If that is all they have you doing then you are in SERIOUS need of a pulmonary specialist for her asthma.
On a good day here is my daughters regiment: (when she's not sick and taking an antibiotic) This is just our normal day to help keep things under control
Morning:
Zyrtec - 1 tsp
Sudofed - 1 tsp
Prilosec - 1 capsule emptied into yogart or applesauce
Xopenex + Atrovent in nebulizer
When our pulmonary doctor added the Atrovent it really helped my daughter
Flovent - 4 puffs
Mid Day:
Sudofed - 1 tsp
Zantac - 1 ml
Nighttime:
Zyrtec - 1 tsp
Sudofed - 1 tsp
Zantac - 3 ml
Singular - 4mg
Flovent - 4 puffs with aerochamber
Xopenex + Atrovent in nebulizer
Now that's a good day, here's what we add when she's actually coughing a fair amount and I hear some wheezing:
Xopenex every four hours
Atrovent every eight hours (so every other time I give her a breathing treatment I give her the Atrovent)
Here is a bad day and were calling the doctor because I really don't want to end up in the emergency room at night:
Xopenex every two hours
Atrovent every four hours (again, every other time she gets the Atrovent)
If we have been fighting an attack for a while and it's getting worse, if her respiratory rate is greatly elevated and she's having difficulty breathing then here's what I do:
Xopenex
20 minutes later I give Xopenex and Atrovent 20 minutes later I give Xopenex again.
If she doesn't show improvement then we are on our way to the ER. To be perfectly honest I'm on my way to the doctor or ER before it gets to this last stage but the doctor said we needed to have a plan just in case.
I haven't had to give her treatments every two hours in a while but I really believe it's because we have her allergies and reflux somewhat under control.
Call that Pediatric pulmonolgist today. Good Luck and keep me informed, who knows you new doctor might find the cure and I want to know if they do.
thank you guys. I am going to see a pulmonologist. She was on atrovent last year and it really helped her, but the same asthma doctor told me he doesn't prescribe it on children at home. I said you did last year and he didn't say anything. That is another reason why I changed doctors.
I am sitting here crying because I just don't understand why she is still like this. Last year at this time she was completely asthma free and I took her off all meds. She only had one mild attack over the summer and started back up in nov and has been sick ever since.
Her eyes have been red since (with rings around her eyes) and her nose stuffed and coughing. She was short of breath most of the winter but doesn't seem so much short of breath now. I guess because it is getting warmer.
I wanted to ask-she started snoring about 2 months ago. Does that mean anything. Loudly too. Could this be acid reflux. She is currently taking prevacid 15 mg, but not sure if it is working or not.
I really hope I start getting answers from these doctors. I am starting to break down and feel like I'm doing something wrong. Being on here has gave me a lot of hope and new ideas. I just hope we can figure it out. She has been sick way too long. She has been on orapred a lot this winter for extened periods. Once a month or more. It has been at least a month since she was on it last, but it has done something to her immune system because she keeps getting infections and some of her blood work showed it.
To my knowledge none of those would cause constipation but everyone is different so I suppose it's possible. I would think the Amoxicillian would cause diarehea if anything.
You know I've never got a clear picture in my head of how to tell from the drainage whether it's infection of just mucous. I've always heard if it's yellow/green then that is a sign of infection but I don't know for sure.
As far as the nose culture that was done by the ENT at the same time they were putting tubes in her ears for the third time. They had to put her to sleep to do it so they just decided to do the culture when they had to put her to sleep to put tubes in anyway. This way she didn't have to go under twice. That's why I thought if they were going to take her tonsils out that would be a good time.
Be careful on the Sudofed, don't give her too much. The most I give it to K is 3 times a day. 1 tsp x 3 times daily. I guess it's like anything else you can get too much of a good thing.
P.S. - If your not using Atrovent for Melanie, ask the doctor about it and see what he thinks. It can use it every other time you use Xopenex. It has really helps Karly.
I'm online tonight if you need anything. I am so glad you got the CT. It sounds like the way he says he see's changes in the adnoid cavity is that he is seing they are gone but that's just a guess. At least you've got down to the diagnosis of sinusitus. However I'm sorry to here Melanie isn't doing well tonight.
What exactly do you mean she's breathing funny. Have you heard the term retraction? Is that what she's doing? Retraction is when you can look at her tummy and see it basically caving in and out because she is gasping for breaths. You can also normally see it in the front of the neck too. If this is what you mean then don't wait to long before you take her to the ER, especially if she doesn't respond to the Xopenex. Have they ever given you a prescription for Atrovent or Ipatropium Bromide. Now is the classic case time to use it along with the Atrovent. With Karly it really helped pull her out of an attack a few times. It didn't work every time but sometimes it did. Atrovent is the brand name and ipatropium Bromide is the Generic name.
I'll keep my computer on and check back in a little bit to see if I can help.
What I heard last night was stridor after the second treatment-she cleared up. I am not sure exactly about retractions. She always looks like she breaths funny to me-I gueess cause I am always scared. I was reading and this can be due to infection. She was on atrovent last year and her old goofy asthma doc wouldn't prescribe it again. Honestly I forgot all about it and will mention it to the asthma doctor-so we can have some just in case.
When I say she is breathing funny. I mean the rate is good, but the way she is breathing is weird. She will take a couple normal breaths-then I couple fast and keep repeating. Almost like her lungs are sticking or something. Or I guess it could be from aspirating her drainage. I always keep her proped.
I do have her on sudafed twice aday and it really isn't helping much. She got the second dose of antibiotics today so hopefully tonight will be better.
I do have another ENT but haven't schedualed her to go see him. When should I. Should I wait to see if the antibiotic is going to work. I am still really mad at that last ENT and he wanted to rip her toncills out. What is wrong with doctors.
I am also mad because I asked him to do a culture and CT and he said no she didn't have any sinus problems.
That's weird, we use it -- also known as Atrovent in combination with albuterol with the nebulizer. It's a bronchiodialator that we use with cpt treatments to get the gunk out of our son's lungs.
I'm on both forms of atrovent. With the nose spray, I use it daily and haven't had an issue with excessive dryness yet *knock on wood*. They also make the atrovent in inhaler and nebulizer form to act as a bronchodialator to dry up the excessive mucous secreations, but generally it's used more with severe asthma, copd and CF where excessive mucous production is a daily issue.
They are missing something and I have no clue what but I will mention the ciliac and genetic testing to this new doctor. You would think that someone would know what she is getting this many infections, and why she just isn't getting better. Oh and the doctor wouldn't put her on the atrovent inhaler, he told me to give afren for three days, if it doesn't help he will switch the nasonex.
I am going out of my mind. Trying to stay working and keep up with everything-let alone bearly any sleep. I just want to know what is wrong with my daughter. You guys have been so great. I'd give you a hug-but it's kind of hard over here.
Thank you so much for helping and following me through this rough time
DS has been on antibiotics since birth -- he was born with CF and he's also been using albueterol and atrovent nebs several times a day. And he rarely wheezes unless he picks up an upper respiratory bug.
I would really really encourage you to go to an accredited Cystic Fibrosis clinic and have your child tested. I'm not saying she has CF, but they know WHAT to listen for and could possibly help rule out CF with the blood test. Most pulmonologists don't deal with stuff that's out of the ordinanry -- they mainly deal with COPD and asthma, you need to find a specialist. We go to an infectious disease person and a pediatric pulmonologist who specializes in genetic diseases
The surgery. Well since he can't do the sinus surgery-he is going to go up and irrigate them. He is also going to do cultures and biopsies.
I am so frusterated. The asthma doctor we went to see-basically said Melanie does not have allergies. And all the doctors are guessing because they have no clue why Melanie is the way she is. He did say this air freshener system could be an irritant and causing her problems but he highly doubts she has allergies. He is 99% sure. He avoided most of my questions. I cried all yesterday. He said he wasn't going to get the list of chemicals and it wasn't worth testing. He said pull her out of school and see if that corrects the problems.
Also he think all her problem is sinuses. She has had all these other problems way before her sinuses became involved. Who do I believe because right now. I don't want to take her to any doctor exept the ent for the surgery. I am so frusterated and scared. I have no clue what to do. The doctor knows she is having a lot of problems with her asthma. he ordered atrovent and said to scheduale an appt for 3 months.
I have asked all of melanies doctors to do the test for polymorphins and none of them know enough about it. If all of this fails-I will be looking for a better pulmonologist. Melanie is the first in my family to have asthma. Thats why I don't undertand why she has it. But sinus and allergies both run in our family.
I think after everything I have read about how early antibiotics can cause allergies and asthma-I am thinking that is where it came from . I don't know.
I'm glad to hear your daughter is doing better. I wish Melanies doctor would order steriods for us to have hear just in case. It would be better then running to the er. I did get them to order atrovent. Her first asthma doctor had her on that and it did wonders. I only use it in extreme emergencies. I don't want her building up a tolerance. I think that is why albuterol does work much for melanie. I would give treatment after treatment and they never worked. I got her out of that environment and it's like a miracle-no wheezing.
Although she still can't breath out of her nose and her sleep apnea is still bad-I can sleep a little more knowing she isn't wheezing. I think once we get her on te right antibiotics her sleep apnea will be fine. Most of her apnea was do to significant decreased breathing from her upper airways. So I take it that is her sinuse cause everthing else looked good.
I am Matt's Mom. I have been reading through this thread and everyone's life sounds like mine. My son is seven. He has had his tonsil's out and adnoids and one sinus surgery. We are gearing up for another one. He has severe asthma and has tested positive for m470v polymorphism. Some doctors acknowledge this and others don't. I feel so helpless and every time my son coughs and wheezes I get a knot in my stomach like I wish there was something else I could do for him. He is currently on Flovent, rhinocort, singular and xopenex. Last flair up they added atrovent and dexa methosone. He also has cushings syndrome due to all the steriods. Now they want to test his insulin levels. I almost wishe they could help me with something. He has frequent acid reflux as well. Does anyone find a particular climate better than others?
Thank you so much. Just by reading your thread I feel like I am not alone.
We have always had a problem with Karly sleeping thru the night, even before we knew she had asthma. Looking back I realize that's why she fussed so much but I didn't know that then. I was up about every 2-3 hours. She was so sick between the ages of 1 - 2, if we weren't in the hospital, I was up giving breathing treatments every four hours and I was, like you, exhausted.
I have found that Karly sleeps better if I give her a breathing treatment with the nebulizer either before she goes to sleep or even sometimes after she is asleep. This allows her to breath better, therefore sleep better. If I just use the inhaler it doesn't work as well. I definately recommend the nebulizer.
Xopenex + Atrovent (It takes about 20 minutes but it's worth the extra time)
I also highly recommend the Xopenex instead of Albuterol. It doesn't cause the excessive heart rate and it doesn't give you the jitters like Albuterol.
I do use the Albuterol with Karly sometimes, but I try not to use it at night, because it hypes her up and makes her restless.
Karly's illness has made me so aware of health issues that I'm going back to school for a degree in Nursing. If you had asked me 10 years ago about being a nurse, I'd have told you no on the spot. It's funny how your children can change your mind.
Monday I took a test in Anatomy & Physiology I and I'll find out how I did tonight. I am determined to do this. I told my husband if I like it, I might even go on to be a Nurse Practiciner. (I might ought to learn how to spell it first)
We were told by our doctor and the respiratory therapists that we can mix the albuterol and atrovent together. We neb DS with that for 15-20 minutes while we do CPT (he has CF), then we neb him with an antibiotic 'cuz he's cultured pseudamonas.
I recently heard from some adults with sinus and lung problems about the benefits of using oil of oregano. While I would never try any holistic remedies on DS without a doctor's authorization, and certainly not on such a young child, it is WONDERFUL to hear that people who are trying both the oral and nebulized versions are having fewer infections, increased pfts...
One thing that has been approved recently by the FDA is hypertonic saline and my mom who has sinus problems, has been using the 3% solution and says it works wonders. Cuts thru all that crud, helps her to breathe better, more deeply.
I know you can mix albuterol and atrovent but you can't mix it with xopenenx. I am not sure why. What is hypertonic saline? I am just curious. Is that a nasal wash?
That's the first time I've heard you can't mix Xopenex and Atrovent. In fact none have my doctors have ever told us otherwise and they know I do it all the time.
In fact, now that I think about it, they have prescribed it together. When Karly is really bad here's the regiment our specialist prescribed
If no significant improvement, take her to the ER immediately.
We've had to do this several times. If anybody else out there has any information on this please let me know. I will definately be calling my doctors office to check what the results of mixing the two might be.
I have been told not to mix her Pulmicort with anything Xopenex/Albuterol or Atrovent.
I will call my pulmonologist as well. I was told not to mix xopenex with anything. When Matt is really sick and they add atrovent they tell me to wait between the two treatments. Therefore he needs to do two seperate treatments. What are the benefits of the hypertonic saline?
By hope what did you find out about mixing the Pulmicort with anything Xopenex/Albuterol or Atrovent. I was just wondering for future referance. Since MElanie has reactive airway disease the diagnostic center prescribed her pumicort again. Even though she isn't experiencing any problems. I am not even sure I want to put her back on that. I am not sure exactly what it was in that school, but I know she won't be going back there.
