Parenting Preschoolers (3-5) Support Group
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I'm thinking my 3 year old might have a small case of asthma.. here is a auick run down on why I think that:
Last week of August started coughing, more at night, runny nose.
In Sept his eyes started getting watery and the cough got worse. Hed be up almost every hour at night, coughing so hard he had a hard time catching his breath. He started coughing more in the day too. It was a deep cough that was coming from down deep.
That was most of Sept. Now he is doing better, not coughing near as much at night.. . as of Oct 4th, the past 3 nights he almost had cough free nights.
During the day when he is running around and playing, he will go into to coughing fits that last between 5 and 10 min long. He coughs so hard his face turns dark red. I asked him if he had trouble breathing when he was coughing but he is 3 so I dont know if he understood. I would think he does with how red his face gets and how bad his coughing gets. When he isnt running around you dont hear noise when he breaths, but when he runs around and plays, you hear the crackling in his chest and when you put your hand on his chest and back when he is coughing you can feel the crackling and popping.
He has an appt with the doctor on Oct. 11th.
Thank you for reading this all, I know it was long but I wanted to get the background on why I'm worried!
Last week of August started coughing, more at night, runny nose.
In Sept his eyes started getting watery and the cough got worse. Hed be up almost every hour at night, coughing so hard he had a hard time catching his breath. He started coughing more in the day too. It was a deep cough that was coming from down deep.
That was most of Sept. Now he is doing better, not coughing near as much at night.. . as of Oct 4th, the past 3 nights he almost had cough free nights.
During the day when he is running around and playing, he will go into to coughing fits that last between 5 and 10 min long. He coughs so hard his face turns dark red. I asked him if he had trouble breathing when he was coughing but he is 3 so I dont know if he understood. I would think he does with how red his face gets and how bad his coughing gets. When he isnt running around you dont hear noise when he breaths, but when he runs around and plays, you hear the crackling in his chest and when you put your hand on his chest and back when he is coughing you can feel the crackling and popping.
He has an appt with the doctor on Oct. 11th.
Thank you for reading this all, I know it was long but I wanted to get the background on why I'm worried!
deleted_user
I think seeing your doctor is a good thing. My son was diagnosed at 3 months and he is 8 now. He gets the same symptoms as your son from Nov- Jan. He turns reds, green veins show around the mouth, and wheezing in the lungs. I stopped taking him to a pediatrician at the age of 2 and took him to an asthma dr. that put him on a regimen and so far so good except for those 3 months.
laughandlive35
I see symptoms like what you describe and I go.. WHOA.. he isnt near that bad! I'm still taking him, but I guess I'm just not sure if it is as serious as I think it is or if I'm just being over paranoid momma!
pattijo
sounds like asthma to me. we found out last year after 4-5 months of going back and forth to peds and being told, its a cold, allergies, this or that, that he in fact has asthma. he actually wound up hospitalized with pneumonia because it was left untreated for so long, or treated wrongly because of the lack of proper diagnosis. it took awhile and alot of trial and error with his meds, but once we got him stabilized he started doing pretty good. he now only needs an inhaler twice a day, and has an emergency inhaler but thankfully hasnt needed it in some time. your son likely does have some time of allergy, as asthma and allergies go hand in hand. whatever he is allergic to is what triggers him to have an attack. if i were you i would ask the ped for a referral to an allergist and a pulmonologist no matter what. they need to do allergy testing to find out what his triggers are, (most likely dust mites and molds pollens) and lung function tests to get a baseline on him. try to avoid singulair, that is a common rx for allergies, but in my experience and from talking to other moms it really doesnt do a whole lot, and it does cause behavior issues, esp in younger kids. request a nebulizer for home, so you can give him breathing treatments (not as scary as it sounds i promise), they really help alot. you may also want to get an air purifier for his room and dust mite covers for his pillow and mattress, and wash all his beddings and curtains in hot water regularly. limit his stuffed animals to one or two special ones, and get rid of any unneccesarry dust collectors in his room. also, ask your local hospital if they have an asthma mgmt program, we have one here and it was super helpful. sorry if i wrote alot, i know its daunting and scary, but i wanted to get you as informed as i could in advance. if you need anything else let me know, id be happy to help. and remember, dont make the mistake i did and listen to the dr even when what he says goes against your gut feeling. you know your child best, and if the ped doesnt give you the answers you want, go somewhere else. just make sure you get the referrals to the allergist and pulmonologist, and get an appt with them asap. dont let the ped try the wait and see approach. this is the time of year when asthma can get really bad, and you dont want to be unprepared.
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