Coughing and allergies/asthma

My 2.5 yo dd has colds/coughs quite often. She goes to a preschool. One
of the teachers asked me if she has asthma. I haven't yet taken her to
an allergist. She doesn't have wheezing or heavy breathing. She has a
cold two weeks out of a month and also if the weather changes. She's
quite susceptible to runny nose and sneezing. That's how I'm too. If I
wash my hair I'll be sneezing quite a bit that day.

Should I take her to an allergist? I dont' know anything about the
allergy shots. How do the allergy shots work? Should she take them for
indefinite period of time?

Thanks.

Whoa hold off, lol. Just because someone has allergies doesn't necessairly
mean they have to have allergy shots. First things first, take her to a
pediatric allergist or ENT and go from there. Most likely they will start
with a nasal spray or medication first if there are any allergies. Second,
she may be a little young for allergy testing, but I am not sure about that.
They may go with history right now than anything. As far as asthma, they can
test for that so you will have to take her to the doctor for that. Good
luck.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

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My 2.5 yo dd has colds/coughs quite often. She goes to a preschool. One
of the teachers asked me if she has asthma. I haven't yet taken her to
an allergist. She doesn't have wheezing or heavy breathing. She has a
cold two weeks out of a month and also if the weather changes. She's
quite susceptible to runny nose and sneezing. That's how I'm too. If I
wash my hair I'll be sneezing quite a bit that day.

Should I take her to an allergist? I dont' know anything about the
allergy shots. How do the allergy shots work? Should she take them for
indefinite period of time?

Thanks.

wrote:
My 2.5 yo dd has colds/coughs quite often. She goes to a preschool. One
of the teachers asked me if she has asthma. I haven't yet taken her to
an allergist. She doesn't have wheezing or heavy breathing. She has a
cold two weeks out of a month and also if the weather changes. She's
quite susceptible to runny nose and sneezing. That's how I'm too. If I
wash my hair I'll be sneezing quite a bit that day.

You don't have to wheeze to have asthma. My son
had (still has, but as he's grown it has become less
significant) asthma and I think I only ever heard him
wheeze once and he never had a classic asthma attack.
It's just that anytime he got a cold, he coughed a lot
and usually ended up with bronchitis or pneumonia.

Should I take her to an allergist? I dont' know anything about the
allergy shots. How do the allergy shots work? Should she take them for
indefinite period of time?

Huh? It's not all that common anymore to treat
with allergy shots anyway. Most likely, if she has allergy
induced asthma you'd be looking at an antihistamine,
nebulized meds (probably a rescue med and a different
med for maintenance) and maybe something else depending
on the situation.

Yes, you should get her to a good pediatric
allergist to see what's going on. Chronic inflammation
in the lungs can lead to long term damage, so you want
to intervene and get things under control.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Ericka Kammerer wrote:
wrote:
My 2.5 yo dd has colds/coughs quite often. She goes to a preschool. One
of the teachers asked me if she has asthma. I haven't yet taken her to
an allergist. She doesn't have wheezing or heavy breathing. She has a
cold two weeks out of a month and also if the weather changes. She's
quite susceptible to runny nose and sneezing. That's how I'm too. If I
wash my hair I'll be sneezing quite a bit that day.

You don't have to wheeze to have asthma. My son
had (still has, but as he's grown it has become less
significant) asthma and I think I only ever heard him
wheeze once and he never had a classic asthma attack.
It's just that anytime he got a cold, he coughed a lot
and usually ended up with bronchitis or pneumonia.

Should I take her to an allergist? I dont' know anything about the
allergy shots. How do the allergy shots work? Should she take them for
indefinite period of time?

Huh? It's not all that common anymore to treat
with allergy shots anyway. Most likely, if she has allergy
induced asthma you'd be looking at an antihistamine,
nebulized meds (probably a rescue med and a different
med for maintenance) and maybe something else depending
on the situation.

Yes, you should get her to a good pediatric
allergist to see what's going on. Chronic inflammation
in the lungs can lead to long term damage, so you want
to intervene and get things under control.

As an asthmatic who was diagnosed at age 2.5, I want to second
everything Ericka says.

For the record, my father (who was also an asthmatic) was the one who
first recognized that I had asthma. I was wheezing, but not an audible
wheeze. Instead, I was making raspberry noises with my lips when I
breathed out. For some reason, when you're wheezing, putting
back-pressure on the air as it comes out makes you feel better. Anyway,
my mother was admonishing me to stop making funny noises when my dad
came in and said, "She's not making funny noises; that kid's got
asthma!" And he was right.

I recently learned from my mother (here at misc.kids), however, that I
had been having many bouts of nighttime coughing leading up to this
incident, so apparently, I did have the coughing symptom as well.

I also wanted to mention that a doctor of mine when I was a teenager
emphasized the importance of treating an asthma attach as soon as
possible by explaining that the inflammation damages lung cells much
the same way that smoking does. If you allow that inflammation to
continue, you are effectively breaking the lung cells. People who have
many asthma attacks over their lifetimes, especially untreated ones,
are at high risk for emphysema.
--
Be well, Barbara

Circe wrote:

I also wanted to mention that a doctor of mine when I was a teenager
emphasized the importance of treating an asthma attach as soon as
possible by explaining that the inflammation damages lung cells much
the same way that smoking does. If you allow that inflammation to
continue, you are effectively breaking the lung cells. People who have
many asthma attacks over their lifetimes, especially untreated ones,
are at high risk for emphysema.

And you don't have to be having an asthma attack
for there to be inflammation and therefore damage to
the lungs. If the chronic coughing is due to asthma,
that's a sign that there's damage happening even if
there aren't any signs of a classic asthma attack.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Ericka Kammerer wrote:
Circe wrote:
I also wanted to mention that a doctor of mine when I was a teenager
emphasized the importance of treating an asthma attach as soon as
possible by explaining that the inflammation damages lung cells much
the same way that smoking does. If you allow that inflammation to
continue, you are effectively breaking the lung cells. People who have
many asthma attacks over their lifetimes, especially untreated ones,
are at high risk for emphysema.

And you don't have to be having an asthma attack
for there to be inflammation and therefore damage to
the lungs. If the chronic coughing is due to asthma,
that's a sign that there's damage happening even if
there aren't any signs of a classic asthma attack.

Well, I think it's a matter of semantics, really. If the lungs are
inflamed, you're having an asthma attack on some level, whether or not
you're actively wheezing or feeling that you're having trouble
breathing.

Until I went on Advair after my "episode" back in July of 2003, I was
*always* wheezing a very little bit at the very bottom of my lungs.
That felt normal to me, but the reality is that I'd pretty much been
having a mild asthma attack for my entire life!

Possible asthma isn't something to trifle with, IMO. I trifled with my
*known* asthma and darn near died as a result. I don't recommend it!
--
Be well, Barbara

Ericka Kammerer wrote:
Circe wrote:

I also wanted to mention that a doctor of mine when I was a teenager
emphasized the importance of treating an asthma attach as soon as
possible by explaining that the inflammation damages lung cells much
the same way that smoking does. If you allow that inflammation to
continue, you are effectively breaking the lung cells. People who have
many asthma attacks over their lifetimes, especially untreated ones,
are at high risk for emphysema.

And you don't have to be having an asthma attack
for there to be inflammation and therefore damage to
the lungs. If the chronic coughing is due to asthma,
that's a sign that there's damage happening even if
there aren't any signs of a classic asthma attack.

Best wishes,
Ericka

OP here. Thanks for all replies.
My daughter goes to her ped for all shots and she's up to date on all
her shots. When she had cold/fever on occasion I took her to the ped to
get her checked. I wonder why they never mentioned allergies or asthma.
Should I be taking her to a pediatric allergist/specialist or ENT
specialist for this or should her regular ped evaluate her first?

Thanks again!

wrote:

My daughter goes to her ped for all shots and she's up to date on all
her shots. When she had cold/fever on occasion I took her to the ped to
get her checked. I wonder why they never mentioned allergies or asthma.

Some peds aren't particularly on the ball about this
sort of stuff.

Should I be taking her to a pediatric allergist/specialist or ENT
specialist for this or should her regular ped evaluate her first?

You probably want to see a pediatric allergist
or pulmonologist (allergists are usually more common).
There are some pediatricians who are really up on all
the latest information with allergies and asthma, but
unfortunately, it's not nearly as many as it should
be. Most kids I know being treated by their pediatricians
are not being treated according to the latest guidelines.
So, I'd be a little skeptical and probably look to the
specialist in this case, especially given her age.

Best wishes,
Ericka

My daughter goes to her ped for all shots and she's up to date on all
her shots. When she had cold/fever on occasion I took her to the ped to
get her checked. I wonder why they never mentioned allergies or asthma.

Some peds aren't particularly on the ball about this
sort of stuff.

I was diagnosed as mildly asthmatic at age 30. I went down with a persistant
cough that got worse in the evening when I was tired. After four weeks I was
a wreck. The doctor gave me a blood test and said that showed something that
was sometimes associated with asthma. Not sure exactly what that marker was
but it might be worth asking about a blood test.

Try and avoid giving her juice drinks that contain sodium metabisulphate.
It's quite common in some kids juice drinks - particularly lemon flavour.
Sulphur is a known asthma trigger. As a kid I somehow learnt not to drink
lemon squash in the winter because it made me chesty. I didn't make the
association until I was diagnosed.

Hi --

Go see an allergist. Our allergist is also experienced with asthma.
(One of my kids has asthma, but not allergies. The other has allergies,
but not asthma. Go figure.)

Don't worry about dietary modification at this stage. If your allergist
believes that it IS asthma and that it is allergy-induced, then the
allergist will conduct some tests to ferret out the allergies. If the
testing doesn't come up with anything, THEN turn to elimination diets to
see if there's a dietary trigger. But be aware that allergies are very
individual. Some allergens are more common than others (milk, soy,
wheat, eggs) but every allergic person has his/her own trigger. One of
my friends is allergic to mint, and to nothing else in the world.
Several people I know are allergic to soy and milk protein, but eat
anything else they desire.

I hope this helps,
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

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