weeks now. We keep going to the doctor and they put her on different meds, but nothing seems to help. Any suggestions?

Katie - posted on 02/24/2009

She is formula fed now, has been tolerating it fine with no side effects. I haven't started her on food yet. No changes have been done to detergent, pets, etc.  We are going to a pulmonogist (hopefully) this week to see what he/she says.

For those of you with kids/babies on steroids (pulmicort or others)...I have heard you are not supposed to habve them on steroids for longer than a week or two due to side effects or damage done to blood vessels, swelling, retaining water, etc. Any side effects to your kids?

I agree with Silvana...I think I am switching doctors...I am fed up with our current one. Thank you all SO MUCH for any and all advice!!!! :-)

Silvana - posted on 02/23/2009

get a 2nd opinion

Christina - posted on 02/23/2009

Quoting Jennifer:

Quoting Christina:

Both of my children has asthma. My daughter who is now 6 was very severe from a young age. I got the same run around. They will not diagnois a child that young with asthma, usually. However, they will give the normal asthma meds. Two things to suggest 1) oral steriods 2) albuterol mixed with atrovent. Those are the only two things that helped my daughter. The steriods come in a liquid form and are given for several days at a decreasing dose each day. The Albuterol/atrovent mix comes premixed and you just put it in the nebulized instead of the albeterol. It works the same, as it is a resue med. I also would ask the pedi to send you to a pulmonologist(lung doctor). They really have all the latest info on treating this. Just to prepare you they will probably test for cystic fibrosis. If you need more info or have other questions I would be happy to help.

i have a 2 year old boy who i just took to the asthma doctor and she gave me a oral steriod to take when i looked it up online it said it needed to be weened off. basically she gave me a sample packet said to call her when he starts to get a stuffy nosed, weezing,etc and she'd call in a precription.  he is starting to have his problems but he is on albuterol/pulmicort nebulized. long story short i guess i don't want him on the oral stariod once he is better. is your daughter on it constently or just when she's having an attack? he is going to a pulmonoligist in june. this all is new and i hate meds. although i know he needs it. has your daughter gotten better with her asthma as she' grown older. mine has had asthma severely since he was 6 months old. i'd appreciate any advise.

She is not on the steroids constantly. She has what is called a asthma action plan. If she starts wheezing and using the albuetrol we up her daily inhaler to 4 puffs twice daily instead of the normal 2 puffs per day. If that does not help the we put her on the oral steriod. I always keep some on hand and the doctor refills it for her with just a phone call. You start off at a certain dose for a couple of days and then you begin the weaning process. One spring/summer she was so bad that we had to have her on the steriod from April until like October. Because she was on it so long it took un until after Christmas to wean her. She is 6 now and doing well. I can not tell you the last time she was put on steroids. She very rarely has to use her albuetrol. We have tried a few times to take her off her daily meds but so far that has not worked. I am a nurse and I hate giving my kids alot of meds to but I know that they work. She scared me several times, with ambulance rides to the hospital and everything. Let me know if you have more questions.

Allison - posted on 02/23/2009

Quoting Katie:

Nothing seems to be helping. I am frustrated they are not doing anything to help her feel better

That would be frustrating! So what to the docs say is the cause of her breathing problems. Have they diagnosed her with asthma? Allergies? 

She's so little - is she on any foods right now? Is she breastfed or furmula-fed. Could it be a diary reaction? What seems to trigger this the first time - you said she just started 5 weeks ago, right? Do you have pets in the house? Have you changed soap, detergents, cleaning products, etc?

Have you thought about looking into seeing a naturopath? Often they do a better job at looking at the root cause of problems and seeing what they can do to correct it, as opposed to just prescribing prescriptions that treat the symptoms. Some natruopaths also can and do write prescriptions when needed.  

Nadene - posted on 02/23/2009

theres not an awful lot you can do, but just try things like vic, or you can buy the calpol plug in vapours to help clear her chest. my little girl is 9 months old, and has these wheezing problems from day one. the quacks are useless!

Jennifer - posted on 02/23/2009

Quoting Christina:

Both of my children has asthma. My daughter who is now 6 was very severe from a young age. I got the same run around. They will not diagnois a child that young with asthma, usually. However, they will give the normal asthma meds. Two things to suggest 1) oral steriods 2) albuterol mixed with atrovent. Those are the only two things that helped my daughter. The steriods come in a liquid form and are given for several days at a decreasing dose each day. The Albuterol/atrovent mix comes premixed and you just put it in the nebulized instead of the albeterol. It works the same, as it is a resue med. I also would ask the pedi to send you to a pulmonologist(lung doctor). They really have all the latest info on treating this. Just to prepare you they will probably test for cystic fibrosis. If you need more info or have other questions I would be happy to help.

i have a 2 year old boy who i just took to the asthma doctor and she gave me a oral steriod to take when i looked it up online it said it needed to be weened off. basically she gave me a sample packet said to call her when he starts to get a stuffy nosed, weezing,etc and she'd call in a precription.  he is starting to have his problems but he is on albuterol/pulmicort nebulized. long story short i guess i don't want him on the oral stariod once he is better. is your daughter on it constently or just when she's having an attack? he is going to a pulmonoligist in june. this all is new and i hate meds. although i know he needs it. has your daughter gotten better with her asthma as she' grown older. mine has had asthma severely since he was 6 months old. i'd appreciate any advise.

Christina - posted on 02/23/2009

Both of my children has asthma. My daughter who is now 6 was very severe from a young age. I got the same run around. They will not diagnois a child that young with asthma, usually. However, they will give the normal asthma meds. Two things to suggest 1) oral steriods 2) albuterol mixed with atrovent. Those are the only two things that helped my daughter. The steriods come in a liquid form and are given for several days at a decreasing dose each day. The Albuterol/atrovent mix comes premixed and you just put it in the nebulized instead of the albeterol. It works the same, as it is a resue med. I also would ask the pedi to send you to a pulmonologist(lung doctor). They really have all the latest info on treating this. Just to prepare you they will probably test for cystic fibrosis. If you need more info or have other questions I would be happy to help.

Katie - posted on 02/23/2009

She is on Albuterol, Pulmicort (both nebulizer meds), Zyrtec, and now Singulair. She has a humidifier in her room that we use every night. Nothing seems to be helping. I am frustrated they are not doing anything to help her feel better

Katie - posted on 02/23/2009

She is on Albuterol, Pulmicort (both nebulizer meds), Zyrtec, and now Singulair. She has a humidifier in her room that we use every night. Nothing seems to be helping. I am frustrated they are not doing anything to help her feel better

Tiffany - posted on 02/23/2009

My daughter had a similar problem when she was about 4 months old.  It seemed like she always had a cold but our pediatrician told us it was because her trachea had not yet hardened fully yet.  He said in some child it takes a little longer than others.  It made sense as she never had a fever or anything else that went along with the cold.  The only treatment we had was albeuterol when she seemed to be a little wheezy. Hang in there, kids grow out of all sorts of things!

Allison - posted on 02/23/2009

Did this start out at as a cold? Or do you think it's allergy-related? What meds are they putting her on?

Leslie - posted on 02/23/2009

Try a vaporizer in her room at bedtime, and also check your house for mould. It can be anywhere and has a bad effect on the lungs

Samantha - posted on 02/23/2009

Hello,

I have a daughter that had phnemonia when she was 6 months old. The best thing to do to get all the congestion out is to put her on your knees with her stomach facing down. You have to have her face more closer to the ground then her bottom so i suggest you raise one knee higher then the other like she is tilted. Then pat her on the back firmly for a few minutes this will bring all the excess stuff up out of her chest. You may have to do it a few times a day when you hear it is building up again. You may get wet and the saliva will be stringy that is good because you know it is coming up well. She may cough or gag as well that is ok it just means she has a few bigger chunks coming out. Hope this helps let me know how you go.

MaryAnn - posted on 02/23/2009

Have they checked her lungs?  My daughter needs a nebulizer when she gets a bad cold and the medicine (albuterol) will help her breathe.

Amanda - posted on 02/23/2009

Put a pillow under the end of her crib where her head is, sit in the bathroom with the hot shower running and the room filled with lots of steam. One doctor recommended bundling up the baby and sitting out in the cold moist air at night for 15 minutes or so (but I would double check on that one).