Question:
I've been recently diagnosed with asthma. Asthma runs in my husbands family so I am unfamiliar with the
implications one might expect with this type of disease. First let me start
out by saying that I almost feel that this diagnosis might have come a
little too soon. Let me tell you about our case chronologically so I don't
leave any thing out.
At two months of age Thomas had bronciolitis and was doing the nebulizer
with albuterol, the last day of his treatments he spiked a high fever and we
were instructed to go to the emergency room, there they diagnosed him with
slight dehydration (no breathing difficulty) after two weeks of albuterol we
discontinued the treatments and he was fine for a long time. While on
vacation in Nebraska he developed an other cold and was diagnosed with an
ear infection and sinus infection, no albuterol treatments were given at
that time. When we returned to TX we did a follow up visit with our
pediatrician and she indicated that his ear was still a little red but no
breathing treatments were needed. At his six month check (about 3 weeks
later) I was sure that he had an ear infection (drainage) and thought that
it was the same ear infection that had not cleared up. The doctor indicated
that it was the other ear and placed him on antibiotics, again the infection
cleared and no breathing treatments were needed. Two weeks pass and we are
on vacation in South Padre when my daughter (18 months) caught a nasty cold
and was sounding quite croupy as well as running a fever. When the baby
started to come down with this I came home figuring that his bout with this
virus would be worse since it appeared that he gets sicker than anyone else
with the same cold. Went to the doctor and she indicated that he had an ear
infection, again no treatments were ordered. As the cold progressed he
started to have breathing difficulties and we then initiated the albuterol
since the initial Dr orders were that we would do this at our discretion by
the following Monday we were giving treatments often (around every 2-3
hours) again went back to the primary Doctor and this time she sent us to
the emergency room where we were admitted to the hospital. There he was
given breathing treatments, steroids and an antibiotic. The treatments were
spaced 2 hours initially and quickly moved to four, then back to 2 when the
respiratory people missed one and we went to 6 hours when the doctor
observed his chest noise. After leaving the hospital we were referred to a
pediatric pulmonolgist where she immediately diagnosed asthma and placed him
on a number of drugs
Flovent
Tavist
Serevent
Flonase
Today the bridge of his nose and the area under his eyes are swollen and
puffy. When I contacted the doctor she indicated that I should increase his
flonase, didn't make much sense to me since he never has had this happen
before and increasing the meds would make the problem worse wouldn't it??
My first question is does everyone take this battery of medication and if so
will this be ongoing?
What types of test are used to confirm asthma? Or can it definitively be
confirmed?
Has anyone else experienced swelling of the face?
Does this seem like a quick diagnosis to you?
Will he outgrow this?
I just weaned him to the bottle and could probably re-lactate, does
breastmilk help? (didn't seem to in our case although he has only been on
straight formula for a week)
His episodes seem to come hand in hand with a cold but not every cold, is
this normal for asthma?
Answer:
I think you should be very careful with your child and
getting medical advice off the internet is not consistent with this.
In infancy, month of birth, male sex, low birth weight, bottle
feeding,infections, parental smoking, nutrition, early introduction of solid
foods, familial history of asthma and early exposure to allegens and/or
pollution may increase the risk for developing allergic rhinitis and asthma.
Most triggers to asthma in the under two age is due to respiratory viral
infection.
The allergic shiners (swelling )under the eyes may be due to venous congestion
related to swelling in the nasal mucosal tissue. That is why your doctor
perhaps increased the nasal steroid.
Seek professional help for your child. You need serious and expert counselling
by a competent professional. Look for an asthma educator in your area. Try
contacting the local respiratory therapy department of a nearby hospital.
Once you find one, get a referral from your doctor. It must be done in concert
with your doctor. Your doctor may have someone they use.
