Dealing with respiratory/allergy problems

yellow hen

We have now had do many respiratory problems with our one year old that we want to try and alter his home environment and diet to see if we can find a cause. Can anyone who has gone through this offer me any advice on where to start? We know he is allergic to dust, mould and cats/dogs.

Moonbeam

Milk?
I blame it for everything.

Linka

yellow hen wrote: »

We have now had do many respiratory problems with our one year old that we want to try and alter his home environment and diet to see if we can find a cause. Can anyone who has gone through this offer me any advice on where to start? We know he is allergic to dust, mould and cats/dogs.

Hello yellow hen. I have two children and both suffer from allergies. On their fathers side there were several siblings that had dust mite allergies. They never kept carpet or rugs in the house, and were mindful about everything from pillows, duvets, and mattresses to keep a handle on the dust issue. They used linoleum as it was easily kept. I know the idea seems rather awful to some, but the designs and colours of some are nice.

One of my children almost went into anaphylactic shock twice in the last few months, and we still don't know the cause. Its scary for us parents, so I feel your worry yellow hen.

Rose35

Had the same with my son from about 6 months onwards, he is now 2 and after bringing him to a paediatrician that dealt with allergies and asthma and after numerous tests and an overnight stay in hospital he diagnosed him as having nasal
drip, he takes an anti-histamine twice daily and the change in him is unbelievable, I thought we were dealing with dust allergy or maybe asthma or god knows what but after about 10 antibiotics I just had to get him seen to properly, it can be as simple as nasal drip that can cause many respiratory infections. We went private. They did allergy tests on him in the hospital and all came up negative, they said these tests can never be 100% accurate. Good luck.

ch750536

We have 2 sons, a 9 year old with asthma, dust mite, mould & pet allergy and an 7 year old who seems oblivious.

First off, I believe the over sanitised world the 9 yr old lived in when he was first born played a big part in creating the allergies. Don't over clean with babies!

If you believe your child has an allergy, get them tested. Test them with the doctor & then get food allergy testing done also. It costs €200 but is very worthwhile.

Our son has dust mite allergy so we have no carpets, no curtains in the whole house. We all have the protective covers on the beds. His bedroom (where he spends half his life) has only the beds in it with a de-humidifier and air filter. The de-humidifier creates a dry atmosphere which means skin flakes don't turn mouldy so dust mites can't feed on them. The air purifier catches dust particles. Get the bedroom right and you solve most of the problem.

On hotel stays etc we use nasal filters which though look odd, really do the job.

Recently we tried these odd devices, without fully understanding them they have had a positive impact though this may be the placebo effect.

Diet is very important. We give our kids vitamin D3 supplements which boosts the immune system. Basically we have a lack of sun in Ireland. We also use soy milk 80% of the time with lactose free the other 20%. Other than that they have no dairy and about 80% whole-food diet.

All this allows us to not use medications at all, other than the inhaler before sports. We got to this place by lots of trial & error and frankly hard work. The result is worth it though, he now leads a largely normal life compared to one of constant runny nose, breathing difficulties & embarrassment a couple of years back so well worth it.

pwurple

How was the allergy diagnosed? They give absolutely fantastic advice sheets in the allergy units in the hospitals.

Our eldest gets some wheezing, and is sensitive to wools etc. They gave us lists of ways to reduce it in the hospital, so we worked off those.

We removed all carpets from the house. Everything is now either tiled or timber. There are no stuffed animals in her bedroom, and only a small few in the house. She has a comfort blanket that she sleeps with, but it is polyester.

Watch the fabrics he wears. Wooly jumpers seemed to release a bit of dust and fibre, and make her react. She seemed to do better in older, well washed clothes, rather than new fabrics.

It's been three years, so it has gradually it influenced how we live. We don't have too many soft furnishings really. Sofa's are leather, chairs are timber, no cushions, only one room in the house with curtains. We got roller blinds and shutters.

We both work full time, so we got a cleaner a couple of times a month as well. She mops the house, and wipes down all the dusty places with a damp cloth.

yellow hen

Thank you for all the detailed replies. Some background would have been helpful on my part.
Since he was born, we had problems with reflux (on gaviscon and zantac) and wind. In the end we found a lactose free formula suited him best. Things settled for a while until he started creche last December and since then he's had conjunctivitis twice, brochiolitis three times and now croup. I've always had a suspicion about milk but my GP told me that the bouts of respiratory problems were too intermittent for that. Since then we've taken him to a respiratory consultant (who I found most unhelpful) and he was allergy tested and found allergic to mould, cats/dogs and dust which apparently is the classic combination for asthma. He is now on a preventative inhaler in the morning and night and ventolin as he needs it. I'm not convinced they do much however we havent had him off them long enough to be sure of that. At worst, he is short of breath and has a horrible compulsive cough. At best, you can always hear him purring (almost cat like). His breathing has never been silent.

So after a week on steroids for croup, he still isnt right, although he has improved. In conversation, others have mentioned getting anti allergen bedding, removing carpets etc but theyre big changes for now I think I'm going to keep a diary and move him to lactose free milk and limit his dairy intake and then move alternate measures as necessary. For people who are/were in similar situations does this seem reasonable? If we removed dairy, what do we replace it with to ensure he is getting the required nutrients? Also, should we take him for food allergy testing. (although he's never had any skin reactions so I would think he might have intolerances rather than allergies).

dede12

yellow hen wrote: »

he was allergy tested and found allergic to mould, cats/dogs and dust which apparently is the classic combination for asthma. He is now on a preventative inhaler in the morning and night and ventolin as he needs it. I'm not convinced they do much however we havent had him off them long enough to be sure of that. At worst, he is short of breath and has a horrible compulsive cough. At best, you can always hear him purring (almost cat like). His breathing has never been silent.

In conversation, others have mentioned getting anti allergen bedding, removing carpets etc but theyre big changes.

Also, should we take him for food allergy testing. (although he's never had any skin reactions so I would think he might have intolerances rather than allergies).

I've had dust, mold, pollen, and dust mite allergies my whole life & I can tell you the one thing that helps the most is the removal of carpets and getting allergen covers on my bed, along w/ frequent washing of the bedding & pillows in hot water (or wash on cold & tumble dry on high but thats worse on energy usage. My ma thought the same as you that those were too big a change when I was younger & I really suffered as a result, w/ permanent breathing/sinus issues to this day. I felt a lot better within a few days after all the furnishing were removed (be careful to not kick up too much dust while doing this though).

If he's having such bad breathing issues as you say its really not worth it to put off those changes.

I found the nasal sprays dont help me much but allergy meds like Allegra and Clartin combined with a leukotrienes inhibitor like Singluair is the best treatment for me. Singulair is used for both allergies and asthma so it might be a good idea to ask the doctor about that (generic name is Montelukast).

Also when I was living in Ireland, mold was a constant problem and trigger for me. It's so damp there that it seems to be an issue in all homes to some extent. Be vigilant about killing off any you find (I wiped down my bedroom window sills weekly w/ dettol anti mold spray & that kept the worst of it at bay). Since he has already been diagnosed, you really can't overclean too much, make your house as dust & mold free as possible. When dusting use a damp cloth so you arent just flinging the dust back into the air.

A dehumidifer is a great way to keep the damp at bay along w/ an air filter for his bedroom (look for ones w/ a HEPA filter, not just 'HEPA-like'). Don't dry clothes inside unless you absoultly have to & if so try to have the dehumidifier running near the clothes horse to keep condensation out of the air. Finally airing the room/bed everyday and allergy covers on mattresses goes a long way to keeping the dust mites down (v. important, its an awful feeling being allergic to your own bed, when it should be a place you can go to rest & feel better but it just makes you sicker).

If you do think food allergies or intolerances are possible then I would say its worth getting him tested, if your dr won't listen, keep trying till you find one that will.

ch750536

yellow hen wrote: »

Thank you for all the detailed replies. Some background would have been helpful on my part.
Since he was born, we had problems with reflux (on gaviscon and zantac) and wind. In the end we found a lactose free formula suited him best. Things settled for a while until he started creche last December and since then he's had conjunctivitis twice, brochiolitis three times and now croup. I've always had a suspicion about milk but my GP told me that the bouts of respiratory problems were too intermittent for that. Since then we've taken him to a respiratory consultant (who I found most unhelpful) and he was allergy tested and found allergic to mould, cats/dogs and dust which apparently is the classic combination for asthma. He is now on a preventative inhaler in the morning and night and ventolin as he needs it. I'm not convinced they do much however we havent had him off them long enough to be sure of that. At worst, he is short of breath and has a horrible compulsive cough. At best, you can always hear him purring (almost cat like). His breathing has never been silent.

So after a week on steroids for croup, he still isnt right, although he has improved. In conversation, others have mentioned getting anti allergen bedding, removing carpets etc but theyre big changes for now I think I'm going to keep a diary and move him to lactose free milk and limit his dairy intake and then move alternate measures as necessary. For people who are/were in similar situations does this seem reasonable? If we removed dairy, what do we replace it with to ensure he is getting the required nutrients? Also, should we take him for food allergy testing. (although he's never had any skin reactions so I would think he might have intolerances rather than allergies).

Highlighting the obvious parts. The long term cost of wooden floors \ blinds etc is way cheaper than carpets. Bite the bullet & change these now, if not in the entire house then in the bedroom.
+anti allergen bedding
+dehumidifier
+air filter

yellow hen

Thanks again. Is taking fabrics/carpets etc out of his room a bit drastic when I can't be sure that they are causing the problem? Is trying the food diary initially not worth it? I'm not adverse to the idea but it's a house we'd like to sell in the next year or so and keeping the carpets etc is preferred (although not to the detriment of my sons health). Was anyone ever put on meds other than beclazone and ventolin? I tried to steam the bathroom tonight and put the heat on too but it didnt seem to help. Taking him back to paeds unit tomorrow to see if they can at least help in the short term.

pwurple

With a dust allergy... Yes, I'd take out the carpet in his room if possible. It made the biggest difference here.

Maybe move him to the smallest room and take the carpet out of that.
We did that and the hallway first, then moved house and did the rest.


To be honest, I'd do that ahead of changing his diet. We had to cut out things from diet here, and it has been difficult to reintroduce anything that was removed. She still won't eat anything with an eggy texture.

We are on brown and blue inhalors here at the moment too (was told to start them up at the first sign of any headcold, and keep the brown one going for the whole winter). For us, they seem to be helping. Before, any cough or cold would turn into something nasty. But this season, the headcold came and went like a normal one, so fingers crossed.

yellow hen

Thanks pwurple. I'm going to try get a follow up with the respiratory consultant and then look at taking the carpet and spare bed out of his room. In terms of cot/bed mattresses, do you just put an anti-allergen protector on a regular mattress or do you need a specific anti-allergen mattress?

I know this sounds silly when there are so many awful illnesses that children suffer from but I have found this whole week incredibly depressing and emotional. My heart breaks watching him trying to make sounds but his voice is still gone, crawling and having to slow down to try catch his breath. Some kids have such a rotten time.

dede12

You said in the original post that he had tested positive for dust & mold allergies? If so then you do know for sure its causing the problems. He might well be allergic to milk/foods in addition to the dust/mold but in my experience I've never known anyone to have chronic breathing/respiratory issues from milk or food sensitivities - everyone I know w/ those either goes into anaphalyctic shock an/or has digestive problems.

It's a good idea to remove them from he bedroom & any other rooms he spends a lot of time in at least. Can you at least switch to throw rugs you can put in the washing machine? No matter how much you hoover/steam-clean carpets never really get truly dust & mold free so getting rid of them will make a huge improvement in his quality of life.

Also if you're worried about him playing/crawling on a hard floor see about getting a few large cheap quilts (something heavier than a sheet) to lay down on the floor when he's playing so he has a soft but clean place to play. An allergy barrier on the bedding will help a lot too. I know it seems like a lot of work but really it will make a world of difference to him if you get rid of the carpets - if the wood underneath is in bad shape maybe get some cheap linoleum in a wood grain pattern to put over it for now.

I mentioned above a couple other meds I've used to control my allergies in the past, a leukotrienes inhibitor like Singulair might be quite helpful in your case. Claritin (Loratadine) also makes a good children forumla that comes in a tab that melts onto your tongue so he wouldn't have to swallow a pill.

dede12

yellow hen wrote: »

I know this sounds silly when there are so many awful illnesses that children suffer from but I have found this whole week incredibly depressing and emotional. My heart breaks watching him trying to make sounds but his voice is still gone, crawling and having to slow down to try catch his breath. Some kids have such a rotten time.

It's not silly at all! & you're doing what you can to learn about it & choose the best course of action, which is always a good thing. It's heartbreaking watching a little one suffer so of course you want to make sure you can help him if possible.

I'd also keep a food diary to show to an allergist in addition to removing the carpets. That way you've covered all your bases, since it does sound to me like he has both dust/mold & food allergies.

Roselm

I have asthma and dust,pet allergies.I have got very wheezy before around air fresheners so I would remove any you have.

pwurple

yellow hen wrote: »

Thanks pwurple. I'm going to try get a follow up with the respiratory consultant and then look at taking the carpet and spare bed out of his room. In terms of cot/bed mattresses, do you just put an anti-allergen protector on a regular mattress or do you need a specific anti-allergen mattress?

I know this sounds silly when there are so many awful illnesses that children suffer from but I have found this whole week incredibly depressing and emotional. My heart breaks watching him trying to make sounds but his voice is still gone, crawling and having to slow down to try catch his breath. Some kids have such a rotten time.

Mine reacts to natural fabric (wools, pets etc) rather than dust, so i didn't need to go for special mattresses.