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What Causes Recurring Cough And Wheezing In A Child?

Posted on Sat, 9 Aug 2014

Question: My son(age:6 years) very frequently getting cough and wheezing . Sometimes he feels difficult in taking breath. Doctor suggested to have Kidpred for his problem. Sometimes we are using this medicine with out doctor consulation as he is suffering difficult in breathing. Whenever we use this medicine he gets cure out of wheezing problem. But I am worried about whether we can use this medicine on frequent basis. Are there any alternate medicine for this problem instead of using this steriod. also I would like to know what triggers this wheezing problem, is it due to food allergy or dust allergy.

Answered by Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (26 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
This looks like asthma and there are alternatives

Detailed Answer:
Hi...Thank you for consulting in Health Care magic. Greetings from XXXXXXX

By what you quote I feel what your son is having is asthma. Please don't feel that I am being blunt, but rather than using frequent steroids it is better to have a label and follow up more simpler alternatives than using steroids which are associated with complications.
I have a few questions and suggestions for you -

Questions:
1. How many days per month does he cough or feel breathless?
2. How many nights per month does his sleep get disturbed due to above symptoms?
3. Does he feel breathless when he runs around or plays with other kids?
4. Are the symptoms when there are seasonal changes?
5. Is there any family history of asthma or any other sort of allergies like skin allergy etc.?

Suggestions:
1. You cannot use the medicines frequently and that too on your own, steroids are associated with complications.
2. There are certainly alternative management therapies in allopathy now a days. medicine has advanced a lot and not asthma is 100% controllable.
3. Inhalers are the newest management strategies for this.
4. Triggers can be environmental changes/ dust/ talcum powder/ seasonal changes/ un-cleaned a/c vents/ cold weather etc....we can specifically say this is the cause - unless we observe the kid closely - best person is the parent.

Hope my answer was helpful for you. I am happy to help any time. Further clarifications and consultations on Health care magic are welcome. If you do not have any clarifications, you can close the discussion and rate the answer. Wish your kid good health.
Dr. Sumanth MBBS., DCH., DNB (Paed).,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj

Follow up: Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (4 days later)

Dear Doctor,
Please find my answers as below for your queries and kindly guide what could be the reason for wheezing and suggest how this can be sorted out.

1. How many days per month does he cough or feel breathless?
Ans: Not in every month. mostly he gets wheezing problem whenever season change happens. expecially during winter season and rainy season. I could say once in three months or four months

2. How many nights per month does his sleep get disturbed due to above symptoms?
Ans: two to three days in every three to four months
3. Does he feel breathless when he runs around or plays with other kids?
Ans: Normally he plays well without any breathing problems. But when wheezing attacks he can not play at all.
4. Are the symptoms when there are seasonal changes?
Ans: As per our observations, wheezing attacks for him during season change in winter and rainy season. Also we observed that whenever he eats ground nuts, wheezing triggers.
5. Is there any family history of asthma or any other sort of allergies like skin allergy etc.?
Ans: My brother and also my wife have dust allergy. But not wheezing problem.

Thanks and Regards,
XXXX

Answered by Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
This is asthma

Detailed Answer:
HI...thanks for the trust in me.

What your kid is having is moderate persistent asthma. He will require regular inhalers (metered dose inhalers) and these are of 2 types -
1. Preventers - to be used regularly whether he has symptoms or not
2. Rescuers - inhalers which are used only when an attack comes.

For his age and severity assessment based on what you have quoted, I suggest using Foracort 100 2 puffs morning and night regularly and Levolin inhaler whenever there is an attack. Thee have to be used along with a spacer device and this the best we can do for him now. But these inhalers and spacer device need to be taught how to use them and you should be in regular follow up with your paediatrician or pulmonologist. I suggest you seek professional help directly regarding the technique of delivering medicine by spacer device and inhaler.

I wish your kid a speedy recovery. If you need any future medical consultation and suggestions, I will be glad to help. You can approach me at the following link. Please find the link below.
www.healthcaremagic.com/doctors/dr-sumanth-amperayani/67696

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Follow up: Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (14 hours later)

Dear Doctor,

Thank you so much for your suggestions.

Answered by Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Thank you

Detailed Answer:
I wish your kid a speedy recovery. If you need any future medical consultation and suggestions, I will be glad to help. You can approach me at the following link. Please find the link below.
www.healthcaremagic.com/doctors/dr-sumanth-amperayani/67696

Note: For further information on diet changes to reduce allergy symptoms or to boost your immunity, Ask here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Ashwin Bhandari