Question:
My 19-week-old son has been coughing, wheezing on expiration, has a high
respiration (between 50 and 68) and is exclusively breastfed. Symptoms
began gradually a little over a month ago, and are now at a constant rate,
including a "rattling" of mucus either in his adenoids or chest (doctors
thus far disagree).
He has been on a nebulizer with Proventil (.25 ml for three weeks) and
Atrovent (1.25 ml for four days). Chest x-ray was negative; pulmonologist
suggested the possibility of Intel (sp). Pediatrician and pulmonologist
are currently calling it RSV or adenovirus (though they add it's slightly
early in the season for these). My husband, daughter and I have had
respiratory infections in the past eight weeks.
His symptoms practically vanish when he's asleep, except for some
coughing once in a while and a barely perceptible wheeze if you listen
closely. Almost immediately upon awakening and being picked up, the
wheezing becomes a bit harsher and the "mucus rattle" starts (and is worse
right after eating or having oral medication administered).
He sometimes has periods of a whimpery, startled, staccato breathing
during sleep, and infrequently starts crying inconsolably in his sleep.
He spit up frequently (a little many times a day, as opposed to a lot; not
projectile) which was diagnosed as mild reflux. Keeping him upright
helped, and spitting up is now only present infrequently, usually as the
result of a hardy burp.
He has always been somewhat gassy. I have noted a correlation between
extreme abdominal distress and my consumption of broccoli, which I have
ceased eating for the time being.
Does this sound like asthma? Can anyone relate to this? Could he be
affected asmathically by a food allergen by foods I consume, and if so,
should I eliminate one likely food at a time, or go on a very bland diet
and add one by one? We plan to consult an ENT specialist; the
pulmonologist says she wants us to rule out cystic fibrosis, however
unlikely. The nebulizer really doesn't seem to help; merely loosens mucus
and gives him more trouble with it -- and cooler air seems to give him a
harsher wheeze and trouble working around his mucus.
Answer:
Your child's environment or predisposition and your diet could be involved.
My son has several severe food allergies - to dairy, eggs, nuts, and a few
fruits/veggies. Doctors didn't believe it until he was two even though he'd
gone to the emergency room as one big hive, vomiting and with a swollen throat
TWICE in his first year (reacting to two separate foods). Fortunately, I
figured out how to safely get him to age three, when they finally agreed to
test him.
When I was pregnant with him, I developed a severe cat allergy (I'd grown up
with them) and allergy-induced asthma that happened only during fall and
springtime or when I got near a cat. When it snowed or was hot I was fine!
Doctors didn't diagnose me until years later, even though I'd been hospitalized
with terrible asthma attacks three times.
When I was nursing my son, for the first year of his life, he would scream for
two hours after I ate milk chocolate. Fortunately I didn't eat it often and so
it was easy for me to figure out.
When my son was three, he had his tonsils and adnoids removed and tubes put in
his ears.
Before the operation, his breathing nearly woke the neighbors at night. People
thought a man was snoring in his room. And he rattled slightly during the day
and frequently had a runny nose.
He had constant ear infections because he was too swollen from allergies to
drain anything and sometimes after it rained, he'd get hives on his legs when
they touched the grass.
He was never around cigarette smoking.
The operation and allergy testing proved success. Thank goodness for that
specialist who helped us find a DRUGLESS program for him.
Six times in the past two years (he is now almost 7), when he's been nervous or
upset about something like the night before the first day of first grade in a
new school for instance, he'll have what I believe is an anxiety attack and
he'll get an asthma-like cough and a little wheezing in his lungs at bed time.
Doctors say, when it happens call them because of course he's always in perfect
health for doctors appointments and they've got to see it in order to believe
it. And if it does happen without going away after a short wait, I will take
him straight to the emergency room. I know the bad of asthma, and even the bad
of an uninformed doctor.
But anyway, it goes away if I get his mind on pleasant things or sing to him.
REALLY. And only if I do this.
And I repeat, it has only happened at nighttime, right before bed, when he's
slowed down and thinking.
I know another small child who has been diagnosed with asthma and has been
drinking doctor-prescribed liquid proventil every stinking day for years now.
She wheezes by day and by night. Her nose runs constantly.
Her parents smoke cigarettes in the house by day and by night as they play
darts and drink their beer. They have six pets - a snake, two kittens, a puppy
and two fish.
Everyone is so different. Every case of asthma is different. According to the
two good and helpful doctors I've talked to, among them are allergy-induced,
pregancy-induced, and anxiety-induced. And babies CAN feel anxious, nervous and
scared.
Also, very importantly, moms know their babies better than anyone else. If you
have a hunch, check it out on your own if you don't get professional support
right away, and don't be discouraged if you're waved off as being paranoid or
overprotective or whatnot.
