Asthma moms..Quick question

so, another visit to ER has left me exhasted.

He is finally now on pulmator(sp?) with the nebulizer...twice a day..

In the ER, they gave him a dose orally of another steriod...also a Rx for 3 more days on it, once a day.

Went to new ped this afternoon, he said its fine to give both steroids togetehr for the three days...all these meds make me nervous...

does this sound right?

thanks!

(also, albuterol...what size dose is your kid on? Pharm had to call all over charlotte for the one prescribed to me..he said its on the low side)

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

I do not remember but I can tell you allergies are soooooooooo bad I want someone to just shoot me...its triggering his asthma.
Did u look into the purifier?
the meds sound ok---although prepare for what seems like a caffiene child on crack---it makes then nuts and you get blackeyes.

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

thanks chick!

oh yeah...humidifier and air purifier...ummmm...his new favorite toys???????????????????/

The poor kid is eating lunch now and banging his spoon on EVERYTHING!

and for the record...how the hell do you disapline a kid on steroids??????????????

he does things, then gets sooo mad at himself for being "bad" poor baby!!!

At the drs, he had both chairs turned upsidedown, climbing and sliding, I was mortified...nurse said that means the meds are working!

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

orapred orally and pulimicort in nebulizer are fine. (done it plenty of times)

orapred is fast to get inflammation down. pulicort is a preventative. we used it all winter from sept. to feb for years. he finally outgrew it enough to not need it daily.

also, xopenex is better than albuertol, purer form similar meds. less side effects, and tastes better in the neb. (i've tried both myself)

my son was on .63 xopenex, and then went to 1.25 by the time he was 3.5 i think. and we used it when needed up to every 3 hours round hte clock at times.

now we haven't needed it in over a year, knock wood, and he's 5.5

hth

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

thanks amy! great info

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

We do pulmicort 2X daily. We can get away with 1X daily in the summer but are back on 2X now that the weather is changing.

When she has "attacks" she takes albuterol in the neb also. Sometimes as often as every 4 hours, working down to 2X/day. She will also be on orapred when she has attacks.

She takes 0.083% Albuterol, 2.5mg/3ml, which is the same dosage as my DH

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

wow melissa!

we are on 1.25 MG

poor emily.

I just gave the albuterol in the neb...I am going to continue every 4 hours for the next 2 days...then everytime I hear a cough, start it all over again.

pulmicort twice a day until March...then dr said we can review how flu season treated him and see where to go next.

I know this is incredibly vain...but, I am really worried about his teeth.

after the pulmicort, I am brushing them, I just hope I am doing good enough job.

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

Posted by Melbernai

We do pulmicort 2X daily. We can get away with 1X daily in the summer but are back on 2X now that the weather is changing.

When she has "attacks" she takes albuterol in the neb also. Sometimes as often as every 4 hours, working down to 2X/day. She will also be on orapred when she has attacks.

She takes 0.083% Albuterol, 2.5mg/3ml, which is the same dosage as my DH

Message edited 9/18/2008 4:40:42 PM.

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

mine is .042%...do you think its good enough?

they said it was unusually low at the pharm. God bless this guy...he called around FOREVER to find one for me and said he will order and keep in stock for us.

If this in the emergency med, I really want it to work. I am losing my mind with this hospital nonsense.

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

So far we are lucky it has not affected her teeth. DH is another story. His teeth are a mess from years of using asthma meds. He is 38 and has had asthma since 6 months of age. He takes albuterol 2X/day as part of his maintenance, along with the purple disc (forget it's name) and his albuterol inhaler. He always has prednisone on hand for attacks.

As far as the teeth, get yourself one of those finger toothbrushes. You can buy thm at target, stores like that. When I'm really worried about getting her teeth very clean I use that. It's a battle to get my finger in her mouth but I can actually *feel* that I am cleaning every tooth.

Also have him drink water after treatments if you aren't going to brush right away.

What dosage pulmicort is he on? W use 0.25mg/2ml here.

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

soon to be know as a silly question but...

is there anyone out there with that machine that they put around their toe? that oxygen number?

I guess in time I will grow a certain confidence with all this.

also...I am renting...there is no way I can pull up the carpets...

I will get him the allergy bedding and all that...but should I consider that asthma dyson? has anyone heard anything on it?

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

Posted by Janice



mine is .042%...do you think its good enough?

they said it was unusually low at the pharm. God bless this guy...he called around FOREVER to find one for me and said he will order and keep in stock for us.

If this in the emergency med, I really want it to work. I am losing my mind with this hospital nonsense.

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

same with us with pulmicort.

I'll get the toothbrush tonight when Leo gets home.

I hope you have great insurance.....I can't imagine what you must be billed. Poor you. and your DH.

I tell you...I always knew asthma was a bad thing...no idea it would turn into the horror that it is. It comes on so quick.

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

That is a pulse-ox machine I think. Maybe call a local surgical/medical supply store and see if you can find one.

For me I've just gotten to know her symptom. She gets a little blue around her mouth, bags under her eyes. I put my ear right up to her chest and back, tell her I'm listening to her heart and I can hear the wheeze. I will see her belly moving up and down when she breathes, and she gets a rattly cough.

Actually I do think that as a parent, you get to know the signs. My pediatrician has always said that he agrees with my judgement, and has never questioned when I've started albuterol before bringing her in to see him.

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

DH is a VERY sick person. We spend probably $300 on his meds/dr's appt copays a month. Luckily Emily's pulmicort is cheap. I think we spend about $30 on a 3 month supply. And we have the abluterol always on hand because of DH so if I need to give her that we just use his since the doc said to use the same dosage.

Knock on wood we only had 1 trip to the ER, 1 trip to Emergency Care, and probably 10 doc's visits, for her asthma in 2.5 years. She was officially diagnosed with moderate asthma last winter, but I guess since DH knows a lot about it and I know a lot through him, we don't make as many trips to the ER as people who have no expeience with it.

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

funny....his sept 2 attack...the day before I saw bags under his eyes and told Leo that we have to move josh's bed into our room that night because its going to happen again....and sure enough, 5 hours later.

I have to learn what the wheeze sounds like...I guess on the third one, I am so much more knowledgable then the first one....so it must just come.

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

Yea,the bags are a tell-tale sign for us, and the purple/blue around the mouth s barely noticable but luckily she is very fair and I know what to look for.

DO you have a stethescope? My science teacher at school gave me one. She likes to play doctor so I know what her lungs sound like both healthy and not now since we use it so much...it is amoung her toys. A very cheap thing to pick up...

She tells me sometimes now when she needs to take the neb. If she is coughing a lot or something like that she will tell me and go sit on the couch and get ready to take it.

Trust me, it s*cks in the beginning but it gets easier. You'll soon become an expert.

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

thanks so much!

I am glad you were around. I can't wait for leo to get home so I can crack open a beer. or two.

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

how do you guys find Pulmicort cheap?! I think it's so expensive! We do mail away so I am not sure how much it is monthly, but I find asthma meds are SO expensive.

We average $100/mth on Emily's asthma meds alone

Anyway, we do pulmicort 2x a day now and xopenez when needed, if she's sick, etc. totally okay to do both at once though.

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

I just spent 38.00 on a 15 day supply

Re: Asthma moms..Quick question

Posted by Teri

how do you guys find Pulmicort cheap?! I think it's so expensive! We do mail away so I am not sure how much it is monthly, but I find asthma meds are SO expensive.

We average $100/mth on Emily's asthma meds alone

Anyway, we do pulmicort 2x a day now and xopenez when needed, if she's sick, etc. totally okay to do both at once though.