asthma or infection

[sharock]

In Jan my 9 yr old son started exhaling noisily on his outward breathe, he does not cough, it's like a wheeze on nearly every breathe, all day every day, have been to see several drs and an asthma nurse, who all, with out hearing this noisey breathe or even listerning to his chest or looking down his throat have said it could be asthma " but we're not 100% sure " since jan he's been given inhalers which made him cough and really irritated his throat i keep trying to tell them i don't think it's asthma,now they've given him a tablet ( for asthma) which he's got to take for 2 months, " it might work, it might not " meanwhile my son is sitting beside me continuously wheezing on his outward breathe and starting to feel really unwell with this,we tried telling the drs that my son says he feels like he's got something stuck in his throat, but they are not interested, I really don't know what to do next.

[National Jewish]

Making the diagnosis of asthma in a 9 year old who is "wheezing" is a fairly easy thing to do.  A simple breathing test followed by inhaling a medication and repeating the breathing test is a standard way to make the diagnosis.  If this IS asthma, it is a matter of finding the right medication to control the problem.  If this IS NOT asthma, then diagnostic procedures can be performed to find out the cause of the noise.  This can come from either the upper or lower airways and may require some radiologic testing or viewing the airways directly through a tube.

I would talk with your son’s doctor about these options.

[poolnoni]

Is this a pediatrian you took your son to? You need to see a specialist like a pulmonary doctor and have some tests run. There is no reason your son should continue to suffer. And check out the specialist before you take him. It is hard to find a good doctor but don't give up. Good luck and keep me informed.

[sharock]

yes one was a child dr but known were chest specialists, that is my next move and also someone recommended an allergy specialist, trouble is he will have to wait to be referred, which can take a while,so i'm gonna try and get that sorted straight away.drs keep telling me it's trial and error with asthma, but not one of them has confirmed it to be asthma,i've asked for an xray to rule out a lung infection but the dr wont do that, said it's un nesseccery, i feel like they're really not listerning to me or taking my concerns seriously, i will keep you informed.

[poolnoni]

Sharock, Why does your doctor not think it is necessary to have a chest xray...because of the radiation. Or because because your son's lungs sound clear when the doctor listens with his stethoscope. Please do keep me posted. God bless.

[myproblem]

Speaking from experience, Asthma really should not be diagnosed without Pulmonary Function Tests. I was misdiagnosed with asthma for 11 years because the Dr. who originally diagnosed me did no tests. I went through a lot that I shouldn't have had to, and took 1000's of dollars a year in medicine which never helped much no matter what I tried. When I fnally got the PFT's by a competent Dr., I was shocked. In my case, it is restrictive lung disease. In your son's case it could be a number of things. Have they checked his thyroid? A swollen thyroid can cause a feeling of something in the throat. Has he been to an ENT? They could easily scope his upper airway in the office to see if there is blockage. At the very least they should do a full set of PFT's, including an albuterol nebulizer treatment with some of the tests repeated afterward. If you can get a Methacholine test too, that would be great.

[sharock]

Dr says it will be an un-nessesacery dose of radiation, a couple of years ago my son had a chest xray which proved he did have an infection deep in his lung it took 4 different antibiotics to clear it, when i mention this they sit there with look on their faces as if i'm being over protective and because his symptons are different from that time they wont even refer him for x ray just to make sure.In the past he has had scalded skin syndrome,which is a very nasty infection of the skin,which can be fatal, he has had shingles twice,so i think his immune system is pretty shot anyway, but they say none of this is a concern at this time,he's off school yet again, they will not entertain that it could be anything other then asthma even though inhalers do not work. He started the new asthma tab they gave him last night,got up with a pounding head and an even worse throat, they say i've got to give it chance to work properly. i'm in the process of pushing for him to be refered to an allergy specialist and chest specialist,i'm sure they just think i'm an over protective mother, thats how i feel they are treating me now.

[sharock]

To be honest they've just done a 2 month peak flow monitoring with my son, and it proved inconclusive, but they said " well it is hard to diognose asthma in children" And then said it was asthma anyway. i'm just so upset now, i'm at my wits end, i've heard of other people being wrongly diognosed like yourself.

[sharock]

No he hasn't been to ENT,i've also asked for blood test but they say that theres no point at this time,

[myproblem]

I say get a new Dr. They're not taking you seriously. They probably think you're just a worry wart, and they're trying to pacify you without doing much work. Your son deserves better care than that.

[poolnoni]

Sharock-I agree with Myproblem. You need to get your little boy to a different doctor. Sounds like the doctor is doesn't have the slightest idea what's wrong and won't admit it. Sharock, don't worry about if anyone thinks you are an overprotective mom, do what your instincts tell you. Keep me posted.

[extropy_lite]

Sharock, I get exactly the same from the docs. You have to be persistant, they will dismiss you or keep you waiting months but you just have to hang in there and keep pushing them until you get some answers. Believe me it's not easy, but it's that or pay thousands for private treatment. Good luck!

[sharock]

Just to let you all know, we are taking my son to a different Dr later on today, my husband is going to do some jumping up & down now, we've tried doing things their way and it's not working, and they might not be so quick to dismiss my husband like they do me. I'm not going to hold by breathe though, done that to many times already. thank you all for your advise and support it really means a lot to me, started to feel really alone in trying to get my son sorted out, thanx for listering and understanding, i will let you know how we get on with new Dr.

[sharock]

Only just seen this post, asthma nurse did peak flow testing before and after asthma medication, there was no change in his lung capacity and no relief from the wheezing,hopefully the new Dr that we are taking him to today will be a bit more willing to investigate other causes.

[myproblem]

I just read your post to the nurse. Assuming that you interpreted everything correctly, this does NOT sound like asthma. after the treatment, he should have had less wheezing, and had an increase in his peak flow or spirometry test. Since he did not, this makes asthma very unlikely.

[sharock]

Just to let you all know,we took my son to new Dr last night, and at last someone has listerned to me,he agrees with me that it's unlikely to be asthma, but even if it is he needs to see a specialist, anyway he listerned to my sons chest at length and picked up on a problem low down in my sons lung,this might be the same sort of infection  my son had in his lung before, he,s put him on antibiotics, sent him for an xray and referred him to a specialist, i could have kissed this Dr, he almost apologized for not agreeing with the 4 previous drs and 1 asthma nurse opinions, like us he's not impressed with these people for totally ignoring my sons previous lung infection, he's concerned as to why he might have a re-occurrance of the problem but that is where the specialist will come into it,  he also said he couldn't understand the fact that they ignored my son not responding to asthma medicine and were willing to keep trying different asthma meds without ruling anything else out, i think that the first Dr thought asthma and the others just agreed and couldn't see past this,anyway hopefully the antibiotics will kick in soon and he wont have to wait to long to see specialist and find out what is going on in his lung. thank you all once again, i will let you know what the specialist says.

[poolnoni]

Shamrock-so glad you got your son into a new doctor. I think you are on the right track. Good luck, keep us posted and hope the little man feels better.

[poolnoni]

Sharok-sorry I spelled your name wrong.  Guess I was thinking of a good luck clover.

[sharock]

i thought i'd already posted this, so sorry if i'm repeating myself, we took my son to the new dr last night, and at last someone listered to me, after listerning to my sons chest at length he found that my son has got a problem with the lower part of his lung, possible the same infection he had before, he's now on anti biotics, had an xray and has been referred to a specialist, he dosen't know why this has happened again, but the specialist should be able to tell us that, new dr said it's not asthma and can't understand why previous drs carried on with asthma meds when he clearly wasn't responding, i think the first dr said asthma and all the others just agreed, new dr can't understand also why my sons previos lung infection was ignored as a possibility for repeat infection,so hopefully we are finally going to get somewhere.

[sharock]

sorry i did repeat myself, i didn't think my 1st post was on here,one min it wasn't, then it was, thanx everyone, we are all a little happier in my house tonight,

[sharock]

Just wanted to let you all know that the antibiotics have started to ease my sons symtoms,we're still going to see specialist, but at least while we wait his wheezing is subsiding a little more each day, looks like it was an infection and not asthma.

[myproblem]

So glad to hear you found a decent Dr. I hope that this will be the end of your son's lung troubles. Let us know how it goes.