Lung Congestion and Wheezing

Hi,

My daughter started taking neb's when she was 9months old.
It turned out that she was diagnosed with asthma at two.
The treatment was the same. She was having asthma problems before they diagnosed her and were treating her for the problem all along. The saline is a canister that you buy over the counter. It is two or three squirts into the neb applicator instead of the premix. It just helps with congestion not the wheezing or cough. You give it the same way you give the albuterol. The difference is that there is no medicine. If your child is wheezing or coughing (worse when she lays down), you need to talk to her doctor. Never ignore a wheeze. The albuterol will make her shake, and feel like running around and suppress her desire for food. Feed her before the treatment. If possible change around her schedule to plan for meals and expect some activity after the treatment.
Ask the doctor for advice to help you determine if waking your daughter for the night time treatment is necessary.
They will want you to call them for any new episodes of wheezing so they can chart the activity and make judgments about her care. Hope this helps, B.

see a pediatric pulmonologist. (we love Dr. Faverio in Fort Myers) my son started his asthma problems when he was 2. he is almost 5 now. we have had many trips to the ER and a few hospital stays. (his illness of choice is pneumonia and two ear infections. this is a joke of course because he gets that combination so often.) I fought till the bitter end before i decided to use additional medication but it is great now. He is on singulair (though some people HATE it) and on Flovent (a daily steroidal inhaler) we use Xopenex in his nubulizer as needed. i stopped using albuterol for the same reasons. it made him too active and jittery to sleep (or really even function). he couldn't sit still.

Cold air is extremely bad for him. Sticking my sons head in the freezer (as another mom mentioned) would CAUSE an attack, not help it. ans this time of year, with all the weather changes, and pollen and what not, many kids are having a hard time.

don't worry. once you find what works for your familt everything will be great.

best of luck!

Hi A.,
I would also strongly recommend vaporizer! My son is 14 mths now. Ever since he was 6 mths whenever he gets runny nose it quickly develops into a severe case of ear infection with high fever. He had been taking antibiotics forever! As soon as we would stop giving him antibiotics, he would get sick again. My friend told me about vaporizer and now I start using it when the first sign of cold appears.Simptoms usually dissapear after few days or at least congestion does not get worse! And my son sleeps through the night! Also, I clean his nose with saline solution several times a day. It helps too.
Good luck to you! Hope your little one gets much better soon!

My kids are older now, but I remember when they had lung congestion the dr recommended we pat their back twice a day, am and pm for about 10 minutes to cause the phlegm to loosen from the lungs. The way to pat was by cupping your hands, and gently patting their back, up & down one side then the other so both lungs got equal billing. We made it "fun" by having them voice out words or doing the do-re-mi song or saying the alphabet. This worked for us, as well as using the warm showers. Have you tried using a clean humidifier at night, and having her sit up to sleep? I say a clean humidifier because we forget to clean them after use, and they do get yukky on the inside when not cleaned. Also, try cleaning her toys that she handles most often regularly-that may help in reducing the spread of the virus-and washing favorite items such as a blanket or stuffed toy. And definitely teaching her to wash her hands after going potty or doing anything else that gets her hands dirty. Washing hands Really Does help prevent infection! Those things worked for us when our kids were little. Hope this helps.

I went through the same thing. And like you have resisted all this medication. I got the big lecture from a doctor though and he put it to me in a different prespective. When they're congested it is also hard on their heart. My 13 year old had Rsv at 3 months she needed the neb for 8 months and has never had another problem.

As far as the nebulizer and that type of treatment goes, that seems to be the way that the doctors are taught to treat breathing issues. I wonder if the old fashion methods are better than the strong med.'s we give our kids today. My age group had no such thing as nebulizers etc. and we made it through! Anyway, Have you tried the vaporizer with the vicks liquid and the gentle vapors plug ins. My son has multiple food allergies and ecezema issues (immunity issue) and when he gets an infection/cold I only use the nebulizer if he seems like he is having excessive difficulty breathing. Have you ever read the ingredients and side effects!Anyway- not to say "don't listen to your doctor" - I'm not saying that-- just try some of the old fashion things used when you were a child first.The vaporizer seems effective to a degree and of course- common sense is important to have - if your daughter is not responding to the treatments- perhaps you can try another doctor. It is amazing how different approaches sometimes work!

The albuterol has way to many side effects. I always let my daughter take a warm bath. I also kept a vaporizor in her room alot. She can become dependant on the breathing treatments. I would only use them as a last resort. Sounds to me like she has some serious allergies. Have you taken her to a specialist? If not I would.

The chemical composition of Albuterol is similar to adrenaline; it speeds there hearts up. They have another drug, Xopenex, which does not have all the side effects found with Albuterol. We like it much better, they can still sleep. I have been dealing w/lung issues w/my 2 for over 2 years. Xopenex is more expensive and does not come in generic, but its worth the cost.

As for the saline, my doc actually recommended it when my daughter needed treatments every 2 hours and that was way to much med. Its about 2 Tbs water w/ 1/8 tsp salt. Pour in capsul, work as usual. Its just like a cool mist humidifier, will help break the junk up. Rinse out the container at the end, b/c its salt and will crust in in.

HTH
P.

It could be an allergy. We do Pulmicort once a day in the neb and then xopenex only as needed. he's also on Singular and Zyrtec. Albuterol or Xopenex for long periods of time can cause them not to be effective. I'd get a 2nd opinion.

This is a home remedy my grandmother, my mom and I use, and it can be use with the medice the doctor is giving to your daughter.
In a cup, squeeze hablf lime and one spoon of honey (the real one)warm it, add the rest of lime, and make her take it as warm as possible (without burning her). Honey and Lime are bolth good natural descongestion, you can use them as often as you need and if have work wonders for my family for years. Hope this help.

Normal saline should work well as a adjunct to the albuterol. She won't get the bronchodilation she gets with the albuterol. The purpose of albuterol is to open the bronchials to let her get more air. Sometimes it makes people jittery, but usually it goes away after some consistant use. Try speaking to the doctor. Nurses don't always know everything and I am a nurse!!!! sometimes cool air seems tohelp the bronchospasms, easiest way is to go tto the freezer open the door and stand in front andlet her breath the cold air, worked like a champ for my son when he had an asthma attack. Good luck especially with the pollen season getting ready to go into full swing. Have a blessed week

Have you considered herbal or holistic remedies?
There are sites that offer home remedies for chest congestion, etc. We found onion packs to be really helpful with my youngest daughter (who is almost 4). I would sliice up an onion, cook it a little, then wrap it in a cloth diaper and place it on her chest. You have to be very careful about the temperature, but it was amazing at breaking up congestion. Also I had tried making a syrup with thyme that helped. I can't find the exact website that I used, but there are options out there that have been used effectively for centuries.

http://www.herbalhouseholdremedies.com/tag/lung-congestion/

Victoria

Hi A.,
You can buy saline nasal spray over the counter at Walmart or Walgreens. It is called Ocean it is in a white box with orange and blue on it. I use it all the time because it has not harmful chemicals or anything that I could get addicted to. When I say that I use it all the time I mean if I did yard work or just feel congested it works for me. Sometimes these things can be caused by alergies, but again I would rather not use chemicals if I have to...for obvious reasons. Hope that this helped you and if you are intrested in buy noncaustic products for your home that could help your daughters reactions for sure. Contact me through my website at www.4aGreenHome.com I know these products have helped tremendously in my home. Many blessings!