So Elliott’s project is all done. The cupcakes are looking really good and it’s taking a great deal of restraint to not eat them right now.
He’s did his report on Pokemon, as I said earlier.
The actual book he read was about Ash’s origin. He’s got his Pokemon props, a pseudo costume and cupcakes that look like Poke balls.
He’s really excited but he’s been hacking up a lung all night. I’m not sure if we are going to even send him in the morning, unless he gets some sleep and his cough is better. We are relatively new to the asthma game and we don’t know whether or not this is asthma related or not.
If we do keep him home in the morning, we’ll probably be doing the whole rescue inhaler thing every 4 hours. Hopefully, that will help to address the asthma related symptoms.
I’d be grateful if anyone could share their experience with asthma. Elliott’s always been sensitive to respiratory issues but asthma is newish…….
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Lost and Tired makes sense to me. i would be freaking out. you are also right about when it is your child it is different from what you have experienced in the past with work (which i believe it tramatic in itself). keep in mind that they said him being premature is going to have no bad things for his future. great news is that you wrote that down and hopefully reading it again will help you internalize it some more. just cause they say my kid doesnt have cancer anymore (which I am so grateful) has no bearing on how I feel about what might happen in the future regarding cancer. that is my ptsd talking again. but anyway glad he is ok and it was probably the weather change hopefully we can go with that
The nebulizer machine is totally worth it!!! I even put straight saline in it when getting a cold
also ask doc for a peak flow meter so you can test for what is his normal lung copassidy and check it regular
tell your doc you need a nebulizor My kids dont get enough meds in them with the inhalor my kids dont wheeze they cough and i just feel like i cant cough hard enough to get anything out My kids do not have the motor skills for an inhalor so i have a home neb and a portable one
I had it bad as a kid. Heard an interview once with Paul Sorvino, talking about things that he found helped his child with asthma. He explained that typically the issue is more with exhaling the air in the lungs than with filling them. A doctor had told him that pursing your lips similar to how you would blow up a balloon or blow through a straw on the exhale increases the air pressure in the lungs/throat keeping the passages open. I tried it and for me it seemed to work. Since that time, I have never had a serious incident that required more than a bit of Zen time pretending to blow up baloon animals. Just one anecdotal story based on information heard from an actor, but it appeared to help me. Good luck!
Both mine have asthma. When it’s really bad we put a damp towel on the radiator as it helps keep moisture in the room. We found when the room was dry they’d cough more xx
Rob, you can tell Elliott that Noah won’t be there today for the same reason. I was going to keep him home yesterday but he pushed through the day. However, we have been up ALL night with him hacking away. He gets like this every time the weather changes. His asthma is triggered by it & he wheezes badly. We too do the breathing treatments every 4hrs. Noahs lasts for a few days before it’s under control. Hopefully the boys will be better by Monday.
I clicked the link and read about tonight’s symptoms. All 5 of us are asthmatic – I have been for 43 yrs. We are told if the kids can’t sleep bc of “hacking up a lung” then it’s time to be proactive and start the breathing treatments. My experience is if my kids can go 6 hours and sleep comfortably then I repeat the BT every 6 – if not, then it’s every 4. I call the dr in the morning and we go from there. I like to use Xopenex for BT’s since the side effects aren’t as bad for me. If he’s wheezing/struggling to get air and it’s obviously noticeable then do BT now and call dr now to see what’s next. It’s so hard to give advice w/o being able to see and hear…
I’m a respiratory therapist, and I have asthma myself. Some people don’t wheeze when they are tight, they cough. I’d suggest trying the rescue inhaler now as it might help. If it doesn’t after a few doses, I’d check with the doctor to be sure. Even if it’s not asthma, whatever it is could trigger an attack and make it that much harder to fight.
There is better medicine now than what was available in the 70’s and 80’s. I had serious asthma so bad when I was young that I had to be given adrenaline shots. Also, the stimulants in the asthma medications were awful. Today’s meds are less anxiety-inducing. I recommend Advair for long acting relief. Albuterol inhaler is only used for quick relief. If he cannot breath after a few puffs of the Albuterol inhaler it would be considered serious. If he has a congested cough, check with the doctor if Guafenisin might help.
Do not leave it to the rescue inhaler to do all the work. Try to figure out what the triggers are. Have an allergy test done so you know if he’s allergic to anything, and then remove that from his environment, especially the bedroom, which must be kept relatively sterile. Consider removing carpet from the bedroom so dust doesn’t collect in it. Also, when he’s having a bad asthma day, have him take a warm shower just before bed, so all the allergens are removed from his body before bed. An ultrasonic humidifier can be a godsend, as it moistens the air around his bed and makes it easier to breathe.
i had asthma as far as i can remember, but only diagnosed as a teen. i remember feeling like my chest was crushed in, and not able to breathe, i would lie on the floor and relax til the air came. i was about 10 or 11 when i remember doing that. i never had a diagnosis, and i got through it.
cold and flu season seems to hit me harder than others, i use my inhaler during those times. they sometimes relieve symptoms but TIME is the only sure cure. i often lose my voice and have extra phlem. as long as there is no heavy rattle in your chest when you take in deep breathe which causes you to immediately cough hard, then you probably dont have to worry about fluid on the chest. asthma is a pain in the rear, but often if i take my inhaler, within a few minutes the feeling passes, but other times when it is more severe, taking it only give minimum relief.
the only way to know if it is more than just asthma, is put your head on his chest and listen for a heavy wheezey rattle. if the inhaler doesnt give some relief in 20 minutes, then consider having a doc listen to his chest.
that is just MY EXPERIENCE, and really everyone is different. you are new to this, so you will soon get to know and recognize triggers (environmental, exertion, stress, etc) and know when to act before he is in a rescue situation. proactive rather than reactive. like taking the inhaler before going out when you know they will be active.
things that trigger mine: exertion, smoke, pollen, chemical or perfume scents, cold air, humidity, sudden changes in air quality or temperature (like going outside into the cold) and stress.
things that help when these things happen: breathing over a cup of hot coffee, and then drinking it (or any hot liquid) when in cold, breath INTO your sleeve like it is a trunk on your face… (picture it) avoiding smoke and chemicals or i will need the inhaler for sure.
good luck.
rjones22 wishiwereinny KeelyCorinneMiller eeyorekitty88 thanks everyone for all the info. He’s doing fine today. The reason I’m concerned is that he’s never really had an asthma attack. He was diagnosed via the tidal volume test where he blows out the candles.
We were instructed to use his rescue inhaler anytime he has a cough..
The other reason is that he was born with premature lung disease and suffered bilateral pneumothorax. He was in the NICU for awhile but recovered and they said that it would have no impact on him in the future.
I was a medic for a long time and treated asthma frequently. Having said that, it’s totally different when it’s your own child. I don’t want to overreact but it is asthma and I also don’t want to take any chances.
Make sense?
My son had bad asthma for years. Let me tell you this, though, we usually kept him home when he had to do his rescue inhaler, he got super hyper on it. Not good!
i am so glad he was able to get his cupcakes done as well as the project. i hope he gets to go to school. neither of my kids had asthma thank God. Especially with the younger one sick, as sick as he is he has never had upper respitory anything. I am so grateful. because if my non sick one coughs for more than a day i start to worry, if my sick one had asthma or upper respitory stuff I dont know what i would do mentally as I would want to be at the hospital every second and you cant do that. I will be praying and it looks like “wishiwereinny” is going to be your go to person for sure.
When in doubt, take the inhaler. It’s much better to take it than not. Some times one shot is all I need. Another thing that took a long time for me to learn is where or hurts means different things. If it feels like my throat, or that’s where my cough is, then it’s a isolated asthma attack, and my inhaler helps right away. If it is lower in my chest, and the pain feels almost as if it is right where the lungs split (its hard to explain) then I am getting sick or it is seasonal allergy trouble. I then will be taking my rescue for days. Of course everyone is different, and he may not know or be able to vocalize the nuisances of his own asthma yet.
I have three with Asthma. If I can help, I will. Does he have cold symptoms? Is he running a temp? Does his cough get worse as evening progresses? Is he wheezy, when you put your ear to his chest? Does his cough sound like barking? Is his throat sore? Does his voice sound froggy? Does he seem like he is struggling to breathe. Does his chest suck in, when he breathes in? Reason why I am asking, is because 2-3 of my children have croup right now, and croup is very common with children with Asthma. It could be a cold. It could be an Asthma attack. Describing what his symptoms are, would be a real big help. Thanks!!!