diagnosing asthma | Imamother

amother

Thu, Dec 28 2006, 4:32 pm

my daughter (4) has been wheezing a lot this winter ONLY when she gets a cough.
One time the wheezing got to a gasping for breath stage and luckily I had a nebulizer on hand that I tried before running for help. B"H that cleared her up significantly.

Is this asthma?

How does on diagnose asthma (obviously by going to the dr. which we have done - but looking for some experienced posters here so we can objective)

If it only happens with a cold, is there something else we could / should do ?

What can we do to alleviate her cough?

Ima'la

Thu, Dec 28 2006, 5:11 pm

Me too, 2nd amother. I think a family doctor/pediatrician (at least in Israel) is not allowed to make the diagnosis of asthma. My son's doctor sent us to a pulmonologist after a few rounds of his ending up on oral cortisone for his wheezing every time he got a cold! (Talk about strong cold medication!) He was about a year old at the time.

Since then, b"H, it's mostly been well under control with inhaled steroids. Last winter he had a hard winter, and was finally put on Singulair in addition to the inhaler, and b"H, he's been fine since then. (He's 4 now.)

His is definitely triggered by colds (as is mine, btw). I was told to increase his dosage at the first sign of a cold. If your child's is more mild, it's possible she might only need to start taking the meds at the first sign of a cold.

I am VERY in favor of taking preventative medication for asthma. The preventative meds are very safe - low dosage and almost no side effects - and they help prevent serious attacks - that land a person (lo aleinu) in the hospital, where they end up taking MUCH MORE meds.

Did your doc say it's asthma? Sounds like it to me from your post (obviously, I'm not a doc & I've never seen your child). The coughing is probably a symptom of the asthma, too. Ventolin, as needed, should help, and taking a steroid inhaler regularly should get it under control.

One tip that I was surprised to find out: If your child is coughing or wheezing b/c of asthma during a cold, DON'T give antihistamines - they will dry her up and make it more difficult for her to breathe.

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now - you hit the topic that sets me off and running. Your welcome to PM me if I can be of any help. Disclaimer: I have a (bad?) habit of offering plenty of medical advice - especially on this topic - but I am not a doctor and should not substitute for one!

mtb18

Thu, Dec 28 2006, 5:17 pm

My son (3 1/2) is also having problems right now, he has a little cold and is wheezing. I know he has asthma because one night he had such trouble breathing we had to take him to the hospital where we ended up staying a few days. He refuses to take an inhaler, only a nebulizer which is a problem when I am out of the house. He would rather suffer than take the inhaler.

Sat, Dec 30 2006, 2:45 pm

In young children (preschoolers) upper respiratory tract infections are certainly the most common trigger of asthma.
Other common triggers are exercise and cold weather etc
Coughing - especially at night - can sometimes be the only symptom of asthma a child will have.
If a child respondes well to ventolin nebulisers/inhalers - that could be a sign that they have asthma and they MAY benefit from steroid inhaler, depends on how often they are using the reliever medication
Also there tends to be asthma/hayfever/eczema running in the family.
Most young kids are ok with the inhalers being giver via a spacing device (volumatic or aerochamber)