questions about asthma and coughs

mkeatts

there's a strong possibility that i'm being paranoid, but humor me, please! if your LO has asthma, what symptoms do you see? E coughs a wet cough constantly, worse at night and in the morning.  she is taking Singulair granules for allergies and has had two sinus infections in the last 5 months due to excessive mucus build up (says the pedi).  she also says the constant cough could be day care related.

what say you? 

Florak8

Definitely not an expert, but DS gets retractions, where the skin pulls in around his ribs and his clavicle and his breathing is raspy. He did not cough much except when he had a cold/infection. He also would show up as not getting enough oxygen on the pulse oximeter.

One suggestion would be to lift the head of her mattress, so that she drains at night. That way the sinus infections and wet cough might abate some. To me, it sounds like day care crud.

An asthma attack is a real medical emergency which was always very obvious to our pedi. (It was not always obvious to me! I just thought, "Oh he sounds phlegmy.") If your LO shows shortness of breath, retractions, wheezing, blue lips or extremities, etc I would go to the ER immediately. 

I hope this helps. I only know of asthma attacks, and not anything chronic like you are describing. But maybe some of the other asthma moms can chime in!

Take care.  

emberlee3

Ditto the retractions mentioned by PP.  DS gets a wheezy cough, as opposed to rattly or wet.  The first time he had an asthma attack, he was grunting and couldn't even cry--very scary!  Now I know the signs to watch for, but it's still hard to tell sometimes until I get out my stethoscope (I'm an internist).  If your child is coughing constantly from asthma, your pedi would hear wheezing.

mkeatts

Thanks, guys! I read one thing and my brain goes into hyper drive. No retractions so far, just a never ending cough.

carlinlp

My child is recovered from severe asthma after a whole lot of healing.  Honestly, I'd start with taking my child off cows milk (it increases mucus in the body) and I'd have my child tested for a vitamin d deficiency.  The symptoms of what you are describing are just that, symptoms.  Find the root cause.

mrs_kelly1014

DS audibly wheezes after any physical activity lasting more than about 2 minutes (even on tons of meds ) and has horrible retractions when he is having an attack. He also breathes very rapidly and shallow. He does not cough with asthma, which usually surprises doctors when we take him to the ER - although, his pulmonologist says it's pretty normal.

For us, an asthma attack is very obvious to us because they get so bad very quickly. And after a couple of years of dealing with this, we've become very good at recognizing the beginnings of them, and know when to give up treating it ourselves and get him to the ER.

I agree with PP that a wet cough like that just sounds like crud. I don't believe that asthma related coughs are usally wet sounding - I believe they are usually dry. I hope she feels better regardless!

ppants

Both of my twins have asthma.  It started with a cough around 10 mo old.  Just a dry cough, but chronic.  I took them to the dr repeatedly over a couple of weeks.  Ears, nose, throat, all ok each time.  We even did a round of antibiotics. 

The dr wanted us to try oral albuterol.  It made them puke instantly.  So we went to a nebulizer breathing treatment.  Their cough got better and were diagnosed with RAD (reactive airway disease) because they don't diagnose babies with asthma. 

They are 5 now and still get breathing treatments twice a day (pulmicort) and take singulair daily.  They officially have asthma. 

Justinlove

I would also consider having a swallow study done.  It is possible that she is slightly aspirating on her mucus and saliva causing the wet cough.