Sleep Issues and Rad/asthma

Hi C.,
He sounds like he is going down the path my lil' one went down.....I don't have the time to go down all we did for her, but it ended up in a pedi change even though I truly did love ours, but did not feel the care was preventative; just reactive. We now go to Dr. Bain in Frisco (I happily drive from McKinney) to her. She has seriously changed the health and development of my child. I can not express how much I am SOOOOO grateful for her work and her perspective on what a healthy child really is....the first thing she did was STOP all immunizations until we got her 'healthy' again. Now we do them on an altered schedule again (we were before too but her system was still too low to handle them). We also did bloodwork on my lil' one and found out all the foods she was intolerant too.....with these steps in place I have a different child. She is hardly ever sick!!! Her development, although never considered behind, is more consistent and has amazed me more than the health benefit. I SERIOUSLY can not express how having a pedi like Dr. Bain has put my mind at ease that she really is looking at what is causing the issues and hit it at the core!!! I wish I had other advice but I don't. The hardest but in the end absolutely BEST thing I did for my child was to switch pedis.......

www.healthykidspediatrics.com

As for the RAD, my lil' one also had that. This year I started her on holistic treatments from Dr. Chalmers (referred by Dr. Bain) and the first night of giving her the supplements, she slept through the night. I WAS SHOCKED!!! Normally we had to do 3-5 days of breathing treatments to get that kind of result. I am so impressed with this clinic also and they have helped me with hormonal issues I struggle with that the MD's won't recognize....Dr. Chalmers caught on to it first visit and I am a different person. He is also in Frisco. (Maybe I should move more that way, huh?)

http://chalmerswellness.com

Let me know if you have any questions.....I do hope your lil' guy gets better. It is so hard to know where to go, but I am so grateful to have found the care we now receive through these two clinics.....

I highly recommend getting a specialist and have some bloodwork ran. We found out by accident that my son had an immunodeficiency when they ran his bloodwork while putting his tubes in his ears after spending the first year of his life going from one cold to the next and from one ear infection to the next. He is now almost two and is also being treated for asthma (without the diagnosis). They don't like to diagnose it this young because the insurance deems it a preexisting condition, which stays with them indefinitely. My son does cough at night and some night wakings, but nothing like your describing. We use Dallas Allergy & Immunology (Dr. Wasserman)... they also specialize in asthma treatment. They have done a great job for us and are ALWAYS available for phone consultation.

I'll pray for your family.

You poor thing. You must be exhausted! I'd suggest a couple of things. Talk to your pedi about the appropriate specialist. Get your questions answered to put your mind at ease. I believe RAD just means wheezing. A bad episode with wheezing doesn't necessarily mean you are doomed to have asthma. Also, allergies can trigger asthma. A low immune system can result in allergies. with all the little illnesses your baby has had..... in my mind beefing up your child's immune system would help.
Vitamins with prebiotics. Maybe some alfalfa. You mentioned you like to study nutrition. So do I. Here are some wonderful products to consider. Look especially at the baby powder. Do your research on pre and probiotics. I think your little guy could really benefit from them.
http://healinghappens.myshaklee.com/us/en/category.php?ma...
I'm sorry you are having a hard time. Lack of sleep could be one of the hardest thing a mom endures. Get help if you can.
My Best,
P.

I would be careful with vaccines while your little one is so sick. If you are interested in any alternative medicine like homeopathy you can email me offline.
L.

I would have a sleep study done at Children s hospital Dallas ( because they are trained to do sleep studys on infants and they do them all of the time unlike some of the hospitals around). I would also take him to see a pediatric pulmonary specialist. My son would also do this when he was an Infant (now 17). Once we had the sleep study done ( after I had complained about his sleep for months to our pedi and told me not to worry about it , we had an unrelated test done and they had to sedated him for the test as soon as he fell asleep they became concerned) That is how I managed to finally get some one to do a sleep study. My son had obstructive sleep apnea.
After our sleep study he was sent home with a monitor and we used a CPap machine to keep his airway open while he was asleep. We were all able to get some sleep after that. He still has sleep apnea, asthma like problems much better now than when he was younger. When he was younger he had several bouts of pneumonia manly caused by the sleep apnea. Good luck and remember you are your child's best advocate.

C. don't know if this will help or not but check out this web site.
www.ecobusiness.com/mfgarrett
then on products click on air and go through that.
Wish you good luck and god bless.
J. G

You certainly need help...and help is out there. Dr. Wasserman at Med City Childrens was the allergist/immunologist I took my son to when we discovered his peanut allergy at 12 months after a winter during which he was constantly sick (pneumonia once). The OTC allergy meds did nothing. The prescription allergy med was great for clearing up congestion enough to let him sleep. We did not have the sleep issues you have. A sleep study for the apnea is a great idea. Wasserman was very responsive and took my son's case very seriously. In the end, I preferred a more holistic approach (pediatric chiropractor, removing allergens in the home, move the baby to a room with no carpet [helped a lot, although allergist thought it was nuts] and immune-boosting supplements). Even so, I'm glad to have an aggressive MD/PhD on my support team in case of a life-threatening allergic reaction. You have to be the one to find the right balance of alternative and traditional medicine for your child. Each specialist sees what they know how to treat, but only you keep the big picture in mind. The chiropractor helped more than I thought she could. (Melissa Shelton in Frisco) My son loves his adjustments (giggles and demands to be adjusted first when we go together). He still gets sick, but not as often and not as bad.
I'd also suggest you look into cranio-sacral massage therapy. It's super-light touch massage, safe for newborns up to the elderly. It's at least as much art as science, but it has helped me and my daughter a lot. You'll know after one massage if it will help your son or not. In my opinion, it's worth $100 to find out if something this gentle can improve your son's life. You can hold the baby through the whole massage. Don't ignore the sleep study or CPAP machine if a doctor says he needs it, but don't let them intimidate you into leaving other avenues unexplored. www.kenpiercy.com is my favorite cranio-sacral massage therapist.

Good luck. Pressing on through that exhaustion is taking a toll on you, so try to take care of yourself and get some rest. If you fall apart, your whole family crashes and burns. It's easier said than done, but it's so important.

S.
SAHM of 3