last three years and doesn't get on his home inhaler machine but maybe once a year now! We give him Oil of Oregano first with juice, then later give him Horehound Blend (Herbs and Kids brand) that is for respitory and lung support. Then a little later we give him Cherry Bark Blend (Herbs and Kids brand) which is for respitory and throat support. Lastly we give him Estragulus for kids that helps with the asthma. You can find all these at a good Health Food Store. I would talk to some one at the store, they are very knowledgeable. Also, asthmatic people needs lots of citrus fruits. We also purchased an Air Filter. One of the good ones, not a cheap knock off one.
Hope all this helps!

You weren't asking for a new pedi referral but I love our pedi and wished I had switched sooner.....check out her website for her philosophies.....different from the mainstream MD's....she has turned our course of care totally around....I applaud her willingness to go against the grain and TRULY care for our babies.

www.healthykidspediatrics.com

My son was also perscribed Albuterol for wheezing at about 6 months old. They told me that on the 3rd visit for wheezing they would automatically diagnose him with asthma. I refused to accept this so I kept some on hand and we just monitored him super close. Like your son it didn't do much for mine and I believe mine has alergies as well. I just give him an anti-histamine when needed and it helped. Once he got a bit bigger where he could cough the crud up the problem sort of resolved itself. Not knowing how bad your sons wheezing is it is hard to say. I do have a friend that her child has asthma (as does her son and her husband) and it was obvious real early on. So I think when in doubt seek another opinion.

Our son started acting similar to this 2 years ago. We finally noticed that it was mainly in the fall/winder months...usually begins around Sept/October every year and cotinues until summer weather gets here. I first year we spent many nights in the bathroom with the shower on and heater to make steam and we'd just sit there and let him breathe in the steam. We began running the vaporizer (warm mist) every night. There were times that only prednisone would help him. The 2nd year...here it came again. We tried the same things...he'd get pretty severe with his wheezing..at times to the point of taking hime to the emergency room. Long story short...this year I had had it!! I was determined to figure this out since the pedi thought he was not asthmatic...but his grandmother does have chronic ashtma. When he started wheezing this past October I tried grandma's breathing machine and her medicine. It did not work...all it did was make him more energetic which in turn made his wheezing worse. So I would watch his really close and try to figure out what triggered the wheezing. I found that it he as outside after sunset (breathing night air) that would set it off. Also, any time he had a cold or even a sniffle or sneeze, he'd get to wheezing. So, I decided it was allergy onset. I them got the pedi to give him Singular (it's chewable) since that is what helps grandma's allergies. I gave it to him every day along with some herbal products from http://www.nativeremedies.com he takes the SOS Hista drops, BioVent drops and the BronchoSmoothe every morning and night. If he does start to wheeze a little I give him the CroupEX Sprinkles. (we use a lot of other products from them as well) We use vicks rub just letting him breath the fumes. I also found that if we can keep it under control the better it is...once he's really wheezing and having a hard time taking breaths it's hard to get it to stop...jump on it as soon as you see signs. I've weened him off the Singular since the weather is getting warmer but still continue with the herbal meds in am and pm. Our 1 1/2 yr old also started having a little wheezing this year and i used the herbal meds on him as well. PS. I mix the herbal drops with soda, juice or whatever you need to to make them take it. Our 6 yr is use to it and doesn't mind the taste but the 1 1/2 yr old doesn't mind it with a splash of dr. pepper with it. GOOD LUCK.

Hello KP

figure out what he's allergic to. it took me more than a year to figure out that my daughter was allergic to latex. so, no gloves, no balloons.... otherwise she starts wheezing. Good luck! ~C.~

Hi! My name is J. and i have one child that was diagnosed with asthma pretty early (like a little after a year), but only after he was hospitalized with "exacerbation of asthma". I know that they do not like to diagnose too early because it will stick with them for life... I also have another child who is almost one and he also gets breathing treatments but talk of asthma has never been brought up. Is your son doing nebulizer treatments? is that what you meant by albuterol syrup? or is it a syrup that is givin orally? albuterol is usually given by nebulizer treatment, and it is given quite often for many reasons (not just asthma). A couple of weeks ago, i took my son to the doctor for the very same reason... he was having a hard time breathing and his albuterol treatments were not helping. My doctor said that he had bronchiolitis and that he was just going to have to get over it... the breathing treatments were just for comfort. Another thing that helps is a cool mist humidifier and those vicks vapor fans (just to comfort him). so... I hope this helps you a little bit! good luck! :)

Both of my boys wheezed as small children. My older son (11) grew out of it by the time he was 4. My younger son (7) was diagnosed with asthma at 8 months old. He still has it to this day. We only have to use the medications when he has a respiratory illness which is his trigger.

It could be true asthma or your son could have allergies. I'd take him to an allergist for testing to see if this might be the problem. If there are no allergies then I would seek consultation with a peditric pulmonologist.

I don't think that they can fully diagnose a child until 2 years; however, there are some physicians that kind of theorize before that based on symptoms. Also, I have heard that the allergy tests are not very accurate. However, a physician can diagnose general allergies not the cause as early as 6 months. my daughter is 9 months and on singular b/c she has horrible allergies causing her severe ear infections. In comparison to my older daughter, she was congested as early as 2 weeks old. My older daughter did not start her conjestion until daycare at 5 months. Crazy! We may have to get tubes for our younger. It really depends on your physician.

6 months and 4, respectively.

S.

I am faced with the very same problem. My doctor told me that Ashma is not 'officially diagnosed' until the child is 1 year and has had a number of issues.
Our doctor has not mentioned testing for allergies.

We have the same medicine, and when it doesn't work, I go to the bathroom, run a hot hot shower and sit with him, allowing him to breathe the steam. When he has a coughing spell, it has worked.

Good luck.
B. Z.

Dear KP,
Check out this web site www.yourbestair.com/garrett this is not a medical device. But we have testamonies how these machines have helped with allergies and breathing problems.I took allergy med everyday till I found this machine.Be glad to help you anyway I can.
God Bless J. G