Still Cant Grasp My 2Yr Old Son Has Asthma

My daughter is older but suffers from really bad allergies. The pediatrician did blood test and they were negative as well. When I spoke to the allergist he said that is is very common for the blood to show negative until they are older because the IGE attach to to the mast cells...

Every 2-3 weeks sounds more like there is an allergic trigger. It sounds like you need to take him to an alelrgist and have the skin test. Those results would be more definitive as to what he is allergic to.

My allergist also says that asthma is not a disease but a symptom. If you find out what he is allergic to and get the allergies under control, his asthmatic reaction will probably dissipate as well.

Claritin is approved for children 2 and up. We have found Benadryl to be far superior but you'll have to see how he reacts with it. Some it sedates, others it makes hyper, and then some are just fine with it.

Hope this helps!

First off, having asthma isn't related to whether you and your husband has it. Its a person by person condition. There were somethings that could have contributed to the predisposition of it, say smoking during pregnancy (you and hubby), living / sleeping where there is a lot of second hand smoke, etc.

You mention that he was a c-section, but don't say if he was a preemie. Preemie's are more inclined to get asthma since their lungs may not have fully developed at birth.

As for him getting a cold every 3 weeks. That sounds like an allergen to me. You mention that they ran a blood test for allergies, but don't mention which allergens. Whether environmental - scented lotions, baby powder, detergents, air freshners in the house, tree pollen, dust, etc. It could also be food related. Its possible that he has a milk sensitivity, or his body is reponding to the type of juice he drinks. Ex. my son is allergic to pears, nuts and tree mold. So, gosh darn, he can't help rack leaves! My daughter gets a runny nose / ear infection when she eats watermellon. My son's friend is allergic to cinnamon. The options are endless!

There could also be something at his daycare that he is sensitive too. My coworker's son was always sick. Turns out the home daycare was offering a spice that he was allergic too.

I would keep a food / routine journal and see if you see a pattern. Also, do a thorough cleaning of his sleep and play areas including drapes, area rugs, etc.

It's perfectly normal for a 2 year old in daycare to have a runny nose/cold/cough for most of the fall, winter and early spring! My kids certainly have. My oldest has conditional asthma, which is what your child has. Yes, he needs an inhaler (and used a nebulizer when younger), but it's really not that big of a deal. We did have him tested for allergies, and he does have seasonal allergies that further aggravate it, so we're prepared in the spring. As he's gotten older -he's 5 now -he has far fewer colds and runny noses. They do build immunity! My 3 year old has almost a constant runny nose (just like his brother did), but unlike his brother, he doesn't have the asthmatic condition. Neither of them were c-sections. Really -it's normal!

Remember -you're an adult. You've built up a lifetime of resistance to cold bugs. He hasn't and that's what he's doing right now -catching them and building resistance!

check for mold, both with his daycare & in your house. My son ended up with a tonsillectomy/adenoids because of his allergy to mold. It was in the daycare, not our home. Once we moved him out of the daycare, he was fine.

Have you tried taking him off of dairy? & quite often, kids do outgrow this once they hit school age.

My nephew rarely has an asthma attack now....but in his 1st year of life, he had only 5 days total - where he was able to be without any meds whatsoever. The 2nd year was better....& by age 5, most triggers were gone.

I have to wonder if it is an allergy that they just didn't test for...

It sounds like my son when his asthma started. Only getting a cold would trigger it...and he was getting a cold once a month.

We had skin allergy testing...discovered his allergen...and began treating for it. This year he has had only one flair up and it is because he caught rsv...boy did that virus trigger a beauty of a flair.

My son takes zyrtec, flovent, omnaris, and benedryl...I am really good about the zyrtec and benedryl...need to get better about the flovent and omnaris, we miss days here and there...oh, and singular made my son turn into a temper tantrum monster.

my daughter has been on a nebulizer since 10 months. she takes pulmicort every day. she has environmetal and chemical allergies. i was able to wean her off the pulmicort when she turned 4 last year. oh my daughter wasnt c sectioned either. she did however inhale the miconium and spent her first week in the nicu with pnuemonia

Do you live near a freeway? Recent studies show increase in asthma in children who live within a certain distance of the freeway ( I think it's 900 feet --but I'm not sure of the exact distance. But the situation is exacerbated if you are downwind of the freeway).

Don't know if this is your geographical situation, but it might be something to look at.

My son was two the first time an illness caused asthma-like symptoms. The doctor called it Reactive Airway Disease because it was called by the illness and said they typically don't diagnose asthma specifically until around age 5. Both of my kids are c-sections, but only my son seems to have problems with breathing. My husband also has mild asthma.

Anyway, my son is on a preventative medication called Pulmicort. He takes it once daily via nebulizer throughout flu season (basically November - March) so that, if he does get sick, it doesn't cause him to wheeze so much, nor does it turn a common cold into something worse like bronchitis. It's a pain in the neck, but it definitely helps. We also have Albuterol for the times that he does wheeze, which fortunately, are never as bad as they used to be now that he's on the daily preventative meds. Talk to your doc about it.

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Take a look around your house: look at every day products and normal household items you may not even think about using around him: These are some things that I had to remove from my home so I could stop using steroids. (BTW: My sensitivities to these things was accumulative- at age 30 suddenly I would have asthma attacks and have to get on a nebulizer!)
Laundry detergent, fabric softener-the worst for me, plug in scents or fabreeze, hair spray, perfumes, some soaps and shampoos/conditioner smells, cigarette smoke (2nd hand), animal dander, bleach, ammonia, chemicals or chemical fragrances in cleaning supplies, etc.
Basically most companies use chemically manufactured 'scents' in products- these can cause serious breathing problems after awhile, or to a sensitive person. Animal dander can also have the same effect on me- even if it is on someones clothes!
Hope this can help your son!

PS- If you have carpets, and have them cleaned or had them cleaned- same thing with the cleaner!