Hello all,
My daughter who is only 2 suffers from asthma. Well her doctor said it is really hard to diagnose asthma in children this young because their respitory tracts are under developed. She actually goes to see a pediatrician tomorrow. She has recently been put on Singulair along with her 2 different puffers, the Salbutamol and the Fluticasone. Nothing seems to work. The poor child coughs until she pukes. At home there are no smokers in the house, I have a humidifier going in the room at all times, as well as 2 air purifiers, one in the main room one her bed room, I vacuume and dust twice a day, I do have a dog, but she also gets brushed out side twice a day. We are extreme campers, and we have a wood stove. Is there ANYTHING I can do to help her with the coughing or the congestion? Her doctor has prescribed her some allergy meds just to see of it was in fact allergies to the wood stove, seasonal or pet allergies. It did nothing but make her drowzy. Has any obe confirmed if putting vicks on her feet and utting the socks on actually works? I do it, but I don't know if it helps or not... Any tips, or anything that would be safe to use on a 2 year old? Ijust don't know what to do anymore, and I feel SO bad for her!

Ditch the wood stove. The minute smoke particles of the burnng wood is really aggravating her lungs. Totally clean out the remaining soot or burned material from this stove and remove it totally from the home if possible. Wash out with water to trap the smaller particles as well. Don't forget the flu pipes.

I was in a house fire 30 years ago and my lungs are very sensitive to any kind of burning wood, cigarette smoke, etc. I would also recommend that you get an air purifier with an excellent filter to remove the hidden particles from the air inside your home.

Also, asthma has been linked with a person being dehydrated. I read a book about Water Cures by Dr. Batmanghelig (don't remember the exact spelling of his name) who had literally nothing to treat his patients when he was imprisoned in a foreign country other than water. After he was released from prison he researched water and found that asthma sufferes responded very well when they were properly hydrated with water. He did contribute a lot to the medical world when he came to America. He died recently as well.

You need to remember that the airborne particles that don't bother or irritate your lungs may be irritating your child's lungs.

Re-read your post and you said you had 2 air purifiers. Also, are you vacuuming using good HEPA filters on the vacuum cleaners? At any rate vacuuming that much is possibly stirring up more dirt and dust actually making your home worse inside for her lung wise.

Also, if the inhalers and disks are not working stop using them as the steroids they contain can do more harm to her health later on.

Watercure.com - The Miracles of Water to Cure Diseases

Read about this Doctor and his achievements. Quite interesting.

Fereydoon Batmanghelidj

There is a lot on the net about him. Also there are a few videos you can view on this man. He's highly intelligent about our bodies and water.

To add to what Twinkie has said, children with asthma aren't allergic to the hair of the dog, but rather the dander. You may have to make your dog an outside dog.

I forgot, you might want to ask the doc to put her on prednisone for 7 days to help decrease the inflammation in the respiratory tract.

Forgot to mention that I can only be in a building that is heated by electricity. I have an electric furnace with a fan. I'm okay in my own home with this arrangement as I have an excellent furnace filter and clean the ductwork every month.

I also vacuum my walls and ceiling on a regular basis. You'd be shocked at how much dirt a wall or ceiling can actually hold. I have a Kirby so I can easily do this with all the bazillion attachments I have for this machine. I did try the ceiling attachment with another brand of vacuum cleaner and it didn't have enough suction to work properly. I had to replace my Kirby that died with another, newer model. They are basically the same machine (used to sell them so I would know) year after year with the same suction volume. I swear by my Kirby even if it is a heavy son of a gun to lug around I don't care - it works for me.

I cannot be in a home or office that uses propane, natural gas or oil burner as fuel. If I am in such a place I cough a lot. I cannot visit friends who have fireplaces, lit or unlit, as the tiny particles of burned wood raises a ruckus in my lungs and all I do is cough.

I've also dragged my Kirby into a new office and vacuumed the entire office out when I start a new job as most offices are rather filthy even with a cleaning service that just pushes the dirt around. I'd rather do the vacuuming myself knowing I'll be there for 9 hours a day breathing in all that dirt so I want to make it as clean as I can - otherwise I'm constantly clearing my throat or coughing.

Try bathing the dog more than you do now to cut down on the dander. I can't imagine keeping a dog outside. To me that's downright cruel.

Yes poor Lady will not be banished to the out doors, and my vet actually recommended a doggy shampoo called allergroom, which helps with the dander, as well as the dogs itchy skin. She said she recommends it to families with people who suffer with asthma or allergies to animals. I thought the brushing would help with the dander. I really wanted to stop using the sterioide puffer, I feel it does nothing, and I hate thinking about pumping her body full of un nessesary drugs. I had a feeling the wood stove had to go. I have stopped using it considerably, but with what you have mentioned, it will be replaced. Do you think a pellet stove would be OK? Or would that be along the same thing?

pellet stoves pros & cons - TrackShare.com - Canada's Outdoor Connection

pellet stove pros and cons

I have actually read some of the reading material provided while searching for anything that could help, for the past 6 or so months I have really been socking the water and dilluting her juice. Another thing that concerns me is the dryer, it is in a laundry room, but it is an older dryer, and every time I pull the lint trap out dust goes every where. I stand on hand with the vacuum, but I know that so much gets lost in the air. I have a dyson vacuum, not sure of that is a good name brand or not but I piad dearly for it. I also vacuum my walls, but never thought of vacuuming the ceiling! I am washng curtains and drapes, have gotten rid of all the venition blinds as they were too hard to dust with out the dust flying around. Is there any cleaning products that I should use or stay away from? For he HEPA question my vacuum does have one as do both the air purifiers that are used. I also forgot to mention that the humidifier that I use is the vicks one, is that okay to use? It doesn't seem to agitate her any more or less.
Thank you for the replys!

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Originally Posted by twinkiedooter

Try bathing the dog more than you do now to cut down on the dander. I can't imagine keeping a dog outside. To me that's downright cruel.

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I agree twinkie, but when it comes to the health of her child you have to choose the lesser of two evils. I have 4 dogs, 4 rather LARGE dogs, and I would never keep them outside. If it came to the health of my child I would rather find them a good home if I had to.

Aurora - the pellet stove is wood pellet so you can't use that either due to the fine dust particles. Just the same as a wood stove essentially.

Am aware of the Dyson cleaners. I know you can get the ceiling attachment made for Kirby off Ebay for about $10 plus shipping (where I got mine) but you'll need a longer rigid hose attachment to reach the ceiling with it. The rigid extensions are also available on Ebay. The Dyson does have one drawbck that I can think of. They have no dust catchers but use a cup. I had one of those type cleaners and when I would use them the air that they threw off in their exhaust made me cough as it was not truly clean. That's why I went with the Kirby. I bought a used G-6 for about $100 plus shipping off Ebay over the summer. Just have to watch the auctions for a few weeks to get one at that price. The nice thing about them is that they use the HEPA dust catcher bags and I don't cough after I vacuum. My bags last about 2 months before I have to put a new one on. Not that much more than the regular bags either. And believe me with my lungs I am REALLY sensitive about dust and dirt. Sometimes you can get the used Kirbys with a bunch of attachments thrown in. I have a shampooer that I use that really gets the crud out of my rugs. I'm not pushing Kirbys don't get me wrong as those things weigh a ton - but I'm just telling you what actually works for me and I've tried a lot of different vacuum cleaners over the years so I would know. Plus when I went on demonstrations I would use the customer's present vacuum cleaner and see how ineffective they where.

As far as cleaning agents go I don't use anything other than the usual stuff. I don't use Orange Glow as that just attracts the dirt I found. Also you might want to change your clothes washing detergent to a liquid one. I found that Purex has a new line of liquid detergents that I adore. My bedroom is next to the laundry room and I was waking up with swollen shut eyes from the powder detergent until I changed to liquid detergent. Big difference once the powdered stuff was gone.

On your air purifiers do you have the washable HEPA filters or are you using the ones that are throwaways? I bought 2 air purifiers off HSN (Hunter Douglas) and used the filters that came with the machine. Within 2 weeks I was coughing due to all the dirt that was being stuck to their filters. I bought some washable high accumulative (94%) air filters made to a custom size off Ebay. I measured exactly and they sent me the size I said. They fit great and once a week I wash out the filter in my sink. I am that sensitive that I can tell when the filter needs washed out. Same with my furnace filter. I bought that specially cut and wash it out just as often as I do my air purifier one.

When you have the lung problems I do you can't afford not to have your home completely free of dust and dirt. I have a Jack Russell Terrier who sleeps in my bed under the covers with me and she does not bother my breathing. It's just the dust and dirt in the house that gets to my lungs.

I'm not a huge fan of taking presnisone either. She's too young for that drastic type of medicine. Try other ways first to relieve her symptoms.

If you want the info on the washable air filters just PM me and I'll give you the Ebay seller's info. Quite reasonable, too.

Now as for the clothes dryer I vacuum the back of my dryer at least twice a month for any excess lint that's gotten attached to the back of the machine.

You may want to put a different exhaust hose onto it and see if that does not cut down the lint in the air. I redid my exhaust hose awhile back and that cut down some of the excess lint. The vacuuming the back of the machine with the soft bristle brush was really the ticket with my machine. Vacuum under the machine and all around in the laundry room as well. And the ceiling. You'll be shocked at how much stuff you can get off a ceiling. The textured ceilings are the ultimate worst for getting junk off. When I was a Kirby salesperson we had a special attachment we put on the machine where the exhaust would be that would come out and go into the bag. It was a round filter like a coffee filter and for the heck of it I vacuumed the ceiling in my own home one day using this attachment. I was floored at how much dirt was up on what I thought was a clean ceiling. I had only lived here a little more than a year when I did that and assumed that the ceilings were clean! HA! Fat chance. The special attachments are not available to the public but just Kirby salespeople. You can call up and get a Kirby demo in your home and they will use the funny attachment and show you just how much crud is really in your home.

Also, I just remembered something that could help your little girl. The Kirby vacuums out mattresses! Forgot that as I have the memory foam stuff. The trapped pollen and dander in her bedding may be aggravating her as well. You put the actual machine on the top of the mattress and vacuum away. If you get the demo in your home you'll see just how much crud is really in her mattress. The demo won't cost you a dime and you don't want to spend a zillion dollars on a new machine. As I said earlier the older ones (even 10 years old) are essentially the same machine just a different color so don't get suckered into buying a brand new one.

P.S. My dog when I was little was named Lady as well!

Thank you I never even thought about washing the furnace filter more often. I use the washable filters, but I actually replace them once a month, I rinse them about once a week. For having a 2 year old my house is immaculate. I use the liquid detergent, I usually use purex as well or sunlight, my skin is sensiive so I need to be careful what I use. I am really looking at alternative methods to treating her asthma, I forgot to mention that because of her age they are thinking it may be an immune disorder. She gets pnuemonia at the drop of a hat. H1N1 really kicked both of our butts. I try to get her to take multi vitiamins, but I like that she gets those vitamins from natural foods, like fruits and veggies. I will have to look in to the kirby vacuums, I thought I was getting one of the top of the line vacuums. I just actually vacuumed her ceiling and the living room and bathroom ceiling lol.
I will send you a PM I would appreciate the info on the filters would like to compare to see if they are the same ones I am using. One of the air purifiers is a bon air, I heard that isn't a very good brand. Which brands do you use?

I use the Hunter Douglas. They are noisy to me as I like absolute dead quiet to sleep. It's not the brand that should worry you but the type of filter you are using. That's the key to the whole thing. The filter.

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Aurora_Bell agrees: *sob* you're right, I hope it doesn't have to come to that. My dogs are my children!

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I hope it doesn't come down to it either. I was lucky when my son went through this.

Let me ask, is there anything that precipitates an attack? As an example, I could tell when the weather was going to change with my son. 24 hours before it got colder or warmer he would begin to cough. He would start coughing 24 hours before it would rain. He was more predictable than the weathermen.

She's 2 and has inhalers? Has your doctor suggested using Albuterol and Prednisone liquids? Do you have a nebulizer? These 3 things got me through the first 4 years of my son's life. He is now 8 and we haven't had a problem in almost 2 years, knock on wood. We were able to keep the dogs as well.

There isn't anything that I can think of that "brings" on an atack, although I never thought about it, so I will have to watch for that. Honestly it is an every night affair. I know that she can't go to bed until she has her coughing fit and pukes. Every night. When she gets a little sniffel it's even worse. She pukes 3-4 times a night. All through out the night. A friend of mine gave me a neubulizer it's an older one, do they expire? Yes she has been on puffers for almost a year now. The steroid (the orange one) twice daily, and the blue as needed but only up to 6 times a day. It's usually 2 puffs of each in the morning, she gets 2 more puffs of the blue one usually in the afternoon at day care, and then 2 puffs along with 2 more of the blue one before bed with her singulair. Some times we use the blue one through out the middle of the night. Knock on wood since we have started with the singulair (it will be one week tmorow Tuesday) she hasn't needed the blue one through out the night.
I don't think my family doctor would suggest the neubulizer or the stronger drugs, he is really amazing about not prescribing drugs all the time. How ever he knows that this is beyond what he is able to do and openly admits he needs help from a pediatrician. Which she sees tomorrow. I didn't smoke while I was pregnant and she has never been exposed to second had smoke aside from passing it in the street, the only thiI can think of os the wood stoves and the camp fires in the summer when we are camping. A friend chain smoked while she was pregnant, and smokes inher basement, and her daughter has NO problems, and is only a month older then my daughter and has probably only been sick 2-3 times. Ironic eh?

My son's allergist preferred the oral medication over the inhalers as they are more systemic and last longer. Along with the fact that most children this young can't completely grasp the idea of inhalers. The nebulizer needs a liquid medication such as albuterol to work properly. This is not a vaporizor, but a nebulizer that is used for breathing treatments.

Yes I know, I was just thinking that brand new ones are very expensive and if the doc did prescribed her to use the liquid method then I could use the one that was given to me instead of having to buy a new one. That's why I was asking if they expire. She has the airchambers for her puffers and she actully inderstand how it is supposed to work.
Did your child use Singulair? Do you have info on that drug?

Oh, sorry, I misunderstood you. No, they don't expire, but their parts need replacing.

Do you have insurance? Mine was covered 100% by my insurance. No, my son did not use Singulair, I don't know too much about it.

It's okay I can see why that was confusing. I should have worded it differently.
I live in Canada, but I do pay for an extended health care plan through my work. I remember my friend telling me they weren't covered, that's why she gave me hers. I guess I will have to look into that if the occasion arises. I've been googling Singulair, but haven't found too much on it. Well nothing more then what my doctor and phamasist told me. I always feel like there is more to he story when all I hear is good things about it. I guess I am a skeptick deep down.

Well went and saw the Peds doctor today. He wants to test my daughter for cystic fibrosis. I guess they can do a sweat test in a close by city. He is also thinking of putting her on the neubulizer! I asked if there was anything alternative then to give her steroids, but he didn't seem to want to venture down that road with me. He also wants to send her for another chest X ray very soon. The last two she had there was abnormalites on her lower left quadrent. What concerns me is that her last x ray was November 23rd, the technician didn't even notify my family doctotr that there was an abnormality. He doesn't think that it is allergy related, meaning for now Lady stays! :D
He didn't mention ANYTHING about the camping or the wood stove he didn't even give me any suggestions to he help her out aside from keep her on the singulair which has some pretty intense side effects come to find out. And continue with the puffers the way I have been going.

If you would like I will keep you all posted as far as the x-rays and the sweat test results. Keep your fingers crossed for me that it isn't anything TOO serious!