Crazy day / update on LO's wheezing

nicki731 · April 2012

We had another appt with the pedi today to check on LO and his wheezing. We saw a different doctor at the practice than we've been seeing lately, and when he heard that LO has been wheezing for months and that the nebulizer isn't really helping, he said to me "This is not normal, this is not ok for your baby to be wheezing 85% of the time for 4 months. I'm going to do whatever I can to get you some answers and some help". THANK FREAKING GOD. So he sent us for a chest x-ray right away, scheduled us for a sweat test on Tuesday to rule out cystic fibrosis (more than a little freaked out about that even being a possibility) and he set us up with a pediatric asthma and allergy specialist for next Thursday. I feel so much better than we're at least doing something to try to figure out what's going on!! Chest x-ray already came back clear with no signs of pneumonia so that's good.

But overall it was a crazy a$$ day. His wheezing and chest congestion is really bad right now which has me all worked up. The appt ran way over and I was an hour late for work after being off since last Friday for my own bad sinus infection. I forgot LO's bottles for daycare and had to call MH to come help us. Then we had to go get his chest x-ray done so I pretty much missed the whole morning of work and I had tons of patients to see today (complete with lots of drama). Then I got freakin pulled over on the way home for an expired registration. Sigh... I just want my kid to stop wheezing.

nicki731 · April 2012

Oh I should add the one good thing about today was LO decided that playing peekaboo is hilarious and he giggled at his daddy lots so at least he's still happy!

nicki731 · April 2012

crystalbaby:
Gah, I hate when days go like that. Hopefully you got all the bad over in one day. I'm so sorry that G is still wheezing. I cannot imagine that going on for so long. It's great that the new doctor seems more proactive about figuring what is going on. Have they ruled out asthma? I hope that they figure out what is going on with your little man soon!
V decided today that she loved peekaboo as well. It must be because they're birthday twins!
Will you update when you find out what is going on?

Thanks Crystal. They called it asthma at his appt 2 weeks ago. But I guess it's hard to make it an official diagnosis at this age. Whatever they want to call it, my problem it that it never stops. Sometimes it's better and sometimes it's worse but it's pretty much always there and the nebulizer (30 minutes 3x a day) isn't helping, not to mention he hates the thing. I am really hoping the asthma and allergy specialist can help us figure out what is going on or what else we can do for him...

Funny about the birthday twins discovering peekaboo, that's awesome!

And yes, I will update :]

summerwife · April 2012

Just want to lend some support as I have been dealing with a similar situation with DD. Long story but after meeting with lots of specialists, a few hospital stays, and many tests, we do finally have answers. She has a mild laryngeal cleft that allows liquid to go into her lungs and not just her stomach causing the wheezing and congestion. Good thing is we are treating with thickened formula and she is doing much better. Ask for a barium swallow to rule out a fistula or a bronchoscopy If doctors can't find a simpler reason which I hope they do. Good luck!

nicki731 · April 2012

summerwife:
Just want to lend some support as I have been dealing with a similar situation with DD. Long story but after meeting with lots of specialists, a few hospital stays, and many tests, we do finally have answers. She has a mild laryngeal cleft that allows liquid to go into her lungs and not just her stomach causing the wheezing and congestion. Good thing is we are treating with thickened formula and she is doing much better. Ask for a barium swallow to rule out a fistula or a bronchoscopy If doctors can't find a simpler reason which I hope they do. Good luck!

Thanks for your reply. Sorry you went through so much with your DD but glad she is doing better! I never heard of laryngeal cleft before, so I will keep that test in mind if we get desperate. He did have a nuke med milk scan done before for severe reflux but it didn't show any signs of aspiration.

EloiseWeenieSkipperdee · April 2012

I'm sorry. I hope you can get some answers soon!

Jazzym12 · April 2012

Hope your appt goes well with the pedi asthma guy! I know wheezing is awful and every time I see a baby go into my asthma doc It breaks my heart, asthma is no fun. Keep us updated!!

hunnybunny614 · April 2012

I'm glad that you will hopefully get some answers soon. I'm sorry you had such a crazy day. Keep us updated.

katecham · April 2012

Same thing happened to us! B was coughing every day since dec 13th. He had a nebulizer and 4 different meds that didn't work. We moved and beig away from animals seems to have helped so I'm thinking it might just be allergies (?). Swallow study, GI study and scope found nothing. Hope you get some answers!

DoctorWorm222 · April 2012

Although we've never had any wheezing, E has been coughing for months - almost since she started daycare back in mid Jan. Our doc thinks its just lingering effects of RSV or back to back colds. I asked him about the possibility of trying a nebulizer treatment to see if it would help open her lungs a bit, but he said that nebulizer treatments don't work well for infants E's age. He explained that the airways of a 6 mo old are't fully lined with smooth muscle yet. Albuterol, the drug used in nebulizer treatments, is designed to relax smooth muscle. Since there isn't much smooth muscle, it doesn't help very much. This is probably one of those things that differs from doc to doc - maybe some think the treatments help a bit but others disagree. So I'm wondering, in your opinion, do the treatments help at all?