Asthma symptoms?

[malayasmommy]

I'd appreciate any feedback from people with experience figuring out if their child has asthma or not...thanks so much!

My daughter (24 mos.) has had a nasty cold, including a *nasty* cough for the last few days. Prior to this cold, she had a lingering cough from a previous cold (very minor cough, I might add)...in total, the cough has lasted about 3-4 weeks. Her breathing sounds like she has a cold, but it *is* somewhat labored.

I worry about this because I had asthma as a child, with symptoms triggered mostly by colds. (It probably didn't help that both of my parents smoked in the home I was living in.) When I spoke with my mom this evening, she said her cough reminded her of how I sounded when I was young and having problems with my asthma.

Additionally, my daughter has peanut/tree nut allergies--our allergist told me that it was partially my asthma gene expressing itself in her as a nut allergy. So I am wondering--if she inherited the gene, maybe it could express itself as both a nut allergy and asthma? How do I distinguish between run-of-the-mill cough from a cold, and asthma symptoms?

Thanks again!

[dollyanna]

Hard to know. If you're worried, I would take a trip to the Dr. and have them evaluate her. It could be bronchitis or pneumonia, too.

"Persistent hacking or a congested cough, with or without wheezing, can sometimes indicate the onset of childhood asthma.

In addition to coughing, infants may show signs of muscle retractions between the ribcage with breathing ("drawing-in"). An infant may also "flare" at the nostrils while breathing or have difficulty with breast- or bottle-feeding. These are all signs that the infant is working hard to breathe. A very rapid rate of breathing — more than 40 breaths per minute in a sleeping infant — is a warning sign. Talk with your pediatrician or emergency room triage nurse immediately."

http://www.healthtree.com/articles/asthma/childhood.php

My daughter has had trouble breathing a few times - we had to take her to the hospital a few times for breathing treatments. My Dr says that you can't really officially diagnose asthma until kids are older (when they can understand & comply with testing methods). But, because of my DDs history, we are treating her like she has asthma.

[Neera]

hi,

dh had asthma and dd at 2.5 was diagnosed with unspecified asthma. dd has allergies to pistachio and cashew but not peanuts or almonds. don't know about other nuts.

here's what dh says:

it's wheezing that doesnt go away even after coughing/clearing your throat.

labored breathing tires out your chest muscles. and it prevents you from resting or sleeping properly.

the wheezing gets worse when you lie down, and is a little more tolerable when sitting upright.

get a nebulizer pronto.

[lmk1]

I would take her in to get listened to by a Dr. Ds ended up with pneumonia and then wheezing while I didn't suspect a thing. He had a very minor cold, then got another one, and then I suspect a stomach virus. I had taken him in and they always said his lungs sounded great (and there's no history of asthma in my family). Then when he got the stomach virus and was throwing up, I took him in again, and lo and behold, he's got pneumonia. 10 days on antibiotics, I took hm in again, and now he's wheezing. Finally, with a nebulizer, everything got resolved. However, I ddin't suspect anything, because I didn't know what to listen for. I ended up buying a stethoscope, so I can hear his breathing better. He's got his fist cold now after that illness, and I'm listening to his lungs all the time when he's coughing. I plan on taking him to the Dr in a couple of days anyway if he's still coughing, because i was pretty shaken last time that my kid got so sick and I didn't suspect a thing!

[ASusan]

I agree with all the pp.

Get it checked out. They will listen for wheezing and, hopefully, get you a plan. We have no asthma dx, because DS is too young. But we have regular wheezing, food and environmental allergies, colds that go to his lungs, a nebulizer with albuterol for when he's really uncomfortable.

Lately, he's responded well to sleeping in room with a cold humidifier. He also responds to sleeping while sitting up (in one of our arms). We haven't had to use the nebulizer but once or twice since starting with the humidifier about 6 weeks ago.

Wheezing starts with coughing in our house, most frequently after the first day of a cold, OR when the air is very dry.

[jocelyndale]

If you hear a whistling/reedy when she breathes in and out, or if you see your skin pulling in around her ribs when she breathes (retraction), go get help *tonight*.

[malayasmommy]

Thank you to everyone for your responses. We did end up taking her to the ER that night, after a bunch of poking and prodding she was diagnosed with "bronchial infection". She had the shallow breathing and had "retraction" (described in comment above) when she was breathing. No pneumonia thank goodness, but my understanding is that they can't diagnose her with asthma until she gets a little older (so they can do the tests accurately). They did give me a nebulizer which she has been using, and she's much better now.

I think the message here is to LISTEN TO MY INTUITION when it comes to my child. The "mommy alarm bells" were going off in my gut, despite my head saying "she'll be fine until morning, don't overreact". Turns out her oxygen level was at like 82, Dr said they were close to admitting her that evening. Scary!

Thanks again, something I will have to keep an eye on in the future I guess.

[lmk1]

Originally Posted by malayasmommy

Thank you to everyone for your responses. We did end up taking her to the ER that night, after a bunch of poking and prodding she was diagnosed with "bronchial infection". She had the shallow breathing and had "retraction" (described in comment above) when she was breathing. No pneumonia thank goodness, but my understanding is that they can't diagnose her with asthma until she gets a little older (so they can do the tests accurately). They did give me a nebulizer which she has been using, and she's much better now.

I think the message here is to LISTEN TO MY INTUITION when it comes to my child. The "mommy alarm bells" were going off in my gut, despite my head saying "she'll be fine until morning, don't overreact". Turns out her oxygen level was at like 82, Dr said they were close to admitting her that evening. Scary!

Thanks again, something I will have to keep an eye on in the future I guess.

I'm sorry that she was so sick, but it's great that she's doing better now. I have to say I'm always trying to figure out if I'm overreacting or not, and second-guess myself...it's really hard to know. What med is she getting in the nebulizer? We ended up taking ds to the Dr today and he's definitely wheezing. We're going to be on xopenex for a week and now ds has a fever too. He sounds really hoarse like he's going to lose his voice. I guess I'll go google that to see if that's common for kids.

[dollyanna]

Sorry to hear that she was so sick I had the same experience the 1st time DD had breathing problems - knew something was wrong but I figured it could wait. I had a Dr appointment in the morning and by the time she got there I was SO scared. It's so awful to go through, but I'm glad now we know what to look for.

Hope she feels better soon!