Ok, we know that we have many little refluxers who are asthmatics here on IRD. Just wondering HOW many :wink:

Iain is definately a reflux-related asthmatic. In fact, it was our ped allergist who found that Iain was a silent refluxer to begin with. He is on flovent and ventolin.

Curran has puffers as well and although there is a definate link to him going "chesty" when he has an upper respiratory problem, I resent his being called asthmatic at this point and he does have more problems when really refluxy. He also has flovent and ventolin, but his dose of flovent is lower than Iain's typically.

Catherine has asthma but it appears to be exercise-induced (read "crying her head off") for the most part. It also rears its ugly head when she gets sick.

Trey has asthma, well ... officially small airway disease, as a result of being on a respirator at birth and several subseqent bouts of pneumonia. He is chronic, meaning it is always present; he does not have periods of normal breathing and then have "attacks."

Poor Trey! I guess he has adjusted to having this? I can not imagine having the problem 24/7. Yikes.

I have exercise induced asthma and have had it since I was 7 years old. My brother also had it, but he was lucky enough to grow out of it. Hubby also had asthma but he too grew ouot of it. Me, I'm still on reventative and acute meds. I almost lost my life when I was 16 to asthma.... too busy trying to be a good indoor netball player to take notice of my worsening symptoms... naughty me! I also remember having a massive asthma attck when we were overseas. Mum & Dad took me to an after hours urgent care and at the reception they were arguing about our medical insurance (given it was travel insurance and were "foreigners"). I collapsed on a heap on the floor before they agreed to take me!!!
Anyway, so far, neither of the boys' are displaying any symptoms and I hope it stays that way! :D
GREAT to see this forum up and running- thanks Leigh!!! :D

I clicked on the YES, although I am not a child. I have asthma caused by reflux. I never had either problem until about two years ago.

No problem, Sarah! :D And thank you for being a moderator for this forum! It is wonderful to see so much varied experience here for so many different things. Maybe we can count on Jean to help on this forum, too? :wink:

Poor Trey! I guess he has adjusted to having this? I can not imagine having the problem 24/7. Yikes.

He doesn't know any different, Leigh. He's not had an unmedicated day in his life, and now he just gets his own meds when he gets ready for bed. All part of the routine.

I suppose so, Lesley. Still, it must be hard for him. I grew up asthmatic and was ever grateful for the breaks from it when I was on a good swing upwards. The thought of always having a struggle is scary.

Connor has been diagonosed with Asthma (well he's too young for a definate diagnoses but they are pretty sure) He is taking Xopenez as needed and is suppose to be taking Flovent 2 times per day but I really hate for him to be on a steroid everyday I need to follow up with the Pulminologist to see if there are any other options. I know last week he was taking oral steroids for a cough and it made him sooooo miserable he would only sleep for 20 min at a time and cried all day. Now that he's off them he's much happier and sleeping much better :D Still unsure about the Flovent.

I remember responding to your post about the flovent. I too share concerns over having kids on that, particularly for extended periods of time. Iain does very well on it and he has only had nearly a two month break only this summer after being on it for 8 months solid and at a pretty high dose for the most part. It has been great for him and I am thanking my lucky stars he has not needed to go to oral steroids as they said earlier this year.

Curran only needs it for when he is chesty. When I talked to my ped a few days ago about him she actually called him asthmatic, too. :shock: This was a bit of a sore spot for me as her fill in called him that during our last visit for croup. Guess I will be clarifying with her on Friday. :?

Hi Leigh what were Ian's symptoms that caused his Dr. to think it was asthma? Connor has had a chronic cough since about 1 week old and frequently sounds rattly although his ped thinks that comes more from his throat than his chest. I feel like it's a Reflux cough more that it is Asthma. Although last week when he had a cold it did develop into a bad cough :?

Hi Leigh what were Ian's symptoms that caused his Dr. to think it was asthma? Connor has had a chronic cough since about 1 week old and frequently sounds rattly although his ped thinks that comes more from his throat than his chest. I feel like it's a Reflux cough more that it is Asthma. Although last week when he had a cold it did develop into a bad cough :?

They are really not supposed to diagnose asthma until the kidlet is around 2 years of age or so, but Iain was a foregone conclusion by the time he was 7 months of age and it was confirmed again by our ped allergist at 14 months of age. The signs were that chronic cough (it is refluxy), constant snot production (Iain had huge drainage constantly), and the main kicker is that if he got a cold it would always settle in his chest. That is the main thing they concentrate on here, the fact that kids go "chesty" whenever they get a cold and it turns into wheezing.

Curran always goes chesty when he gets a cold or a virus and he has had pnemonia and croup enough times that he is probably asthmatic. :roll: He does get the same refluxy cough, but not as much as Iain does. I just am resisting the label as he is not a constant problem like Iain and does not need the meds unless he is chesty.

The rattle could very well be from his throat, but it is very evident when it settles in their chest as you see them "working" so hard at breathing. They "suck" in their chest so much and it is very laboured and often rapid for getting in air. I have a stethoscope and listen to the kids to make sure things are not progressing too much. Perhaps I should tell you that I have experience with listening, albeit to animals... :wink: Kids are different, but the sounds are often the same. If you had a stethoscope you could tell easily where the noise is coming from, but you can also check by putting your ear to the chest and listening to how high up the noise is coming from. Problems are indicated in the lower lobes of the lungs and sometimes you can actually "feel" the bubbles with your fingers if you gently run your fingers around the area. Sorry, hard to explain. :oops: That is mainly found when they have pneumonia.

There is a link between asthma and the reflux and both my kids seem to have that link. The more refluxy they are, the more they cough. The cough can be innocently reflux in nature, especially when it comes after meals, but the fact is that if Connor becomes chesty with each opportunity presented by a cold or virus then he likely has reflux related asthma. Control the reflux and you control the asthma. This is what our ped allergist and regular ped said and it has been true for Iain.

Sorry if it is too much information. :oops:

Thanks for all of the good info Leigh! We go for a follow up with the Pulminologist next month.

Looking forward to some good news on that update! :D

Sam has not been diagnosed with asthma, but has been called asthmatic by the pulmonologist. He is on pulmicort 2x daily and xoponex as needed. We were on oral steroids for awhile due to the pneumonia but that is cleared up finally. Most of his breathing issues are thought to be caused by the aspiration. When he aspirates he irritates his broncial tubes and we use the pulmicort to reduce the inflamation. We use the xoponex when he is coughing a lot and needs help to open the airways.

Hi Sarah, I'm on pulmicort as a preventative as well. I use bricanyl for my "active" med though. Poor Sam, having to deal with it at such a young age.

With all the tests come all the diagnosis. They are pretty sure Parker has reflux AND asthma. We are testing a steroid at the moment to see- After a week he has stopped night coughing though.

my son was also diagnosed with asthma by 2. He had coughing puking fits constantly, a constant snotty nose and got sick at the drop of a hat. Once placed on 60 mg of losec a day, these constant companions dissappeared except for the odd time when he asperates acid into his lungs, usually with activity or excitement.

Sounds all too familiar.:cry: Iain is having problems again as he refluxes so much now that his intake is much better (thank you, prevacid!). Such a horrible twist that actually eating would cause this.:-? Anyway, we are managing right now but if it gets worse we will have to see the ped again as he is so snotty all the time again despite his inhalers. Right now, he is coming off another throat infection so I will give it some time before I land at the ped once again.

Does your son have inhalers?

yes he only uses the ventolin once in a blue moon now, usually when pressured to do so by a teacher. Once they connected the wheezing and snot with the reflux they stopped bombarding him with steriods. D'oh!

Hi

We have not had a definate diagnosis but Jaxon has been on flovent 1X am & pm and ventolin 2X am & pm now for about 6 mths.. He apparently has symptoms constant cough and wheezey and always always when he gets a cold it settles in his chest... Both my husband and myself are asmatic..

Noah was asthmatic as an infant up until he was more mobile. He retracted like crazy around his rib cage (until he was bruised) He was on some many meds back then, he got the breathing treatments every 4 hours as well as a shot at the peds when it was really bad. Unfortunantly Noah wasn't diagnosed with Silent Reflux until he was much older and if he would have been caught and treated for the reflux I am sure things would have been a lot easier for him in the long run.

i never realized that Noah wasn't diagnosed with reflux for awhile. Seems to be common for you and I both that their reflux may have been better in the long run had it been caught earlier!

Chelsea has asthma and it is reflux induced. She typically gets an attack when a runny nose drips into her throat from a cold or allergy--then she coughs on the mucus. As she coughs and coughs and coughs she starts to reflux a lot. Then the cough becomes dry and deap and you start to hear a whistle/wheeze. The cough is non stop and very hard to control. The Xoponex takes away the whistle/wheeze but the cough is harder to stop once it has gotten started.

She was coughing so hard the other night that she was alost retching because of it (fundo--BTW let me say a fundo that does not stop the reflux ANYMORE but still makes her unable to vomit if necessary:doh: ).

Sorry I am a bit bitter on how short acting these surgeries have been on her.

Anyway she coughed 131 times in 15 minutes all day for 15 hours. Talk about a bad cough.....:hairpull:

The pH probe gave a definate diagnosis for Parker. She could tell half the time he coughed it was reflux and the other half Asthma. He is now on Flixotide 100micrograms twice daily- The coughing has stopped.