Anyone have a child on Pulmicort (nebulizer)

[deva]

DD5 was prescribed Pulmicort for Reactive Airway Disease (basically asthma symptoms when she gets a cold/sinus infection). We start her on Xopenex at the first sign of cough which usually takes care of things, but 1-2 times a year we end up at ER getting breathing treatments because she gets quite wheezy. The allergist prescribed Pulmicort as a "preventative" and said she should take thru April.

I've read some mixed reviews on the internet (although I know you can't always believe it all).

Anyone with firsthand experience? Did you kid's behavior change?

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

My son took pulmicort for years before transitioning to Flovent. We definitely saw growth retardation with the pulmicort, but he'd make up the growth in the summer when he was off it (literally he'd grow several clothes sizes in the summer and then stay exactly the same all fall/winter/spring).

Having said that, the meds one takes if one doesn't have good asthma control (oral steroids for flares, xoepenex, albuterol) have way worse side effects -- things like hyperactivity, immune suppression, cataracts, etc . . .

So, for us, inhale steroids were an easy choice.

 

[Aristomommy]

Both of my children have been on Pulmicort as a preventative medication for their asthma. With DD we tried other medications and Pulmicort was the best choice. Neither have exhibited any side effects from these, I worry about oral steroids and frequent antibiotics more. Also no behavior changes that i have noticed.

I would suggest that you discuss your worries with your pediatrician or specialist as thye know your child the best.

 

[shelly3girls]

DD uses Pulmicort (inhaler) as preventative meds year round along with many other meds that she is on. The only time I see behavior changes is when she needs nebulizer treatments. When she takes the Xopenex in the nebulizer (along with another med that I cannot remeber the name) in addition to all her other meds she tends to get hyper but not out of control. I can say that we see a big improvement with the Pulmicort inhaler.

 

[MommyMcQueen]

My DS6 has been on Pulmicort for about 4 years now - first on the nebulizer respules and now on the flexhaler. We did not notice any behavioral changes with the pulmicort - although we also did notice some growth delay when he was on the nebulizer respules - it is a much higher dosage then what he needed (prescribed by his pediatrician), and he was changed over to the flexhaler at 4 1/2 years old when we saw an asthma specialist. He has been growing like a weed since he was switched over to the lower dosage on the flexhaler (he's now 80th percentile for height - he had been in the 50-60s when on the higher dosage).

His symptoms sound very similar to yours - only has asthma symptoms with a cold or respiratory illness (he gets coughing attacks, not wheezing). I can tell you his asthma has been much better controlled the last 2 years since we started seeing a specialist - he is on Pulmicort from September to May, we take him off only for summer. We've only had 1 ER visit in the last 2 years and that was this fall when he got H1N1, his cough was pretty bad and we didn't want to take any chances. He was having attacks every 3 hours and taking albuterol through the neb, and after about 24 hours just wasn't getting any better. They did a round of oral steriods and within 24 hours his attacks completely stopped.

We did have him on Singular for a short period and with that I noticed a definite change in his behavior - to the point that we decided to take him off of it. He was much more moody and aggresive, would throw terrible tantrums (and he hardly ever threw tantruns even as a toddler). But the Pulmicort has really worked well for him and really no adverse reactions except for the growth issue.

 

[antree]

My son now 7 has been on Pulmicort maybe 2 yrs now. There is no side effect and no problems since he has been on it. We use it a maintenance as well. Right now his asthma has been good so we haven't started yet. We never had or seen a problem in him.

 

[PEANUT1]

As an aside, I would ask your doctor to switch to the inhaler with spacer...it is much easier and quicker and works just as well. I am a nurse at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and we don't send anyone home on a nebulizer...we recommend inhalers only..good luck.

 

[happymommy]

As an aside, I would ask your doctor to switch to the inhaler with spacer...it is much easier and quicker and works just as well. I am a nurse at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and we don't send anyone home on a nebulizer...we recommend inhalers only..good luck.

OT, but my son gets very bad, especially when traveling, so the inhaler with spacer isn't enough sometimes.

We bring xopenex (sp?) and I bought him a portable nebulizer. Now we don't travel without it along, just in case.

I also found, at WDW, you can request a VIP clean of the resort room. What a difference that made last December at the BWI! The room was so clean (our check-in was delayed due to the work involved), and he only needed the nebulizer one time during the trip (which is amazing for him, usually hotel rooms with the dust and dirty filters for the ventilation system really affect him).

We don't use pulmicort, so sorry can't comment on that. My son did have a bad year, and he tried Advair - even though he used it correctly, he ended up with a mouth full of sores after only a couple of days.

 

[design_mom]

My daughter took Pulmicort (in a nebulizer) for one winter due to the same issue as your daughter has. Basically, every time she got a cold, she'd start wheezing. It seemed like we were at the hospital/urgent care every two weeks for the first part of the winter. After we started the Pulmicort, we did not have any more "emergencies" that winter. It definitely worked for her.

I was also reluctant about starting her on it, but our pediatrician talked me into it because the steroids they give for emergencies are really bad to use often. As far as side effects, my DD had much fewer side effects on Pulmicort than she had when she had to take the albuterol, etc. (Albuterol made her bounce off the walls.) So, for us, it was a good move.

And, DD "grew out of" her bouts of wheezing. (Knock wood) We haven't had any wheezing episodes for almost 3 years.

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

We are Pulmicort pros here!

My middle DS has Reactive Airway Disease as well and fortunately he is now starting to outgrow it.

We did not notice any signifcant physical behavioral or physical issues when he was taking it. One thing I would suggest, however, is that immediately after finishing a treatment you give your DD a drink to rinse the medication out of her mouth. I have an adult friend who takes Pulmicort and mentioned that it leaves her mouth tingling and rinsing right afterwards takes away the tingling and prevents sores (which aren't very common but just to be safe).

Per our pulmonologist, Pulmicort prevents the inflammation which contributes to the wheezing. This is one of the reasons it's so important to use as chronic inflammation can permanently damage and "reshape" the lungs so the benefits of the drug far outweigh any side effects.

Good luck and if you haven't already, check out some of the cute nebulizer masks they have out there - DS's favorite is a little dragon so that it looks like he's blowing dragon smoke. You don't need a prescription for the masks so we have a few different ones to make it a little more fun. You can get elephants, dalmations, dragons - so cute!

http://www.pediatricsupplier.com/

 

[madmom1030]

DD7 has been on pulimcort for 2 years now. She has gone a whole year with out a major attack. She has always been small for her age, under 5% for most of her life. This last year she was 10% on the growth chart so we haven't had problems with growth. There are two different doses of pulimcort. If you are worried see if they can put her on the lower dose and have her take it once a day and see if that keeps her asthma under control. Good luck

Erin

 

[robinsegg]

My ds (now 7yo) took this off and on from 6 months old to 4yo. I never noticed much difference in development or behavior when he was on it. Definitely keep the symptoms under control . . . it's too scary when it's out of control: both for them and for you.

 

[Nicoleclaw]

My son also ends up wheezing with every cold. he has been on singulair for about 2 years now and we did pulmacort once daily as a prevantative for about 4 months. I did not notice any change in his otherwise crazy boy behavior or growth. He also does the pulmacort the second he gets sick. I do see him get hyper when he has to do he xopenex now that he is older.

 

[yellowtink]

I have personally been on Pulmicort for about 9 years, or since I was 5. I have had great luck wiht it. The only problem was growth, but the doctor my pediatrician said that my grouwth problem was not due to Pulmicort.

 

[Leajess99]

My youngest was on pulmicort for a little while and I never saw any growth delay. She also used to take Singulair but that affected her behavior so she was removed from that. She now uses Advair as her preventative one and Ventolin as her rescue. It is controlled pretty well.

 

[OffToTheMouseHouse]

My DS10 has been on pulmicort/albuterol for 7 years. He has seasonal asthma that kicks off every August/September. He started out with a nebulizer and then to inhalers, but he still prefers the nebulizer.

We put him on Singulair 3 years ago. He only takes it in the fall and it makes a HUGE difference in his breathing. I never noticed a behavioral change because of it though and I watch for that stuff pretty closely since he also has Type 1 diabetes.

 

[deva]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. We are going back to the allergist after the new year and I am going to ask a few more questions. She also has her annual checkup with her ped the following week so I'll get her thoughts as well.

 

[wiggles02]

DS(6) has been on Pulmicort with no adverse effects. We did put him on Singulair which has made a great difference, no Pulmicort needed. He doesn't wheeze but has coughing attacks when he gets a cold. I will tell you that Pulmicort was better for him than the oral steroid (orapred) which made him craze and hungry.

Good luck!