Does this sound like an asthma attack?

[Braann]

My Ds2 is 3 1/2 and about a year ago our Dr. said that he probably had/has either exercise or allergy induced. He still occasionally has coughing spells but nothing that seems to be serious.
My question is about the other night, we had put him to bed and about an hour later he started waking up kind of fussing. So I want in and laid down with him and noticed that his breathing seemed irregular and shallow. After a little of this kind of breathing he would take a deep breath and then wake up coughing, to the point of gagging a couple of times. I gave him a puff of his inhaler and after about 5 minutes he had calmed down and was fine and slept the rest of the night.
So I guess that my question is should I be concerned, should I take him back to the Dr. about it. They were confused by him because they kept looking for wheezing but he never has seemed to have wheezing. Should I ask to see a specialist?
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[waluso]

I have exercise and allergy induced asthma and only sometimes am I wheezing when I have an attack. Many times what happens is I can't take a deep breath or I cough if I try to take a deep breath. I would look for a pediatric allergist who specializes in asthma. Also, since I cut many foods out of my diet (because DD reacts through breastmilk) and started working with a homeopath my asthma and environment allergies have gotten significantly better. If I were you, I would also consider homeopathy.

[MoonWillow]

Yes I would ask for a specialist. Wheezing can be very hard to detect and if he has asthma you need to have someone who you can run to on short notice (who knows what they are doing). ITA about homeopathy and natural treatments. Chiropractic can work wonders I understand as well but you need a specialist on hand IMHO.

[earthmama4]

Nightime asthma attacks...I have spent many nights dealing with that! Poor little guy. Its not fun to stuggle for breath.

There is something called cough variant asthma and its primary symptom is coughing rather than wheezing. Sounds like that is what your son experienced. It is often worse at night.

DS1 has asthma and his first symptom is almost always just coughing. He will cough hard and often will gag. He doesn't wheeze until he is in pretty serious respiratory distress and often by that point we are on the way to the ER for help.

If the bronchodilator (inhaler) made the coughing go away, thats a pretty clear indicator the coughing was an asthma attack since it treats broncho-constriction.

Is your son on any preventative treatments? Or does he just take the inhaler as needed? If he is using the inhaler more than once a week, I would seek a specialist. The airways get inflamed with asthma and the inhaler doesn't treat that. My son's asthma got so much better once we got the inflamation under control and tried to avoid his triggers as much as possible (allergies, viruses, etc). Remember the inhaler only treats the symptoms of the attack and does nothing to address the cause.

[Braann]

Thanks mamas!

Earthmama4 you pretty much described it exactly. The other night seemed like the worst he'd ever had. He is not on any preventative medicines, and for the most part I do not have to use the inhaler very often. I'm just afraid that maybe I should be using it more, he has coughing fits sometimes when he runs around but the coughing usually goes away after a while. Should I be using the inhaler when he has those fits or just let it pass. Can I make it worse by ignoring it?
When the Dr. first diagnosed him he had him on 4 puffs of albuterol a day ( which made him so I stopped that and only give it when I think he needs it. He also had him on pediox (an allergy med).
I guess that I'd just really like to feel like I know something about this, and all the reading I've done has just kind of made me more confused.
Also should I call our Dr. and let him know about that attack?


TIA

[34me]

My ds#1, 12, also has cough varient asthma. He was diagnosed when he was about 2. You described it to a T. I would let his Dr. know.

[becca_howell]

Originally Posted by Braann

He is not on any preventative medicines, and for the most part I do not have to use the inhaler very often. I'm just afraid that maybe I should be using it more, he has coughing fits sometimes when he runs around but the coughing usually goes away after a while. Should I be using the inhaler when he has those fits or just let it pass. Can I make it worse by ignoring it?

I have suffered from exercise and allergy induced asthma for 18 years. I have been through a gauntlet of steriods, bronchodiolators, preventative medicines and such. I feel your little man's pain! Asthma is very scary. It feels like you're being held underwater but you're completely dry. I try to use other things before albuterol. Very cold water, caffeine (my mom used to give me coffee to stop attacks), rest, meditation, etc. If he has coughing fits and isn't turning blue or choking, and they stop with rest/short amount of time I wouldn't worry.

Originally Posted by Braann

When the Dr. first diagnosed him he had him on 4 puffs of albuterol a day ( which made him so I stopped that and only give it when I think he needs it. He also had him on pediox (an allergy med).

Asthma specialists say if you need to use a rescue medication (albuterol) more than twice a week, your asthma is out of control. 4X/d is a LOT of albuterol! Even now when I have a chest cold or pneumonia, the doctor will tell me to use it 4X/d, I usually only get 1 or 2 in because it makes me crazy! If memory serves me right, pediox is a steroid (prednisolone if memory serves me right). Steroids drive me CRAZY! At one point they thought I was allergic to prednisone because when they gave me 50mg in the hospital, I started tearing at my clothes, turning beet red and screaming that I felt like I was on fire. I've heard other people have similar reactions too. Also, steroids (pediox, pediazole, prednisone, prednisolone, methylprednisone, orapred, pediapred) used for long periods can cause kidney damage, and steroid use in children has been linked to type 2 diabetes in adults, so be careful with the steroids!

Originally Posted by Braann

Also should I call our Dr. and let him know about that attack?

If this is an isolated incident, it could have been the weather change. I don't know about TN, but here in FL, you can be wearing shorts and flip flops at 6PM and scraping ice off your windshield at 6AM. My asthma goes crazy when the weather changes drastically like that. If he has several attacks like that in a day I would contact the DR immediately. If he has more than two or three attacks in a week, I would use his medication and mention it at his next well kid checkup (if you have a PPO, I'd just look up a doctor that specializes in asthma, allergy and immunology.

Normally, I take a very "medical hands off" approach when it comes to childhood illnesses (colds, ear infections, snotty noses, etc.) but when it comes to serious illnesses like asthma, I don't fool around. Maybe I'm overprotective because I've BTDT. I just wouldn't want to take a chance with asthma!

Good luck. Check out the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology at http://www.aaaai.org/ I don't know if they will be a little less confusing, but that would be a good place to start.