My youngest ds (age 3) has been getting a bad cough a lot lately. It is dry and kind of wheezy. His previous doctor had mentioned asthma a few times before when he was sick. Well, he got sick while I was gone this weekend and dh took him to the doctor yesterday. She also said that she thinks he may have asthma. She prescribed two inhalers that we have to use for 2 weeks and then she wants to see him again. One of them is albuterol and the other is flovent. She told dh that when we come back in 2 weeks she may refer us to a doctor to test him for asthma??? Dh didn't ask may questions. I think he felt a little overwhelmed. What kind of testing would they do??? Do any of you have any experience with these inhalers??? I am concerned about the flovent because I have to brush his teeth, rinse his mouth and then wipe his face after using it. I would not be suprised if he has asthma. He already has severe allergies and my brother had severe allergies/asthma as a child. Trina, I know your ds has it. Are there some good websites to get info??? Any info you could give me would be appreciated. Thank you.

By Sue3 on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 10:05 am:

My Ds has asthma and allergies.We found out a year ago.We had a lot of things going on with my family at the time ,Mom just had a major surgery and Dad was in hospice.
(I feel like I could have noticed it sooner .)
Ds wasn`t breathing well he complained some what about it, so I took him in to the hosp. They did an oxygen reading (they put some thing on his finger) and it measures the oxygen your body takes in.Well , his was at 70 percent which is not good for a child they said.
He was put on a nebulizer (it is a fine mist he breathed in from a machine and it had albuterol and a steroid in it).
He was 100 percent better.They also gave him an inhaler.Then we went to our Dr.and she scheduled an appointment with an allergist and sure enough he has a lot of allergies and is on advair right now and uses an inhaler and nebulizer when needed also allergy medicine.
We were very over whelmed also.Things will get better and get answered once you see an allergist.He also breathed into this breathing measurement thing too and we could keep track of his breathing,he will probally do that at the allergist also.
Go to google and type in allergy or asthma, I bet you will find some good sites.
Good luck !

By Ladypeacek on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 10:09 am:

Its ok, don't be worried, the testing is probably a pulmanry function test to see how well he breathes. I am on both of those inhalers too and so is my mother. The allergies may be causing it, thats is what my problem is. Is he on a prescription allergy med? The flovent tastes a little funny and feels kind of sticky. They have so many meds now that they will be able to control it, my mother has had it all her life and had to be on steroids for 24 years and gained an extreme amount of weight but now they can fix it with other things. The albuterol will help instantly when he is wheezing and the flovent will work over time. I hope i helped a little.

By Emily7 on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 10:21 am:

I don't know anything about asthma, but will keep your ds in my thoughts.

By Ladypeacek on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 11:47 am:

http://www.pediatriconcall.com/fordoctor/DiseasesandCondition/asthma.asp

this has lots of info!!

By Debbie on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 12:12 pm:

Thanks everyone!! I talked with the doctor's office this morning to make his follow up appt. They answered my questions. I guess he is going to be referred to an allergist if this treatment doesn't work. He is really being good about the inhaler. He has to use a little mask over his face to take the inhaler. He likes it because it has a duck on it.

He seems to really cough a lot when he starts running around and at night. Does this happen with asthma. He also seems like he can't catch his breath when he is coughing a lot.

Thanks for the website. I will check it out this afternoon!!!

By Ladypeacek on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 12:43 pm:

Man soetimes i feel like i am choking from coughing so bad at night, that when its worse for me. So when he coughs thats when i would encourage the albuterol inhaler so that will stop the coughing instantly!

By Sue3 on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 01:09 pm:

yes, my ds keeps his inhaler under his pillow at night because his coughing is worse in the evening also.

By Pamt on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 01:11 pm:

http://www.njc.org/
http://asthmatrack.com/

My oldest DS (10 y/o) was dx with asthma when he was 11 mos old. His primary symptom was coughing after crawling down the hall. Coughing when running or exercising is very typical of asthma and is referred to as exertion asthma. Asthma also almost always is worse at night. My DS is rarely wheezy, but his primary symptom is a dry hacking cough. If I put my ear to his chest when he starts coughing it in only them that I hear wheezing. Even if the meds work I would still go ahead and have him tested for allergies. Allergies do contribute to asthma and if you know what his specific asthma triggers are then you can work to avoid them. The only reason that you have to worry about rinsing his mouth after the inhalers is he can develop thrush, plus it just leaves a nasty taste. Also, I'm sure they told you, but the albuterol can make him really shaky, jittery, and hyper.

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 02:31 pm:

{{{Debbie}}}The AsthmaTrack.com web site Pam posted above is good. I also like Keep Kids Healthy - Asthma.

Going to a specialist will be a BIG help. They will do allergy testing to try to determine what your DS's triggers are. There are so many and they differ for everyone. DS takes Claritin daily and 2 puffs from a Pulmicort Turbo Inhaler. We don't use his albuterol inhaler unless his peak flow readings fall into the yellow zone. We take his peak flow readings (he blows as hard as he can into a peak flow meter) and chart them twice daily even when he's healthy. Our allergist set up an "Action Plan" for DS that is GREAT. Depending on DS's peak flow readings and symptoms it gives different directions for meds. If his readings start to drop, as they often do before an asthma flare, we up his meds according to the Action Plan, and have been able to nip attacks in the bud. Putting a HEPA air cleaner in his room has also been a big help.

Common asthma triggers are dust, dust mites, pet dander, pollen, smoke, humidity, viruses, allergies, brisk/cold temperatures, exercise,... Determining your DS's sons triggers will be a BIG help in controlling asthma. My son's triggers are cat dander and viruses. If he comes down with a cold his asthma usually flares up. However, since following his action plan he rarely falls below the high yellow zone. (Peak flow zones explained nicely at the Keeps Kids Healthy web link posted above.)

Hope this helps. E-mail me any time. Be thankful you're getting a diagnosis now. We were clueless until DS had an attack so severe it landed him in the hospital for 3 days. Since getting his asthma under control he has been a normal, healthy kid. Prior to that he was sick a lot - croup (or so we thought!), ear infections, walking pneumonia, etc..

By Lauram on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 02:50 pm:

Both my kids take Flovent and one has Albuterol "just in case." They haven't been officially dx, but the Flovent really helps my oldest when he gets the croup and my youngest wheezes when he gets a cold and the Albuterol takes care of that right away.

By Debbie on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 05:24 pm:

Thanks everyone. I checked out the links and talked to my mom about my brother's asthma. I feel better since I have an idea of what we are dealing with. It is funny that you mentioned croup Trina, that is what I thought it was. My mom also said the same thing about getting him diagnosed now. My brother landed in the hospital a few times before he was diagnosed and his medication was worked out. If it is Asthma, which it seems to be, this would explain a lot of things about his current behavior. He has been so out of sorts lately. I thought he was going through the horrible 3's or just not adjusting to the move. Now, I am starting to believe that he has just not felt 100% lately. I also have noticed the last month that he is so tired after being out running around with the neighborhood kids. Hopefully, we can get this under control soon.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 12:22 am:

My grandmothers asthma was allergy related. She would get out of breath if she over did it. But if her allergies were flared up she would get out of breath with out doing much at all. So you are going about this all the right way for sure... Best of luck to you and DS.

By Yjja123 on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - 08:33 pm:

My 9 year old daughter was diagnosed with asthma 5 years ago. She ALWAYS coughs when running and exercising too much.
She has reflux which I guess can cause the asthma. She spit up all the time as a baby so it is likely she was born with the reflux.
She is on the flovent as a preventative and we have the albuterol for attacks. She states it tastes like metal.
I took her to the doctors for a bad cold and that is when they diagnosed her for asthma and sent her for an upper gi to diagnose the reflux. The only time we have trouble is when she gets colds (the asthma attacks start and we end up in the doctors office). The only time she wheezes is with a cold the rest of the time it is coughing. The better we have the reflux under control the less asthma symptoms she has.
It is better to know so you can manage it. My daughter still does everything (dancing & sports) and knows when to slow down (if coughing starts).
Yvonne