DS cough not really respinding to rescue inhaler! HELP!

[mamefati28]

My DS had a traumatic incident (dog attack, he is ok, but traumatized) that caused him to cry a lot and get really upset. That night we also had a cold front move through. Because of this his asthma flared, he manifests it in a cough, not really in a wheeze. However, this is the 2nd time that he has developed that cough and that the inhaler does not seem to be helping it much at all. He also takes singulair daily. Last night was rough, I had to give him the inhaler three times and even then he still coughed a lot. Anyone have any experience with a cough not responding to an inhaler and what do you do? Wondering if I should take him somewhere for a neb treatment? Also, he does not seem to be in danger, just a dry hacking cough- although it does sound like there is a lot of mucus in there now.

Thanks all!

[mbbinsc]

My 5 year old daughter gets asthma, usually associated with viruses.  This started when she was young so we have a nebulizer.  I find that the nebulizer works better for coughing associated with congestion and wheezing than the inhaler.

[justmama]

If he's coughing really hard and it's a near constant thing(that dry asthmatic cough, not a productive mucousy cough), I would take him in to the ER for a nebulizer treatment or even to the pedi for one.  Is he having true trouble breathing where you see his nostrils flaring or any retracting in his rib cage(where the ribs pull in with inhales and the belly gets forced out.  you see a very definitive line under the ribs and the skin in between the ribs sometimes gets sucked in too.)  Retracting and flaring are very noticable signs of a person struggling to breathe and it means that person needs medical attention.   My 3 year old is an asthmatic and like the previous poster, her trigger is illness.  Her inhaler cuts down on the wheezing/cough when we are out without a nebulizer but it doesn't eliminate it entirely and it only buys us 30-45minutes to get home before she's in need of a true breathing treatment.  She is not able to be managed on an inhaler solely and I would think ANY asthmatic really can't be managed on an inhaler solely.  Has your son officially been diagnosed?  You didn't say how old he is. 

Also, just somethign to think about........sometimes you can't hear the wheeze without a stethoscope.  The wheeze is deep down where you can't hear it.  I just took my 6 year old into the pedi Monday for prolonged cough and fever that she couldnt' kick and it turned out to be the early stages of pneumonia(that's what I was afraid of).  We couldn't hear any wheezing during the appt until the pedi took out the stethoscope for a closer listen and immediately dug out a nebulizer for a breathing treatment in office and a script for a chest xray.  she turned up positive for pneumonia in the lower lobes of both lungs.  But just listening to her I didn't hear it and she wasn't showing any outward signs of difficulty breahting except that dry hacking cough.

Best of luck to you.  Asthma sucks.  This week both my youngest two have been on breathing treatments around the clock and it's not easy to deal with.  When in doubt, we always hit up the ER or the pedi if it's during business hours.  You don't mess around with breathing issues.

[mamefati28]

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. We ended up going to the ER last night after being instructed to do so by the nurse line. Mainly as his cough was not responding to the inhaler. They put him on a 3 day run of steroids...blah! He bounced off the walls last night after his first dose. We still had a really rough night last night, he coughed all night and the inhaler still did not seem to really help. Not sure when I am supposed to see an improvement from the steroids?

My DS is 4 and has not been officially diagnosed, although he is allergic to dust mites and takes singulair daily, etc. He does seem to have cough variant asthma.

I am going to look into the nebulizer this week. I am always told that there is no difference between the neb and the inhaler. Seems like the mom's who use it think so but the docs don't. How often do you dose on a nebulizer? I am totally ignorant about it.

Really really appreciate it! :)

[mbbinsc]

When needed, we use the nebulizer every 3-4 hours.  We use xopenex as it has less side effects than albuterol.  We also use pulmicort with the nebulizer.  It is a steroid.  When we first had to deal with my daughter's asthma the MD gave us liquid albuterol and steroid.  That did nothing but make her hyper.  I was able to get them to change it to nebulizer treatments.  I think the MD was trying to save us money as the meds for the nebulizer are expensive. 

[Kasey Harris]

I had the same problem with my son now 6 for 3 years.  After getting an allergy test he is allergic to 8 different foods and these foods were causing his asthma! if the asthma meds dont help it might me something else.  my son is allergic to milk, eggs, corn, rice, soy, wheat, peanuts, and almonds.  Hope yall get it figured out...Good Luck!

[flightgoddess]

COnsider allergy shots for the dust mites. I wasn't bothered as a kid, but somewere in my teens my allergies went into overdrive. Tried allegra, ripped up the carpet in my bedroom, hepa filter air cleaner, matress and pillow encasement, etc, for a couple years and it helped some. I had allergy shots for 3 years and helped a TON. I still choose to have hard floors, and run a hepa filter aircleaner at night in my bedroom, and still have the matress/pillow covers. And my mom bought be a hepa vacuum when I got married. :)

Have you also considered the humidity in your house? Maybe his room also needs a dehumidifier or a humidfier?