Monday, November 15, 2010

Asthma, Allergies or the Common Cold

My son (the oldest twin) has had a dry cough since May. We took him to our pediatrician and she said not to worry, most likely was due to post nasal drip irritating the throat and causing the cough. Hmmm. OK so one day he wakes up coughing so bad he can't stop and almost vomits. I take him back to the pediatrician (a different MD in the same practice) and she hears wheezing. We then administer a nebulizer treatment to his massive dismay and the wheezing goes away. At this point there is suspicion of asthma but then again allergies could be causing an inflammatory response in the airways which would explain the wheezing. We went home that day with a spacer and some albuterol. If you know me and read my blog, you know that I did not intend on using this or at least using it very sparingly. I am not a fan of steroids for small children but if the poor guy can't breathe, you gotta do whats best for him.

My son does have some allergies but not too many. I took him to an allergist about a year ago to get tested and he came up allergic to raw egg, dust, cat and dog dander. We try our best to keep these allergens to a minimum in our lives. I do notice that when he is exposed, he breaks out in itchy hives or eczema. But I had no idea these allergens could be causing asthma like symptoms and a cough?

As the summer went on, the cough would wane and then come back intermittently. I did not need to use the spacer at home except for one occasion. Then the seasons started changing. School started up again and germs invaded our life. I continually use Theives oil on my kids to prevent any real sicknesses and so far so good. But it seemed like your basic runny nose was turning into a cough fest for my little guy. The cough turned productive and he sounded congested. But it was relentless and he had a hard time stopping himself from coughing and I got nervous.

So back to the pediatrician we went. She still was not convinced that it was asthma due to the fact that a repeated spacer treatment did not help the cough to subside. They ruled it as a sinus infection and gave him some antibiotics to see if it cleared up any. Well yes, the cough cleared up but its still there (although maybe a couple of times a day and its very mild) but I would like to get to the bottom of this. I do not believe that ANY cough is OK to leave alone and not figure out the root cause.

So we are left with asthma, allergies or just a cold. I still think its allergies at the root but what kind? Its something he is exposed to everyday if the cough has not completely gone away. I teeter on thinking that milk could be the cause. I did some research that explained how a child that is allergic (or intolerant) of milk protein can produce mucus and this would explain the post nasal drip. Then I also read scary articles that link milk directly to asthma. I am not 100% convinced that milk is the culprit but a food challenge may be in the near future. I would like to rule it out at the least.

The whole allergy, inflammatory, autoimmune response diagnoses seem to cause much confusion. I don't think we know enough about them and the sad part is that they are on the rise. Is it dietary, environmental, genetic or a little of all three? Why are the current testing methods so shady at best?

All I know is that I have to be the doctor and detective and try to figure this out. I will keep you posted on what I find. I am not convinced my child has asthma and if its allergies then we need to do a  better job of removing them from his environment or diet.

Here is an interesting link on the milk asthma connection. It really makes you  think....

http://www.naturalnews.com/010443.html

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