I also have an 18 month old with asthmatic symptoms. Our doctor won't diagnose at this age, but is treating my LO with pulmicort (.5 mg)daily all winter. We use albuterol at the first sign of any coughing due to the quickness his symptoms become severe.
Last winter, we went back and forth of whether to stay on the pulmicort between episodes. We opted to only use the meds when we had a flare up and it honestly seemed like we were using the neb more days than we were not. So, this winter, after his first episode, we decided that it was time to bite the bullet and use the meds daily. I was very hesitant at first, not wanting to be on the meds all the time. It has been about 5 weeks since this decision and we have not had any episodes. So at this point, I am glad that we are doing it daily, as much as I don't like giving him meds so often.
Good Luck to you!
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by M.C.Calan, USA
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by M.C.Calan, USA
Well, my story is a little long, so sorry for that.
I had my son TJ in 2006. He coughed from the very day he was born. The nurses said it was normal to cough, he had to work all the mucus out of his lungs from the birthing process. I bought it. A week went by, he;s still coughing.
Off to his one week check up, dr hears the coughing, figures he caught something. Puts him on amox for 10 days. Go back in for a recheck, he's wheezing. Start the albuterol every four hours. Go back in a week later, and he says it's asthma. He explains he was born with it. Start the pulmicort, continue with the albuterol every four hours. In the mean time we have been to the er several times for trouble breathing, everytime they ask if he has Cystic Fibrosis.
We see an allergist, he says TJ is too young for allergy testing. That is a load of crap. We see a pulmonologist, (we bring in two chest xrays), he does allergy testing that day (RAST test, blood test). He says it is asthma. He has classic air trapping. He explains some children are born with asthma, it's rare but it happens. Since my dh has asthma, his father has asthma, and his grandfather died from complications of asthma, there is a rather strong family history which plays a rold in diagnosing asthma.
So, since then we have had multiple cases of flare ups, pneumonia's, bronchiolitis, several sinus infections, surgery to remove t&a, so much pred I lost count.
I have learned as much as I can about asthma, I feel my families best weapon is knowledge. If you learn what you can, dr's tend to listen more to what you have to say.
Asthma is still scary, and we are all still learning. One person's trigger isn't always every one's trigger. No ones asthma on here is the same.
Some will tell you children outgrow asthma, or asthma is a fad. To be honest, asthma parents take every day as it comes, one step at a time.
TJ is two and on several meds a day to control his asthma, and it's still not under control. There isn't a magic medicine that will cure it. It's about learning your child's trigger and attempting to avoid it, or learning to prevent symtpoms.
In the meantime, both my other boys were diagnosed with asthma, my oldest in May of 2006, and my second son in Nov of 2008. They all take a different daily maintance med, and all have different asthma action plans.
What are her symptoms? Do they happen more frequently at certain times of the year or when she's rigorously playing?
ReplyDeleteI was the same way. DS was diagnosed with asthma earlier this summer. He was constantly coughing and mostly at night. His allergist kept telling me it was asthma but I never heard wheezing. This entire year, he's only heard wheezing once with a stethoscope. So needless to say, I was doubtful. He was prescribed Albuterol and Pulmicort but I never got them filled.
Then there was a really, really bad night. He was coughing and miserable and I didn't know what to do. Thankfully, I had the allergist personal cell phone number and he called a Rx into a local drug store and walked me through administrating the meds. Since then, it's been a daily dose of Pulmicort (there have been trial and error on a few other meds that didn't work) and I've seen major improvements. We only use Albuterol for emergencies (chronic coughing when he's exposed to one of his triggers...pollen, colds, etc.)
After a couple of months, I decided to take him off the meds to see if it was making a difference. In just a couple of days, the couging was back. So I've learned to follow doctor's orders.
I know exactly how you feel. My only advice is to do as much research as possible and monitor/chart your DD's symptoms. The ladies on this board are wonderful and have a lot more experience in this than I do. So you'll get a lot of help here. GL!