21st December 2003
Not that work for everybody.
Leukotriene receptor antagonists like Singulair and Accolate work well about half the time for half the people and have kept them off their steroids.
Consider one thing.
Inhaled steroids are THE BEST preventative medicine we have for asthma in this day and age. The best. The most effective with the fewest side-effects and that kind of thing. If he were to be taken off the steroids because of the side-effects to the point where he were to become unstable, he would probably end up in the hospital, and would be put on intravenous or oral steroids like Prednisone or solu-medrol, that DO have tons of side effects and are absolutely ravaging to a body. They're a great way to get bumped over a slump, but they are not the mainstay of maintenance treatment.
Talk seriously to a professional (a pulmonologist was recommended above and would be a wonderful place to start) about how feasible it would be to have him off the steroids. The biggest worry for most parents of kids your age is stunted growth from the steroids -- when you consider that a lack of oxygen is a great way to stunt growth, you really need to know more about where he is at.
At four, do you feel he's good enough about following commands to do a pulmonary function test? Does he understand blow out as hard as you can as fast as you can for as long as you can? PFTs are exceedingly helpful in scaling the changes to his lungs that asthma has done.
Leukotriene receptor antagonists like Singulair and Accolate work well about half the time for half the people and have kept them off their steroids.
Consider one thing.
Inhaled steroids are THE BEST preventative medicine we have for asthma in this day and age. The best. The most effective with the fewest side-effects and that kind of thing. If he were to be taken off the steroids because of the side-effects to the point where he were to become unstable, he would probably end up in the hospital, and would be put on intravenous or oral steroids like Prednisone or solu-medrol, that DO have tons of side effects and are absolutely ravaging to a body. They're a great way to get bumped over a slump, but they are not the mainstay of maintenance treatment.
Talk seriously to a professional (a pulmonologist was recommended above and would be a wonderful place to start) about how feasible it would be to have him off the steroids. The biggest worry for most parents of kids your age is stunted growth from the steroids -- when you consider that a lack of oxygen is a great way to stunt growth, you really need to know more about where he is at.
At four, do you feel he's good enough about following commands to do a pulmonary function test? Does he understand blow out as hard as you can as fast as you can for as long as you can? PFTs are exceedingly helpful in scaling the changes to his lungs that asthma has done.