Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Respiratory Disorders (Expert Forum)
my two year old
Answered by
This forum is for questions and support regarding lung and respiratory issues such as: Allergies, Asthma, Bronchitis, Colds - Flu, Chronic Cough, COPD, Cystic Fibrosis, Emphysema, Fibrosis, Lung Abscess, Nasal Polyps, Pleurisy, Pneumonia, Sarcoidosis, Sinusitis, Tuberculosis
my two year old
by mysmile*, Apr 14, 2004 12:00AM
My two year old got a runny nose one day lasst year. Two and a half hours later i took him to the hospital because he was having trouble breathing, and a fever. they did a chest x-ray and told me that he had phnumonia. this has happend six times in the last year. He starts with a runny nose, and within hours a fever and wheezing. his doctor dx him with asthma and prescribed pulmicort and xeopenex, and singular as needed. the only thing is by the time he gets his runny nose and we start the treatments it is to late the meds dont help. he was born six weeks earily and i want to know could there be something else that the doctors are missing that is causing these? and why do his attacks come with a fever 102+? IF IT IS ACTUALLY ASTHMA, WHAT CAN I DO TO AVOID THE TRIPS TO THE ER AND THE HOSPITAL STAYS? AND THE cHEST X-RAYS ETC.. How can i manage this at home. its taking a toll on him now even if he falls down he says..."i gotta go to the hospital." its sad.. any adivce would be comforting... thanks.
Doctor's Answer
by National Jewish, Apr 19, 2004 12:00AM
, Apr 19, 2004 12:00AM
Since your son was born 6 weeks early, he is more likely to develop asthma. However what you have described could be asthma or reactive airways disease (RAD).
Infections like a cold or pneumonia can cause inflammation of the airways of the lungs. Usually when this occurs, your son may cough when he is active or laughs. This inflammation can cause wheezing. After the infection is gone, it is possible for the inflammation to linger. This inflammation can last for several weeks. Sometimes this inflammation may linger for 3 to 6 months. Eventually the inflammation will go away, and then the wheezing will stop. This is called RAD and behaves a lot like asthma. This inflammation often clears more quickly when it is treated with an inhaled steroid, like the Pulmicort Respules™ (budesonide inhalation suspension) in the nebulizer, which you have been giving to your son as needed. His doctor is the best judge of this.
When this continues, it is generally considered to be asthma. Testing can be helpful to show if the symptoms are due to asthma or RAD. Generally testing starts with a simple breathing test called spirometry. This test provides detailed information about how the lungs are working. It will show if there is obstruction in the airways. However for spirometry to be helpful in determining if wheezing is due to asthma or RAD, children need to be able to follow directions well. Generally children need to be at least school age to do this.
Until children are old enough to do this testing, they are commonly treated with asthma medicines by nebulizer to control the symptoms. For some children this means using the medicines as needed when they have symptoms. For other children this means using the medicines every day to keep the symptoms under control. You mentioned that your son takes Singulair® (montelukast sodium) as needed. This medicine works best when taken every day. Please check with your son’s doctor about this. Also check to see if he could also use the nebulizer every day so that you can manage better at home and avoid these attacks.
Your son’s fever of 102+ is due to the infection. Asthma does not cause a fever. There are a variety of things that can make asthma worse. These things are called triggers. It is common for infections to trigger asthma. So your son gets an infection that causes a fever and triggers his asthma.
Some children start to have problems with asthma only after having a severe respiratory infection, like pneumonia. If the pneumonia does not completely clear up it is possible for it to occur again. To be sure that the pneumonia has totally gone away a chest x-ray is usually done after the child is well.
Once a child has asthma, they will always have asthma. It does vary from child to child. For some children the symptoms will come and go. For others the symptoms are constant. However as children grow in size, their airways will also become larger. Sometimes children have little or no asthma symptoms when this happens. So it is possible for a child’s asthma symptoms to go away as they get older. However they still have asthma and their symptoms may return at any time. There is no cure for asthma at this time, but it can be controlled with medicine.
Early warning signs are changes that happen before the start of an asthma attack. These signs are unique to each child. Early warning signs may be the same, similar or entirely different with each attack. By recognizing these clues in your son, you would know that he needs the Pulmicort Respules™ (budesonide inhalation suspension) and the Xopenex® Inhalation Solution (levalbuterol HCl) in the nebulizer before he begins to wheeze and possibly before his nose begins to run. This should help to avoid the trips to the ER, the hospital stays, and the chest x-rays. Some examples of early warning signs are:
· Breathing changes
· Sneezing
· Moodiness
· Headache
· Runny or stuffy nose
· Coughing
· Chin or throat itches
· Feeling tired
· Dark circles under eyes
· Trouble sleeping
· Poor tolerance for activity
Infections like a cold or pneumonia can cause inflammation of the airways of the lungs. Usually when this occurs, your son may cough when he is active or laughs. This inflammation can cause wheezing. After the infection is gone, it is possible for the inflammation to linger. This inflammation can last for several weeks. Sometimes this inflammation may linger for 3 to 6 months. Eventually the inflammation will go away, and then the wheezing will stop. This is called RAD and behaves a lot like asthma. This inflammation often clears more quickly when it is treated with an inhaled steroid, like the Pulmicort Respules™ (budesonide inhalation suspension) in the nebulizer, which you have been giving to your son as needed. His doctor is the best judge of this.
When this continues, it is generally considered to be asthma. Testing can be helpful to show if the symptoms are due to asthma or RAD. Generally testing starts with a simple breathing test called spirometry. This test provides detailed information about how the lungs are working. It will show if there is obstruction in the airways. However for spirometry to be helpful in determining if wheezing is due to asthma or RAD, children need to be able to follow directions well. Generally children need to be at least school age to do this.
Until children are old enough to do this testing, they are commonly treated with asthma medicines by nebulizer to control the symptoms. For some children this means using the medicines as needed when they have symptoms. For other children this means using the medicines every day to keep the symptoms under control. You mentioned that your son takes Singulair® (montelukast sodium) as needed. This medicine works best when taken every day. Please check with your son’s doctor about this. Also check to see if he could also use the nebulizer every day so that you can manage better at home and avoid these attacks.
Your son’s fever of 102+ is due to the infection. Asthma does not cause a fever. There are a variety of things that can make asthma worse. These things are called triggers. It is common for infections to trigger asthma. So your son gets an infection that causes a fever and triggers his asthma.
Some children start to have problems with asthma only after having a severe respiratory infection, like pneumonia. If the pneumonia does not completely clear up it is possible for it to occur again. To be sure that the pneumonia has totally gone away a chest x-ray is usually done after the child is well.
Once a child has asthma, they will always have asthma. It does vary from child to child. For some children the symptoms will come and go. For others the symptoms are constant. However as children grow in size, their airways will also become larger. Sometimes children have little or no asthma symptoms when this happens. So it is possible for a child’s asthma symptoms to go away as they get older. However they still have asthma and their symptoms may return at any time. There is no cure for asthma at this time, but it can be controlled with medicine.
Early warning signs are changes that happen before the start of an asthma attack. These signs are unique to each child. Early warning signs may be the same, similar or entirely different with each attack. By recognizing these clues in your son, you would know that he needs the Pulmicort Respules™ (budesonide inhalation suspension) and the Xopenex® Inhalation Solution (levalbuterol HCl) in the nebulizer before he begins to wheeze and possibly before his nose begins to run. This should help to avoid the trips to the ER, the hospital stays, and the chest x-rays. Some examples of early warning signs are:
· Breathing changes
· Sneezing
· Moodiness
· Headache
· Runny or stuffy nose
· Coughing
· Chin or throat itches
· Feeling tired
· Dark circles under eyes
· Trouble sleeping
· Poor tolerance for activity
She was diagnosed with RAD when she was 6 mon. and has been on Zyrtec, Flonase, Proventil and Flovent since then. We also tried the nebulizer for one year, but by year 2 she refuses it now.
She is very, very active and cognitively off the chart. But she won't sit still for very long.
Our most concern right now is her weight gain. One pound a week over the last eight weeks. She usually eats a good lunch but doesn't eat but 4 bites at dinner and hardly has any candy. She drinks around 30 ounces of 2% milk a day. Her weight gain has contributed to mild reflux. The doctor prescribed Prevacid.
Any thoughts on weight