Took my 5 year old to the Allergist/Asthma doc yesterday. They did the typical allergy test and turns our he is only mildly allergic to mold which did not surprise me. That was the only thing he had a 2+ reaction on he also had a 1+ reaction on some tree that I have never heard of and egg whites. Of the 72 little pricks on his back we got a reation to those only. None of the food ones had a reaction. They tested his breathing on the computer were he blows out the candles. He blew 8 out of 10, 9 out of 10, and 8 out of 10. I was told he probable does not have asthma but reactive airways whats the difference? He took him off of Flovent,Albutera, and Zyrtec and put him on Singular and Tanafed DP (antihistamine/decongestant). We go back in a month to test his breathing again to make sure he is doing well. My hope is that these new meds will get rid of the cough.
Hello.
I'm really not sure what the difference is,,,I just wanted you to know I read your post and hope you get some answers. I know my asthma/allergy doc put me on Singulair for my Asthma,,,Zyrtec for my allergies. I'm allergic to about everything,,except cats,,,and I don't like cats! Figures! It's funny because I thought I didn't have any allergies,,,well,,,maybe dust,,,but before the doc could take the little pick things out of my back they were itching,,,knew that wasn't good!
~~Lorrie )
I'm dealing with this right now, and I'm not sure either. My 16 month old son has severe coughing spells when he is sick with a virus or his allergies are acting up. he will cough to the point of throwing up or turning blue at those times, but never has trouble any other time. He is mildly allergic to mold, and moderately allergic to cedar and ragweed (I am allergic to all three myself.) He is too young to do any breath tests on, and his oxygen saturation is always good when I take him in. We haven't been able to catch him in the middle of coughing spells to check his saturation.
The pediatricians keep mentioning Reactivary Airway Disease (which basically means your airways are just overly sensitive and easily overly stimulated, the best that I understand) and cough varient asthma.
He is on only Zyrtec as needed (I usually give it to him daily if he has a cold or the allergy counts are high) and occasional albuterol treatments. I only give him albuterol when he has the spells, and it seems to work immediately. Why did they take yours off albuterol? They tried to put mine on flovent, but his symptoms just don't seem severe enough and are too intermitent for me to be comfortable giving him daily steriod treatments. He doesn't need them, IMO.
Good luck in your search for answers! I'm right there with you!
__________________
--Kellie
Married 09/28/2002
DS born 07/05/2003
DD born 3/24/2005
I'm so glad I found this board. My 2 yr-old has also been diagnosed w/ restrictive airway disease. His asthma Dr. is reluctant to test him at such a young age and when/if he is diagnosed w/ asthma, it will be a predisposition he'll carry for the rest of his life. Therefore, he is just treating his symptoms as of now. He takes Pulmacort respules at the first sign of a cough but if the cough worsens (which he usually goes downhill fast) then we give him Xopenex via a nubulizer. He was on Albuterol but we switched b/c of the side affects. I guess restrictive airway disease (bronchospasms) is almost like a catch-all for very sensitive bronchials. My husband is also the same way & has been since he was a baby. He's never been diagnosed w/ asthma. Both of them seem to flare up when ever they catch a cold or some other bug, although I'm sure they both must be allergic to something, but "What?" is my question. It can get very scary when he wakes in the middle of the night coughing/gagging so hard. My son gets frightened w/ the bad spells and starts to cry. It took months to find help as his Ped. kept insisting it was extra mucus from teething. I finally stepped up to get a 2nd opinion and thank God I did. Just a few days on his nebulizer makes a world of difference.
Last edited by mommy2tommyiv; 11-15-2004 at 12:12 PM.
I have found with my reactive airways problem, the inhalants like albuterol and Advair actually give me more problems like dry throat and bronchii and they even give me Thrush.
So I'd rather not be on any of those inhalants on any regular basis. I prefer just taking Allergra. I also didn't care for singulair.
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Re: Reactive Airway vs. Asthma 
Re: Reactive Airway vs. Asthma 
