Need a Wheezy Breathing Cure

Id find a new Dr who knows about asthma. Sounds like asthma to me and I cant believe that in a years time they havent suggested it to you. The breathing treatments need to be done everyday. Hope shes better soon.

Hi,
I read through the answers you have gotten already and agree it sounds like an allergy of some sort. The one thing I noticed that no one has mentioned yet is pets....do you have a dog or cat? Could be as simple as that...

M.

You might try taking her off of milk products for awhile. Milk is notorious for causing phlegm.

Have you tried eliminating dairy? It sounds like your baby has allergies? I would recommend having her seen by a holistic health practitioner, most likely your regular ped won't suggest allergies. I have allergies and my youngest has allergies. We were both suffering from a number of symptoms including asthma and frequent colds, and we have both improved by taking dairy out of our diet (as well as other foods I found out I was allergic too). But there could also be something in the environment? It wont hurt to have her seen, although may be a little expensive, but will be worth it! Maybe put up another post on finding a holistic health practitioner in your area. Good luck to you!

p.s. just now read all the other post, sorry to be repetitive

Sounds very much like allergies to me. The easiest (and most accurate) way to find out what she is allergic to is to use a rotation diet. For five days remove the food group you suspect might be the problem (for example apples and pears are in the same group) then introduce it back in and see if it makes a symptom appear. It might also be environmental, so try changing the detergent and softener you use on her bedding to something hypoallergenic. The concern is that you will create a resistance to antibiotics so that if your daughter ever gets a serious infection, it will be difficult to treat.

You are correct that the nebulizer is only treating the symptoms.

There are books available for assisting you in diagnosing her allergies, but for the life of me I can't remember a single title!!!! Old age I guess!
Good luck, L.

Sounds like food /environmental allergies to me. Why your doctor hasn't taken this route yet is SO annoying and just drives me crazy.

I would remove ALL dairy/casein/soy and replace them with coconut, almond, and/or rice milk products. This is very easy to do. You can go to http://www.tacanow.org/tag/gfcf/ for just about all the help and information needed to replace milk, look for hidden sources, etc.

After 2 weeks, are you noticing a difference? Then you continue on to wheat/gluten and completely remove that from her diet. What you are doing is an elimination diet to find what are the triggers for her asthma. We did a blood test and found 21 foods for my daughter and removed them, cold turkey, immediately. She got off all four asthma medications and was not sick again. This was after TEN YEARS of what you are dealing with. There were many times that she would miss weeks of school at a time, was on countless rounds of antibiotics, all of which are not good at all.

Make sure she is taking good probiotics too. Go to Henrys /Sprouts or Whole Foods. She should be taking them on a daily basis, two to three hours after or before the antibiotics.

It sounds like asthma to me. I developed asthma in my 30's and the only thing that helped was acupuncture. They can only do limited acupuncture on a 2 year old so your daughter should be tested by an allergist and by the pediatrician. Asthma and Allergy Associates of Los Angeles have several locations not far from Venice and I have been going there for 10 years. I see them working on young children all the time. Now I do a combination of allergy shots, Advair and acupuncture and it really helps. I would also keep the house cool and use a cool air humidifier at night.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

You sound a lot like me 2 years ago. Please, get her tested for food allergies. My daughter was like that until The day her body had enough and had an anaphylactic response... Had to run to the hospital. Please don't let this happen to you!! It turned out that my daughter was allergic to almost everything I was giving her. (wheat, dairy, eggs, nuts, oats, banana, grapes, mangos, latex) once I took her allergens out of her diet, all those pesky symptoms began to disappear.

Good luck and don't give up...something is causing this!

relieving her symptoms may be the best option at this point, but I would definitely look for another doctor- don't give up or be discouraged because someone out there can figure out what is wrong and how to help her.

In meantime a few things you might try: coffee (I know it is weird to give that to a child, but it does help reduce wheezing) , removing carpeting from her bedroom and cover her mattress and pillow with hypoallergenic covers, make sure she isn't near smoke....

I wish I had better answers for you. It's terrible to feel helpless when your baby is struggling.

Have they checked for anything else to be wrong?
My sister's baby had similar symptoms and they sent her home with bronchitis and ear infection medicine. It turned out to be something completely different.
See if they can run more tests or even do an x-ray if needed to make sure everything is alright.

I would either go back to the allergist to be evaluated for asthma (the symptoms sound like more than just allergies); or find another allergist; or find a pediatric ENT (ear, nose, throat -- I can't spell the actual 'speciality', lol). If it is asthma. or even allergies, there is no cure; the only thing you can do is to manage the symptoms and try to eliminate (as much as you can) the triggers. He should be tested so you know if/and what the triggers are so you know what changes need to be made; ie: you don't want to rip the carpet out in your house if it's a food allergy, or start eliminating all sorts of food if the problem is mold or dust mites. It's not a fun process but at least you will know what actions you need to take.

does she have carpet in her bedroom? my son did this for the first year and we took out the carpet in his room, and wheezing gone within 3 months. household allergies....

Sounds like asthma. Did the allergist do a skin test on her to figure out what she's allergic to? My son is allergic to dust mites and we had carpeting in our apt which is the biggest carrier of dust mites. We actually moved to a different place with hardwood floors b/c we didn't want him forever hooked up to a nebulizer b/c Xoepenex does work but like you said it's only relieving the symptoms. Since we've moved, I've noticed an improvement. So figure out what she's allergic to and remove the source. And your situation actually seems kind of common -- Im' surprised your allergist hasn't informed you of your options...maybe get a 2nd opinion if yur allergist never said anything about asthma??

Maybe she is trying to get Asthma, You should ask the doctor to do a allergy test on her and maybe give her a rescue inhalar, like pro-air. It also could be something in your house she allergic to. The have allot of medicine for symptons for Asthma. My daughter take Qvair, that works great. I really hate for her to be on a steriod but with the proper diet and the close eye she is doing just fine. My want to try a nose spray also. Talk to your doctor.
N.
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Did the allergist test her for anything? If her lungs are clear on X-Ray it sounds like allergies and maybe some asthma. I would take her to the nearest children's hospital and go to a pulmonary doc or allergy/asthma doc. Something's not right, obviously she shouldn't be like this. I would think being in CA there would be plenty of children's hospitals to pick from.

she is probably allergy induced asthmatic. Control her enviroment. No cleaners just vinegar and baking soda. Hepa filters, mattress covers and pillow covers. Do not vacumn around her. you need to have an allergy test on her by an allergy doctor not a pediatrician. And she needs a lung function test. Give her potassium. and echenesia sp? No smoking around her at all. if they get mad they will get over it. Did her allergy doc do an actual allergy test to find out what her triggers are? if not request it. Also is she on a long term contoller? if not start asking why. Use all free and clear laundry soap hypoallergenic everything. Does she by chance have a sinus infection? also use a saline spray for her nose.

shes asthmatic! is the xopenex a prevenative? it sounds like it. my daughter has been on pulmicort since she was 10 months old (shes 4) and albuterol to control her symptoms that were just like your daughters.
she probably has environmental allergies that spike the asthma. heres what i suggest-
keep up the nebulizer meds. also have her dr prescribe an allergy med. you have to religiously give these meds.
over the last year i have been able to ween my daughter off of her pulmicort that she gets every night and i just do it when she is sick.

Rattling breathing/coughing, is usually associated with Bronchitis.
But it can also mean other things, including something inhaled into the lungs
It can also be Asthma.
Since children present asthma symptoms differently, than adults.

But your child also has 'cold' symptoms. Or maybe allergy symptoms.

Has your daughter, seen a Pulmonologist? lung specialist???
That has to be done.
This is not normal.

Try having an air filter/purifier in your home and especially in her room.
Costo has these.
Do you have any pets in the home?
This can make it worse.

Right now, they Doc's do not seem to know what is wrong with her.
You have to get referred to a specialist.

There is a product called Respiractin that is AWESOME. They have a children's formula that is meant to be taken daily and works to strengthen the lungs. My son kept getting one cold after another that turned into a hacking cough. One month on Respiractin (and Eclectc Kids Echinacea) and he was completely fine. Both these products can be found at most full stocked health food stores.

I'm surprised that with these constant symptoms and having seen an allergist, she's only on Xopenex. It sounds like reactive airways/asthma. Did the allergist test her for common food and environmental allergies? Usually kids who do not respond just to albuterol/xopenex, which help by relaxing the muscle in the airways to open them up, need to be started on a second medication, inhaled steroids, twice per day, which help with the second component, inflammation of the airways; at her age it is usually pulmicort used via a nebulizer, or if she has a mask and spacer there are other inhaled steroids she can use. If there is an allergic component, then putting her on something like daily claritin (for 2 year olds you can get it over the counter in either chewable tablets or syrup, grape flavored) or any of the other antihistamines that are also OTC like zyrtec or allegra. Many kids also get started on singulair, which again helps for allergies and asthma. I would discuss these (the inhaled steroids and/or the singulair) with her pediatrician or the allergist. If she has allergies say to dust mites, which are very common, then having an air purifier and using pillow and mattress covers helps, as well as removing all stuffed animals, and in some cases even changing from carpet to other type of floors....
Some kids have year round symptoms, others only during winter, a lot of allergies exacerbate during the spring because of all the pollen and stuff flying around...so some kids may need to be treated all year and others only at certain times of year, or use different medications depending on the season. The thing to have in mind is that the steroids don't work as fast as the xopenex, which provides immediate relief but wears out rapidly; they take at least a couple of weeks to work, so have that in mind if they do start her on them....
Hope this helps!