[serenetabbie]

I posted about this in Toddlers, got plenty of views but no replies. Trying again here.

Does anyone have a kid with asthma? How do you treat it? What have you found works well? How old were they when they were diagnosed? Do they have allergies too?
My DD is 2.5, and has been finally diagnosed with asthma. I suspect she has allergies too, but aside from a cow milk intolerance I cannot figure out to what. I have switched to organic soy and cow milk (which she seems to have less of a reation to than the regular milk), as well as all the organic produce I can find. I have some cleaners DH brought home (he is convinced you need toxic cleaners to have a clean home) that I have stopped using all together after noticing her wheeze after I used furniture polish. Boy did that make me feel like mother of the year

: Trying to take away the dust which might be making her wheeze only to make her sick cleaning. Ugh. We have an appt. with a asthma/allergy specialist in January....the first avaliable. I guess then they will be able to tell us what she is allergic to.
She seems like she has been sick since she was born. She always seems to have a cold, fever, something. When she was 3 weeks old she had RSV.....from there it seemed like she has been sick more than she is well.
She is on a nebulizer, daily maitanence dose of pulimicort and the rescue inhaler (xopenex....mangled the spelling I think, but I dont have the box here) as needed. Does anyone know anything about these meds? From what I have read xopenex is better than albutiral, but is not FDA approved for use in kids her age. My SIL (a resp. therapist) says albutirol is better altho it may make her jittery. Her kids have RAD, and she said her allergist told her to keep the kids off any type of milk, including soy, unless it was cooked. Soy does not have lactose in it.....how could that make more mucous? (yes, there is a family history on SIL/DH's side of asthma and allergies). Now I am wondering if I am making my poor baby sick with what I thought was better. SIGH.
Thanks for reading this long post. TIA for your replies.
~ Laura

 

[orangecanoe]

Laura,

I'm afraid I don't have much info to contribute as far as allergies.

But....the sweet boy I babysit for started treatment for allergies/asthma earlier this year at about 14/15 mos. His symptoms seem a bit less severe than your dd's, but I did want to mention that he was put on Singulair chewable tablets. I believe this medication aims to prevent the pre-cursors of attacks. I'm pretty sure that his mom was able to get this from his primary--he seemed to do really well with this and didn't require other treatments for the asthma...just Zyrtec liquid at night for the allergies.

Does the specialist's office have a cancellation list...January seems like a long time to wait.

Wish I had more info for you...sounds like you are taking the necessary steps to figure this out.

Heather

edd #1 5/25/04

 

[clawmama]

My three year old has lung disease and asthma. I second the singular! He has not had a wheezing episode or "attack" since we put him on the once a day maintence of singlular 10 months ago. Before singular he had to have an albuteral neb. treatment at least 3 times per week for shortness of breath.
My son is also on a maintence inhaler of flovent twice a day.
He sees a pediatric pulmonolgist. I found that the alergist did us no good. He also is on a vegan diet which helps his other health issues.
Good Luck! I know the drugs are scary but so are the attacks , its a hard choice.

 

[serenetabbie]

Thank you both for your replies.
Heather I am in PA too

Yes the DR has a wait list for cancelations. He is apparently the only pediatric specialist in the area (unless we drive 2 + hours to Philly).
Clawmama~ Flovent is like the other inhaled steriods right? Are there less side effects with that one? Is it an inhaler or is it the nebulizer? There is a pediatric pulminologist in Philadelphia my SIL takes her kids to, he is supposed to be one of the best in the state.......what is the difference between that and an asthma/allergy specialist? It seems like her kids are on all kinds of meds (the baby takes a daily dose of benadryl plus other stuff...she is 5 months younger than my dd). Are pulminologists also allergy specialists? I thought they were just lung specialists.
It is scary. I never was so sick as a child. I have no idea what to do for her.....I wish there were some more natural way to take care of her. I am hoping that there is a simple answer, but I guess there is not

 

[Sara29]

Get a good house filter and tell dh to stop buying commercial cleaners.All you need to clean the house is some baking soda,vinegar,borax,tea tree oil,and some lemon oil for a nice smell

My friend has lung damage due to toxic exposure to bleach from one time when she cleaned the bathroom.Ofcourse he smoking doesn't help.Regardless I am sad knowing there will be no one to tend to her 5(out of 7 kids) once she no longer can.

Anyway back to topic....over at

http://healthy.net in the children section do a seach under asthma or allergies.You will find a few articles.You should try the homeopathic,naturopath,and environmental clean ups. I like the Janet Zand pagesYou might find something that helps your child. The only thing I know about conventional meds for asthma is they mess up the immune system and make a person more prone to infections.Best wishes!

http://www.healthy.net/clinic/dandc/asthma/

 

[L.J.]

If you are looking for natural alternatives, there are lots out there. I agree with Sara29 that lifelong medication can create other problems.

A lot of asthma is caused or triggered by allergies. A large percentage of people allergic to dairy are also allergic to soy.

I've just read a great book called "Allergies, Disease in Disguise" which directly addresses Asthma in children and how to get rid of it or drastically reduce the symptoms. If you want me to forward some of that info to you, I can email or pm you.

 

[goodpapa]

...the only study that's been done using a REAL control of unvaxed children.'

It happens to be an asthma study:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract

Check out my "Hope, faith, and activism" thread in VAX forum for the connection between allergic responses and compromised intestinal flora.

Procreate, Lactate, Disseminate!

Ray

 

[cobluegirl]

I don't have any experience with this but I read a thread on here yesterday where some gal was completely off her asthma meds after taking Noni juice. When ever it flared up she just takes it...It is a natural juice made from a plant/fruit I believe. You can do a search and come up with lots of info. Here is a link for organic juice: http://www.noninz.com/home/lovelife/index.htm Here is a link for impressive testimonials: www.noni-is-good-for-you.com

ps. I don't sell it...

 

[ChristieB]

I don't have much experience with asthma, but a lot of experience with allergies. I've got RAD, but it's not very severe. I can't take the medications, so we keep an oxygen tank on hand for the real problem times (I haven't needed it for a few years, though, thanks in large part to my homeopath). I also use B-12. It's a vaso-dilator. I used to take B-12 injections (we got the preservative-free stuff with a prescription) when I was having trouble, but now I just use a sublingual tablet (available OTC -- if you can't find and want it, pm me).

I highly recommend talking to a homeopath. If there are none in your area, pm me and I'll give you the name of mine who will do consults by phone (yes, it's better to see someone in person, but if you don't have that option, he's a very good homeopath and used to doing phone consults, so he's good at that).

A good air filter (our favorite, but, no, we don't sell it

) is Austin Air. They're expensive, but the best we've found. I'd suggest that you get a small one for her bedroom (our bodies rejuvinate at night, so it's important for the sleeping environment to be as pristene as possible) and a bigger one for your main living area.

As far as cleaning goes, I second what Sara29 said, except for the tea tree oil. It's a real problem for me and others I know. I use grapefruit seed extract (GSE) instead. It doesn't work in the same way, but along with the other things she listed, GSE should do it for you. It's for cleaning moldy and musty places. Also, the lemon oil (or any other essential oil), for smelling good, is nice if your dd can tolerate it, but not at all necessary. For some good recipes for natural cleaning products, go to the Healthy Home and Body forum.

Christie

 

[Sara29]

My dh hates the smell of TTO.I like the GSE too,though due to price I mostly just use it to clean toothbrushes,cleaning boards,and a few drops in the occasional water with meat. I think nutriteam sells GSE powder in bulk.I just buy the source natural brand from vitacost.com.We have mold problems.I will have to try the GSE on that.

 

[serenetabbie]

Thank you all. that is quite a bit of information! I will look it all over when I have a moment

I am sure I will find lots of helpful information.
L.J, I will look for that book

 

[PB's Mom]

Has anyone looked into dustmite and mold problems for allergies? I have a 6 month old who seems to be sensitive to everything. I just bought an allergy mattress cover and some allergy pillows. I'm going to take the comforter to the laundromat ASAP, and try to keep the carpet and everything else in the bedroom very clean (not an easy thing to do with 2 little ones.) I also thought about putting the DE-humidifier in the bedroom to cut down on possible mold problems. They say that you should not use a humidifier if there are asthma issues. I'm hoping that the pediatritian can send me to an allergist. I'm tired of him saying "your baby is fine...nothing wrong." I have a long list of symptoms to show him next week. Stuffy nose all the time, rubs his nose all the time, arches his back/can't ever get comfortable, can't stand temp over 77 -he gets sweaty, doesn't sleep for more than about 15 minutes or so at a time (unless he knows I'm right there), he has reflux, his breathing gets worse when he cries, he can't nurse when he's stuffed up or crying, he gasps for air once in awhile,..... he also has issues when he was born-weak cry, rapid breathing, etc..... If anyone has any tips for me, I could use some!!!! I just want to know if I should be worried......I supose I will be even if you all say not to be

:

 

[serenetabbie]

Yes, I have taken preventitive steps for dust mites. We used to have a mold issue in the other house, but here we do not.
I have done the same things you have done for my kids. Ds has excema/allergies and, well, you know about Dd from this thread. I got a dust mite cover for Dd's bed, but so far that is all. They are a bit expensive and cash flow here is slow in the fall. I hope to get at least the mattress covers for our bed and Ds' bed soon....then I will get the box spring covers. I have started to wash all the bedding once a week in hot/hot, and at least putting the comforters, stuffed animals (we got rid of most of them and have asked not to get anymore as gifts) and pillows in the dryer on high once a month or washing them all also in hot if I have the time. Since I started washing everything in hot I noticed a big improvement in Ds' itchy face and recurrent bloody noses (from rubbing his nose in his sleep). I was washing them in cold to save $, but really it's a small price to pay for my children's comfort. We took out most of the yucky old carpet upstairs (left it in the hall since the floor is damaged), and put down the throw rugs we have. We can wash them, also in hot, when ever we want. I also vac up there every other day. While the kids may not be allerigic to dust mites, I feel like at least this is something I can do until the allergist's appointment.
If you feel there is something more wrong, you are most likely right. I told them there was something wrong with DD from the time she was about 6 months old. NOW at 2.5 they tell me yes, she has asthma and allergies.

: I found out a lot of babies that have reflux/gerd also have allergies/asthma (something like 70%!). Keep taking your baby so they have a history of his symptoms and best of luck to you mama! (BTW, your names are just TOO cute!)