Confused by Physician.

My daughter has had a chronic nighttime cough since age 18months.  (she is now 14 years).  Was dx with asthma by an anesthesiologist (sp) at 2 1/2 years old.  The woman came out of my daughters ear surgery with sweat running down her face and murder in her eyes.  Ripped me up for not telling her the child had asthma, unfortunately, my dr. had never even mentioned that.

Needless to say we switched drs. shortly after that.  The pediatrition I took her to said it was allergy related and she was treated in that way only until she was 1o or 11.  With a couple of episodes where she required a nebulizer and oral steroids.

The same dr. prescribed an albuterol inhaler at around 10 but she is now requiring this 4 or 5 times a day.  She can't ride her bike.  Chase her little sister or even walk up the stairs without wheezing.  When I went to refill the inhaler last I was told he is no longer sure she has asthma.  (My ped. is nearly 80 years old) but prescribed flovent anyway.  Told me to have her use it for 2 weeks only.  When I called him at the end of two weeks and informed him of her improvement, he said to discontinue.

We are now back at square 1.  Using only the albuterol inhaler, and zyrtec.  She is very small for her age.  Probably 4' 9" and has been seen in the endocrine clinic at our local childrens hospital.  (All normal)  Granted my family is small but I've been told constant use of this inhaler can affect her growth.  I have made an appt. with a new Dr. for the first week of march.  What should I be asking this new dr. and is there a med that is effective in children/teens that does not affect growth?  I'm at my wits end with this.

Thanks for reading my little novel if you got this far.  ;)

Ellie

Hi Ellie,
Has your daughter ever use any steroid free medications such as Singulair to help prevent asthma attacks? Long term steroidal use is shown to stunt growth in children and they should be monitored at least yearly by a doctor to see if they are growing properly. Most doctors now will prescribe a preventative such as Singulair and a steroid based inhaler for emergency situations. If your daughter is wheezing all the time, I would think she needs something else to prevent these attacks. I am curious as to what her new doc will put her on so keep us informed

I use Singulair It helps greatly.

 I feel for you. I know what it is like to feel at your wits end. My son has been battling with this disease since he was 15 months old. He has been on all different kinds of meds. Some help and some don't. I think key is to find out what she is allergic to. If it is something that can removed from her day to day life that would be best. My son is allergic to cats and certain pollens. We can kick the cat outside but getting rid of exposure to pollen is impossible, especially with an active boy and were I live. Her triggers may not be related an allergine but maybe weather or changes in or viral. There also may be a possiblity she may be reacting to a food allergy like with milk products (and there is milk in a lot of things). You may also be able to treat her asthma with a natural supplement. My son has been on a natural supplement for a few months now and it has helped him tremendously. He used to take Singular and Advair and would still need his inhaler or nebulizer now we have him down to just the Advair and rarely needs his inhaler.

We have had experiences with a few different doctor over the years and it seem like most don't really know what to do either. They seem to just say, "try this, and this and this" unitl you are going home with about 5 different perscriptions. I have even convinced some doctors to give me something because I wanted to try it but they didn't have any good reason really to let me try it. So my advise to you would be to find a specialist in the field of respirartoy problems and find out what they think and then go and research things for yourself. Go to a health food store and ask questions, a dietichian and ask questions or research this on the internet. Don't just settle with what the doctors say because I don't really think they don't have it all figured out. Anyway, that is my opinion you can take it or leave it :o). My prayers go with you!

Mona