allergy-induced asthma

[uburoi]

Anyone have any experience? My teenage DD just got this in the fall for the first time, went away in winter, and had a pretty bad flare up recently that caused her to hyperventilate a bit because she couldn't recover fast enough. Been really windy so I'm sure that's part of it. For her it's a matter of knowing how to breath so that's a process in itself, but meds have been tough to figure out. Allerga worked last year, but stopped. Was taking Singulair but looks like that might not be the fit either.

 

[Grace T.]

Anyone have any experience? My teenage DD just got this in the fall for the first time, went away in winter, and had a pretty bad flare up recently that caused her to hyperventilate a bit because she couldn't recover fast enough. Been really windy so I'm sure that's part of it. For her it's a matter of knowing how to breath so that's a process in itself, but meds have been tough to figure out. Allerga worked last year, but stopped. Was taking Singulair but looks like that might not be the fit either.

My brother and I used to suffer. If your DD really has asthma (and not just allergies), the Allegra won't do much for that. She probably needs an inhailer (maybe 2...1 to treat the inflammation and 1 to prevent). And remember a sudden and serious asthma attack can leave her in the hospital if she isn't treated properly. You really should take her to an allergist specialist.

Your allergist will run a bunch of skin tests to see what she's sensitive too (my brother never played soccer because his test showed he was allergic to grass which was causing him asthma). He'll also want to know what your DD's cold/flu history is like...some of the viruses can trigger asthma like symptoms in people....only a specialist can tell if your DD has real asthma that could be health threatening or if it's just a side symptom of allergies/viruses. If it's allergy related, certain allergies can be treated with injections to desensitize the individual.

 

[uburoi]

Thanks. We know this is only caused by allergens and it never appeared until 6 months ago. In fact, a month before she was running and running with no issues, and at night there is rarely an issue, until recently, so it's evolving.

 

[The Driver]

Research 'combative breathing' to help your dd deal with the allergies while playing or working out.

 

[tylerdurden]

Anyone have any experience? My teenage DD just got this in the fall for the first time, went away in winter, and had a pretty bad flare up recently that caused her to hyperventilate a bit because she couldn't recover fast enough. Been really windy so I'm sure that's part of it. For her it's a matter of knowing how to breath so that's a process in itself, but meds have been tough to figure out. Allerga worked last year, but stopped. Was taking Singulair but looks like that might not be the fit either.

I have a lot of experience in this area as my son has asthma. Get your kid to a good pediatric pulmonologist and they will help you get it sorted. Your DD may need to take a preventative asthma medication like Advair. Also, a lot of doctors prescribe Pro-air for shortness of breath. IMO, Pro-air is garbage and is very ineffective. If they prescribe this, make sure request Ventolin instead. I also have asthma, so I can relate to this.

I feel your pain. My kid has asthma year round and had to play his first games with a new team back in January in the CRL, hopped up on prednisone and antibiotics because he got sick, which impacted his asthma. It sucks but it can be managed. Good luck.

 

[uburoi]

We took a different tactic this week. We changed DDs diet, which I thought was already pretty good, but we removed most dairy and gluten. Not all, and we're not nuts... removed nuts too! But we were sensing some issues with lack of concentration at school and some food reactions, so we went more towards a paleo-type diet and she scored really high on a school test and did better at practice breathing wise. Also got a better inhaler (from pro-air to Proventil). We'll see. I'm big on the food stuff. If results continue to improve, maybe she'll be a believer, too.

 

[Grace T.]

We took a different tactic this week. We changed DDs diet, which I thought was already pretty good, but we removed most dairy and gluten. Not all, and we're not nuts... removed nuts too! But we were sensing some issues with lack of concentration at school and some food reactions, so we went more towards a paleo-type diet and she scored really high on a school test and did better at practice breathing wise. Also got a better inhaler (from pro-air to Proventil). We'll see. I'm big on the food stuff. If results continue to improve, maybe she'll be a believer, too.

My brother uses Proventil. Helped him a lot. But I hoped you consulted with your doc. It might not be optimal for prevention in some people which is why a specialist allergist might help.

It's possible your DD is allergic to milk or to nuts...why not go ahead and get her tested....it would be useful to know at a minimum if someday she wanted to have children. It's possible too that now that we are through the heaviest of pollen season she is feeling the effects of the ease off as we head into summer (if she tends to get worse in the mid spring and mid fall, that's a good clue it's probably environmental as opposed to food or animal-related). The gluten probably has very little to do with her asthma....it's possible she might have Celiac or gluten intolerance but those start as stomach-related issues and at least to date haven't been decisively linked to asthma.

 

[Surfref]

Anyone have any experience? My teenage DD just got this in the fall for the first time, went away in winter, and had a pretty bad flare up recently that caused her to hyperventilate a bit because she couldn't recover fast enough. Been really windy so I'm sure that's part of it. For her it's a matter of knowing how to breath so that's a process in itself, but meds have been tough to figure out. Allerga worked last year, but stopped. Was taking Singulair but looks like that might not be the fit either.

My DD (20 y/o) began to have allergy induced asthma around 13y/o. We took her to an allergy and respiratory doctor. He pinpointed her exact allergies and prescribed meds to reduce the symptoms along with a rescue inhaler. She has been on Advair for the last three years along with a prescription allergy medication. She very rarely has asthma problems and when she does the rescue inhaler quickly stops the asthma. One of the things she is allergic to is household dust and dust mites. We had to take out all carpet (it was in the bedrooms only) and replace it with hardwood, special bedding, new furniture in the living room. Also added an extra filtration system to the A/C and heating system.