My son has reactive airway disorder, so usually when the weather turns colder we deal with barky coughs and stuffy noses. He has always been a loud breather, but lately I have been more concerned with it. He seems short of breath when talking, gets winded easily when actively playing and at night has been breathing loud/snoring. We are going to the doctor tomorrow to see about enlarged andenoids. I am also wondering about allergies as they run in my family. Has anyone had any experience with something like this? What did you do to make it better? We do all of the following: saline spray and suction his nose, sit in a steamy bath, nebulizer treatments with albuterol if he has a barky cough, zyrtec, nighttime cough syrup (as directed by our doctor when he has a runny nose or loose cough) and vicks vaporub on the feet seem to help too. Thanks for any advice!
A.
Thank you for all of the quick responses! I have a hunch that it is his tonsils or adenoids too. There is a chance it could be asthma or allergies too. We shall see when we visit the doctor this morning!
We went to the doctor and he gave me a name of an allergist and ENT. He also prescribed nasonex, so we are going to start with that first along with a daily dose of zyrtec for a month. I think I will take him off of milk for awhile because I have wondered if that could have an affect. So we will try different things one at a time and if nothing seems to work we will be off to see an allergist or ENT next. Thanks for all your great advice!
We went through every allergy med before the doc agreed to take out adenoids and tonsils.... his adenoids were huge!!! Night and day difference in the snoring, dont hear a peep out of him anymore!
we removed my son's adnoids as well as use a cool mist humidifier nightly.
My son's tonsils swelled till they almost touched each other across the back of his throat.
They were not infected - he wasn't sick and he had no fever.
They became an obstruction which were interfering with his breathing and swallowing.
We had his tonsils and adenoids out when he turned 4 and it was the best thing we ever did.
Could have asthma. ~ Barky Cough and trouble breathing.
Maybe sleep apnea.. ~ Snoring, does he gasp for air or stop breathing while sleeping?
The Doctor will help you find the reason.. may even send you to a specialist.
It is all treatable whatever it is.
My daughter was a snorer too...until we had her adenoids removed. They were huge. A simple X-ray can check. Good luck.
Have you had him seen/evaluated by a Pediatric ENT specialist? My sister snored unbelievably when she was your son's age. Turned out her adenoids were way too big for her nasal passages. She had to have her adenoids out.
Fast forward to my own daughter. About the age of 3 she started snoring. Her adenoids were also too big, and she had to have them taken out. Having her adenoids taken out also helped get rid of her ear infections. She had her tonsils out when she was 7 (strep had taken up residence in her tonsils), and to date (she's 11 years old), she hasn't had a cold, an ear eache, strep throat, a cold, flu, or infection since.
Another thing that causes issues with the nose/nasal passages is an allergy to cow's milk, either the whey or the casein protein. I found out at the age of 40 that I am allergic to casein. I quit eating/drinking anything with cow's milk and my allergies, asthma, chronic lung issues (bronchitis, pneumonia, coughing, wheezing), rhinitis/sinuitis, etc.--all of my issues and symptoms went away. I didn't find out about this, though, until I went to see a naturopathic doctor and got tested. I no longer use any pharma drugs.
Good luck.
I was going to guess asthma. I snore like crazy according to my fiance lol! Hey? It happens to the best of us right?! Hope your little man gets the attention he deserves. Good luck :)
