Bronchiolitis vs. Asthma...

Bronchiolitis vs. Asthma...
by saearl, 1 hour ago
My now 7 month old baby girl has had coughing and respitory issues for the last few months. She got a cold when she was 3 months old (we have a 4 year old in preschool who has had a terrible year with colds), with a small cough and runny nose back in October. I had her chest listened to every 2 weeks and was told that she was all clear. She is very snuffly and stuffy and snorty sounding so I was doing steams, cool mist humidifier, and saline drops up the nose to try to relieve this. She started sleeping horribly. In early December, she had an Xray that showed inflammation in the lung tubes and she was diagnosed with Bronchiolitis We did puffers for two weeks (two puffs a day of Ventalin and 2 puffs a day of Flovent). After the course of puffers and several check ups, it was deemed without an Xray that her lungs were clear. Less than a week later, her cough returned, as did her runny nose. I had her chest listened to (by her Dr.) twice in one week and by the end of the week she was admitted to the hospital with only 84% oxygen. Her cough was terrible and she had a wheeze. After a weekend in the hospital, on nubulizer treatments, plus baby prednisone and back on the puffers,as well as an antiobiotic, she was released and we were to continue the puffers for a month. After that month was up, we did a follow up Xray and it showed no change in her inflamed lungs.I was shocked, as she was doing better, sleeping better, etc. My Dr. is now having us wean her off the puffers by gradually reducing the dose and we have been referred to a pediatrician, who we will see next week. My family Dr. is now saying that this may be asthma but wants a second opinion. We have reduced her puffers to one puff of each twice a day. Since then, she has gotten her runny nose and just a hint of a very infrequent cough back. We're just holding our course until we see the ped. next week.

Throughout all of this, she has been an amazing eater and is gaining weight. Her stats are between the 50th and 75th percentile for everything.

I am looking for answers as I am hesitant to accept the tentative asthma diagnosis. It doesn't seem to make sense to me. I am wondering if anyone out there, be it moms/dads/physicians or anyone has any thoughts based on her history that I have outlined. I am trying to arm myself with information and questions for the pediatrician next week. Also, can a case of Bronchiolitis be this persistent?

Thanks to anyone with any information that could help.

Worried Mom

[ku111]

Do you have animals?  At age two we were tested and he was allergic to a lot and I was shocked!  My son had terrible problems as a baby.  We took out curtains and just had blinds, no animals and changed flooring where he slept to wood floors, limited cleaners that were chemical "free" and this really did help a lot.  I feel for you.  This can be exhausting to all.  Hope all gets better very soon.

[saearl]

Hi! We have a dog...a golden retriever/shepherd mix. We already have all hardwood floors and no curtains and I don't use any harsh cleaners...just mild soap and water to mop the floors, etc.

Thank you for your response. How is your son now?

We are not an allergic family...no history of asthma and the only allergy is a wasp allergy that I developed a couple of years ago from multiple stings. This is why asthma makes no sense, although I suppose it could just happen.
I am super concerned! We see the Pediatrician on Friday. This week, on the advice from her Dr., we have reduced her puffers to one puff, once a day. She seems to be getting a dry cough and runny nose, but it's hard to tell if it's just a cold or not, as my five year old also has a cough and cold. I'm just holding out until Friday until we can hopefully start getting some answers!

[luckiestmom]

Hi there,

Did your pediatrician ever check your baby for RSV? Its a nasty virus that can lead to all of the symptoms you have described. My baby had this at 3 months. It started out like a small cough, runny nose and I could just tell she didnt feel good. They listened to her lungs and heard some fluid in there. They did a swab test in her nostril and it came up positive for RSV. RSV can lead to asthma in children, if it's not treated. It is also commonly diagnosed along with bronchiolitis. Her treatment consisted of a nebulizer and Xopenex, ebery couple fo hours. We had to keep the face mask on her for about 10 minutes at a time. WE only had to do this for a few days and it went away. We were very lucky though. RSV can be very serius and has caused alot more trouble for other parents and children. It can also be reoccuring. I have researched it and it looks like, if they have caught it once, they will most likely catch it again. It is spead in daycares, elementary schools and from adults. We get it too, it just isn't as sever for us and we dont realize we are spreading it.