Experience with Albuterol and Flovent Inhaler?

Discussion in 'The Toddler Years(1-3)' started by stephe, Oct 30, 2007.

  1. stephe

    stephe Well-Known Member

    Cooper has had a cough that has been going on for almost 3 months now and we have visited the Pedi a few times to address it. Finally this past Friday she prescribed him Inhaler meds. I'm just wondering how these worked for others and if you saw improvement?

    Short History

    RSV- a mild case in April

    1st Visit in Aug- When it all started. The Pedi that saw him said it was a bad head cold and just prescribed some Cough Syrup(tend to agree with this dx)

    2nd Visit in Sept- Still coughing and having hard time sleeping. Pedi said it was a Sinus Infection and lungs sounded ok. Gave Omniceft

    3rd Visit in Oct- Routine visit for Vax but asked about the coughing again b/c still had it. She said probably allergies b/c of the night coughing and gave him Zyrtec. Night coughing got some better.

    4th Visit- last Friday. He was coughing so bad at night that he was gagging and puking. Could barely sleep for the dry hacking cough he had. She said he was wheezing and prescribed Flovent Inhaler and Albuterol Inhaler. Taking both twice a day until cough is gone. Then he will just take Flovent once a day all Winter.

    I could notice a difference right away. The first night he had very minimal coughing. He still is coughing some but instead of a dry/hacking cough it's a wet cough. I think this may be b/c the mucous it breaking up?

    I'm just wondering how these worked for others and if you saw improvement? We just want some answers for the poor guy.

    Good news is he LOVES the inhaler/mask combo. He thinks it's a game to count to 7 while using it and gets all excited :)
     
  2. i4get

    i4get Well-Known Member

    Hey girl! Jonah has been using Flovent since May or so. It has definitely helped. He's also taking Singular (so is Morgan). I do think they are both getting some relief finally. Morgan still has a bit of a cough, so I may be talking to his pulmonologist (Dr. Gwinn near the hospital) about putting Morgan on Flovent as well. Not sure if I told you this or not but Dr. Gwinn says that the cough is just as bad a sign of asthma as the wheezing is. She also mentioned the "Triple A" - Asthma, Allergies, and Atypical Dermatisis (aka excema). She said these three typically go hand in hand. I can't remember if Cooper or Eli had the excema.

    Yes, I have noticed a difference in the boys and their cough. Jonah especially. He rarely gets coughs anymore. Morgan still gets them but that might be only because he's only been on the Singular for a few weeks now. We're doing Zyrtec for both (at night) since they both seem to have a lot of drainage right now.

    I'm so glad Cooper likes the spacer! Mine hate it! It's like holding down a greased pig to get Jonah. That boy is crazy strong! LOL!

    Good luck, I hope it continues to help. If not, I'd get a referral to Dr. Gwinn. She is great. Shannon
     
  3. Minette

    Minette Well-Known Member

    We used these in a similar situation last spring. Sarah had a cough for over a month and it just wasn't going away. (It wasn't actually bothering her that much, but it was keeping me awake!) When we started using the inhaler, her cough was better within 3 days, and went away completely after about 5 days. We quit the albuterol when she stopped coughing (per ped's instructions), but kept using the Flovent until May 1, which he said was the end of cold season.

    You are so lucky that he likes it! Sarah liked to hold & play with the mask, but to get her to actually breathe through it, we had to immobilize her. She had a bruise on her cheekbone the whole time that we were using it, because we had to press it against her face so hard to keep her from pulling away. :( I don't look forward to doing it again this winter!

    Sarah was not diagnosed with asthma (at least not yet) but with reactive airway disease (RAD), which is basically a catch-all diagnosis (as I understand it) for kids who tend to get a cough every time they get a virus. The ped said he doesn't diagnose asthma in children under 2, because it's too soon to tell if it's a chronic condition or just a bad reaction to a cold.
     
  4. juliereynolds42

    juliereynolds42 Well-Known Member

    One of my 2 year old twins was on Flovent/albuterol for a year because she has BPD/chronic lung disease. One thing that helped with the mask was to let her use it a couple of times on her baby doll. Giving her a chance to use it on "someone" made her more willing to let us use it on her.

    I don't know how common this is, but while she was on the flovent she had a really reduced appetite and didn't gain very much weight while she was on it. During the year she was on it (11 months old to 23 months old) she only gained 3 lbs. Has anyone else had experience with this?
     
  5. stephe

    stephe Well-Known Member

    Julie- Ugh I haven't heard that about the weight gain. I would like to see if others have experienced that too. Cooper is already the scrawny one :)

    Shannon- I a dummy when it comes to what a Pulmonologist does! Can they check for allergies? Cooper does have some small patches of Excema but it has never acted like it bothers him at all. I can just feel the raised spots. We had milk allergies in the early days( or so we think) and used spec formula like you guys did. Did Dr Gwinn diagnose Jonah with Asthma? Do you know if she needs a referral for sure? When his cough started to get better did you notice it turning into a wet cough? She also gave him an antibiotic Friday b/c she said he had an EI too( I had no idea!)

    You guys are making me feel lucky that he likes it so much!!! He loves Gadgets and praises. So to have a gadget and get claps for it rocks his world!
     
  6. summerfun

    summerfun Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    My oldest DD started using an inhaler at 22 months old. She was diagnosed with mild persistent asthma. Even to this day when she gets a cough it goes straight to her chest and we start the inhaler-albuterol. Our ped will give her flovent to use nightly if we have had to use the inhaler at least 3 times for a cough.

    The albuterol inhaler usually does the trick for my DD. Good luck. She loved the mask too when she was younger. :)
     
  7. 4jsinPA

    4jsinPA Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    We use Xoponex/Flovent inhalers every night. We are supposed to be doing it twice a day but for now it has been doing great just at night. When he is sick we do it twice a day. He has made TREMENDOUS improvement since before he was on it. He has been on them for about a year. They have truly been a lifesaver for us. He was not diagnosed with Asthma, but reactive airway disease. He had a narrow airway too so this has been a huge helper!

    I have NOT heard that about the weight....Mitchell is the scrawny one too who has had nothing but issues with gaining weight.....and now that you are mentioning that...it all started at the same time he was put on the flovent....crap..thats interesting..I will look into that..where did you hear that?
     
  8. monie rose

    monie rose Well-Known Member

    Sorry that your baby has to use them. My son Trent got his first asthma attack 12 years ago this week. When he first started using the inhalers it didn't seem to work, but after a couple of weeks of using the daily inhaler he improved, but he would need to go to the hospital for breathing treatments when he would get a cold with a cough or if he was around allergens. Now because he gets flu shots, we keep him away from allergens as much as possible and he is growing out of the asthma things are so much better.

    I hope his breathing gets better!
     
  9. Minette

    Minette Well-Known Member

    QUOTE(juliereynolds42 @ Oct 30 2007, 05:09 PM) [snapback]473685[/snapback]
    One of my 2 year old twins was on Flovent/albuterol for a year because she has BPD/chronic lung disease. One thing that helped with the mask was to let her use it a couple of times on her baby doll. Giving her a chance to use it on "someone" made her more willing to let us use it on her.

    I don't know how common this is, but while she was on the flovent she had a really reduced appetite and didn't gain very much weight while she was on it. During the year she was on it (11 months old to 23 months old) she only gained 3 lbs. Has anyone else had experience with this?

    That is a great idea about the baby doll -- now that they are into dolls, I'm definitely going to try that.

    As far as the appetite, I didn't notice that with the Flovent specifically -- but their appetites have definitely decreased during that same time period (the second year). Neither of my kids has gained more than 5 lbs this year, I don't think. So it could just be the age, but if one of your kids had a noticeably smaller appetite than the other one, the Flovent could have been contributing to it.
     
  10. juliereynolds42

    juliereynolds42 Well-Known Member

    QUOTE(Minette @ Oct 30 2007, 07:55 PM) [snapback]473950[/snapback]
    That is a great idea about the baby doll -- now that they are into dolls, I'm definitely going to try that.


    It worked for their other medicine too. I give them an empty syringe so their babies can "take medicine" when they do. That mostly stops the screams, etc. even when I give them a "yucky" medicine.


    QUOTE
    As far as the appetite, I didn't notice that with the Flovent specifically -- but their appetites have definitely decreased during that same time period (the second year). Neither of my kids has gained more than 5 lbs this year, I don't think. So it could just be the age, but if one of your kids had a noticeably smaller appetite than the other one, the Flovent could have been contributing to it.



    Our pulmenologist told us that most kids using Flovent have an increased appetite, so it was unlikely. However, one of the noted side effects on the sheet that comes with the inhaler is failure to gain weight is one possible side effect. When we stopped using it (mostly because she wasn't growing) her appetite increased almost immediately and she has gained at least 3 lbs during the last 6 months. It could be a coincidence, but.... Its definitely something to keep an eye on.
     
  11. i4get

    i4get Well-Known Member

    QUOTE(stephe @ Oct 30 2007, 05:29 PM) [snapback]473728[/snapback]
    Shannon- I a dummy when it comes to what a Pulmonologist does! Can they check for allergies? Cooper does have some small patches of Excema but it has never acted like it bothers him at all. I can just feel the raised spots. We had milk allergies in the early days( or so we think) and used spec formula like you guys did. Did Dr Gwinn diagnose Jonah with Asthma? Do you know if she needs a referral for sure? When his cough started to get better did you notice it turning into a wet cough? She also gave him an antibiotic Friday b/c she said he had an EI too( I had no idea!)


    Yes, Dr. Gwinn diagnosed Jonah with asthma or just a chronic lung disease. You know, I never really asked. We were there and she prescribed us meds. I just labeled it asthma. DH had asthma as a child, so I'm pretty sure I'd answer that as a yes. Same for Morgan. If you have BCBS, you do not need a referral. I'd call your ped and tell them you want one just to cover the bases. Or just call their office directly and they'll tell you if you need one. And yes, you want the wet cough. That means it's coming up. Dr. Gwinn said not to use a cough suppressant unless they couldn't sleep because you want them to cough it up. Dr. Gwinn can get you in with an allergist. There's one right next to her office. I really trust her and felt like it was the right thing to get the appt (mind you I had to REALLY push my ped to get the appt :rolleyes: :angry: ). I don't see that ped anymore.

    As for the weight, I didn't know that but Jonah has now dropped just a little below his brother (and he was 1/2 lb bigger at birth). But he is just so much better that I'm not ready for him to come off of it. We'll see how the winter goes. That will be the true test. We're getting ready to hit the bad season, so I would recommend keeping him on it and seeing if you can keep the cough/cold at bay over the winter.

    Talk to you soon! Shannon
     
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