Are Daily Treatments a Good Idea?

When my 16 year old was that age, he was taking 4 nebulizer treatments a day for asthma and they had no adverse affect on him. If you use a mouthpiece (versus a mask), I would suggest that he brush his teeth afterwards though because the treatment can weaken the enamel on his teeth.

Have you ever thought about boosting his immune system to help reduce the allergies. Maybe his cells need to be fed with the proper nutrition so they will reduce his allergy symptoms. There's a great website my doctor recommends for children's nutritionals. It is www.healthrep.usana.com and the product is called Usanimals for children. Hope it helps!

I have taken nebulizer treatments on and off my whole life, and I am fine. I mean, other than helping me breathe better when I need them, there are no effects, and I think I would have noticed any long term ones by now. My daughter has had to do the same and is also on Singulair daily. She has been on Singulair since age 2 if not earlier and has had no ill effects thus far.

I read through a lot of your responses and feel as though I need to put my two-cents in. Yes, it stinks to have to give your child medicine everyday, but when you have breathing problems it is absolutely necessary! My husband and son were born w/asthma, I was diagnosed at 7, and my youngest was diagnosed at 1 year. Asthma and allergies tend to go hand-in-hand. South TX is the worst place to live in the entire country for allergies. It sounds as if his allergies are flairing up his asthma. This is pretty typical. Everyone in my house has that same problem. We all take medicine every single day of the year to prevent flair-ups.

My issue w/a lot of responses was that it is not an option to stop medication. You can always change medication if you don't like the one prescribed, but to stop medication all-together can be fatal. Long-term effects from the medication are not really an issue unless you are putting him on oral steriods. The doctors will monitior closely how often he takes oral steriods because of the side-effects, but it doesn't sound as if he is on them. Do not worry about daily allergy medicine and breathing treatments. They are keeping him alive and to stop them would be detrimental to his health. Please talk to your doctor about all your concerns before stopping medication!

Singulair did not work for my daughter it made her asthma worse...

If your son is having breathing problems requiring a nebulizer treatment every night why hasn't he been diagnosed with asthma??? Seek a second opinion and ask some very pointed questions about why he is receiving the treatments he is receiving. The treatments you are doing now are for an asthmatic child.

My daughter has a nebulizer she uses when she has a cold (aggravating her asthma) and inhalers (1 daily, 1 for emergencies) she has been on it since she was diagnosed at 4 yo... she is fine now and the nebulizer hardly ever comes out anymore..i just have to double her regular inhaler dose when she is sick and she is usually fine..Used it a lot when she was younger...nearly nightly for months!!

To me the possible long term effects (i was uneasy about them myself) were outweighed by the fact that my child could not harldy sleep at night through her tinny asthma cough. The treatments allowd her to rest for the first time in a long time. That was when I threw caution to the wind and figured I would deal with the long term effects as they came...I still have not seen any.

I do know that Xopenex (used in the nebulizer) now comes as an emergency inhaler, the reason I mention this is that it has the nice effect of calming a child down, where as Albuterol (more commonly used for emergency inhalers) tends to rev them up and make them a bit more unpredictable in their behavior.

I would also check with your local hospital to see if they have a class on dealing with asthma. Fort Hood's Darnall had one and it ws VERY informative!!!

Well, I think I have imparted about all I know for now. I wish you luck! ;-)

Try Dr. Steve Hotze in Katy. He is a Health and Wellness doctor who specializes in allergies, hormones men and women, thyroid, and yeast overgrowth. He gives allergy drops to children and adults alike and work much better than shots or other means of cure. He prescribes bio-identical meds which have no side effects.

BEWARE of singulair. Know that it only works in 70% of people, and in the other 30% it can be harmful. It did NOT work for us, it made the coughing worse.
You make the call, but be sure you're informed about the meds you're giving your child.

My son was prescribed Advair and started a cough every night, he got no sleep and neither did anyone else in the house....we kept taking him back to the doctor and everytime he just increased the dose of Advair. I was reading the sheet the drug store gives you about the drug and it said may cause coughing...we quit the Advair and sure enough the coughing stopped....I too do not like giving or taking a lot of drugs, so wait until it is absolutely necessary... Doctors just kept prescribing more and more medication everytime we took him in.... We took him off all exept an occasional puff of albuterol and a zrytec/singulair if I know he was around any of his alergy triggers. He is now 11 and asthma free. Of course, every child is different, but this worked for us. He didn't have any problems with the singular.

Asthma won't go away on its own. And the meds have improved significantly over the past 15 years or so. I speak from my own experience with my own asthma issues. You should keep your allergist and pediatrician in the loop if your child experiences any problems. My allergist told me that the consequence of under-treating asthma can mean longer (and more serious) episodes and longer term dependence on higher doses of steroids. Your child will sleep better, do better in school and generally be more fun to be around when his asthma is under control. Good luck!

We're in the same situation. My son (3.5 yrs) just started an inhaler twice a day and an oral OTC allergy med as needed. We were using the nebulizer most days of the week and he was still wheezing almost daily. Since we started the inhaler, no wheezing at all. He has more energy and feels much better. I hope this is temporary and he will probably grow out of (or at least be able to cut back). His father had the same thing as a child. I had to go on my own to a specialist. His pedi was doing nothing to help us prevent his problems. Good luck!

My son was sick and coughing bad enough to throw up on many occasions when he was small, not to mention he had difficulty sleeping through all that coughing. He was regularly recommended to use a nebulizer. We had no ill effects from the nebulizing, but neither did it seem to help much as I hoped. When he turned two the doctor recommended Singulair. Suddenly we had a healthy little boy on our hands! He has only had respiratory problems once since he began Singulair. He is now 6-1/2 years old, so it has helped us for 4-1/2 years. We've seen no ill effects thus far.

My daughter is almost three. She is also using Singulair, after having been hospitalized twice for severe respiratory problems. (One hospitalization lasted 62 days!) I am not a big fan of giving children lots of meds. However, I can't stand by and let my child get so ill that she needs a machine to breathe for her again, either.

Ultimately, you will need to evaluate how severe your child's situation is and then act accordingly.

If he "sometimes" has breathing problems, I wouldn't use the nebulizer on a daily basis, esp. if you can see a problem developing. Give him the nebulizer when he needs it. Tell the doctor your concerns and desire to use as few meds as possible. I'd go ahead with the Singulair during peak allergy season but try to taper off on it when your son seems to be doing well on his own.

As a long-term solution, I recommend that you try Sunrider herbal foods for your son. Sunrider foods nourish, cleanse, and balance the body, and help it to heal itself. If you're interested, please e-mail me at ____@____.com, and I can get you further information.

I suffer from asthma due to allergies and I would say give your child the medicine. It feels terrible to want to take a deap breath and not be able to. If you want to know what it feels like try this experiment. Get a coffee stir sipper stick, put it in your mouth and pinch your nose closed. Then try to breath. I take singular daily and use an inhaler. No side effect can be worse then not breathing right!

Hi V.,

In answer to your question....I would definitely say no. My son was on meds everyday til I discovered a natural juice that relieved him not only of his allergies, but also his asthma. I always try to go the natural route, it works about 9 times out of 10 and meds may or may not work and the dr.s keep giving you different ones til they find one that finally does something....and that something is damage to your organs, maybe not right away, but years down the road!

V., I know how you feel.
I have a grandson who is an allergenic too and every day is a form of suffering for him with all his allergies.
Unfortunately, you have to weigh up the pro's and con's - the medication or the breathing problems?
His airways need to be open at all times and prevention in this respect is better than cure. You don't want to be rushing him to hospital with severe airway problems.

I agree with some of the great comments posted. Drugless remedies should ALWAYS be tried first. Outside of eliminating allergic causes in the home, NAET, Naturopathy, Chiropractic are all good choices when it comes to natural health care... and if you can avoid the medicine, not only do you make his immune system healthier (by not compromising it with drugs), you avoid the long term effects (which MOST ARE NOT known) that could prevent him from expressing his full potential when he grows up! Good luck!

My son was on breathing treatments for such a long time, but it never cleared up his constant congestion. We went thru allergy tests, etc. He had constant ear infections and strep throat. We were in the doctor's office at least once a month. Finally, I found a doctor who listened - we had to figure out how to stop the congestion. We went to ENT and he suggested ear tubes. We did that. In fact, we did them twice and the 2nd time, he had his adenoids removed as well. His pediatrician put him on Singulair and Nasonex. What a HUGE difference. He cleared up, he can hear, and no more snoring at night. He is now 7 and off the meds. The reason? When they are so young, the ear canal is flat - so any fluids in nose/sinuses - it goes straight to the ear. As he has grown, the canal starts to angle. He hasn't had an ear infection in about 3 years now. And that is huge! He had the 2nd set of tubes at age 4. The only drawback to the meds was that he would have nosebleeds when it was very dry outside or if he got overheated. But a little saline helped with that. So I guess my point is - find what stops the congestion and take care of that. All else will fall into place. Good luck!

My now 13 year old started this same regiment when she was 4 due to asthma and allergies. Just fyi give nebulizer about 1 hour before bedtime and not right at bedtime; the medicine used in nebulizer is generally albuterol and this can cause hyperactivity in small children. She eventually grew out of nebulizer and now just uses an inhaler, but very seldom. The singular works wonders, it doesn't cause drowsiness or any other side affects, at least not in my daughter. My son is 11 and has allergies he uses the singular as well and he will be the first to say he prefers to take that rather than suffering from an allergy attack. Good luck with your son.

I couldn't agree with you more, i.e., steer away from medications when possible; however, if the symptoms are severe enough, it’s always going to melt down to what outweighs what . . . your child’s ability to breath comfortably or the “potential” side effects? My husband and I have struggled with our son’s coughing (sounding like a 60-year-old smoker), gagging, throwing up, runny eyes, eye infection, runny nose, sinus infection, ear infection (new), and unbelievable amounts of mucus since he was two-months-old (11-months-old today). We’ve gone through the humidifier, various cough syrups, reflux medication, antibiotics on several occasions, and the nebulizer w/steroids . . . nothing has worked.

We finally saw a pulmonary specialist last Thursday and he was declared with "reactive airway disease." This is a fancy term specialists use when there is something wrong with your child, they don't know what's causing it, and it's NOT declared as asthma (too young to perform appropriate testing).

Obviously he was put on antibiotics again for the ear infection and stuff in the lungs, in conjunction to two allergy steroids (Zyrtec “oral” and Nasonex “nasal”). The major drawback with the steroids is that neither of them has been tested on children under three, one can stunt growth, they can make you sleepy and/or wired, etc., etc. You can imagine the dilemma we’ve faced . . . do nothing, start this treatment, or start treating him like full-fledged asthma (even though not declared).

Well, I’m not going to torture myself anymore . . . I chose the lesser of evils, our son is in good spirits, and he can breath without issues for the first time in a long time. I can’t say this will help you, but hopefully put you at ease that you’re not the only one, there are medications that do work, and there will always be potential side effects no matter what!

I wish you the best in your decision making . . . take care =)

First off let me telly ou I will not give my daughter Singulair! there is an article that this medication can lead to depression and suicide attempts. I use only claritin for my daughter and she gets it every night, but only during her allergy seasons.

As far as nebulizer treatments. I use it on my daughter when she needs it to keep her from having a bad allergy induced asthma attack. She is actually so comfortable with the machine that she asks for it when she feels the need. Her doctor has always told me that the albuterol can not hurt her.

Like you I dont believe in medicating my daughter unless absollutely necessary. My niece was at one point in time on 13 medications and she was only 11 at the time. I refise to allow my daughter to become dependent upon medications. I use the medications only as a last resort to keep her comfortable. Not as a daily preventive medication. She gets her nebulizer only when her cough gets to a certain point. Same with her allergy medication.

good luck. you will see a pattern and be able to decide what is needed.

Hi V.,

I personally have had asthma since childhood and I can tell you from experience that the worst thing you can do is NOT treat it.

To understand asthma, you have to understand that there are two basic components that need to be treated - airway constriction and inflammation. If your child is having frequent asthma attacks, then you might need to look at trying to find a medication that will prevent the asthma attack in the first place. Singulair has definitely done that for me. My quality of life is completely different since I started taking it. You should also consider testing to find out if the asthma is being exacerbated by allergies (pets, pollen, dust, foods, etc.). If so, you can try to limit his/her exposure to those things. What you do NOT want to do (and I speak from experience) is blindly think that everything is just fine and not be informed on this subject. Children that grow up with asthma do not know what it is like to breathe normally. They can think they are fine and not have any visible signs of an asthma attack, but underneath the surface, they may have tons of inflammation that will eventually lead to scarring of the lungs (emphysema) if left untreated. At age 25, I found out I only had 40% of my lung function. My parents had great intentions, but they too wanted to go with a more "natural" approach. I now get regular treatment and my lung function is better, but it will never be 100%. This is due to years of not getting proper treatment that led to the scarring. For me, singulair has worked wonders! Everyone is different, though, and different people respond different ways to medications.

Bottom line: Work with your doctor and be informed. Make sure your child has regular pulmonary function tests. This will help you to determine whether or not the asthma is getting better or worse. It will really help you in understanding what you are dealing with.

Hope this helps!

Try looking into homeopathy. It's long-term healing with no side effects and all-natural.

V., when my daughter was T. yrs old we took her to an allergist. Taking her to this person was a big mistake! My daughter tested negative to all the allergy pricks that they do on their backs. Eventhough she tested negative he gave her rhinocort nasal spray, singulair, and nebulizer treatments to be used as needed. He also mentioned that we need to give her all these meds everyday except the nebulizer. Well my daughter started having nose bleeds everynight, and frequent ear infections. One month later we took her back and he said that she needs tubes put in her ears because they were full of fluid and she was not able to hear well. I decided to take her to her Pediatrician and he said absulutely no. My daughter had no fluid in her ears and she had a blood test to see what she was allergic to and all the tests were negative. She is not allergic to nothing! We stopped all meds and never went back to that person. Ear infections stopped and nosebleeds as well.

My opion is get a second opinion because you do not want your child over medicated. Be careful with singulair it will cause your child ear infections.

Good luck,
Elisa

well this is what i do my 3yr old and my nephew both have bad allergies so we give them one cingular pill when we knoe there allergies act up the most (spring and fall) winter and summer we wont give it to them unless its been windy and dusty. the nebulizer we give it to them as needed... the same as the pills or if there is unexpected dust and wind that way they arnt always on meds but they are covered on the important times when we know it is going to act up...

I have a similar situation with my daughter. I think it is beneficial to heed your Dr's. advice on this. She too is affected by environmental allergies and if we don't treat her (allergy meds and nebulizer treatments) then mucus will build up in her lungs which can lead to a horrible cough and possible lung infections. Not to mention fluid build up in the ears which can lead to ear infections, etc. I think anyone of these poses a bigger threat to the health of my child, and so I would continue to medicate.
A word of warning, isn't Singular the med. that had been linked to suicidal tendencies???? My brother was using it to treat his step daughter and noticed a dramatic mood change in her. She seemingly was very down and depressed (she's 8). After this link came out, they switched her to a different med. and haven't noticed the mood swings. Our pedi. recommended Zyrtec.
Good Luck!

I have three chldren that are on Singular and Albuterol breathing treatments (as needed). My doctor wrote the Singular Rx for bedtime. They make sure that they take it, even if I forget, they are ages 9,7,and 4. They know that it helps them. The only complaint that my seven y.o. has, is that he doesn't like the taste b/c you have to chew it! My 9 y.o. had problems with bedwetting for a long time! I never would have put breathing difficulty w/bedwetting. She started taking Singular and the bedwetting stopped! My doctor said that it was b/c she was breathing so deeply that she didn't feel the urge to go to the restroom. I think it's great. The breathing treatments work wonders as well, some are meant to make you cough though. I say give it a try. There's nothing like feeling as if you can't breathe.

my son cody had to do that also but he was much much younger than your son. he is now 5 and does great. it is necessary your son needs it more than you think he cant breath thats why the doctor asked you to use the nebulizer you will be able to see a diffence in just a little bit of time. their isnt any harm in it cody still has to do the nebulizer sometimes when he feels bad and it just picks him up and hes fine as for the singlar their has been some bad things said just watch your son for the next week up to a month and see if his mood changes any like if he get upset easy over something he never wouild have before is so then have the doctor change the meds. to fit him more. just do what the doc. tells you. J. w.

Hi, when I moved to TX 3 yrs ago, my youngest at the time was two. He had started having breathing problems and being hoarse, which we found out he had became allergic to everything that makes up TX. He takes Singular and Zyrtec on a daily basis and is also taking allergy shots every two weeks. He hasn't had any side effects. His healthy, strong, hasn't developed any behavior problems nor mood swings and he's active in sports. Some allergies can lead to Asthma, which I think is a precaution your doctor is taking. Some younger children, it can take longer for them to actually be diagnoised with Asthma.

My oldest, which is 9, I noticed right away when I brought him home from the hospital that something was wrong with his breathing by the way his chest was moving. He was diagnoised with Asthma at 2 months. He took breathing treatment for 3 years and for 6 years have been taking Singular, Zyrtec and his Flexhaler Pulmicort on a daily basis. He too is healthy, strong, no side effects, no behavioral problems nor mood swings and is active in sports and has made "A" Honor Roll since 1st Grade.

I would say give him the treatments. My daughter suffers from allergies and asthma and the treatments do wonders. I do however caution against doing it at bedtime. Sometimes the nebulizer can cause some kids to become hyper. For this reason I sneak in when she is sleeping and just hold the mask to her face but she is also just 19 months.

That does sound like an early age to be giving meds daily. Doctors have been wrong before, that's why they have malpractice insurance! Can you get a second opinion?

Do some internet research on Singular to be sure that you are comfortable with this treatment. Many doctors aren't aware of the side affects of meds, maybe you should talk to a pharmacist too. I have found that pharmacists are much more educated on meds because that is all they do...give out meds.

You should also know that what you are cleaning your house with could be adding to your son's problems. Many reputable health organizations (like the World Health Organization) have done research on the cleaning chemicals in our homes, and found that they could be causing the mass increase of asthma/allergies. Bleach, ammonia, formaldehyde, and other TOXIC chemicals are known to cause upper respiratory problems, yet we still bring them into our homes, and use them blindly. If you would like to know how to convert your home to safer products that could help your son and save you money, send me a private message, and we can talk about how to get those toxic chemicals out of your home.

My daughter has asthma related allergies and is currently taking Singular. I do not like my kids being on medicine long term but sometimes it is very necessary. I also was very hesitant and changed my mind. My doc explained that asthma may damage the lungs. This will present itself as a bigger problem when they are older. Sometimes the illness itself has long term effects as well. Hope this helps.

only your dr will know what is best for your child.
Now a moms advice my 6 yr.old has a nebulizer.We don't need it daily but it does help when he uses it.
Now regarding the Singular.My son was on it daily for years and we had no problem with it.
His DR. wouldn't give us anymore refills of it .The reason is 3 people(I don't know the ages) have killed themselves because of the effects of how Singular made them feel. Our dr. said she couldn't "in good faith" keep prescribing it. She did put him on Zyrtec.Good Luck.

Follow the Drs. orders. I have asthma and allergies and I have never suffered as much as I have when I moved to Austin. If he is doing both of these then your child needs the help. These medications aren't life long. He can grow out of these problems BUT controlling them and treating them when he is young will help.

There are 'natural" things you can do to help but don't skip the meds.

If you don't suffer from this then you can only imagine how frustrating it is not to get a breath.

Good luck. Remember that some medications you do need. Think about it like diabetes, you need meds to regulate your sugars...here you need meds to regulate your breath.

My son has the same problem and he is 4. His problems started at 8 weeks of age.

NOW, I totally understand about not wanting to overmedicate your kids, I really don't like it either. But, I do this by not always feeding him tons of Tylenol if he has a slight fever or skipping the cough medicine if he just has the sniffles.

BUT NEVER SKIP

the Singulair or his nebulizer. Our family has a history of asthma! Doctors cannot and will not diagnose asthma in a child that young (insurance will not accept it). Instead they call it "reactive airway disease". The nebulizer will keep your little one's lungs clear and help them breathe. More people actually die from asthma related problems every year because they didn't "think" it was an emergency. When a BIG asthma attack happens, you cannot breath and that really is scary. Please do NOT get picky about the breathing treatments!!!
My ex used to not give my son his breathing treatments because he didn't "think my son really needed them". UNTIL he had a HUGE ASTHMA ATTACK at his house. It really stinks that my son had to go through all of the trauma of that before his father would take care of him, but now he NEVER skips a treatment!

Have you heard of NAET? www.naet.com
They have a few practicioners here in Austin.

They work with pressure points in your body to cure you of allergies (food as well as grass and pollen-related things)
I've been going for years and it works. :)

My allergy to dogs never came back and my allergy to grass only came back once in 5 years. I just had it cured again a few month ago. I plan to brings both my kids in soon. My son is badly allergicic to artificial colors and my daughter to dairy.

Hi V.,
We started our son on Singulair when he was 4 and wish we had tried it sooner. He went from constantly being sick to 2 time a year. I don't what you are giving in the neb, but my Dr, said not give Pulmicort. They are kinda like the same type of drug. Sometimes giving Zyrtec along with the Singulair is quite helpful with combating allergies! You could probally use Xopenex with that. But yes daily treatments can be very beneficial for them. I usually don't give it during the summer months and start back up in September.
Good luck,
K.

My daughter too has bad allergies and takes singulair every night before we go to bed. She also takes two allergy shots each week, and honestly since she has been taking these medications (past 8mths) her condition has gotten extremely better! We do sometimes take a breathing treatment if she is getting a cold, etc., and they do help if you do them routinely. My daughter for one has a hard time taking the breathing treatment, it is usually a battle, so we do not do them routinely. I do recommend you to give them to your child as often as you can, if she will let you, as there are good results that will come out of it. The only side affect I have noticed is sometimes the medicine you give in the breathing treatment makes the child hyper, so I suggest avoiding them right before going to bed. Hope this helps! Good Luck!

V.-I agree with Lorene. I've had my son on Singulair for a year now and while it has helped to keep allergies and ear infections down, my husband and I just recently decided to look into other alternatives. Two children committed suicide while on the drug recently and the drug company is going to start a 9 month trial on Singulair. My husband Googled "Singulair-suicide" and found a page with alarming testimonials(i.e. a 5-year old talking about "not wanting to be in this life anymore." When off the drug, he thanked his Mommy because he "didn't have those feelings inside him anymore.") I've heard there's a good alternative medicine doctor in Wimberley. Check out the alternatives.

I understand your concerns as a mother of a 2.5 year old who has been on a nebulizer since about 12 months old. She has severe asthama. We have been to numerous doctors and the one docotor we saw a pulmonoligist in houston. Explained to me that the steriods in the inhalers and also the Singular. Would only afffect their growth at first but if you compare to twins and gave one the steriods and the other one nothing one may grow more than the other but in the end when they are 16 both will end up the same. So I believe as being also a child with severe allergies and asthama at 18 months old I have seen no adverse effects in myself. I hope this information helps. Best of luck!!!

I, too, worry about unnecessary medications, but I don't have a problem with daily nebulizer treatments and Singular for kids with asthma and allergies. Breathing issues really need to be kept in check. I would much rather have my child on daily preventative meds (I assume you are using albuterol in the nebulizer?) than skip the daily meds and end up needing more serious medications (steroids, etc.) when the breathing problems get out of control. Daily preventatives like Singular are allowing kids with breathing problems to lead much healthier and fuller childhoods than they would have had a generation ago.