Pumicort Withdrawal

[sandydvm]

My 3 1/2 year old daughter was diagnosed with asthma at 18 months.  Since that time, she has been on pulmicort respules.  Recently, her pulmonologist increased her daily maintenance dose to 1 mg 2x/day. And, if she was showing any signs of a cold up to 1 mg 4x/day.  The side effects were too much to handle..she was so wild and crazy, couldn't sit still at all!  So, I dropped her down to 1 mg 1x/day (without the doctor's approval).  We went through a couple of rough nights, with croupy signs, but she never complained about her chest hurting, and I took her to the ped who said lungs sounded fine.  I got her through the crisis without putting her on more pulmicort, or oral prednisone.  Well, this went so well that I dropped her last dose of pulmicort.  At the same time, we have been consulting a homeopath.  After two days, she started to cough the usual croupy cough.  I did not put her back on the steroids.  After 4 more days of this, the cough got really bad and more chesty.  I ended up taking her to the ER last night.  They gave her bronchodilators (albuterol and atrovent) and she was so wired, she stayed up all night long.  

I am so sick and tired of pumping drugs into my child.  (She is also on singlair 1x/day.)  I feel like her steroid dose was extremely high...she has not even been my girl during this time, almost like ADHD, but it is drug induced because when she was off the pumicort for a week, she was a lot more sedate.  Maybe this was a sign that she has adrenal insufficiency?

Does anybody know the withdrawal symptoms of corticosteroids?  I am assuming the body must have to somehow rebalance itself over time.

I am not even sure she has asthma, as she never complains anymore that her chest hurts, and she never has a wheeze even during a episode.  I think she seems more like reactive airway disease.

Does anybody have any suggestions for getting her off of the drugs?

[hava]

This will help to get her off the drugs gradually. Start today and come back to report your progress.You will see a difference in days.
Build up your timing gradually. If you feel tired or dizzy, stop and resume after 1 minute.

Anulom Vilom –
Close your right nostril with thumb and deep breath-in through left nostril  
then – close left nostril with two fingers and breath-out through right nostril  
then -keeping the left nostril closed  deep breath-in through right nostril
then - close your right nostril with thumb and breath-out through left nostril.
This is one cycle of anulom vilom.
Repeat this cycle for 5 to 10  minutes twice a day.
You can do this before breakfast/lunch/dinner or before bedtime or in bed.Remember to take deep long breaths into the lungs.You can do this while sitting on floor or chair or lying in bed.