Emilee's Asthma Attack

[Michelle in KC]

My Emilee had a bad asthma attack today while at school. She has been using her inhaler more and more lately. About 4 or 5 times a week. The school nurse called me to let me knowt hat the inhaler was not working and that I needed to get her some help. So, I panicked and called my hubby. He had the truck and I didn't have a vehicle. Besides ~ he was closer to the school than I was. So he went and picked her up and was heading to the hospital and FINALLY the nedicine started working. THANK YOU GOD! Anyway, I was so panicked. But things turned out alright. She is now wrestling with the dogs. At least she is with me and I can help her if I need to. Thanks for listening to a Mom tell her 'moment of crisis' for the day. Michelle.

[Dixiefireball]

i know that feeling all to well my two oldest children has ashtma and my husband plus his mother but when the school calls and says the inhaler isnt working my heart drops to my stomach. i'm glad she is okay now. I know you are keeping a close watch on her now. sending you and your daughter prayers. grouphug

[sue041]

I am so happy Emilee is doing much better. In the past post someone mentioned Honey. Is that suppose to be good for asthma patients? My grandson has it really bad, he takes two different inhalers and medication. I am always looking for natural remidies rather than so much medication. Take care and praying for comfort for all.
Sue grouphug

[ICNDonna]

I have two sons with asthma --- both are adults now --- and I absolutely understand how frightening it can be. Both of my boys had weekly allergy shots for lots of years and both do well now.

Hugs,
Donna

[Cali girl]

Could there be something at the school that is causing her to have more asthma attacks? I know that I had a friend whose son suffered greatly with asthma. His asthma worsened when they lived in a house that had a leaky roof. It had caused mold to grow between the walls.

I am happy that she is feeling better. wink

grouphug

Cali

[Michelle in KC]

Hi, Cali. EMilee is having more asthma attacks because of PE. It's different than PE in grade school. They actually have to DO something. I am not blaming the PE teacher or anything. I think it's good for Em to have excercise. I welcome it. But Em needs to stop when she thinks she is getting an attack and not let it get to bad. She is almost 12 and is learning. But things worked out good. Thanks for your concern tho. Michelle

[ICNDonna]

I do have a suggestion for you --- and it is to get a letter from your doctor to allow Emilee to set her own limits in PE. I know it can be a problem with some teachers. When my oldest boy was in junior high, his PE teacher made him run an extra lap because he sat down half way around. When he got home I could hear him wheezing when he walked in the front door. And if Emilee is like both my boys, you may need to have her excused from PE during the pollen season.

Sending an encouraging hug,
Donna

[dyno]

Michelle,
My daughter is asthmatic and when she was in school we did have a Dr.s note that she was to be allowed to do what she felt she could. She did not take advantage of it but there was no way she could do a mile run or some of the other things like that. So as Donna suggested the Dr.s note may be the answer.

[tigger_gal]

My daughter has excerised inducde asthma and I have gotten a note from the doctor to excuse her from gym class. She was on inhailers and singular for a long time. Now she just has an inhailer and knows when shes has reached her limit. I would ask your doctor about singular for Emilee.. it may help
Brat

[SheriG]

Asthma can be so tough, especially in kids. My daughter is 7, and had been having trouble with wheezing, despite her inhalers, so her doc put her on Singulair (chewable tablet)It has made a world of difference. Best of luck, and hope she is feeling better soon grouphug

[PikkuMyy]

Hi,

I'm 26 and have been asthmatic since 3. Here are my suggestions:

Singulair!!!! Both I and my aunt with severe asthma take it with great results. It also helps with seasonal allergies. (BTW- some patients with IC take it or Intal to help supress mast cell production, etc.)

PE - I had a note for PE and it really helped. I wouldn't care if my child took advantage of it a little bit as long as she used it when she needed it and got exercise outside of school. While exercise is great for asthma, the PE teacher should allow accomodations like walking instead of running laps, etc. That's what I did. If the teacher won't, there's a problem with the teacher and you need to speak to a supervisor there.

Environment - I've done a LOT of research and the evidence is overwhelming that almost all asthma is environmentally -induced in some way or other, even if just exacerbated by it. Make sure you look at the home and school environment for environmental triggers like dust and mold, or other chemicals that may be present. Many school buildings have very unhealthy physical environments.

Portable Nebulizer - When I was younger, our insurance co. paid for one. At first they lent it to me but let me keep it since I could show need and use. While it is a bit expensive for them, it saves thousands of dollars on each unneeded trip to the ER. Once I had one, I stopped needing to go to the ER, with a few exceptions, because I could use the treatment at home, in the car, at school, etc. So in a situation like you encountered, your husband could have driven to school, given her th nebulizer treatment in the car or nurse's office, and then either taken her home or let her stay at school if she felt better right away.

Mine still works after 10 years and has been a HUGE help, both with bills and time and stress saved by not needing to go to the hospital. It also will allow her to feel more in control of her treatment. I know that I hated to have to go to the hospital and would often wait until I really needed it to say something. At that point, I was in much worse shape than I should have been. If she knows she can use it when she needs it without that stress, etc. she might take more advantage of it.

This is very important because many asthma deaths, and there are MANY, are caused by underuse of medication and by people waiting to get higher treatment and causing undue stress on their lung muscles so that eventually they had one too many prolonged attacks and their lungs gave up.

Finally - check out allergies. I have many food allergies which, when I eat them, essentially give me underlying asthma ALL THE TIME. I don't feel it but it shows up on peak flow readings and other dr's measurements. This means that triggers cause attacks much more easily than they otherwise would. I think this is very important to look at.

Emily

[PikkuMyy]

P.S.

Make sure to visit your pediatrician and I would, at this point, take her to an asthma/lung specialist to look at regular treatment options. If she is having that many attacks per week, she needs to be on some sort of preventative medication, such as Singular, Intal, or a combination of those with inhaled steroids like Aerobid.

Before I got on the Singulair, I used to avoid the steroid inhalers because obviuosly we want as little steroids in our bodies as possible.

Then I saw an allergy/asthma specialist and he made a vital points. By choosing not to be on preventative medication, I created a situation where I would need to be on a week or so of Prenisone treatment (higher dose steroids) a few times a year. That's a lot of Prednisone. However, the inhaler doses are so small that taking it each day caused my intake of steroids to be far lower per year than what I was doing to myself.

Had the Singulair not worked, I probably would have gone with Intal and Aerobid, whihc would dramatically reduced my exposure to steroids.

Get her on a treatment plan so that her lungs can have a rest.


Emily