Albuterol Sulfate Inhalation Treatments

Albuterol is wonderful and gives great results quickly I give this to my son when he has difficulty breathing and it works almost immediately.

My son was on abluterol when he was almost 2. The treatments really did help. Just an FYI---The next time he was sick, though, the albuterol made him jittery. I believe this can be a side effect. The doctor switched him over to Xoponex (??) and the hyper effects were gone.

It is used for asthma as a bronchodilator. I don't think it is aggressive if your little one is having difficulty breathing, which is being demonstrated by wheezing. It should help him breath easier.

Hope he feels better quick.

Hello,
My son had the exact same thing happen - but at an earlier age - 11 mos. We use a nebulizer when he has bad colds/coughs now and he is 5.
We have found that Albuterol makes him hyper (heart race). The doctor switched him to Xopenex - which does the same thing for his lungs- but is not something that has made him hyper. It works well for us - you may want to ask about Xopenex.
Good luck -
J.

My daughter was younger than that when she started using Albuteral via a nebulizer. For us it was wonderful. It cleared up her lungs very quickly and she was able to sleep (and so was I). Especially with the lung implications with H1N1 I wouldn't hesitate to get that "gunk" broken up. I am asthmatic so I understand what it feels like to "wheeze" or to have a cement block on your chest or a belt tightening across your chest. Whatever you decide I'm sure it will be the best decision. I hope he feels better soon.

Hi C.,

My now 2 year old has had wheezing/breathing problems associated with simple colds since he was 4 months old. Every time he got a cold, we'd end up in the ER because he couldn't breathe. Every other time, he's been admitted to reduce the inflammation in his airways and oxygen.

We've been to a pediatric pulminologist, who sent us home with a nebulizer for abuterol to use whenever he gets a cold. It does seem a bit much for a baby to be on, but if it helped him breathe, that was all that mattered to me. With the hospital visits, the combination of a steroid and the albuterol quickly reduced the inflammation so he could breathe easier, quicker. Yes, it does make him hyper for awhile, but that is only a temporary side effect, and by the time he's able to breathe better, he has no problem going back to sleep.

We are now seeing an asthma doctor, who also has him on a daily regiment of Vitamin D, 4mg of Singular, and a probiotic to help ward off the severity of the inflammation, especially now that we are in the middle of cold and flu season. We also keep up with the albuterol treatments and have a steroid prescription to use at home, in addition to the daily regimen. At first I was very much against the daily regimen of the Singular (the other two are more vitamin/natural based, so I wasn't as alarmed), but the doc asked me to try it for a month and see what happened during his first cold.

I was a skeptic from the get-go. . .until Will got his next cold. Yes he still wheezed and had problems breathing, but the severity of it was greatly reduced, and for the first time in a long time, we were able to avoid going to the ER (at this point, they now recognize us in the ER Pediatric Ward. . .not somewhere we want to be regular visitors in). It was amazing, almost like a regular kid having a regular cold (which we've never been 'fortunate' enough to experience), in a way.

From what both the pediatric pulminologist and asthma doctors told us, most kids with these issues can outgrow the narrow airway problem in a few years (like, by 5 or 6, so we still got a way to go). Others, especially if there is a family history of asthma/breathing problems, might not necessarily grow out of it, but hopefully it won't be as dramatic when they are babies/toddlers. When they're so young like this, their bodies (and airways) are still growing and developing. I think it's more scary for us as parents than it is for them.

You know your kid better than anyone else. Don't be afraid to voice your concerns about putting your kid on meds. But also try to keep in mind that not all doctors are out there to push drugs at the first complaint. Especially when it comes to breathing, the main goal should be to get your kid to breathe on their own okay. Hopefully this is a temporary setback your son is going through with his colds.

Sorry to ramble, but I hope it all made sense. Good luck during cold and flu season, and I'll be praying for your son.

K.

Wheezing means he is having trouble breathing. You should used the meds.My daughter went through this all the time. She still has problems at 19 years. If you don't catch the wheezing soon enough it could turn into stridor which is pretty much where a child is getting very little or no air in. It becomes very scary. (My daughter did not always respond to the albuterol.)If you are uncomfortable about the medicine give your a doctor a call. They are usually more then happy to help you feel better. Hope he's feeling better soon.

Greetings! When my daughter was about 15 months, she was prescribed an albuterol inhaler after a few days with wheezing as a precautionary measure. Her pediatricians logic was that breathing difficulties can go from mild to severe/life threatening in a matter of a few hours. I went ahead and gave it to her she had no problems tolerating it and got better quickly. She had no history of breathing problems or asthma either. My experience though is that sometimes the inhaler can relieve congestion much more quickly then an oral antibiotic can. Good luck and I wouldn't worry too much if I were you.

I know how moms feel about not wanting to use medicine, but I completely disagree in this situation. If a child is wheezing it means they are having trouble breathing. How would you like it if you felt out of breath all the time and didn't feel like you could get a good, deep breath of air? Think of it as how you would feel after running a marathon except your body isn't able to regulate and get you to breathe normal again. For anyone, but especially a child that can be very scary,which can worsen the symptoms.

Also, my son was around that age the FIRST time he started wheezing. Now he is almost 3 and a few times a year especially in winter he goes through a time where he starts wheezing again and we pull out the nebulizer for him. It may be a bit of a hassle, but it is worth fighting with him to get him to be able to breath better. And there is times where he won't fight us at all because he knows it helps him breathe. We don't go out of town anywhere in the winter w/o his nebulizer. Better safe then sorry.

One of my friend's descried it best: when your having an asthma attack (or any kind of wheezing) it is like an elephant is sitting on your chest.

Well, the wheezing means there is trouble breathing. If you've ever felt like you can't get enough air, you know that it is a horrible experience. When my daughter was younger, EVERY time she would get a cold, she would end up with bronchitis/pneumonia. However, once we started using the albuterol a couple times a day with a cold, it helped keep her airways open enough that we were able to avoid the more severe issues. My recommendation would be to do it. A couple years ago I had bronchitis and could not breathe and was prescribed an inhaler (I don't have asthma). It was a life saver. I literally thought I would pass out from not being able to get enough air. It is not a good feeling. Hope your little guy feels better soon.

it is standard protocal. if he doesn not get better you will need to add some steroids. Everyone has this fever cold cough thing so just help him though it.

My son has wheezing most often when a cold begins, or when the weather changes to damp and cool suddenly. He takes Pulmicort, a preventative, nightly, but on occasion needs to use Albuterol to stop the wheezing when it occurs. He also has food allergies and at times they set off wheezing. He has never experienced hyperactivity from the Albuterol, though, like many others. I guess it affects each person differently.

I was taking my son 5 to the ER for breathing difficulties.
He was using the same thing and it helped, but he was like on drugs,bouncing,hyper, couldn't sleep, it was awful.We stopped using it.I don't know how a young child would react to it, I would do some research,maybe.
But if I had to, I would give it to him again.

When my son was almost 2 he got a cold that ended up turning into a slight touch of pneumonia/asthma. This was very scary because we were at urgent care & his oxygen level was so low that he had to be transported to the hospital via an ambulance. Thank goodness he bounced back quickly & was only admitted for one overnight stay. They sent us home with a nebulizer machine. So our pediatrician said that when my son has the start of a cold to use the nebulizer machine. He is now 5 1/2 & has hardly had any type of cold since. We also use it on our 2 girls as soon as a cold starts coming. Their colds are very mild & dont last very long. Hope this info helps, the Albuterol has been a life saver for our family.

I think that's a newer approach doctors are using. I had an inhaler prescribed for myself when I had bronchitis a couple of years ago ((I don't have asthma). And I've heard of a couple of other kids being prescribed inhalers this year for colds or flu. Maybe because of swine flu, which I guess can cause kids to very quickly develop respiratory issues.

But I didn't care for the way the albuterol made me feel (hyper, cranky). I don't know if it's the same for kids, but just a warning.

Your son's lungs are inflamed. He needs the albuterol to help them open up. If you don't give him some help, he can go into distress. If you wait to treat and he ends up in er or hosp - the first thing they are going to do is give him treatments with albuterol.

i agree. sometimes docs prescribe meds to make the parent feel like they are doing something for their child. I always make it apparent to the doctors that I prefer to not use medications and they then dont prescribe meds for the heck of it...also new study on Tylenol, I would reconsider using it in a child with breathing issues
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091112/hl_nm/us_acetaminophe...

the albuterol opens the bronchial so that he can take deep breathes. It will make him feel so much better!! And it helps even if there is no wheezing. Speaking of which, better get my inhaler as I started coughing again.

C., my son had breathing problems and like I had suggested to another mother. I have been giving my son this nutritional drink called Le'Vive and it helps the child sleep better, and controls inflammation slso protects the child's health. Trust me you will see a big change in your child. Only give him 1 oz once or twice a day. You would love it and recommend it to another mother just like I am. Check out the website: http://www.ardysslife.com/10-Nutricion.aspx?ID=juliet69

My daughter has had the breathing treatments a few different times since she's been born, and she'll be 2 in Feb. They are ok, and actually help to relieve the congestion. Sometimes it is hard for youner children to cough out the congestion, so this will help open up the bronchials in his chest to make it easier for him to get it out. My daughter's ped. gave it to her to prevent the cold from turning into pneumonia from the congestion in her chest. And this might be the case as well with your son. If he's wheezing, even a little, there's always a possibility of it turning into something more serious. We've never had a problem with her using the treatments, other than her objecting to it. So as long as you feel confident that your child's doctor is a good doctor, I would go ahead with treatment. If you still have concerns, you could always get a second opinion.
Good Luck.