Mr. Asthma » Asthma Cure » new with asthma: 3 yr old
new with asthma: 3 yr old
Question:
> >our daughter has asthma which seems pollen triggered. she had her first > >bout of it on friday, and while she’s not wheezing she still coughs alot. > >she is on ventolin as needed, and we stay indoors when we can. does > >anyone have advice or thoughts they’d like to share? would it help for > >her it help to take an antihystamine as a preventative measure while on > >the ventolin? > >is there a place on the net to get the pollen count for our area? what > >about vaccuming, air conditioners, etc. etc…. > >any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks. > >thor wickstrom, albany n.y.
In the NorthEast US, pollens and molds are *very* bad this year. People who do not usually think of themselves as allergic or asthmatic are experiencing symptoms for the first time in their lives. In Boston, we recently had pollen counts of over 1000 (200 is considered high) and mold counts in the thousands (I heard 10,000, but I still don’t believe it). Probably due to the record-high snowfall we had this winter, but I really don’t know for sure. Let’s all hope this isn’t a long-term trend and that the "non-allergic" return to a symptom-free albeit more sympathetic condition. Mark — Mark Feblowitz, GTE Laboratories Inc., 40 Sylvan Rd. Waltham, MA 02254
Response:
our daughter has asthma which seems pollen triggered. she had her first bout of it on friday, and while she’s not wheezing she still coughs alot. she is on ventolin as needed, and we stay indoors when we can. does anyone have advice or thoughts they’d like to share? would it help for her it help to take an antihystamine as a preventative measure while on the ventolin? is there a place on the net to get the pollen count for our area? what about vaccuming, air conditioners, etc. etc…. any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks. thor wickstrom, albany n.y.
Response:
We got a filter queen vacuum, it really helps as I, the housecleaner, am the afflicted party in the family. They can be really expensive though, maybe you can find one secondhand. Other regular vacuums would stir up dust and I would have an attack.
Response:
> our daughter has asthma which seems pollen triggered. she had her first > bout of it on friday, and while she’s not wheezing she still coughs alot. > she is on ventolin as needed, and we stay indoors when we can. does > anyone have advice or thoughts they’d like to share? would it help for > her it help to take an antihystamine as a preventative measure while on > the ventolin?
She may need to take a preventive inhaled medicine during allergy season. My daughter started on Intal, which is a common move with small children. That wasn’t working well enough, so they moved to Vanceril. I think the general recommendation is that if someone is using ventolin more than a few times a week, they need to be on a preventive medicine. My daughters almost 3, and has virus-triggered asthma. I can’t help you with the pollen-triggered aspect, but feel free to e-mail me if you have questions about dealing with asthma in a small kid. –Ruth
Response:
The use of antihistamines in children in general, but in asthmatic children especially, should only be done after consultation with a qualified pulmonlogist. Antihistamines will reduce the symptoms of allergies, but, they can be a cause of asthma problems. You should discuss the use of inhaled steroids, both nasel and oral, to control the allergies and asthma. …. jeff – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->our daughter has asthma which seems pollen triggered. she had her first >bout of it on friday, and while she’s not wheezing she still coughs alot. >she is on ventolin as needed, and we stay indoors when we can. does >anyone have advice or thoughts they’d like to share? would it help for >her it help to take an antihystamine as a preventative measure while on >the ventolin? >is there a place on the net to get the pollen count for our area? what >about vaccuming, air conditioners, etc. etc…. >any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks. >thor wickstrom, albany n.y.
Response:
Rue. My three year old has pollen allergies (as well as dog, cat, mold, dust & dust mites, so far) and I would suggest that you find an allergist for your child. My pediatricians are great, but they had my son on ventolin for week after week. The allergist put him on Intal (3x day with the inspirease spacer inhaler which works great for kids) and Vanceril (2x day inhaler) and he is doing great. These meds prevent him getting an asthma attack. You might want to start using a peak flow meter to monitor her condition. Before we started the preventative meds, we thought my son’s highest peak flow was 125. He has recently reached 160. That is how we know the meds are working. He has not needed ventolin since starting these meds. Note: Ventolin treats the "noisy" part of asthma – the wheezing and coughing. It does nothing to cure the "quiet" inflammation that is going on in her lungs. Also, we have found that "Mothers Of Asthmatics" is a wonderful organization with a lot of resources to answer your questions, as well as their own web site. Good luck!! Laura Richardson
Response:
>our daughter has asthma which seems pollen triggered. she had her first >bout of it on friday, and while she’s not wheezing she still coughs alot. >she is on ventolin as needed, and we stay indoors when we can. does >anyone have advice or thoughts they’d like to share? would it help for >her it help to take an antihystamine as a preventative measure while on >the ventolin? >is there a place on the net to get the pollen count for our area? what >about vaccuming, air conditioners, etc. etc…. >any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks. >thor wickstrom, albany n.y.
Thor– Our allergist’s office posts the pollen count and I believe our local newspaper does as well. Our doctor prescribed a couple of doses of Benadryl for our son each day which seems to help when he’s having problems with his allergies. Your allergist should be able to give you more information on vacuuming, etc. Ours was a wealth of info. on all that stuff. You have to learn by trial and error which things will help your daughter the most. Sue
Response:
Yes, consult allergist and pulmonologist on the topic. Antihistamines do not necessarily worsen, trigger, or cause asthma (and be careful about the word "cause"). In some cases, they can even help, especially when they reduce the production of excess mucus that can trigger/aggravate asthma. My allergic/asthmatic kids use inhaled steroids and virtually nothing else (except for the now-infrequent flares). There are warnings on most OTC and prescribed antihistamines. My allergist told me that the warnings are throw-backs to the days when it was believed that antihistamines "thickened" the mucus and made it harder to move the mucus out of the airways. This seems not to be generally believed these days, but the warnings remain. I guess there’s little harm in consulting your physician, so they may as well leave the warnings on. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > The use of antihistamines in children in general, but in asthmatic > children especially, should only be done after consultation with a > qualified pulmonlogist. Antihistamines will reduce the symptoms of > allergies, but, they can be a cause of asthma problems. You should > discuss the use of inhaled steroids, both nasel and oral, to control > the allergies and asthma. > …. jeff > >our daughter has asthma which seems pollen triggered. she had her first > >bout of it on friday, and while she’s not wheezing she still coughs alot. > >she is on ventolin as needed, and we stay indoors when we can. does > >anyone have advice or thoughts they’d like to share? would it help for > >her it help to take an antihystamine as a preventative measure while on > >the ventolin? > >is there a place on the net to get the pollen count for our area? what > >about vaccuming, air conditioners, etc. etc…. > >any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks. > >thor wickstrom, albany n.y.
– Mark Feblowitz, GTE Laboratories Inc., 40 Sylvan Rd. Waltham, MA 02254