Monday, October 29, 2007

Combivent and Nighttime Fears?

Granted, we may start watching Ghost Hunters too early some nights, but since we started the Combivent, B seems to have some odd night time phobias. The past three nights, he's begged us to leave the light on his room.

Has anyone else seen this with fast-acting inhalers at bedtime?

Friday, October 26, 2007

Over Albuterol - We're Reaching Straight for the Combivent

B started coughing slightly a few nights ago...so slightly that I (bad mommy!) didn't bother starting albuterol.

Well, ha-ha and me (and pity on him!) he was coughing so badly last night that he was begging me for Dimetapp! I had given him 2 puffs of albuterol, and then 30 minutes later, another 2 puffs, but it hadn't worked. He was coughing his head of most of the night.

Today, when I picked him up from school, he was coughing a bit. It wasn't alarming in frequency, but it sounded SO BAD.

When we got home, I couldn't find the nebulizer, so I gave him two puffs of Combivent.

I swear, he's coughed maybe twice since then.

I'll look back, and I'm willing to bet I've written this before, but giving this kid albuterol is a waste of a perfectly good pharmaceutical. It just doesn't work on him anymore.

I called the PP for a refill, but I'm not sure if they were able to get it to the pharmacy because I called late...I probably have enough to get through the weekend. Just.

Monday, October 15, 2007

'Roid Rage in Your Asthmatic Child

Every now and then, I get a comment like the one I just got from Tami. She's got a son with severe asthma who needs to be on Pulmicort or Flovent, but goes a little psycho when he's on the stuff.

It's a horrible situation to be in. Unfortunately, steroids are considered the strongest weapon in our anti-asthma arsenals. And as a message board buddy once put it, she'd rather have a kids who "kicks the dog" but can breathe than one who's in the ER every other week.

I think we'd all have HAPPY kids who can breathe.

At the end of the day, when we're not happy with the results we're getting from our doctors, the first checkpoint should be other doctors. I realize that some of my friends here don't have the luxury of being in major metro areas like me, but if you can find another pediatric pulmonologist or asthma/allergy specialist, get there. If you've only been dealing with your regular peds -- take the 2 hour drive to see the specialist. You'll never regret it.

Tami, I don't know what other meds your son is on, but you sound smart and I imagine you've been asking all the right questions and tried lots of different things. We're doing well with Flovent, but I know others who've seen positive changes by switching to Qvar and other brands of similar steroids. Maybe your son can do Singulair instead of steroids? Worth asking...

We've got lots of smart moms around here -- I'm sure someone can offer grounded, sensible advice. (Ahem!)

One note on the eczema -- there's a boy in my kids' daycare who had THE WORST eczema I've ever seen. He was constantly scabbed and bleeding. So sad! Recently, I noticed a drastic improvement, and I asked his parents about it. Would you believe their miracle cure was VASELINE? That's right -- they switched dermatologists, and the new doctor recommended that they bathe him every day (seriously!) and coat him with Vaseline within 2 minutes of getting out of the tub (and barely drying him off) to seal in the moisture.

Worth a shot, right? (With your doctor's permission, natch!)