We've been through this before and have no answers.
DD is 4.5 yrs old and ever several months or so she will do this strange "yawn" I call it a yawn because at the end, she draws breath. The beginning of it she kind of pulls her head back and looks like she is choking. No color change in her face. When she finally is able to get a breath it looks like a yawn. She says she wants to know how to stop doing that and how to "breathe normal"
We've seen
Her pediatrician who did not have useful advice
ENT who said it was probably enlarged tonsils/adenoids. (NO) they are back to normal
Neurologist who said it probably was a tick/behavioral and she would grow out of it (NO)
Now I am scouring the net because i feel like it is up to me personally to figure out what this is.
I guess I will just start making the rounds to different doctors. Somebody has got ot know what is going on. I made an appointment with a Pulminologist for tomorrow. Maybe after that I'll take her to a Cardiologist. Somebody even mentioned a chiropractor (for alignment getting in the way of breathing) Who knows.
Has anyone experienced anything like this?
Does anyone know what kind of doctor I should see for this?
OH< and it could be a virus as well because last night, the "yawn" was constant just before bed (but she does it ANY time of day) and this morning she had a fever. She had croup as a child and twice since September (in daycare, gets sick more often) Maybe that is relevenat.
I some sort of guidance in where to seek help. Open to all suggestions.
Thanks for all your responses!
Tested yesterday - she does not have asthma
video - had one from a few months ago when this happened last. Took it in to the pneumologist. No diagnosis. Must be wrong type condition for the pneumologist to recognise. I am thinking that if I found the right specialty doctor, they might indeed see that video and go oh, yeah, thats blah blah. Seen it a thousand times. No biggie. Easy to treat. She'll be fine.
I showed this to the neurologist too. They thought it could be tick. I say it's not. That neurologist didn't do much other than talk to me. Not impressed. I may take that advice of seeing another neurologist at the Phx childerens hospital and ask for that EEG. We live in Chandler, but will drive wherever needed to see qualified, knowledgeable, recommended doctors.
We saw the pulmonolgist. Tested her lungs. She scored above the baseline. We couldn't tell how well her particular set of lungs could do because she refused to do the inhaler, but we do know pretty well, that they are in great shape. Dr suggested maybe acid reflux. (throat closes off when fluids reflux back up and that would make it hard to breathe. Makes sense)
Thanks girls!
I would say to try to get it on video so that you can show it to your medical professionals. Maybe they are just not understanding what she is doing.
Good Luck dear Mom, I wish you the best.
Hi A&L,
My recommendation is to video tape the event a few times. Then take her and video to see a Pediatric Neurologist. If you're in the Phoenix area, then you should go to St. Joseph's Hospital & MC, The Barrow Neurological Institute. A child neurologist after viewing the video will be able to diagnose whether this is a seizure that needs follow up or a childhood tic that she'll outgrow.
I didn't check where you are located, so if you're not in the Phoenix, email me back and my husband can recommend someone in your area.
I'm sorry you are getting the run around and not straight answers.
Best of luck,
Jennifer
If you haven't found anything yet, I might have a suggestion. I know you have seen an ENT already but it may not have been the right one. I went through many dr's on my son too. His had to do with allergies - so the dr's said but it ended up being his adnoids (long story short) - The ent I took him to was Jeffery McKenna in Awatukee. He is awsome with kids. (I was introduced to him because of my daughter who was diagnosed w/ esophgial reflux.) So I decided to take my son to him to see if he knew what the problem was. He said right off the bat he doesn't have allergies it's his adnoids or sinus canals causing the problem and sure enough - adnoids. He removed them and all is well.(after 6yrs of "allergy" meds. Go figure!) My son had delt with his so call allergies for 6yrs and nothing seemed to help he snored so bad, kept getting sinus infections every other month. Dr McKenna cured him. I know this is not the same case as yours but my thought was that I know what you are going through with Dr's. Sometimes you wonder if it's for the money or the care of the kids. Hope you get your answers and hope your daughter gets over whatever she has. take care!
Have you had her checked for asthma? I have asthma and sometimes the only way I can get a good breath is to yawn.
Hi Amy and Laura V,
I don't have any specific advice to give as I have never dealt with this however I do have general advice.
From my experience just because one doctor says their opinion about some thing, it doesn't mean that he/she is accurate.
I've had so many experiences in my life when the initial doctor was wrong, it's sad actually. i.e. my mom had pneumonia and they didn't catch it the first time; my son had pneumonia and didn't catch it the first time; my brother had a broken femur, yes femur and was at the hospital and they somehow missed it; I have MVP and the first cardio doc didn't catch it; my mom has Lupus and they couldn't figure it out for like 10 years; my husband has had asthma since he was an infant but the doctors kept telling his mom she was crazy--nothing was wrong. It turns out my husband has severe asthma to the point where they said he'd probably wouldn't make it to adult hood. Now had my husbands mom given up and listened to the first few doctors, my husband wouldn't be alive right now because he never would have got the right treatment. This gentleman I know has some sort of liver disease and it was misdiagnosed; and for 6 years he took medication that actually damaged his liver and worsened his condition.
Point to all this, not to scare you because there are excellent doctors out there---you just have to find them.
keep going to the doctor until you find out what is going on with your child. If you don't feel comfortable with what you've been told so far, there is probably a reason why. Mom's have instincts like no other when it comes to their children.
I absolutely love our pediatrician Dr. Diane Matsumoto 48-###-###-####. You might like yours but still wanted to provide her name. Also, an excellent pediatric ENT is Dr. Robert F. Mancuso ###-###-####.
I wish you the very best. Many blessings.
Did the neurologist do an EEG and check for seizures? They don't always look like what we conventionally think of seizures to be. Getting it on video is a great idea too.
