Cough Variant Asthma

My son was diagnosed with cough variant asthma also and have had absolutely no luck with getting it under control. I don't think the doctors know what my son really has and since he happens to have a cough sometimes they put that label on him. At one point, we had my son on 6 different meds two-three times a day. We have since taken him off everything and have taken him to a new doctor because with or without the meds he still has his croupy, barky cough. My only advice is to not let the doctors tell you something that you know instinctually is not right. If they put him on meds and he's doing well, that's wonderful. But we've been doing this for almost 2 years now, and they keep telling us the meds will work eventually. I'm not buying it!!! Good luck and keep everyone posted.

K.,
I was diagnosed with asthma several years ago. My form of asthma presents with a cough, not a wheeze. I am assuming that this is what your doctor ment by cough varient asthma. I take singulair as a preventive daily and a rescue inhaler as nessesary. Learning your son's triggers will help keep his asthma in control. I would suggest going to the library and getting some books on the subject to help educate you more on the subject.
If your son's doctor isn't very helpful on the subject, it could be because he isn't sure exactly what you want to know on the subject or isn't very familiar with it himself.
I like that you have your questions written down ahead of time, because I tend to forget when I am in the doctor's office if I don't.
Good luck with this.
K.

Hello K., My three childrena and I all have asthma. My son and I have the dry cough as a pre-curser. I know that when the cough starts, the lungs will start filling with fluid soon. The over production of fluid is a hard thing to deal with. That is why broncitis is mistakenly diagnosed before the asthma is addressed. Pnemonia can set in also. This needs to be nipped in the bud as soon as the dry cough begins. I never had any success with family docs, or pediatritions. I went to an allergist who specialised in pediatrics. Finding out what the triggers are is the best way to treat this disease. I went around and around with my sons doctor, who didn't want me seeing anybody but him. He finally dropped us from his practice. I know it was because he was getting so much money from us, especially with all of the ER visits. But I stayed in charge of my son, and did what was best for his health. He used a nebulizer 3 times a day when well, and every 4 hours when sick. The prevenitve meds worked wonders. The hand held inhaler couldn't get deep enough into his airways because of all of the fluid and swelling in the lungs. Feel free to keep in touch if you have questions. I've lived with this so long that it has just become a normal routine, like brushing our teeth. Good luck.

K.,

I used to have sports induced asthma for two years and it really restricted me when I played college soccer. I finally went to a chiropractor and in a matter of weeks it was gone and I could finally breath!! It was so great. I would really suggest that you try going to a chiropractor. Each vertebrae corresponds to specific nerves such as the lungs. For me the vertebrae that was very out of place was the one that covered the nerves that went to my lungs and since it was out I had problems with my lungs. It's an amazing thing, check it out.

If you live in the Grand Rapids area my chiropractor is Dr. Steve Swindel, he is wonderful, his practice is called "life family chiropractic"

Hope that helps

Greetings K.,

Coughing is a signal that the body is dehydrated. Have your son drink plenty of water and eat plenty of raw fresh vegetables and fruit.
A good book to read is "ABC Of Asthma, Allergies and Lupus; Eradicate Asthma - Now!" By Dr. Batmanghelidj
Much success!

Love, Peace and Joy,
S.

My husband and I both have asthma, although we are both lucky to be well controlled with only a rescue inhaler as needed. My two youngest sons have not been diagnosed, but they do have issues. My doc described it as this; when they are exposed to upper respiratory infections/viruses, their lungs over-react and behave as if they have asthma. The constriction and congestion are the same as somebody who has asthma, but on normal days, they act like normal lungs. I don't know if this is the same thing you are talking about, but my middle son has seemed to outgrow it, hes 4.

~L.

K.,
I have a five year old son with C.V.A. I can tell you that our doc wasn't very informative either. But I did find helpful info about it on webmd. My son's asthma isn't severe but is triggered every time he gets a cold or a seasonal allergy. He will have coughing fits that are dry and croupy. They happen most often when he is active. He has trouble catching his breath during these spells and will often throw up during them. When this happens I start him on his singulair and give him breathing treatments with a nebulizer three times a day. I keep up with this until the coughing fits stop when he is active and then we are okay again for a while. It is a strange deal and it can be hard to control. I hope this helps you and good luck.

J.

My 8 year old has cough variant asthma an I insisted they start treating him as young as 2 for cough variant asthma. They did not want to do so because he was so little. But after showing up at my Pedi's office everyday I finally got them to hear me out battle 1. PROBLEM he was and is unresponsive to breathing treatments. Of course breathing treatments are usually for wheezing!! CVA patients are not wheezers. Battle 2 was my son being on steroids over 15 times in a year!!! Are these people crazy? We have to come up with a better treatment plan! Asthma specialist has allergy tests done on my son he has seasonal allergies so we began Singulair, Alavert, and Flovent plan. Next step I get my referral to ENT she recommends adenoid removal which we do when he is 3. After the surgery we did see some improvement. However he is now 8 almost 9 and I feel like it is starting all over again I also use Robitussin Cough DM to get us through the night and Benadryl and honestly the Cough DM was helping me keep his CVA in control and I was only have to use it following a cold which would trigger the CVA now however cough DM is not being sold anymore only cough and cold and it doesn't seem to work well at all and now I'm going back to the Dr this week to demand some answers and put him on Presildone for 7 days!

Hi K., I have a 7 year old that I spent 4 years trying to get diagnosed and his pediatrician would not listen to me. Finally an ER clinic doc asked why no one had diagnosed him with asthma. I wanted to kiss her feet. I am sure you have done some research but here is a site anyway that has a good amount of info. I hope it helps http://www.webmd.com/asthma/guide/cough-variant-asthma. Good luck.