Hello, I took my 6 year old son to his pediatrician today for a dry, hacking, nonproductive cough with no prior cold or sinus trouble whatsoever. He has had this cough for almost a month now. I took him to the doc the first time two weeks ago and they said it was just his allergies....but like I said, he did not have any symptoms at all before this cough. It was always worse at night. Well, today the doctor did x-rays of his lungs which came back excellent and they tested his air output with the instrument that measures it...(can't remember what it is called now). They did it four times and his numbers were 170, 170, 180, 170...I do not know what these mean and the only thing she said was he could be borderline asthmatic or have cough variant asthma... I am so lost...can someone help me understand what is going on...are these numbers good or bad for a 6 year old boy who is 44.6 pounds and 45 1/2 inches tall?
He does have another appointment but it is in two weeks and she gave him a steroid and a cough medicine to help him sleep at night.
This sounds like what my daughter had and it ended up being asthma but mostly seasonally or allergy induced.. (in other words, not all the year, through) The inhaler immediately stopped her coughing.
Perhaps take her to an allergist instead
I do not remember the numbers either, but our daughter had this type of asthma.. It presented itself with a cough.. This means the body is not getting a full breath.
It was brought on by different things. Pollen, grass, dust..
We pulled out all carpets, took down drapes and we purchased an electric air filter for her room.
When the pollens where high, we knew to keep an eye on her. Saturday mornings when all of the neighbors mowed, we knew she needed to stay inside.
It is hard to diagnose and so it did take a while for them to call it.
The good news is that once it is diagnosed, they will prescribe, meds to be used as needed, also a a machine called a nebulizer to give treatments when things get bad. Eventually inhalers..
At one point they did remove her adenoids and placed tubes in her ears. that also helped.
She grew out of it by the time she was 12..
Hang in there. I know how you feel. I was frightened and frustrated. But once we had treatments, things got so much better.
Do some research on the steroid. You may want to give him probiotics to combat its side effects. I ended up with a systemic yeast infection from using an inhaler with a steroid because it allowed candida more opportunity for growth. Good luck!
Hi, A.:
check on children's digestive aids as well as the other
suggestions.
Good luck.
D.
they should have sent you home with a spirometer (I think that's what its called) and asked you to record the readings (usually in sets of three) at different times of day. That way they would have a better idea of how your son's lungs capacity changes throughout the day over many days. Readings at one point in time is not all that useful especially if your son is having issues at night. It would also help determine if the medication they gave him is working. I agree with others about seeing an asthma/allergist specialist.
You really need to be talking to the doctor about his test results and what borderline or cough variant asthma are and what you need to do. Do you have another appointment?
My granddaughter does the air output test a couple of times a year to test whether or not her asthma is under control. I don't remember what numbers mean. They do indicate how much air his lungs are able to hold.
Hi A.,
You are referring to a Peak Flow Meter. Here is info....
http://www.webmd.com/asthma/guide/peak-flow-meter
My son, age 7, has asthma. Durin his non-asthma days, his "green zone" blow is about 160. So, if my son were to blow those numbers, then we would be doing good. When he has an asthma day, his "yellow" and "orange" zone numbers would be around 100.
If your pedi thinks your son may have asthma, I would schedule an appointment with an asthma/allergy specialist.
Take care,
Anglea
Ugh - I hate to see kids going down the road to asthma. It may well be allergies - fall can be a tough season for a lot of people even though spring allergies get all the attention! There are some safe things you can do long before you start pulling up carpets, getting rid of pets, doing a major elimination diet, and spending his life connected to inhalers and steroids. I'm off all my medications for 5 years now, but I was like some of the people mentioned in other posts (had to leave if someone mowed the lawn, for example). I still have my carpets and drapes and dog. And asthma can be triggered by other things, not necessarily preceded by a cough or sinus problems. I had a lot of bronchial trouble, and that was my trigger area. But it's important to realize that a lot of asthma starts in the digestive tract. There is a children's regimen you can do that is easy and effective, that involves ADDING to the diet rather than taking everything out.
