Difference between croup and asthma

[MidgeD79]

What is the difference between asthma and croup? My dgs was 12 weeks premature (2 pounds) and has been diagnosed with asthma by his pulmonary doctor. He is 4.5 years old now and every time I take him to the local ER, the doctor says he has croup and not an asthma attack. I am leaving for work now (6:30 am) and won't be able to check back until later.

 

[Princess89]

What is the difference between asthma and croup? My dgs was 12 weeks premature (2 pounds) and has been diagnosed with asthma by his pulmonary doctor. He is 4.5 years old now and every time I take him to the local ER, the doctor says he has croup and not an asthma attack. I am leaving for work now (6:30 am) and won't be able to check back until later.

Asthmatic babies tend to have croup like symptoms at night! The difference between the two, my only judgement call was their breathing. If I was able to treat the croup symptoms and my DS didn't appear to be in distress, then I knew it was only croup. This is the season for it. However, keep an eye on it, because as fast as they get croup, they can go into an asthma attack. The only good thing is that your DGS has probably had this problem since he was an infant and won't get as scared and worked up as a child that is just getting diagnosed at 4. I went through the same thing with my DS, he was also premature and had terrible asthma. He's now 12, and hasn't had an attack since he was 6. If you look at your DGS's chest during an asthma attack you will notice he almost looks like he is breathing with his stomach. If the rib cage is distended he's having difficulty breathing. Try and treat the croup symptoms first along with a nebulizer treatment and what a bit and take a look. If he's in distress, take him to the ER. Of course, if you think he needs to go immediately, take him. Some doctors say the steamy shower, other's say take them outside. Outside worked best for my DS. If it was a very cool and dry night, I would take him outside, and plop him on my lap blankets, jackets, etc. The cool air really helps a bundle. With my own asthma it helps. Try not to put too many layers on his chest, because he might feel suffocated. With my DS, the barking cough was just croup and not an asthma attack, but every child is different.

I wish you luck, its so painful to see a child going through this!

 

[Christine]

Non-asthmatic children will get croup, ohhhh, maybe once or twice in their young lives. Children with undiagnosed and untreated asthma will get "croup-like" illness with EVERY cold they get or every allergy season. They get "croup" all the time. That's how it was for my son. Every cold he got was a major ordeal with the "croup" symptoms. It wasn't croup, it was asthma and we got the definitive diagnosis when he was 6 years old but it had been going on since he was a baby.

 

[aprilgail2]

Non-asthmatic children will get croup, ohhhh, maybe once or twice in their young lives. Children with undiagnosed and untreated asthma will get "croup-like" illness with EVERY cold they get or every allergy season. They get "croup" all the time. That's how it was for my son. Every cold he got was a major ordeal with the "croup" symptoms. It wasn't croup, it was asthma and we got the definitive diagnosis when he was 6 years old but it had been going on since he was a baby.

Every time my dauhgter get s a cold she gets asthma symptoms and at least twice a year she will still get croup (she is going to be 8 next week andthey told me most kids outgrow getting croup by 5-we were not so lucky) and at least once a year she will end up in the ER from it and need a shot of steroids at 2 am. I normally try first hte nebulizr, then the steamy shower, then the freezing cold outside air and if that does not work or if she is really bad before even trying that we go off to the ER.

 

[golfgal]

Non-asthmatic children will get croup, ohhhh, maybe once or twice in their young lives. Children with undiagnosed and untreated asthma will get "croup-like" illness with EVERY cold they get or every allergy season. They get "croup" all the time. That's how it was for my son. Every cold he got was a major ordeal with the "croup" symptoms. It wasn't croup, it was asthma and we got the definitive diagnosis when he was 6 years old but it had been going on since he was a baby.

I would say that this isn't always true. I had croup many, many times as a child and was even in the hospital for a few days once. I don't have asthma. My kids that do have asthma have had croup a few times but no where near EVERY time they have a cold.

Croup is different from Asthma as it is usually associated with the seal like bark and the deep intakes of breath yet you can't really breath. It is VERY scary.

It sounds to me like you need to get your child's asthma under better control if you are taking him to the ER that often. What meds is he on? He should be on a daily preventive type med. It makes a WORLD of difference.

 

[golfgal]

Every time my dauhgter get s a cold she gets asthma symptoms and at least twice a year she will still get croup (she is going to be 8 next week andthey told me most kids outgrow getting croup by 5-we were not so lucky) and at least once a year she will end up in the ER from it and need a shot of steroids at 2 am. I normally try first hte nebulizr, then the steamy shower, then the freezing cold outside air and if that does not work or if she is really bad before even trying that we go off to the ER.

I was in 4th grade when I ended up in the hospital for a few days with croup. The dr's thought it was weird then but I was pretty much done after that attack. DS12 was hospitalized with croup in 1st grade but that was his last attack. Hopefully you will be done soon too.

 

[Christine]

I would say that this isn't always true. I had croup many, many times as a child and was even in the hospital for a few days once. I don't have asthma. My kids that do have asthma have had croup a few times but no where near EVERY time they have a cold.

Croup is different from Asthma as it is usually associated with the seal like bark and the deep intakes of breath yet you can't really breath. It is VERY scary.

It sounds to me like you need to get your child's asthma under better control if you are taking him to the ER that often. What meds is he on? He should be on a daily preventive type med. It makes a WORLD of difference.

Of course it's not always true--just speaking in generalities for the general population. This is what my son's pulmonary specialist told me. Of course there are going to be kids who do get croup more frequently then the general population does--that's not the norm though. Considering the OP's pulmonary physician diagnosed this as asthma is probably more compelling than what the local ER doctor has to say. I just know that, for my son, we were often told my his peds that he had croup, and it wasn't. My daughter, who is non-asthmatic, also had it and it was very similar to the severe asthmatic symptoms.

 

[MidgeD79]

My dgs is on Flovent, Singular, a nebulizer and Albuteral. We doubled the Flovent for 2 days (per pulmonary insturctions)and by the end of the 2nd day I gave him 2 puffs of Albuteral, 30 minutes later the nebulizer and 30 minutes after that to the ER where he got a treatment of Decadron. We don't know what his triggers are for asthma and I don't know how to prevent croup.

 

[golfgal]

My dgs is on Flovent, Singular, a nebulizer and Albuteral. We doubled the Flovent for 2 days (per pulmonary insturctions)and by the end of the 2nd day I gave him 2 puffs of Albuteral, 30 minutes later the nebulizer and 30 minutes after that to the ER where he got a treatment of Decadron. We don't know what his triggers are for asthma and I don't know how to prevent croup.

You can't prevent croup. One difference between croup and asthma is that croup is a swelling of the trechea and vocal cords where as asthma is a constriction of the airways in the lungs. How long has he been on his asthma meds? If this is recent it could just be a matter of time before they do a better job of controling his symptoms, if he has been on them for a while, it might be time to switch meds.