Asthma/Reflux
A few of you had posted in another thread that your children have asthma. I'm curious, did/do they also suffer from reflux? We took the baby to immediate care over the weekend for what we thought was just a bad cold. He was coughing alot, a little bit of a runny nose, and not sleeping at all! Well, the doctor there said his chest is clear, his throat looks good, so other than a bit of a runny nose, it doesn't seem like a cold. She was worried that his cough was "wheezy" sounding, and wonders if it could be asthma. We are going to follow up with our regular pediatrician on Monday. She said there seems a strong correlation between kids with reflux and asthma. Also, what kinds of asthma symptoms do your kids have? I'm really just thinking that the on-call doctor was just being cautious, but I am worried about his cough. It sounds terrible, and it seems hard for him to catch his breath. I hate going to immediate care...the last time we were there with our oldest, the doctor tried telling us he thought Luke had meningitis! I can't wait till 8 am tomorrow so I can talk to our regular doctor! For now, the baby is sleeping (what little sleep he can get with all the coughing) in our room right next to our bed! I'm not comfortable putting him in his own room when he seems to have breathing issues! By the way, the baby still has reflux pretty bad! He is on Zantac, and still seems to spit up quite a bit. If you kids had reflux, how long did it last? Shawn is 5 months, so we are hoping it's nearing the end.
We had something similar
When our youngest, Jake, was an infant, he began having sort wheezing or croupy sounding coughs kind of out of the blue. I started trying to figure out what might be the problem, and although I don't believe it was asthma, it was some sort of respiratory illness. I think his problem was caused by the dryness of the air from the furnace being turned on, and possibly also caused by the recirculated air or lack of fresh air. Anyway, we put a humidifier in his room and his cough subsided in a few days. I don't know if that helps, but it worked for us. Good luck!
out of the blue
Yep, it just sort of showed up a couple of days ago! He just got over a cold a couple weeks ago, so we assumed the cold was back. We've had the humidifier on in the house for a few weeks, and we had the vaporizer going the last couple of nights for him too. Hopefully that will start helping. I think I remember seeing that someone else's child seemed to have "seasonal" asthma. I'm really hoping it's just another cold, but the wheezy cough doesn't seem cold-like.
Does/did Jake have reflux? I was reading that respiratory problems are pretty common among kids with reflux. Does he still have respiratory problems as he's gotten older?
Jessica
~ Mommy to Luke and Shawn
JessicasCandles@gmail.com
SEASONAL ASTHMA
mY SON HAS SEASONAL ASTHMA. WHEN HE WAS A BABY HE DID SPIT UP ALOT (AWHOLE LOT) BUT I NEVER TALKED TOT HE DOCTOR ABOUT IT, I FIGURED THAT IS WHAT BABIES DO. HE WOULD SOMETIMES SPIT UP I SWEAR HIS WHOLE BOTTLE. HE GOT PNEUMONIA WHEN HE WAS ABOUT 2 AND WHEN TOOK HIM BACK IN AFTER THAT BECAUSE HIS COUGH FROM THE PNEUMONA NEVER WENT AWAY. (IT SEEMED HE ALWAYS HAD A COUGH IN THE WINTER DOCTOR SAID IT WAS ALERGIES AND WE TRIED I PROMISE EVERY MEDICINE THEY HAD AND NOTHING WORKS. tHEN AFTER HIS COUGH NEVER WENT AWAY SHE PUT HIM A BREATHING TREATMENT ONCE A DAY (PULICORT SP). IT HELPED SO MUCH. SHE TOLD ME TO GIVE IT TOO HIM ALL THE TIME ONCE A DAY . WE DID AND THEN WE NOTICED IN THE SUMMER HE WOULD NEVER COUGH. HIS ASTHMA WOULD ONLY ACT UP WHEN IT WAS FALL THROUGH WINTER WHEN THE AIR WAS VERY DRY. HE WILL COUGH SO HARD YOU WILL THINK HE HAD PNEUMONIA AGAIN. AND WHEN HE RUNS HE START COUGH SO HARD HE ALMOST MAKES HIMSELF THROW UP. i TALKED TO THE DOCTOR MORE ABOUT IT LAST APPT (A COUPLE MONTHS AGO) AND SHE SAID ITS CHILDHOOD SEASONAL ASTHMA AND HE WILL GROW OUT OF IT, BUT HE HASNT SO FAR. MY NEIGHBOR HAS TWO BOYS 11 AND 14 AND SHE HER YOUNGEST HAS SEASONAL ASTHMA AND HE NEVER GREW OUT OF IT. WE TOO HAVE A HUMIDIFIER IN HIS BEDROOM THAT WE RUN EVERY NIGHT IN THE WINTTER, IT SEEMS TO HELP HIM SLEEP. I HOPE YOUR LITTLE BOY STARTS FEELING BETTER. LET US KNOW AN UPDATE AFTER THE DOCTORS.
No reflux now
He only had a reflux problem for his first few months after he was born, but that was during his coughing/wheezing phase too. He hasn't really had any problems yet this year but, then again, this fall/winter didn't get off to as cold of a start as last fall/winter(last year it got super-cold in mid-October then warmed back up), so we didn't have to turn our furnace on as early. Hopefully he won't have any troubles this year, or any year for that matter. OH, I almost forgot, we also got an air purifier last year in addition to the humidifier and put it in the hallway outside of his room, so that could have been a factor in his improved health, too.
RSV
One of the girls that I work with has a baby who had RSV. She seemed to have what Shawn has at 3 months and she ended up having RSV. Salli said the only way to know for sure is to have your pediatritian swab his mouth. Danny was in the hospital for a few days because she got really sick with it.
Not my kids but me
My kids haven't been diagnosed with asthma, although I wonder about my 4 year old because he has had croup once and many other lengthy coughs after being sick. He wasn't a spit up baby though, so no reflux problems. However I have asthma that is seasonal, and for those of you who can get your kids on something now rather than later they will feel so much better. I just started taking daily advair in the last month after an ER visit for pneumonia and it makes a huge difference. I still get sick easier but the breathing was much better while using an inhaler and advair. I have both asthma and slight issues with gastric reflux, so I have to attest that they seem to go together for me.
We've been there and done that!!
Well where to start.... Bekka has chronic lung disease, reflux and aspirates. She is on Prevacid (works better than Zantac!!) (Lets just say that when she vomits it's like Poltergist!) Singulair, Pulmicort and Xopenex. She has had pnemonia and RSV numerous times, when we walk onto the Peds floor at Memorial the nurses just say oh it's you guys again, here sign the paperwork and here's your room, we're regulars! She has to have all her liquids thickened. Luckily all she drinks is Pediasure and that's the right consistency. I don't like taking little ones to walk in clinics. My Ped told me to just take Bekka to the ER cuz Med Points don't do well with little ones. Bekka's reflux is getting better. Ask your Ped about Prevacid. Another thing that I love for Bekka is those Pedicare Vapor plug ins.
Melissa
Blessed to be Bekka's Mommy
Our miracle is gonna be Four on February 13th!!
1 lb 5 ozs 13" to 28lbs 36" Time sure flies!