:)

[redrosesix]

I'll join the cause. DD has had asthma since she was 5 (something in her school is the worst trigger, so it's much worse in winter when the windows are all closed)

The pediatric drug of choice for maintenance here is Alvesco -- it was only available in Europe until 2 years ago, and she was put on it by special prescription (too many side effects from the other maintenance medications). Salbutamol for emergencies. Our doc also doesn't recommend the nebulizer -- the airchamber (or spacer, as another poster called it) can be used even when the kid is sleeping. They also take their emergency meds with them, so it's pretty convenient to just change the puffers. BTW, they're also prescribing the airchamber for adults now, since it's a better way to take emergency puffers ie when you can't breathe well enough to take a deep breathe.

She was taken off her maintenance meds about a month ago since she's doing so well now (sports, every day, and we've done our best to remove the triggers like dust) and it's pretty ineffective when she's exposed to multiple triggers (such as having a cold in the middle of winter). And he recommended 3 weeks in florida every winter! Not joking -- every time we go, she is able to stay off the emergency puffers for the whole trip and for a couple of weeks after -- and they work soooo much better when she's not using them all the time.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I'll join the club. Both myself and my son have asthma, and we have visited the doctor no less than 6 times this year. I had my first breathing treatment in over 15 years not too long after the inhaler change. Singulair did not work, we are both on Advair ($20 after insurance), it works better for the kid than it does me.

The red proair inhaler is worthless, we both have proventil rescue inhalers. The older blue albuterol inhaler was $10 and lasted about 60 days. The Proventil is $20 and lasts about 25 days.

I too am bitter and think this was a money grab somewhere along the line.

 

[Lisa_M]

Is it the little one in your photo?

Yep that is her. 15 months old

Here is a very simple but to-the-point handout about asthma:

http://www.ginasthma.com/Userfiles/GINA_PatientGuide2007.pdf

Thank you Krista for sharing all that information. It is very helpful to understand more about this.

Lisa, both my kids were diagnosed at 10 months old. Younger children take their maintenance medication with a nebulizer. The most common medication is Pulmicort 1-2 times daily. Xopenex is a common albuterol based medicine that is taken during an asthma attack. Your Dr. may add an allergy medication such as Zyrtec or Claritin which is now OTC. Technically asthma is not diagnosed in babies, but around here they call it "reactive airway disease" until a child is old enough for lung function tests.

I can't stress enough the importance of checking into allergies as many people with asthma have many environmental irritants. Both my kids are allergic to dust mites for example. I bought hyper allergenic mattress and pillow covers, our cats are forbidden in the bedrooms, we have hardwood in 90% of the house and I keep dust to a minimum. This has helped them so much and we just went through our first winter without any asthma attacks Of course just last week with pollen count up, both were wheezing, but that is the hardest thing to control.

I hope you have found a good specialist to help you navigate this. It can be so scary when your baby can't breathe. I have spent so many sleepless nights worrying if we would make it through the night without going to the ER or calling 911 once again. Once you find what works for your child, it does get better.

She was diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease and then her most recent visit to the dr. the doctor said Asthma. I am looking for a good specialist because we have spent so much time in the ER this year it is ridiculous. I think we've been about 10 times.

I highly recommend seeing a Pulminologist.

Both of my kids have asthma. After dealing with them developing bronchitis and pneumonia from every other respiratory virus they picked up, I finally took them to a Pulminologist. He was able to give me much better information about asthma, including treatment options.

The best thing he did was switch my kids from the nebulizer to inhalers with a spacer. Breathing treatments went from 20-40 minutes (with nebulizer... we were running two of them!) to 12-18 breaths with an inhaler. Plus, the inhaler doesn't need electricity (we lose electric with lots of our winter storms here in the NE) and is quiet. Also, no lugging the nebulizer along every time we travel!

We see the Pulminologist once in the Fall and once in the Spring for check-ups. Very easy and both kids are doing better!

She has an inhaler with a spacer too, but it doesn't work for her. She is too small and fights it. I will look for a Pulminologist. Thank you all.

 

[KristaTX]

Advair is not too pricey; I take the 500/50 (Krista - do you know what exactly do those numbers mean? I know there are a few different ones).

You are on the highest dose of Advair. It comes in 500/50, 250/50, and 100/50. The 50 is 50 micrograms (mcg) of salmeterol - a long-acting bronchodilator. They all have the same amount of that. The 500, 250, and 100 indicate the mcg of fluticasone propionate (the steroid).

In case anyone is confused about it, the Advair discus (the round one) is a twice a day medication. One puff in the morning, one puff in the evening.

Symbicort and Advair HFA inhalers (mechanism is like with an albuterol inhaler - it sprays out) are typically intended to be used 2 puffs twice a day.

 

[Disney Ella]

As other people have said, if you don't see an asthma specialist, you need to find one. If you are already seeing one, you need to find a new specialist. My doctor would be changing my medication immediately if I had those symptoms. I take Advair every day and even with insurance, it's not cheap - $47 co-pay. For a while, I did try using it only once per day, but a few months ago, my asthma was out of control and I decided that keeping my asthma in check is worth the $47 per month.

If you doctor hasn't mentioned it, you may want to consider if GERD (acid reflux) has any effect on your symptoms. My doctor says that about 80% of asthma patients have GERD with no symptoms and that can cause flare ups. I do notice that since I have started taking Nexium that my voice isn't raspy in the mornings any more.

Please find someone who will take your symptoms seriously and help you control your symptoms. If you don't get under control and you get a cold or upper respiratory virus, you could easily become very sick.

 

[Aimeedyan]

You are on the highest dose of Advair. It comes in 500/50, 250/50, and 100/50. The 50 is 50 micrograms (mcg) of salmeterol - a long-acting bronchodilator. They all have the same amount of that. The 500, 250, and 100 indicate the mcg of fluticasone propionate (the steroid).

Thanks for explaining that! I had a child at a retreat last year that had 100/50 and I wondered what the difference was.

 

[LSchrow]

ask your doc about Volmax..
i have problems with steroids (prednisone was the worst, but advair, etc also)so avoid most asthma meds.

volmax is like a long-acting inhaler ~ it's amazing & has literally changed my life (btw, i use the generic, same thing). haven't needed the nebulizer in years now

main thing as others said: go to the doc!!!!!