Hello,
Thank you for asking at HCM.
I went through your daughter's history and would like to know more about her as follows:
a. What is the amount of weight loss?
b. What are her anxiety symptoms?
c. What is the cause of her anxiety? Any particular stressful event?
d. What is frequency of her asthma symptoms? What are the symptoms of her asthma? Wheezing, difficulty in breathing, fast breathing? Does she have hyprventilation (related to anxiety)?
e. What are her nose symptoms - running nose, congestion, sneezing, etc?
f. What is frequency of vomiting? Does she have any other digestive symptoms -
constipation, stomach pain, etc?
g. Has she been investigated previously? What were the previous investigations?
Above details would help me to know about her and to make suggestions for her more specifically.
At present, from your provided details, I would suggest you as follows:
1. I would suggest her spirometry with post-
bronchodilator reversibility testing. It will help to confirm diagnosis of asthma as well as to know her lung capacity. Sometimes, an adolescent can have asthma-like symptoms due to anxiety, which will be diagnosed with spirometry testing.
2. Based on spirometry report, her doctor would also decide severity of her asthma. It will also help the doctor to decide whether she needs regular medications/inhalers or medications/inhalers for as-and-when-needed basis.
3. I would also suggest her allergy testing for common inhaled allergens (house dust mites, molds, pollens, animal dander, insect proteins, etc) and common food allergens (milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish, etc). This will help to know if she has allergies as well as to identify the substances causing allergies to her.
4. Weight loss is not a common feature of asthma-allergies. It could be due to
poor appetite related to anxiety or other causes. Please get her weight regularly monitored by her doctor, so if weight loss is significant, other disorders could be thought about.
5. I would suggest her regular use of antacids like ranitidine or omeprazole to reduce vomiting and gastritis symptoms.
6. For intermittent bruises (At present, I assume they are hives, can be confirmed only by doctor after direct examination), I would suggest her to take antihistamines like cetirizine or
levocetirizine and application of calamine lotion.
7. I would also suggest her a good multivitamin-multimineral supplement containing vitamin D, vitamin B complex (especially
folic acid &
vitamin B12), etc.
8. Please try to identify her stressor and try to remove it, if possible. A
psychologist consultation will help her to combat stress. Regular stress reduction strategies such relaxation and meditation may also help.
Hope above suggestions will be helpful to her.
Should you have any further query, please feel free to ask at HCM.
Wish her the best of the health ahead.
Thank you & Regards.