DS is starting a cycle of being sick every month

[sparklett]

DS id 3.5 and is starting a cycle of being sick every month.

This same thing happened last year, too. Last year he got sick in October and was ill once a month until May. It lasts a week and starts off with a clear runny nose, mild fever and always (ALWAYS!) becomes bronchitis. He was diagnosed with asthma last year and we now treat it at home with liquid albuterol and inhalation treatments. Asthma only shows up when he has a cold.

Sure enough, it looks like we're starting down the same way this year. He became ill during the third week of September and now he's on his third day of being ill this month. He started preschool at the end of August and tends to come down with a cold on the Sunday after his Thursday at preschool.

With him, he NEVER gets a runny nose for a couple of days and gets over it. It always turns into either full-blown bronchitis or a awful cough that makes him throw up.

I *really* hate giving him the albuterol but many times it is the only thing that keeps us from having to go to the ER. I'd rather he take the albuterol for a few days than watch him develop pneumonia. We went down that path last spring and it was.not.fun.

We wash hands, wash clothes, wash toys, air out the house... but what else can we do to break this cycle???

I'd really love some insight on this.

[Peony]

It may be that using nebs just while he is ill isn't enough to keep his asthma in check. Or as much as it bites, being sick once a month during the winter, isn't uncommon even for a child without asthma.

4y old DD2 has asthma, she is ill all the time, I would be thrilled with only once a month at this point. It is more like 2-3 times a month, most of the time we only have days between illnesses. A cold often turned into pneumonia for her, we've done nebs at home and then she had inhalers for illnesses as well. Her asthma also only show symptoms when she is ill. We put her on Singular this fall with a new inhaler daily and then switch to nebs at the first sign of illness. She did get new neb meds as well. World of difference already! She got croup this month, normally she would of ended up in the ER for steroids, she was hospitalized this summer for croup. For the first time ever, the toddler was sicker then she was! And the toddler has had a cold, she hasn't gotten it yet, I am holding out hope that maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Who is managing his asthma? I would suggest going to an asthma doc. I really wish I had gone last year instead of letting the pedi manage it another winter. Anyway, good luck, and hang in there.

[kjbrown92]

Also if it's a certain time of the year, I would consider allergy induced asthma (my DH has this). He needs to take the meds even when he isn't reacting (Zyrtec and rhinocort nose sprays) and then he rarely needs the asthma meds, and hasn't used his rescue inhaler once. For him though they are mostly things he can avoid (cats, dogs) though oak trees and grass though are harder to avoid.

[sparklett]

Thanks for your ideas. He was under the care of a pulmonologist, though we recently moved and are "shopping" for a new one. It's not an allergy issue- more like a monthly cold that becomes bronchitis and then frequently edges toward pneumonia.

This month he was only sick for five days, but he still has a residual cough.

His doctors seem to focus more on taking care of the cough so it doesn't become pneumonia, instead of giving me ideas on how to avoid it in the first place.

This is his fourth cold season- the first two seasons he was on Synagis because he was a preemie and contracting RSV would have been bad news for him. Last year was his first cold season without Synagis and he really suffered. This year is shaping up to be the same.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by sparklett

With him, he NEVER gets a runny nose for a couple of days and gets over it. It always turns into either full-blown bronchitis or a awful cough that makes him throw up.

I can't comment on the asthma part, but I can share what's worked with us to a) reduce the severity of colds DS used to get, and b) reduce the # of illnesses overall.

for severity:
-giving DS vitamin C to bowel tolerance for the duration of the cold was a big deal for us--when he was an infant, each Oct-Jan he'd be constantly sick (4-5 healthy days his first 2 winters) but only 2 turned bacterial.

-consider whether he could have any food intolerances... when I gave DS one of the foods he's slightly intolerant of at the end of a very mucousy illness, he got an ear infection, first one ever--for us cutting out gluten and dairy (plus a few others less significant--we can have them occasionally) has been really helpful -- food intolerances can affect a lot of the other areas I've mentioned--DD's gut got healthier after we cut out the foods she was intolerant of and food intolerances can stress the body so they need a lot more extra nutrients

-the coolest thing this year is cell salts, the cell salt ferr phos is helpful at the beginning of an illness, I just started using them this year and have seen them seem to reduce the length and intensity of 2 illnesses in the kids--there's a long thread on them in this forum with one place to buy, and there's a little $4 booklet discussing all 12 single cell salts (plus there are combos that aren't discussed in the booklet)

for frequency of illness:
-I think supplementing vitamin D last year was really helpful--I think it helped with both severity and frequency actually, the vitamin D council website has helpful stuff on dosing, I think starting dosing is 1000 IU per 25 pounds of body weight, and 5,000 IU for adults, but they discuss it more

-consider zinc (maybe in the above category instead/in addition),

-probiotics--fermented foods like kefir if you consume dairy or veggies like sauerkraut and kimchee could be really helpful, I've seen the kids get more or less sick when their guts get really out of whack

[sparklett]

Originally Posted by tanyalynn

I can't comment on the asthma part, but I can share what's worked with us to a) reduce the severity of colds DS used to get, and b) reduce the # of illnesses overall.

for severity:
-giving DS vitamin C to bowel tolerance for the duration of the cold was a big deal for us--when he was an infant, each Oct-Jan he'd be constantly sick (4-5 healthy days his first 2 winters) but only 2 turned bacterial.

-consider whether he could have any food intolerances... when I gave DS one of the foods he's slightly intolerant of at the end of a very mucousy illness, he got an ear infection, first one ever--for us cutting out gluten and dairy (plus a few others less significant--we can have them occasionally) has been really helpful -- food intolerances can affect a lot of the other areas I've mentioned--DD's gut got healthier after we cut out the foods she was intolerant of and food intolerances can stress the body so they need a lot more extra nutrients

-the coolest thing this year is cell salts, the cell salt ferr phos is helpful at the beginning of an illness, I just started using them this year and have seen them seem to reduce the length and intensity of 2 illnesses in the kids--there's a long thread on them in this forum with one place to buy, and there's a little $4 booklet discussing all 12 single cell salts (plus there are combos that aren't discussed in the booklet)

for frequency of illness:
-I think supplementing vitamin D last year was really helpful--I think it helped with both severity and frequency actually, the vitamin D council website has helpful stuff on dosing, I think starting dosing is 1000 IU per 25 pounds of body weight, and 5,000 IU for adults, but they discuss it more

-consider zinc (maybe in the above category instead/in addition),

-probiotics--fermented foods like kefir if you consume dairy or veggies like sauerkraut and kimchee could be really helpful, I've seen the kids get more or less sick when their guts get really out of whack

This was SO HELPFUL. Thank you.

Whenever he gets sick we cut out all dairy and sugar and reduce grains. that helps. He does get huge doses of vit C, but I've never gone "to bowel tolerance". We're now taking vitamin D becuase we live in a rainy area, so I'm interested to see how that works for him. Probiotics are a mainstay in our home.

Thanks again. I'm definitely going to look into your other suggestions.