Comments | lolacat: W. T. F.

lolacat

W. T. F.

Apr 22, 2010 05:50

Robin's illness continues. Her coughing finally woke her up at 5 am. I had her use the inhaler, which we've been practicing with. It seems to not have made a ton of difference. I am not sure I'm using it perfectly, it's hard to get a toddler to comply with a face mask, but I thought it would make more of a difference. I gave it to her 20 min ago ( Read more... )

holly, sleep, childcare, asthma, robin

Comments 9

nutmeg April 22 2010, 11:24:43 UTC

I'm sorry you are having to deal with this. My son has pretty severe asthma... We struggled for two years with eli's asthma before we finally took him a specialist to get a good plan in place. The idea of entering another winter with him and not knowing what to do besides what we had already been doing (which was simply not working well enough, every cold would induce three weeks of coughing which could not be stopped ( ... )

lolacat April 22 2010, 11:30:11 UTC

Thanks for all of this. I have no experience with asthma so I'm trying to learn. Fortunately we live near one of the best hospitals in the country and they have a great clinic if we need a second opinion. Our new doc seems to understand that this is a real problem for us/he even though it's only when she's sick.

I'm going to try to get better at using the inhaler before ruling it out... but I'm not thrilled with the slight effect it seems to have. We got her to use it pretty well yesterday and it worked for about 2 hours before wearing off... not ideal.

greenminions April 22 2010, 12:23:27 UTC

As someone who got diagnosed with asthma and severe allergies a few years ago I highly recommend taking her to an allergist/asthma specialist. It stinks to have to suffer with something like this over and over again.

A specialist can help you be proactive in order to reduce the triggers. They can test her breathing and if you happen to go during a flare up they can try some immediate relief measures right there and evaluate the effect.

tesslouise April 22 2010, 15:40:16 UTC

My brother had asthma as a kid. (I know, I know, asthma isn't something one outgrows--but he did. Go figure.) Anyway, it took quite a few doctor visits before he got diagnosed--eventually one of the peds said to my dad, "I guess we just weren't listening to what your wife was saying." Gee, thanks. Anyway, I would persist until you have a good explanation for Robin's cough.

aslant April 22 2010, 16:23:08 UTC

I had asthma as a kid too, and grew out of it around puberty. It was also around the time we moved from the east coast to the west coast, so maybe the different pollens made a difference as well.

aslant April 22 2010, 16:28:55 UTC

yikes. i hope maybe a new kind of inhaler might help her, like nutmeg describes. i had asthma growing up and it was terrible. i think it wasn't diagnosed until i was 5 or so, and they had me use an inhaler that i thought was fun -- it puffed the medicine into this accordion-looking device, and i had to inhale it, and the inhale would make the accordion collapse down and make a little musical sound. it was kind of cool. i think by the time i was 6 ot 7 they put me on the regular adult-type inhalers ( ... )

strph April 22 2010, 17:53:48 UTC

Oh, I would be banging my head against a wall too!! I gotta say, though... you might want to also try some dietary changes. Milk gives me more asthma issues, if I drink it or eat it too often. I'm on Symbicort every day for my asthma but I still notice problems if I drink milk/eat pudding/have ice cream (yogurt and hard cheese doesn't seem to give me as many problems). Also, do they make guaifenesin in a liquid for kids? They must. I love that stuff. It really helps if I'm having asthma issues too ( ... )

lolacat April 22 2010, 17:58:25 UTC

Thanks, Steph. I've heard this and been kind of like LALALALALALA I don't want to know this! ;) I guess I just worry about getting enough protein in her and I hate to cut out dairy. That being said, she doesn't EAT that much dairy, so I'm not sure if this is the culprit (she doesn't like milk and is in a "no cheese" phase, and is only so-so on yogurt). I will AVOID IT DILIGENTLY while she is sick and see if that helps.

That's good to know about guafinisheshsinn (:P) I don't think they make it FOR kids but there are dosage guidelines online (wish to hell I had some RIGHTNOW -- why didn't I get this message BEFORE I came home! Sigh.).

strph April 22 2010, 18:25:46 UTC

I know, dealing with possible food allergies really bites. LALALALALALA...

I see Mucinex makes a few that only contain guaifenesin (ie, doesn't say "COUGH" on the front)... a grape syrup and "mini-melts" for kids... I bet there's even a generic version available some places. I take at least 2400 mg when I'm sick, the maximum dose, and it always helps (AND I have never had any side effects... well, other than extra-slippery EWCM around ovulation but that's not a concern to Robin... haha.) Actually I should probably just start taking it every day. Couldn't hurt.

Re: protein... yeah, there's the rub. :-/ Does she like eggs? Hard-boiled ones, for instance? They're a great cheap non-dairy source of protein. Also, nuts aren't bad... nut butters or whole nuts if she's good at the chewing... or I've known some people who even mix rice-based protein powder into non-dairy milks on the sly, just to get extra protein in their kids... :)

Keep the faith, lady. xoxo.