Although my son has been diagnosed for quite a few years with excersise induced asmtha, it does not occur during any sport except his main sport which is ice hockey. He is 14 years old and has been using albuterol before games and practices. Lately, he is starting to slow down in the middle of a game and gets worse as the game goes on. My husband purchased the tiny nebulizer, feeling that it would make the medicine work better for him because of the better delivery. We tried it twice and it is a disaster. He says its worse and he gets chest pains along with it. I am at my wits end. Can someone suggest something new for us to try. My search on the internet comes up with nothing. Thanks in advance.

I know that breathing very cold air is not good for my asthma, never has been. When it is very cold outside I have always had a hard time breathing. Once my doctor told me that cold air was not good for bronchitis - most likely it is the same for asthma.

My son played hockey for many years and I am sure your son loves it too, but he may not be able to play. Ask your doctor.

Ask your doctor about him going on a daily long-acting bronchodilator like foradil. If he does, it is smart to put him on an inhaled corticosteroid too. Anyway, if he is on a LAB then he can still pretreat with his albuterol inhaler and then if has trouble, have him take his albuterol. What sounds like is happening is that the albuterol prevents trouble for about half the game because his lungs aren't in as good of a shape as they can be. With the LAB, he should already be in good shape and then the albuterol will just prevent anything at all.

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Hope this helps!

Sara

My son has been playing for 10 years and loves it so much that I know he just wouldn't give it up. The coach has been really understanding. But I do realize that if it hinders his playing so much, he will eventually get cut from the team. I also realized today that this is his allergy season so that could be making it worse. I have a concern putting him on something on a daily basis when it only happens when he plays. I did start him on xertec(?spelling) for his allergies and I found some herbal medicine from hickey chemists that my husband had bought along time ago but I never gave to him. Its called "asthmaphora"...nutritional support for asthmatics. Maybe I should give this a try. I also read that coffee and other caffeine containing drinks has a dilating effect on the bronchial airways but I don't know if that would be good to drink before a game.

My son loved hockey also, I must say it is even my favorite sport. I don't know how old your son is but he must be in his teens by now - Singlair was a god send to me, not everyone here likes it but my asthma is mostly allergy induced, every spring and fall was terrible. In the spring of 2002 I was put on Advair, Singulair and albuterol. Since then I have been 100% better. At one time Singulair was used only for asthma, but now I see articles about it being used for seasonal allergies. This is my 2nd fall and have gone through 2 springs with no trouble at all. In the past I have used Clairitin D - Allegra and Zertec, didn't really do the trick.

Ask your doctor about Singulair, I don't know about children having it but it works great for me. Maybe look back over some old posts and read about it. If it doesn't work then he could quit taking it. I sound like an ad for a drug company!!!!

If your son truly has asthma, I am surprised the doctors don't have him on inhaled steroids and bronchodilator all the time. You said you don't want him to be on meds, only when his breathing acts up. That's not the way asthma is treated anymore.

In the 90's, doctors changed their thinking about asthma. Even if you aren't in the middle of an "attack", you still have asthmatic lungs. They now believe you should be on a daily regimen to PREVENT asthma attacks before they start. This generally includes a combination of inhaled steroid and a broncodilator. One combination is Pulmacort and Foradil. Or you can take Advair, which has both medicines combined into one and is easier to take (one inhalation instead of three).

My brother was diagnosed yesterday with exercise induced asthma (mine is allergy induced), and he plays college hockey. He uses an inhaler, but his doctor also told him to avoid carbs...something about the carbs increasing his chance of an asthma attack. And guess what? That's exactly what my brother was doing before a game...filling on carbs for the energy.

He's been a hockey player his entire life, and he's very good. I hope he can get everything under control so he can continue playing. Using his inhaler before a game has really helped.


Hope your son is able to play....


Karina

Could your son possibly do a warm-up somewhere other than on the ice beforehand? (Maybe a few minutes on a treadmill at a slow jog indoors?) When I run outdoors in the winter, I get asthmatic. If I do a warm-up first, the problems are less severe.

Ranger

Originally posted by estherms:
My son has been playing for 10 years and loves it so much that I know he just wouldn't give it up. The coach has been really understanding. But I do realize that if it hinders his playing so much, he will eventually get cut from the team. I also realized today that this is his allergy season so that could be making it worse. I have a concern putting him on something on a daily basis when it only happens when he plays. I did start him on xertec(?spelling) for his allergies and I found some herbal medicine from hickey chemists that my husband had bought along time ago but I never gave to him. Its called "asthmaphora"...nutritional support for asthmatics. Maybe I should give this a try. I also read that coffee and other caffeine containing drinks has a dilating effect on the bronchial airways but I don't know if that would be good to drink before a game.

Zyrtec is worth a try, altho it works best for allergy related triggers. My son plays lacrosse and was having the same prob even tho in past sports didn't trigger his asthma. Discovered that the practice fields were surrounded by cedar trees, one of his biggest triggers. The Zyrtec did get it under control altho he uses his puffer before heavy practices or games. His main trigger is cold air so the ice very well could be getting in your son's lungs. Winter remains our worst asthma attack time. The best of luck; also being a mom w/ an asthmatic child I can relate to how very frustrating it can be.



[This message has been edited by austin4 (edited 10-09-2003).]