asthma/coughing question

[Guest guest]

For about the last week or so Grace has been having a terrible time at night with coughing. We are just begining the season, for her, when allergies are at there worst. She is already taking Clarinex, wich is not the most affective but our only option at this time. I did start using her Pulmicort again tonight, we usually do only use it seasonally, but I know it will take a few days to a week to kick in. Is it safe to use Albuteral within a few hours of the Pulmicort? Any other suggestions? We are raising her pillows up, but she usually moves and within a short time is coughing again. I just hate watching her like this. She is not sleeping well at night wich is drastically decreasing her energy for the daytime. Also she is coughing so hard it makes her vomit, she dehydrates extremely quickly so this is a concern too. We are both exhausted and need some sleep, any help is appreciated. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

[Guest guest]

Hi, -

It's safe to use the Pulmicort and the Albuterol, even at the same time - they work very differently. Pulmicort is an inhaled steroid that works to decrease inflammation and swelling in the lungs. It is not fast-acting. Albuterol is a bronchodilator - it dilates the muscles to open the airways, and it is fast-acting. You can use them both, although Albuterol can be used every 4 hours or so if you're using the inhaled form (every 6 hours for the oral form), while I've only used the inhaled steroids on my kids twice a day.

For asthma triggered by allergies, my kids have in addition done well on Intal (inhaled cromolyn), started at 4 times a day, then you can usually cut down to twice a day. It also needs to build up over a few days to a week. It is a mast cell stabilizer - it works in a different way than steroids to cut down inflammation and allergic response. My kids do amazingly well on this, and I believe that it has no side effects (unlike the steroids and the bronchodilators).

Both Cromolyn and steroids come in nasal sprays as well - Nasalcrom (which is OTC) is the cromolyn form, and there are many steroid nasal sprays.

Kathy (who has 3 with asthma, 2 with severe allergies, and who has a small fortune in meds on her shelves!)

asthma/coughing question

For about the last week or so Grace has been having a terrible time at night with coughing. We are just begining the season, for her, when allergies are at there worst. She is already taking Clarinex, wich is not the most affective but our only option at this time. I did start using her Pulmicort again tonight, we usually do only use it seasonally, but I know it will take a few days to a week to kick in. Is it safe to use Albuteral within a few hours of the Pulmicort? Any other suggestions? We are raising her pillows up, but she usually moves and within a short time is coughing again. I just hate watching her like this. She is not sleeping well at night wich is drastically decreasing her energy for the daytime. Also she is coughing so hard it makes her vomit, she dehydrates extremely quickly so this is a concern too. We are both exhausted and need some sleep, any help is appreciated. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

Please contact mito-owner with any problems or questions.

[Guest guest]

Hey -

Sorry you are having to deal with this, especially being so close to your due date. When our kids don't sleep, we don't sleep- I'm sure you're just as wiped out as Grace during the day. Grace's symptoms sound so similar to Maddie's when she gets a respiratory infection or chest cold- she coughs so hard she chokes, and has on occasion vomited. At night she gets to sleep in our bed (usually with my hubby) also propped up on pillows, but he keeps her positioned as best he can. (Sorry, not much help there) As for the Albuteral and Pulmicort, when we used to neb Maddie several years ago (before we realized the meds made our kids act loopy) her doctors had us mix them both together in the neb. HTH and hope you all get some rest!

HOlly

asthma/coughing question

For about the last week or so Grace has been having a terrible time at night with coughing. We are just begining the season, for her, when allergies are at there worst. She is already taking Clarinex, wich is not the most affective but our only option at this time. I did start using her Pulmicort again tonight, we usually do only use it seasonally, but I know it will take a few days to a week to kick in. Is it safe to use Albuteral within a few hours of the Pulmicort? Any other suggestions? We are raising her pillows up, but she usually moves and within a short time is coughing again. I just hate watching her like this. She is not sleeping well at night wich is drastically decreasing her energy for the daytime. Also she is coughing so hard it makes her vomit, she dehydrates extremely quickly so this is a concern too. We are both exhausted and need some sleep, any help is appreciated. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

Please contact mito-owner with any problems or questions.

[Guest guest]

, Chelsea deals with the same issues, some nites she is fine, some nites she coughs all nite long, most nites are somewhere in between. She has been on maintainence and rescue meds, plus chest pt for about 4 yrs. Chelsea deals with chronic secretion production, and has restricted lung function and dysphagia.

She was just switched to pulmicort this spring (from inhaled flovent), and that seems to be helping a lot. I do mix both the albuterol and pulmicort together in the neb. Chest pt and postural drainage really seem to help her get things up, but I do suction her after. She also takes an antihistimine/decongestant and RhinacourtAQ nasal spray. On bad nites, I use a homeopathic cough syrup, I like a brand called Chestal (she is on AED's, so that limits our otc options). And I recently started adding vit C to her regimen, as it is a natural antihistimine.

Chelsea also has recently gotten a CoughAssist machine, something her pulm and I discussed as an option to the Vest. Chelsea is 7 and is severely physically compromised, particularly her pulmonary function. Prior to the gtube, she had no gag and a very poor cough. Fortunatly, both have improved, but she still has secretion management isses. The CoughAssist is a heavy duty machine with various settings to blow air in the lungs and then suck it back out thru a mask, it is considered non-invasive. Since getting this, she has been so much clearer and actually coughing less.

I deal with eczema myself, and like Chelsea, some days are worse than others. We both have a lot of environmental triggers, and sometimes they just can't be avoided. I hope Grace feels better soon=)

e, Chelsea's mom(nonspecific mito)