Viral Induced Asthma/ RAD / Croup

My oldest was like that. Every single time he got even the slightest cold is went straight to croup. His doctor actually gave us a prescription of steroids to keep in the fridge to give him at the first sign of croup instead of bringing him in every single time because it was that common.
He grew out of it. He's 13 now and hasn't had issues with croup and the rest for years now.
It has to do with the small and narrowness of the air way in little kids. Any swelling and it can trigger croup. As they get older and the airways grow larger, any swelling doesn't cause the same problems. In adults you typically get laryngitis. In kids it is a bit harder.
If you've ruled everything else out, there isn't a ton they can do but treat the symptoms and wait until they outgrow it.

Without physically examining him and auscultation of his lungs, I couldn't tell you a thing. Everything you've posted here is conjecture, and your terminology is conflicting. I know that you're concerned, so you're a research machine. I get that. But be careful that you're not mixing up diagnoses, signs and symptoms.

Asthma is not RAD.

Stridor is not wheezing.

What are you treating if you don't actually have a definitive diagnosis? It's concerning that your son is on these medications and he doesn't actually have a diagnosis.

You need a referral to pulmonology and he needs a pulmonary function test with, bronchoprovocation as well as determination of bronchial responsiveness to inhaled bronchodialators. The results will determine his diagnosis and a correct treatment plan. I'd also recommend genetic testing to rule out Cystic Fibrosis and other genetic diseases.

Sounds like my son at that age who is now 17. I highly recommend you see a pediatric pulmonologist. It made a world of difference to us. My son has viral-induced cough variant asthma. He had croup until about age 9 although it greatly improved after we got on board with his pulmonologist. My younger son has RAD and had RSV when he was 4 1/2 months old. My 17-year-old with the asthma also has allergies. I think people think of wheezing when they think of asthma, but there is a cough-variant type. My son rarely wheezes, but he gets horrible coughs that keep him up at night. It has gotten better though with the specialist's supervision and with age. Good luck! It does sound like you are already doing a lot of what the pulmonologist might want, but I would have him seen to get a definitive diagnosis and in case there are other ideas he/she has.

... so your son has had various viral illnesses. All of which affected his respiratory functioning.
He's had Croup, RSV, and possibly viral induced Asthma.
Croup, is NOT the same as Asthma. Different illness and different symptoms.
These are all different illnesses. Viral. But has produced, Asthma like symptoms and breathing aberrations in him.
Any bad respiratory or upper respiratory illness, can affect breathing and produces coughing, mucus, wheezing, etc. And it can also develop into Bronchitis of which there are many forms and/or Pneumonia and/or Asthma etc.
And he had RSV. Which is bad. Too.

Inhalers, are Bronchodilators. It opens up constricted airways. So that breathing ability eases. It does not "cure" a cold or cure a virus.
Steroidal inhalers work for bad cases and reduces inflammation of the airways more immediately. Inflammation of the airways, is constriction of the airways in the lungs. And it reduces breathing ability.

Croup, also causes constriction of the airways and its symptoms may SEEM like Asthma. But it is not the same as Asthma.

Yes, you should see a pediatric Pulmonologist.

I have Asthma. But each person with Asthma will have or may have different triggers. Asthma episodes and attacks can be caused by environmental things, ingested things, or by colds or by weather or exercise etc. For example.
My son also had Croup once. But he does not have Asthma. It is 2 different illnesses. But it has to be treated.
His Croup, also caused an eye infection.

Is your son in Preschool?
Young kids can often get sick, often.
But the bottom line is: since your son has had bad colds which affected his lungs, you need to see a Pulmonologist. And get specific, treatment PER your son's condition(s).

And, when/if, your son cannot breath or struggles to breath and/or is turning blue on his lips or fingernails etc., that means his oxygen levels in his body and system, are inadequate. THUS, you should take him to the ER and/or give him his inhaler right away.
This is then an emergency situation.

Being your son, has been sick a lot and his breathing ability reduced and impaired... you MUST ALWAYS have on hand... his Inhaler and any other Doctor prescribed medications, at ALL times. And/or even taking it with you and having it on hand, wherever you are with your son.

Has the Doc ever recommended a nebulizer for your son?

And, you must always be observant for any secondary infections in your son... whenever he is sick.
Then, an antibiotic should be prescribed as well.

As soon as he gets a cold and you know you are headed down that path, start the breathing treatments. The trick is prevention. See a pulmonologist, pediatric

One of my kids caught croup every spring and fall until he was 4 or 4 and a half. It was just like you describe - started out like a cold, then barking seal cough. Go to ped, get a steroid, treat for 3 days, and then it was gone.

We learned to go to the ped for the steroid at the very first barking seal cough during the day because croup is always worse at night. It never pays to try to wait it out. As soon as you hear the 1st cough, go.

It is viral, and our ped told us that he would outgrow it - and he did. But for the 4 years it took to outgrow it, we used the steroid (my ped prescribed a liquid form of prednisone) each time because it was very effective for my child.

Our oldest was 4 months old the first time he coughed like a barking seal. Scared us to death. We drove him straight to the ER.

Both our kids do this when they get colds. Our oldest, not as much now. Our youngest tends to freak out, which really, really doesn't help.

We live in a colder climate, so I'm not sure if this trick will work for you, if the temperature is about 50 or below, wrap him in a blanket and take him outside. The cold air will help reduce the swelling. The hot shower does very little for our youngest. If we happen to have a juice box in the fridge, I usually try to get him to sip some cold juice or Gatorade or something (not milk) while my husband throws on a coat a grabs a blanket to take him outside.

He always comes back inside with a whole new kids - calm, not coughing, ready to go back to sleep.

If it's ever cold enough at night, I would strongly encourage you to give it a try.

Also, do you run a humidifier I'm his room, especially at night? Makes a BIG difference,

My kids have never been diagnosed with anything that you've mentioned, and we've never had any of the drugs/treatments you talked about. So I could be off base here. Our doctor has never been concerned. She just that this is just part of having a cold for some kids and these are some of the tricks you use to help the through. After hearing my kids make the cough, I recognized that noise a bit in my own cough. Our ped said I probably did this also as a kids and eventually grew out of it like my oldest seems to be doing. We're confident our youngest will grow out of it as well.

Remember, he's 3 1/2. Getting colds and developing a strong immune system is part of his job. Better now than missing a bunch of days of kindergarten!

If you're really sure it's more that just a cold symptom, by all means, see the pulmologist. But it might be worth it to try the humidifier and the cooler night air. What have you got to lose by giving them a shot?

Hi A.,

Has your son has his tonsils out? He seems to have a very know immune system if every time he is exposed to a cold, things go wrong. There are many avenues to prevent these problems and the first is getting his body to a healthy state. Colds don't take a healthy kid down, they just come and go. This is more serious.

The reason I asked if he had his tonsils out is because they protect us. There is a purpose. If they are gone, you have more work cut out for you...but it can be done. I was terribly sick as a child, in and out of hospitals, for numerous things but the doctors were fighting against my immune system and the drugs, albeit they worked short term, caused more problems long term and the cycle just continued.

If you're interested in fighting this from the body's perspective, I'd be glad to walk you through what I did for me and my kids. I was exposed to the H1N1 flu by eleven patients at the hospital, had a milder case and NO ONE in my home, caring for me, caught it. The immune system is an incredibly strong thing and if treated properly will work with you and not against you.

Hope this helps!
M.