Asthma and kids

yellow hen

I'm just wondering if there are other parents out there whose little ones suffer with asthma? I have a 2.5yr old who suffers quite badly and I honestly feel so alone. I'd love to chat to other parents about their experiences, not about medical advice but more just for survival and support techniques.

ch750536

I have a kid who is allergic to everything. We have it under control now & he has grown out of it a little too.

#1 - Make the area they sleep dust & allergen free. Get the allergy bedding, get rid of all other fabric, use blinds, wooden floor, remove all toys. Have an air filter in the room and dehumidify to 40-55%. This makes a huge difference as kids spend 12hrs a day in their bedroom.

pwurple

Not asthma, but viral induced wheeze here which is treated similarly. We only have to manage it six months of the year thank goodness.

Same as ch above, removal of triggers in the house made a big difference . We pulled every carpet out of our house. Bare Floorboards and tiles everywhere. Blinds instead of curtains etc. Very few soft toys, sofas are not fabric. No pets.

What are his triggers do you know? Animals, dust, pollen, any particular fabrics? Any natural fabric would make ours worse but it is different for others. And dairy sometimes when she had a headcold. I get a lot of vitamin d into her as well in winter. Drops when she was small. Supermilk, the vitamin jellies now.

yellow hen

Thanks for the replies. After I posted this, we ended up having a bad episode so it's been a trying few days. I have a 2.5yr old who was diagnosed with suspected asthma when he was 1. He's had allergy testing and has shown reaction to dustmites, cats/dogs and airborne mould which is apparently a classic asthma allergy combination. In the last year and a half, we still have not found a way to manage his condition. We have been seeing a private consultant which has been less than helpful so we recently seen in Temple st through the public system and found it infinitely more useful. He apparently has viral-induced asthma which means that every time he gets a cold, it will usually result in an asthmatic episode. I'm therefore not sure if removing fabrics or anything that can hoard dustmites would help him (nonetheless, we're removing the carpet from his room after christmas. He's on a strong preventer twice daily but it doesn't seem to work. He recently started singulair at night also although there is really only a 50/50 chance of this working and it can also cause night terrors so we're monitoring him on this. We usually end up on an oral steroid up to 10 times a year which is not the optimum solution. I've also started giving him a daily probiotic to try and fight the colds which will surely reduce the asthmatic episodes. I find the whole illness incredibly depressing and frightening and actually quite lonely as most people don't understand how quickly he can go downhill and how little there is that we can do to help. I'm pregnant and can't wait to get him out of creche and home with me in the hope that he'll catch less colds/viruses. Is there anything else we can try/do?

ch750536

Yep, good point. Ours get a dose of this & this.

yellow hen

ch750536 wrote: »

Yep, good point. Ours get a dose of this & this.

Why those two in particular do you mind me asking? I thought a probiotic would be better than a multivit. I should have said that I have a saline air purifier which we prob never gave a chance previously so back using that at night again. Little guy is in his 4th week of a head cold and I'm lying here listening to him with a ball of anxiety in my stomach. Parenting is much more difficult than I ever anticipated

ch750536

yellow hen wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. After I posted this, we ended up having a bad episode so it's been a trying few days. I have a 2.5yr old who was diagnosed with suspected asthma when he was 1. He's had allergy testing and has shown reaction to dustmites, cats/dogs and airborne mould which is apparently a classic asthma allergy combination. In the last year and a half, we still have not found a way to manage his condition. We have been seeing a private consultant which has been less than helpful so we recently seen in Temple st through the public system and found it infinitely more useful. He apparently has viral-induced asthma which means that every time he gets a cold, it will usually result in an asthmatic episode. I'm therefore not sure if removing fabrics or anything that can hoard dustmites would help him (nonetheless, we're removing the carpet from his room after christmas. He's on a strong preventer twice daily but it doesn't seem to work. He recently started singulair at night also although there is really only a 50/50 chance of this working and it can also cause night terrors so we're monitoring him on this. We usually end up on an oral steroid up to 10 times a year which is not the optimum solution. I've also started giving him a daily probiotic to try and fight the colds which will surely reduce the asthmatic episodes. I find the whole illness incredibly depressing and frightening and actually quite lonely as most people don't understand how quickly he can go downhill and how little there is that we can do to help. I'm pregnant and can't wait to get him out of creche and home with me in the hope that he'll catch less colds/viruses. Is there anything else we can try/do?

Exactly the same as mine. Trust me, the list above works.

ch750536

yellow hen wrote: »

Why those two in particular do you mind me asking? I thought a probiotic would be better than a multivit. I should have said that I have a saline air purifier which we prob never gave a chance previously so back using that at night again. Little guy is in his 4th week of a head cold and I'm lying here listening to him with a ball of anxiety in my stomach. Parenting is much more difficult than I ever anticipated

Basically they are the best available in the market. You won't find a better way to get vits into your body.

pwurple

I don't think there is any harm in using both the probiotic and the vit d. Vitamin d is not fully understood as far as I know, but it may be part of the reason that we get more colds and viruses in the winter. Less sunshine / vit d.

Be careful when removing that carpet by the way. When it is pulled up, it might blast loads of fibres into the air for a few days. And you may need to seal whatever is underneath. We have lived so long now without carpets in the house at all, that is nearly odd when I go some place that has a carpet.

Ps, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I think a lot of children get much better as they get older. I remember it well, there is nothing more terrifying than seeing your child struggling to breathe. This won't be forever, hang in there.