Please Answer

I posted a question yesturday and I am not sure I made my question clear. I know and am terrified of this winter and my son getting sick and asthma being out of control. But is it normal for a childs asthma to get worse despite all treatments? we are treating allery, doing inhaled steroids, albuterol at least 4 x daily. What direction do I get to stop it from getting worse and perhaps get him better?
thanks

[National Jewish Health]

We should not assume that his main problem is asthma, especially with a history of 5 bouts of pneumonia.  It would be very desirable to rule out underlying lung disease, such as cystic fibrosis (CF) or tracheomalacia, and possible immunodeficiency states.  This could best be done by a pediatric specialist in pulmonary disease or infectious disease.

This must be very hard on you and your husband.  Fortunately your son should do better as he gets older.

[Jtlanta]

I have adult Asthma.  If his symptoms are getting worse, by all means get him to a dr.
They may need to give him breathing treatments with neubilizer machine.  It usually helps in chronic cases, and his dr. may also write for you to get one to keep at home.  
Good luck, hope this helps.

[WEGO_Dan]

I'm sorry sorry to hear about your son's problems.  That is a truly scary situation, and I really feel for you.  The frequent use of the relief medications means, as is probably obvious to you, that his asthma is uncontrolled.  Long term use of such frequent dosing of albuterol may actually worsen asthma, according to some studies, and it increases the risk of serious side effects.  

Something needs to change, and it may very well be his medication.  You mention that he's using inhaled corticosteroids, and I'm assuming you mean that he's using a metered-dose inhaler.  If that's the case, you should probably try a nebulizer if you haven't already, or at the very least make sure you're using a spacer with the inhaler, as it can be very hit-or-miss administering inhaler medication to very young children.  Also, he may fare better getting the corticosteroids in a pill or liquid.  I know you mentioned in your post that you've seen two asthma specialists, but it may be time to see yet another or to talk with your existing doctors in more depth about the problem.    

It's also important to note that asthma control is not simply a matter of finding the right medication.  It's possible that something in your house (mold, dust mites, pets, or a chemical irritant, for example) is triggering his asthma, and if you can identify this trigger and eliminate it, it may do more good than any medication.  It may be something as simple as using hypoallergenic pillows and mattress covers.  I don't know how much you've looked into this, but if you haven't, I urge you to do some research on it and talk to an asthma specialist to identify triggers and create a complete asthma management plan.  Here are a couple pages of good resources that we've compiled at WEGO (I'm the asthma and allergy community moderator there) that might be helpful:

http://www.wegohealth.com/asthma-allergy-community/childhood-asthma
http://www.wegohealth.com/asthma-allergy-community/asthma-in-child

For more on eliminating household triggers in particular, I recommend having a look at these pages:

http://www.noattacks.org/triggers.html
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/medical/asthma/asthma_triggers.html

Anyway, it's kind of tough to form an opinion based on the little I know about your situation, but I hope maybe my advice is helpful.  In any case, my prayers are with you and your son.