My son has been dealing with asthma off and on for the past year...it started when he started school. He would get a cold, it would go into upper respitory infection and mext thing I knew we were in the doctors office with severe wheezing...after several nebulizer treatments we would be back home and treating at home.
His allergic trigger is dust mites...so we have gotten rid of stuffed animals...we now have no carpet in the house...I wash his sheets weekly...and he is on four preventative medications...oh his other trigger is catching a cold (viral or bacterial).
This time round it started with a runny nose...then the cough started which is my cue to start the nebulaizer as it seems to work better for him than the inhailer (both are albuterol).
Tuesday of this week I treated with albuterol inhailer at 6:30am...used nebulizer at 7am...he sounded better and sent him to school...9am school nurse calls and he is wheezing breathing in and out, with a tight chest...and she is getting ready to dose him with a second dose of albuterol as the first she gave him did not work. By the time I get there...calling the peditrician on the way and cannot get him in until 2:30pm with the physician's assistant. He has had now had four doses in two hours...and the nurse tells me I should probably just take him straight to the doctors office. I call the doctor"s offcie and ask to speek to our doctor's nurse...he tells me to give him another dose of albuterol and if he doesn't get better go to the ER (oh and steam him in the bathroom). I do both and he starts to get better...wheezing stops...so by the time we reach the doctors office at two thirty no wheezing. (An ear infection but clear lungs...of course at this point he has had five doses in five hours).
Instructions are nebulize him every four hours around the clock for 24 hours then every four hours whiile awake for the next two days or it clears up.
The school nurse has been great (giving his nebulizer at school) and although we have kept the wheezing from coming back he is coughing and coughing...he takes a deep breath and coughs...he coughs all night, even right after treatment. The school nurse has suggested seeing a pumenologist...
Well, today is Friday and I have been second guessing myself...so do I take him back into see OUR peditrician not the pyysician assistant...who knows my son and his history? Do I see how it goes over the weekend, knowing if it gets out of hand again I can take him to the ER? My biggest concern is the coughing, which to me says it is not totally under control...yet...but today is the last day of the "treat him and if he doesn't get better come back"...so I go back just for the cough? They have Saturday hours (but a one in six chance it will be our pediatrician).
So, mom's what would you do?? Any of you who deal with asthma regularly? My son's action plan does say coughing is a yellow zone symptom...since it is not clearing up does that them make it a red zone?? ARGH!! And my son feels fine and is acting pretty normal a bit hyper from all the albuterol...but doesn't look "sick"
Help!! Please!!
We just got home from seeing our pediatrician AND...wait for it...he has RSV.
So he has been exposing everyone we know for the past week and probably before then to it. He never ran a fever!!
It now makes since that his asthma would not clear up...because he has one whopper of a viral infection.
Based on my experience with my daughter and nephew, I would want him to be seen by his pediatrician today and not go into the weekend like he is, and I would ask if a referral to a specialist is warranted at this point...it may be.
Don't go into the weekend with it. Take him in, and ask for a referral to a specialist. I have been as asthmatic since I was 18 months (I'm 35). You mention preventative meds...if he's on 4 different ones and still having this much trouble, he should be on something different. When I have taken steroid inhalers, my breathing has been much better. I do not take them any more because I am a singer, and the steroids make my voice really raspy - I get by with other meds, knowing that they aren't *quite* as good, but better for my lifestyle, if that makes sense. But if he's having this much trouble, perhaps he needs some kind of a steroid pill (like prednisone) to get him over the hump. Or if he has an infection, he might need an antibiotic.
Sorry, that's a lot of jabbering...hope something in there is helpful.
Also, I really recommend chiropractic care for helping with overall health (including respiratory health). Look for a NUCCA doctor, they are more gentle.
Take care...and don't wait!
you know if that cold became bronchitis...then recovery will take a couple of weeks. That's been my past experience....if I get a cold, then it's immediately bronchitis! Been dealing with this for years with myself.
I would have him checked. See what's up with those lungs. Don't wait it out. & do expect recovery to take time.
R.,
Yes, if it were me, I would want my son to see the pediatrician who knows his history before the weekend after everything that has been going on with him. Asthma is not an illness to take lightly. Tell your doctor's office that with the recent frequency and intensity of the symptoms, the need for increased medications, and the constant coughing, you want him to see his pediatrician.
In addition, I would want to see an allergy/asthma specialist to get his symptoms under better control, and the nurse's recommendatoin for the pulminologist should be considered. Our specialist has been great with my son, and this is the first fall/winter that he hasn't been on the nebulizer.
Ask your pediatrician for a referral or find one through some of your friends who may know. Call as soon as you can. I know here in the Las Vegas area, it can be a long wait until you are able to get an appointment. So, even if this episode clears quickly and he feels better soon, make the call to the specialist and get an appointment.
Best to you and your son,
J. F.
Sorry to hear about RSV. Separate from that, I might recommend seeing an allergy/asthma specialist. My son has asthma too and he did further testing and really just educated us with a lot more info on how to handle. He was also much more comfortable prescribing higher dosages to prevent the issues from ever getting bad. We started seeing him in September and everything has been under control since then!
My son has suffered with asthma since he was diagnosed at 6 months. It h as been a struggle. I have been in and out of the er as well as the doctor's office countless numbers of time. One thing the doctors gave me was a peak flow tube for me to use whenever he had asthma. If he blew in it and couldn't raise it to a certain I was instructed to get him into the hospital immediately. My son is now 23 and I still have that peak flow. I do not play with asthma. If I was unsure I would pary and take him in. His primary doctor always warned me that his lungs could collapse so that is why I would take him. I praise God that he took care of my son down through the years. You be the judge and go with your gut feelings.
when my daughter gets like this i also give her an antihistamine to help dry her up 2-3 times a day on top of her asthma meds. sorry to hear he has rsv
Wow, I'm so glad I saved your question as my two year old has been struggling with his asthma this week too. I hope your son has a speedy recovery.
Just getting a chance to read this post. Hope all is weel with your son. My daughter has always had a cough, that we were just getting told that it was just bronchitis, it would die down and come back. She was hospitalized for something else but found out that she had horrible pneumonia. God knows how long she had been walking around with it. We found out that she has an immune disease and it has affefected her lungs. We were giving the inhaler and nebulizer before the hospital stay, but without getting X-rays done at the hospital, we could have lost her. My advice is to never wait, suggest the X-rays and go through the poking and proding. Now I am on such alert, because we had to go back to the hospital for two weeks, because she caught a bacteria infection in her bloodstream that was deadly. Strep pneumonia. Take care of your child and push for doctors to take notice. Good luck.
