Just when I thought dd had outgrown her asthma...........

[okwdvc]

DD is almost 9. She has had cough-induced asthma forever. Major allergies, of course. Tubes put in and adnoids removed when she was 4 which really helped. Had problems 4 to 6 times a year. Then she seemed to have MAJOR improvements. All medication had been stopped. She went over one year without a single asthma related problem. We were thrilled. Then she starts complaining of this stinging in her chest during one of her Tae Kwan Do classes. This continues to bother her so I take her to the allergist in January and I am shocked to find out her small airways are at 50%. Back on Pulmicort daily and Albuterol before class. A month later she gets a cold. Major asthma problems. Nebulizing every four hours, two different rounds of Prednisone. It takes 3 weeks to finally recover and the small airways are 47% now. We have to add Singulair again along w/ the Pulmicort and Albuterol. Now she may have exercise induced asthma as well. So, was I really dumb to think she had actually outgrown her asthma? Why did she go over a year without any medication and no attacks only to have it come back with a vengence? I wonder if she will ever outgrow this? Poor kid! Thanks for listening.

Lisa

[hc85]

People say that kids "outgrow" asthma, but that only really happens if the child is younger than two. Then, it's not really considered asthma anyway, but reactive airways disease and it just gets better as the child gets bigger and her lungs do too. Asthma can go into a remission and then can come back with a vegance, like you've seen. Also, it could be hormones...Studies have shown that some women have more asthma problems around the time of their menses and your daughter IS prepubescent...

[jerrie97]

That happened with me. I was dx'ed with cough variant asthma when I was 8, but back then, they were doubting the diagnosis because I never wheezed. I went three years with no asthma problem, except for some bronchitis/pneumonia, and then it came back and now I do wheeze and the asthma is harder to control.

Sometimes people do outgrow their asthma, because it may be reactive airways disease, or because the lungs and bronchi get bigger as the child gets older.

[PinkBanana]

I (kind of) outgrew skin allergies that I had had very very badly since I was born. Meaning the allergy attacks have gotten much less severe, less frequent, and to less things.
However, when I was 15 I started having airway problems of all sorts..just when I thought I was going to have minimal allergy problems I learned that this is the age where the allergies occur elsewhere.
So I "grew out" of my skin allergies and "grew into" asthma and hay fever.
I hear that children outgrow asthma, as that often childhood asthma is the result of growing airways still, and that's why its frequently resistant to medication. Just like sinus and ear problems. BUT if it's really severe allergies..they won't go away, they'll just cause more problems..you may want to consider allergy shots if this is the case.

[jp3892]

I outgrew my asthma but I have a feeling it was because I never had it. I was on lots medication for 22 years before I had enough and asked the doctor to take me off them. I now take a single ventolin puff every week or two weeks!
If I did have asthma as a kid, maybe the fact that i took high dose inhaled steroids every day without fail helped me to 'outgrow' it by improving lung function and preventing airway remodeling. If u do have asthma, its dangerous to stop steroids for a long time (as u see).