Reaction to Albuterol

You should go to a pediatric allergist. They will be able to help you with this and to also get his asthma under control. Using albuterol for a week straight is NOT under control. Pediatricians are severely lacking in their knowledge of asthma.

my middle daughter had asthmas, and used a nebulizer, with ventolin and pulmicort. Inhalers are hard to use and know that the meds are getting in, although an aerochamber helps, 3 seems young.
Anyways.. his reaction sounds like an allergy, and redness & swelling isnt alot different than hives??? I'd get a second opinion. Be sure to rinse his mouth REALLY well when using steroids for asthma, Im certain the steroids were the cause of massive tooth decay in my dd, who needed many painful "baby" root canals.

I've had asthma all my life and when my asthma acts up my chin itches. It's really weird. However, yours does sound more like a reaction. I've used an inhaler and then not used it for months and never got a reaction.

Maybe see if the doctor could give him a neubulizer treatement. Not sure if you know what that is. They use like a saline medicine and push air through it and you breath it in.

Personally, I would get a second opinion. You can have an allergic reaction and not have difficulty breathing. You don't want to wait until he has a bad reaction.

Okay so he DID have allergic reactions to it.
He had itching/swelling. So, why is the Doctor saying to look for hives or difficulty breathing? To me, your son's reaction... can/may lead to that.
Then what?

Or could your son have had something, else, that caused that reaction?

Is the inhaler still un-expired?

There are also other types of Asthma inhalers....
I have Asthma... and the Albuterol has never caused me any side effects.

There are quick acting 'emergency' type inhaler medicines and 'maintenance' types. Albuterol, is quick acting. To open up the airways/quell constricting airways.

There is also Ventolin, and Xopenex... and other types. For example.
Some work for some and not for others.

Any chance that your son also took some cold medicine that contained ibuprofen? I know several people that have asthma that have very strong reactions to ibuprofen. They canNOT take advil for headaches or pain or anything else. They have to stick with tylenol.

check with a pharmacist and an allergist.

My daughter does the same thing every time I give her albuterol. The doc says that he's never heard of a reaction like that to albuterol but every time I give it to her, she gets the hives--- coincidence? I don't think so. So, when I do have to give her the occasional breathing treatment, I give her a dose of benedryl (at the recommendation of the pharmacist). I also have her brush her teeth and rinse her mouth... she can't stand the taste.

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My son used to use an inhaler whenever he got sick as well, until he finally out grew it around age 3. He never had a reaction. I do not think I would give your son the meds again until you talk to someone else about it.

That's called Bronchiolitis and we deal with it too. When our little guy gets congestion he wheezes ans has a nebulizer that we carry with us. Maybe you can go to the hospital or to the allergists office and give it to him again, just in case...if he has the reaction again then you know for sure.

My son -age 3- also has asthma. I give him the albuterol inhaler only when necessary, but we do preventative treatments 365 days of the year, 2 times a day, with pulmacort inhaler. This seems to be working well so far. The albuterol is only used with a cold, or exercise induced asthma. He also has gotten very severe itching and hives, but I don't think as a reaction to the medicine - rather, it has been viral or allergic reaction to other substances. Check with the pediatrician again to see if a virus is going around. Also, perhaps some allergy testing could indicate some answers.

My son is about to turn 3 and has the same problems. We use a nebulizer though with xopanex, and pulmicort. Sometimes the xopanex makes him really irritable for a couple hours, or jittery, but I've never noticed that kind of swelling or itching. I'm kind of surprised your peidiatrician is having a three year old use an inhaler though, it seems like its difficult to get children to understand how to use them properly (my husband and I both have asthma and use inhalers). I would call the pharmacist and ask them. They usually have better working knowldege of medications and their reactions than the doctor. Good luck, I hope it isn't an allergy to albuterol!

Albuterol has been recalled so you might want to google search the recall and make sure your supply is good.

I think that every person reacts differently. and I also think that you can be on something for a while and then all of a sudden react badly to it. Any time my daughter uses albuterol she gets rapid breathing, she trembles and in her sleep she fights pretty violently, I have to wake her and tell her she's home and she's okay. It's pretty scary, I hate giving it to her but it helps her breathe.

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I think that every person reacts differently. and I also think that you can be on something for a while and then all of a sudden react badly to it. Any time my daughter uses albuterol she gets rapid breathing, she trembles and in her sleep she fights pretty violently, I have to wake her and tell her she's home and she's okay. It's pretty scary, I hate giving it to her but it helps her breathe.