If you are a parent of a child with viral-induced asthma, what treatment(s) and strategies have you found work the best? Whether it be a certain medical treatment plan, homeopathic remedies, a combo of both, or other.
With school starting and cold season quickly approaching, thought it would be nice to share :)
Thank you!
My child had pneumonia at 4 months and then developed viral induced asthma because of it. He has a prescription for flovent which he needs to use once he gets a cold or other virus. Albuterol as needed. He is 12 now and does not need it much at all. We all get flu shots as well. I have the same kind of asthma, so I am fairly comfortable figuring out what he needs.
When my son was younger (under 5), we used a nebulizer every day for an inhaled, preventative medication (pulmicort). When we saw the beginnings of a cold, we increased to twice a day. This helped greatly in reducing the severity of his breathing problems, so that we very rarely needed a rescue treatment.
Now that he's older (8), he uses an inhaler with preventative meds twice a day. This one is called Q-Var. he has a rescue inhaler that he needs every once in awhile, but it is pretty rare. The preventative meds really do help to keep the airways open and allow them to breathe, even with a cold.
Is he on any preventative medication or do you just medicate when he's sick? I found what worked for me was having my kids on a daily medication and the minute I saw a runny nose or head coughing I'd start with the nebulizer. Catching it right at the start was key because it didn't give the cold a chance to settle into their lungs. Once it settles you're looking at a kid who will be sick for 3 or 4 weeks.
Another thing I use to do was to incline the head of the bed a little by putting a book under the bed legs. No pillows to slip out of place and it helped drain everything.
The key to remember is that with a viral induced asthma kid you have to treat asap. They aren't able to fight off things the same as a normal person and just a cold isn't just a cold for them.
Luckily my daughter outgrew her childhood asthma diagnosis. She used to take albuterol though.
What worked for me, was steaming up the bathroom and sitting in there with them for 10 mins. I know that is for babies to help them with stuffiness, but it helped with the viral induced asthma and opened up their lungs. Having a humidifier in the room always.
