[Kelly Rae]

Baby T had RSV last February and was in and out of hospital with it. After this he needed to be put on a nebulizer every 2-4 hrs around the clock when he got a cold. Often he need steroids as well. I had talked to his dr about intermittent fast breathing his reparation would increase to 55-60 a minute for about an hour and then go back down. This started after his RSV and happened most am's upon waking and intermittent throughout the day . In June he had a real bad breathing spell (was wheezing and coughing a lot)without a cold and was put on pulmicort 2x's a day plus albuterol every 2-4 hours around the clock. He has essentially been on this most of the summer. He is in process of getting a $1000 dollar allergy blood screen (we have a total of 5 blood draws to get enough blood from my 19 lb mite ) that we wont receive results till we move next week. I guess my questions are has anyone had a child like this, does it get better, is there something we should be doing that we haven't, how to find a great medicaid dr in mt..? I'm worried about our move as I have had to report to his dr every day or so and we make adjustments to his treatment as needed. With the move he is being transfered from medical to medicaid and he will be without a dr for a short time. I'm scarred for the winter and flu season and what this will do to his breathing. Sorry for rambling I'm just worried for our mighty mite and would love any advice.

[eyejustam]

My grandson had RSV when he was 14 months old. He almost died from it. He is now 2.10 years old. He too uses Pulmicort 4 times a day when sick. He also uses it 1 time a day every day. He developed asthma. Doctor seems to think he will out grow it. But it has been a very rough summer for him because of the 104 plus days we have been having for weeks now.

[athikers]

Give me a few more days and I'll be an expert on breathing problems, baby Teeter has a lung infection (fun! oxygen, feeding tube and lung infection)

[waited2long]

I have no experience with breathing problems for children. But I, myself have Emphysema.

I was told to get Flu and Pneumonia shots every year.
Can you do this with a child so young?

[teachbear]

Our former foster son would do the fast breathing when he had a cold with his asthma, it improved greatly with a cold mist humidafier(sp?) and proping up his crib on one end. He was on Pulmacort twice a day when sick, once a day otherwise, albutarol or duoneb as needed, when sick it would be every 4 hours round the clock, he also took singulair, and children's claritian.
My sisters son gets really croupy, fast breathing with every cold and is asmatic.
I also have asthma.
RSV cause many children to develop asthma, so you need to ask your current doctor for a breathing plan, when to give what medications, when to head for the hospital and when to call the ambulance. Also ask what other medicences you can try to help with the breathing, singulair (granuals 6 months and up) and the clariatin helped our FS alot. If he has a cold for more then 10 days go to the doctor. Get a humidifier to help keep more mosture in the air, because when he gets sick he moth breats more and then gets a dry mouth and starts to pant/breath fast. He needs a flu shot, he will need 2 shots if he has not had it before, I don't know about the pnemonia shot. Keep a log of his symptoms and the advice from the doctor.
Remember it is call the practice of medicene. Good luck with his breathing and the move.

[Kelly Rae]

Thank you for your time. We have used the cool mist humidifier and also find it helpful. I will check in with new dr in Mt to see about shots. Thanks again for the help .

[Barksum]

Definitely talk with the pediatrician again, and I'd suggest asking about inhalers to help stabilize his breathing before it gets to the point that you need oral steroids. He may well have asthma or reactive airway from all the ickies he's been dealing with relating to having had RSV. Sometimes allergies do complicate asthma. (My sister spent her childhood at the allergist and at children's hospitals being tested for this or that, trying to get her asthma under something resembling control. She's doing well now, has 6 bio children, and has survived breast cancer -- all with only needing her asthma meds occasionally.)

Now they have inhaled low-dose steroids and other kinds of meds to help control asthma so that you don't have to do the whole quick-acting meds/nebulizer thing unless there's an additional issue like a cold. It might take a bit to find the right combo of meds and dosages, but hopefully you can work toward that. There are few things more tiring than not being able to breathe adequately! The oral steroids are wonderful, in that you get to breath again, but they also have other side effects that aren't so fun. The inhaled steroids have less impact than an oral steroid, but over time give better long term control, thus avoiding the need for the oral steroids (hopefully, and for the most part) and the constant albuterol use (again, hopefully).

Good luck! Keep searching. It can be tough, especially with the allergy component, to figure out how to best get a good handle on things.

And so you don't feel too bad, I have asthma and it took me awhile to find a dr. that said, 'Hey, you aren't supposed to have to use your albuterol or nebulizer more than once a week! Why aren't you on these other meds??' To which I replied, 'Huh? No one said there were other meds that I could use (I have other chronic health stuff) and no one said that using my albuterol 40 gagillion times a day wasn't normal!' You have to ask the dr's, and you have to know what to ask. And all this wasn't even having to deal with a child who can't tell you what's going on, that was with me, a fairly articulate adult who was supposed to know all this stuff.

[Kelly Rae]

Another component is he has sensory issues big time and can't tolerate the inhaler so we are stuck with the nebulizer which takes forever, and leaves him without an appetite which is rotten because of his small size. I will keep searching till I get the help I feel he needs. Thanks.

[leenab]

I know how crazy it can be with all of the meds. My oldest R has asthma, allergies, ADHD and sleep issues. We've found that seeing an experienced asthma and allergy specialist is the best option for him.

He's 7yrs old now, dx with asthma at age 4. For his asthma and allergies he's on clarinex 2.5mg, Pulimicort, Xopenex, singular 5mg. During very difficult attacks he's usually put on oral pred. He's been allergy tested and has over 24 so far. He just had another round of bloodwork a few weeks ago to confirm results of his scratch test.

My youngest, K is 3yrs old and also has asthma. His meds are singular 4mg, Xopenex and Flov.

I have noticed with both boys they have very different triggers. R's triggers are his allergies as well as colds and humidity and rain. K is triggered by colds and tantrums.

They both see the asthma and allergy specialist on a regular basis, atleast every 2-3 months. But in the beginning it was more like once a month. R will also be starting allergy shots this fall as he's highly allergic to sooo many things. This should also help with his allergic asthma.

The right combination of asthma medication and dosage times is essential to controlling asthma. A few things we have been told to do are premedicate when we know R is going to have to be around something he's allergic to. For example, we go to my grandmother's house and there's a cat there. R is allergic to cats. So we premedicate him (Xopenex and benedryl) and he's fine. So far this has worked every time. We only see my grandmother twice a year and it works out well. She also has a Dyson vacum and it's been very helpful in making it so R can visit.

I would ask your doctor about breaking through on albuterol and needing it every 2 hours. It should last closer to 4 hours. When R is having an attack we've had to use both pulmicort and albuterol. And continue it for a few days gradually tapering off.

I know a lot of information to digest at once.

Hang in there and PM me if you have any questions,
Leena

[linda512]

You may already know this, but if you can see a pediatric pulmonologist it would be helpful. They will be able to help you adjust his meds until you find the right combination.
Good luck!

[Lylac]

L has been waking up coughing this past week w/runny nose..small cold. She's been taking Clarinex 2.5 mg for the last year, but her doc put her on Albuterol NEB today and said to give her a treatment every 4 to 6 hours when she gets like this.

She always gets sick when school starts back.. At least now I'll have something to help her, when needed.