Kids with Asthma - question on diagnosis?

zigger01

My daughter is 20 months old and for the last 10 months she's had a very dry persistant cough.   Our pediatrician keeps telling us it's allergies and has given us perscriptions for 3 different medications.   One might work for a few days or so but nothing seems to help.   I feel so bad for her b/c she coughs all night long so I know she's not sleeping well.

The more and more I read and research online...I'm beginning to think she has asthma.   Anyone have experience with this?    From what I've read there is a form of asthma where they get the persistent night cough but seem fine during the day.

I've got a call in to my pediatrician for a list of recommended pediatric allergy & Immunology specialists but I was curious if anyone had any experience with this?

Thanks!

camrude

This is almost exactly how DD was at that age - plus she had 4 pneumonia's in 10 months. We saw a specialist and she tested postive for ragweed and cat allergies and he diagnosed her with cough-variant asthma (https://www.webmd.com/asthma/guide/cough-variant-asthma). She was put on an inhaler, which helped.

She has not used her inhaler for more than year and seems to only have  mild issues with ragweed now, so we think she's outgrown it.

zigger01

Thanks Camrude! 

She's not had pnuemonia yet but she's had croup 5 times now.  Not sure if there is a correlation with croup and asthma though.  

I'm glad to hear that your daughter has grown out of it!  Did they have a special inhaler for her when she was young or were you able to get a child that young to use a normal inhaler?

joseysbride

I would highly recommend you take her to see an allergy and asthma specialist.  My dd has asthma, and the first sign she is having an attack is coughing, especially at night.  In fact, about a year ago, I woke up to her coughing in the middle of the night, and she was barely breathing.  We rushed her to the ER and they told us it was a good thing we got her in when we did because her oxygen levels were deadly.

I'm not trying to worry you, but asthma, especially in children, is extremely serious and can be deadly.  We have been told by my dd's doctor that if we ever hear her coughing at all, we are to start the nebulizer treatments right away.

The good news is that the majority of kids who have asthma grow out of it.  Keep us updated!  I would like to hear what your doctor has to say.  I know for us, we saw a few different doctors and some said it was asthma, some didn't.  It wasn't until she was hospitalized for 3 days that we got a true diagnosis, and by that point I was pretty upset that it had to come to that.

Sammysu

My DD kept getting coughs throughout the year and none of the prescriptions were working for her. Thats when the doc decided to check for asthma. She gets on a coughing kick to the point of her changing colors and throwing up. She has hard time breathing. It usually kicks off in the fall and returns everytime the season changes.

ilovemygirls

My 2.5 yo was dx'd w/asthma around that age.  She would develop a persistent cough with colds.  Initially they said she had like a 'reactive airway' whenever she got a respiratory illness.  She spent the entire winter sick (and coughing) and finally by early spring the pedi said she was sure she had asthma & Rx'd some long term meds (FloVent).  I took my DD to an asthma specialist who told me one of the primary symptoms of asthma in children is a cough.  I never knew that, and I had asthma as a kid!  My DD's is not present all the time, just aggravated when she gets a cold.

Definitely take her to an asthma/allergy specialist at this point- I'm sure they will be able to give you more definitive answers.  Good luck!

zigger01

Thanks for all the information ladies.  I just made an appt for next Friday to get her checked out by an allergy specialist.  I wish I could get her in sooner now that I've read all your stories but that was the earliest they could see her. 

 I'll post and update everyone after her appt.   Hopefully we get it figured out pretty quickly.  I don't think I slept more than 30 minute stretches last night b/c I kept waking up to make sure she was ok.  

camrude

Sorry to post so late on your inhaler question. DD usually took her inhaler just fine. We did have an attachment for her to use a mask for when she wanted no part of it.