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JenniferS
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| Posted: March 12 2007 at 10:17pm | IP Logged
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I have a ds with asthma. It is usually at its worst in the fall and spring. Something we have noticed is that right before it gets bad, his temperament changes quite a bit. (Sam has always been more temperamental than the rest of the kids, but then he had ashtma and a form of strabismus in both eyes for quite some time before we realized it.) Anyway...if we are not careful(like the past few weeks) and realize his change in temperament means an attack is on the way...well...we really do pay. Do you notice anything of this nature in your child with asthma? I have wondered if it is not a combination of frustration from his sight problems(he has very little depth perception, and his eyes do not work together well) and his asthma. I don't know. I feel very badly that he has really acted up this past week or so, and we should have seen this coming with the nice temperatures, blooming flowers, and all. He is barking like a seal and on the nebulizer pretty regularly this week. He is also difficult to deal with temperament-wise. I feel at my wits end by the end of the day.
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LynnB
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| Posted: March 13 2007 at 5:54am | IP Logged
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Jennifer
I have a few children who have had asthma  It sounds like you sons asthma is affected by the seasons but have you considered diet?
Quite a few years ago we found a book that listed common food additives and their reactions. It particularly focused on asthma & hyperactivity. After removing any foods that contributed to asthma out of the house we saw a drastic improvement in the children’s asthma. 
At the time I had 4 children using the nebulizer 3 of them on steroids & my dh was using a steroid based puffer for his asthma. We haven’t had to use a nebulizer in years though our eldest still uses his puffer for sport.
As the book was specific to the food additive codes here in Australia it wouldn't be any good to you, but you should be able to find an American equivalent.
Lynn
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JenniferS
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| Posted: March 13 2007 at 7:17am | IP Logged
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Thank you. I'll check that out.
Jen
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helene
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| Posted: March 13 2007 at 7:54pm | IP Logged
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I have 2 children with asthma and have it somewhat myself, though mildly. My dc seem to get it with the onset of a cold or flu virus. It seems to get better, also, as they grow older and all those little tubes in their lungs get bigger. I do believe asthma is allergy related. It's possible to have an allergic reaction to a virus, too. Having a nebulizer at home has been a life-saver!
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stacykay
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| Posted: March 14 2007 at 10:45am | IP Logged
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My 16yods has asthma. Like Helene wrote, he always became symptomatic with colds. We made many er runs, even with the nebulizer, since we could only do (and I only felt comfortable doing) two treatments back-to-back.
We took him to an allergy doc way back when we were having the most trouble. He didn't even test him for allergies.  Just the asthma part.
Anyhoo, as he has grown, he has improved to the point that his asthma is mostly exercise-induced (he uses his inhaler before basketball) and humidity-induced (we had an awful day at Sea World one summer!)
Behavior-wise, I didn't see changes other than him being cranky with the cold, or the changes that showed up with medications (ventolin-hyper!!!!!!! and prednisone-CRABBY!)
We did do the big cleaning thing, allergy-proofing his room and such. We never checked out the foods, though.
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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JenniferS
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| Posted: March 14 2007 at 5:27pm | IP Logged
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Stacy-
DS is now eight, but we took him to an allergy doc when he was two, and the same thing. The doc wouldn't test for allergies, said ds was too young??? Anyway, I am pretty sure ds has airborn allergies, and he does take Singulair regualrly. That helps a lot. He really only has bad episodes at the beginning of spring and the beginning of Fall. When he was on liquid albuterol, that was awful. He was terribly aggressive. The doc said that was a side effect sometimes, so we took him off that. Singulair has been a lifesaver for the most part, but he still has the behavior changes. I'm thinking I'd better investigate food allergies, maybe?
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Nina Murphy
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| Posted: March 14 2007 at 6:43pm | IP Logged
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We are upped to double doses of Q-var starting April 1st (as this is the classic start of the allergy season, the growth of the grasses here) and increased admininstering of albuterol. Short courses of Prednisone have been a lifesaver for us. But I vote for the preventative with the Q-var so you don't *need* the albuterol as often.
Food allergies surely enter in with my children as well, in compounding the problem. My Clare broke out with swollen pink eyes today (after eating an ice cream bar with almonds at Costco) and I can't think of what else could have caused it. We're waiting to see if it is an eye infection, something she just touched or allergy-based. That is the frustrating thing with allergy-skin/pulmonary reactions in children!
__________________
God bless,
~~Nina
mother of 9 on earth,
and 2 yet-to-be-met
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4Real Forums : Special Blessings
Topic: THose of you with dc with asthma...
