May 2013 Moms
kelseyhh
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Any other reactive airway mommas?
kelseyhh
member
Well, my poor Emmett has a bad cold that has led to wheezing again. The doctors say that he has a reactive airway, but they don't think that he has asthma. I've been giving him albuterol treatments every 4 hours but he still has wheezing. The dr just started him on an oral steroid today, but he threw up right after so who knows how much he actually got.
Anyone else deal with this? Any words of advice for me?
Anyone else deal with this? Any words of advice for me?
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Re: Any other reactive airway mommas?
All 3 of my kids have/had breathing issues as young children. As a general rule, doctors don't diagnose asthma until children are older. There are many reasons for this, but mainly because once you have been medically diagnosed with asthma, there are long term consequences. For example, it's considered if you want to join the military, get additional life insurance, etc. "Have you ever been diagnosed with the following conditions...." Many babies outgrow it, so they really won't give that diagnosis early on. It wasn't until my DS was hospitalized twice for breathing issues that they went ahead and gave him the diagnosis at about age 5. I'm really sorry you're going through this. My current LO has gone through 2 bouts of breathing treatments - once in May and again in early October. But, she seems OK now. I know it's no fun. Here's hoping Emmett outgrows it. My oldest DD did, and I'm hoping the same for this DD.
**DD1 - 7/9/98**
**DS - 11/9/00**
**DD2 - 4/30/13**
I think, although I can't remember who it is, someone else on this board has a kid who starts to wheeze a lot when they get sick and is then on a 4hour albuterol regimen as well.
I think it can take a couple days to a week for the albuterol treatments to eliminate the wheezing/coughing. If I understand it correctly, albuterol helps to open up the airways for up to 4 hours, but it doesn't "fix" the problem, it just makes it easier to breathe. In return, because it's easier to breathe, more air gets into her lungs which help fight off whatever is causing her to cough. If you'd like I can totally get into more of what the different "medication" options would be if it is asthma (as explained to us by the allergist) but I don't to overload you with information off the cuff
I just hate giving Emmett so many meds, especially steroids. Do you give the inhaled steroids daily, even when she's not sick?
This is day 2 of the steroid, and he does seem a little better, thankfully! When your LO takes the 5 day steroid, does she take the entire 5 days? My doctor said we could stop after 3 days if he is better, but I thought all medication was supposed to be taken until completion.
we do give S the oral steroids for the full 5 days @kelseyhh even if her cough does seem to be getting better because, at least in our case, the frequency to which S gets a cough can potentially be damaging to her lungs. Our pedi explained it to us like this: when S is coughing, it's affecting her airways. at her age, prolonged coughing and/or the frequency of coughing spells means she's not getting enough air in, and that is what can cause damage to her lungs. For us, because she does get sick a lot and that oftentimes turns into a cough, if we don't get rid of the cough completely and quickly, we're risking damage if we let it go too long. I think (and I could be wrong) that because your Emmett doesn't have the history of a recurring cough, he can stop the medication sooner if he is better because that oral steroid is a pretty potent drug.
As for the inhaled steroid, yah, as of right now we do have to do it everyday. Like you, we hate having to give her all these meds, even more so for an extended period of time which is what this inhaled steroid is. When we were put on it back in October, our pedi told us to use it everyday through at least the middle of Dec because he wanted to get her through the fall without another round of coughing because his thought was that it might be seasonal allergy related. When we saw the allergist in Nov, he kind of wanted to keep us on it all year long but we are resistant to that idea because 1) it is a steroid drug and if we are on it for a prolonged period of time, we have to come in even more for check ups because prolonged steroid use can stunt growth etc etc etc, and 2) just the idea of having her on meds everyday for the foreseeable future is just sad. We talked it through with the allergist and the doctor and as of right now, the plan is to keep her on the inhaled steroid until mid-Jan, then we are going to wean her off of it (half dose for a month or two) before we take her off of it completely. Once we take her off the medication, we will be going to a on-demand type of requirement. So for us that means, as soon as she gets sick (regardless of if she has a cough or not), we start both albuterol and the inhaled steroid medication and we keep her on that for at least 2 weeks. The goal of that is if we can keep her airways open before she develops a cough, then the likelihood she'll actually get a cough and then need more medication is lower.
**DD1 - 7/9/98**
**DS - 11/9/00**
**DD2 - 4/30/13**
DD was diagnosed with RAD in October. We had to take her to the ER after several treatments of Albuterol had done next to nothing to improve her breathing and wheezing. Thankfully we were able to go home that night and were sent home with a prescription for the oral steroid for 5 days.
At her follow up the next day the Ped diagnosed her as this was DD 3rd serious breathing incident since birth (one of which was a 3day hospitalization). We were told to continue the Albuterol for a few more days and add the Budesonide, twice daily. After another week we were told to drop the Budesonide to once daily - thru the winter.
Like everyone else we were very concerned about the continued steroid and so I did a lot of research and asked a lot of questions but in the end it really does seem that this is the best way to move forward, for now. Our hope is that she won't wind up being diagnosed with asthma and that we will eventually be able to drop the Budesonide in the winter months all together.
Hugs to all our RAD Babies xo
@TrulyBlessed22, I'm glad your LO is doing well on the medication and it's nice to see you online!
I'm so sorry to see so many of you on here struggling with the same issues. However, I am really grateful for all of the advice.
Emmett's audible wheezing seems to have stopped (although as of yesterday my DH could still hear a slight wheeze using a stethoscope) and he's acting normal. However, his cough is still pretty bad after 5 days of the oral steroid, which worries me.
We go back to the pediatrician today, so we'll see what she has to say. We also have an apt with a pediatric pulmonologist but that isn't until Dec. 24th.
The thought of long term medication scares me a lot, but you're right @surpiseaddition, it's way better than the alternative.
Merry Christmas an happy holidays to you all!