Hi,

Thanks for writing to health care magic.

I can understand your problem.

Avoidance of the allergen is the best solution in such a scenario. But most of the times it is very difficult to identify.

How many episodes of cough does your daughter have during a month? How many times her night sleep is disturbed because of this during a month?
Does she have any audible wheeze or sound produced along with the cough?

Is there any family history of bronchial asthma? Is there any family history of other allergies?
Does she have recurrent fever?

Please answer my queries so that I can help you better.

Waiting for your reply.
Take care.
Dr Y V Siva Sankara Murty
M.D.(Pediatrics)
Associate Professor of Pediatrics

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Hi XXXXXXX

She seems to be having allergic rhinitis and cough variant of bronchial asthma.

So during a episode of allergic rhinitis she needs to take antihistaminics to prevent and decrease the discharge from the nose and those sneezing she is having.

To prevent further episodes of these allergic rhinitis you need to use steroid nasal sprays. They help in prevention of further attacks.

For that cough she is having you need to give bronchodilator inhalation through a meter dose inhaler when she has those episodes.
After a particular episode is controlled she needs to be given budesonide inhaler etc as prescribed by your doctor. These will prevent further episodes. Monterleukast as prescribed by your doctor may also be useful.

If you find any particular food substance that is really aggravating the problem then you should avoid it. Avoid colored substances (food substances with added artificial colors).

Give your child a balanced diet XXXXXXX in fruits and vegetables. Even though there are lot of claims that certain foods may decrease allergy but clear scientific evidence for the same is lacking. So give her a balanced diet.

Those sprays and inhalations are required as advised by your doctor to prevent those frequent attacks and decrease constant suffering for your kid.

Hope this helps.
Take care.

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Hi XXXXXXX

No the steroid nasal sprays and bronchodilators are not harmful if properly used.

Infact if the child continues to suffer then that could be more harmful.

The main problem in bronchial asthma is narrowing of airways through which we breath. They get narrowed because of the allergic reaction. Because of this narrowing air flow gets diminished and the child suffers. So these bronchodilators dilate these airways and improve the airflow. This is what that happens in a acute episode.
When there is no acute episode and the child is symptom free those steroid inhalers prevent the attack by reducing the inflammation. Since they are directly inhaled their dosage is minimal and you need not worry about it. But your child continues to suffer without these medications then that will have effect on her growth and day to day life. This is definitely harmful.

In allergic rhinitis also when you give medications during a acute episode they help in relief of symptoms. Again the steroid nasal sprays will reduce inflammation and prevent further episodes.

What I am speaking of is science and research based. Please do not let your daughter suffer because of myths or wrong notions (I am sorry to mention these words).

Vitamins have no role in this allergy associated conditions. Vitamins play a role when the body is deficient in them. Allergy is bodies over reaction to a particular allergen.

Who ever told you that those sprays are harmful may not be a real knowledgeable person. So based on that do not let your child suffer.

Please continue to ask further queries so that I can help you better.

Take care.

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