Child Has Trouble Breathing

[stilltrying2]

My 4 year old has been having trouble breathing for a month.  He complains of headaches sometimes but the main symptom is his breathing
.....he just keeps taking a very deep breath, then stops breathing and follows with another deep breath. He has a hard time talking because he gets short of breath. None of the doctors he has seen thinks it is asthma or allergies.
He has seen a cardiologist and an ENT to no avail, their tests were normal. They have done X-rays, an EKG, and various blood testing but have come up with nothing. He is also type 1 diabetic and ketoacidosis is negative.
The dr tried singulair and claritin, but nothing is helping. He does not have any wheezing or cough, just the shortness of breath. I don't know if it is pulmonary, gastric, or neurologic problem. The dr will not refer him to another specialist and says to "ignore" that he has breathing difficulty!

[myonly1]

My 4 year old daughter has the same symptom, very deep breathes repeatedly especially when she is tired.  Tonight it lasted about 5-6 minutes before she went to sleep.  This has been going on for at least a month. We noticed the "episodes" this winter which lasted for at lest 3 months then abruptly stopped for no apparent reason. They started back up in June.

Doc ran a battery of bloodwork, chest ex, and everything came back normal. They put her on Albuterol, but that hasn't helped, if anything they have gotten worse.  Seems to be worse on days that she has had a lot of activity and seems worn out.

We are at a loss.

[Genna13]

My 10 month old son seems to have something similar
I would probably call them more like spasms
It's very scary he will gasp stop breathing then cries seems like he's in pain
I hope we get an answer soon he will have test done I'm just terrified  

good luck to you

[macoy450]

4 years old trouble breathing
check these things
- sinus (small camera into the nose viewing breathing path) checking for nasal obstruction
sleep study should be done
- obstructive sleep apnea /does he have a tongue that falls into the back of his throat while sleeping
-central sleep apnea/ brain stem not functioning normal causing not to breathe normal
-trauma to the throat/ caused from damage to vocal chords or tumor
-large tonsils or uvula
- pitituatary gland tumor/ control center for many nuerological functions including breathing
-kidney problems
-adrenal problems
-hypothyroidism t3 t4 levels
-constipation or bowel obstruction/ something pushing on diaphram(main breathing muscle) hindering normal breathing
-pleural effusion/ fluid in space between diaphram and lungs causing problem to breathe
-anxiety / can cause sensation of not getting enough air
-closterphobia
-mold or fungus in lungs
-heart/ do an echocardiogram
sometimes children choke on things and lodge into the right mainstem bronchus
keep in mind any problem breathing at night will show signs in the day
incase it is an allergy i will mention
cockroaches
mold in shower
cat saliva has allergen(then they lick fur and now the fur/dander)

I hope this helps

[Carol in PA]

"The dr will not refer him to another specialist and says to "ignore" that he has breathing difficulty!"

Sheesh, poor kid!

My first thought is that this sounds like air hunger.
"Extremely deep ventilation such as occurs in patients with acidosis attempting to increase ventilation of alveoli and exhale more carbon dioxide."
Source:  http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?air+hunger

Also see: Air hunger, from Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_hunger


My second thought is that air hunger can be a symptom of Babesia, a tick borne infection.
When I did a search on the Medical Questions forum at LymeNet.org, I found more than 200 threads mentioning air hunger.  (Many people with Lyme Disease are also infected with Babesia.)


Topic: air hunger driving me to the edge
http://flash.lymenet.org/scripts/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=055630
(See Marnie's suggestions for supplements to help.  I take many of these myself, as they are recommended by Lyme literate M.D.'s for their patients.)

Topic: What to do about air hunger?
http://flash.lymenet.org/scripts/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=055058


I hope this will give you and your doctor some ideas to help your son.
Wishing you the best,
Carol

[PlateletGal]

I would consider ignoring your physician's "advice". I do know that "bad breathing" can cause headaches. If your child is old enough and willing --- there are some exercises he can do to improve his breathing. Dr. Andrew Weil discusses a few of them in one of his books and I know that yoga and the Russian Buteyko method are other options. You may want to consider trying one of these techniques and seeing if that helps your child's symptoms.

Good luck !