Anyone else have a child with autism and asthma?

[2mum]

Ive just found out my son has asthma and theres a lot i dont know about it. Does anyone have a child with asthma and if so did they have to get rid of their pets? As i wouldnt keep them if i thought they were putting him at risk. TIA

[jenk1]

hi,
both mine have asthma DS -who has AS and DD who has ASD, we got rid of the dog to the inlaws but the asthma didnt really get any better so he came back!!!

The biggest change that worked for us was getting rid of carpets downstairs and in the kids bedroom, well not DS he wouldnt let us cos he hates change but DD sleeps much better at night.

Also, a lot of chemical cleaners can set off asthma and eczema which they both have so i tend to use things from the simple green range.

I always have the front room windown open slightly even in winter as when it gets too stuffy that can bring on an attack.

HTH

[COPPERfeelunderSantasTOP]

My 2 boys have ASD and asthma. We don't have any pets (and didn't have before either) so I'm not much help there. All I know is that pets have never triggered my own asthma.

Could you arrange allergy testing to find out if your ds might be allergic to animals? I know it's probably lot more difficult to do when a child is autistic but it might help you to decide.

Does your GP's surgery have an asthma nurse you can talk to? Ours is excellent at keeping an eye on things and keeping up-to-date with new inhalers etc.

[sphil]

DS2 has ASD and asthma - though the dx is a bit debatable because he only ever gets it when he has a cold - there don't seem to be any other triggers, even though he has multiple allergies which trigger his eczema.

We can now control it most of the time with inhalers - Ventolin and Becotide (steroid) - though I don't like using them as they make some of his autistic traits worse and play havoc with his bowels.

[COPPERfeelunderSantasTOP]

Ds1 and ds2 don't seem to have any triggers other than colds either.

Ds2 seems almost addicted to his inhalers (brown and blue) and gets upset that he's not allowed more. They used to make him hyper but that's worn off now.

[2mum]

Thanks for the messages. The signs of asthma were beginning to show even before we got our dog so thats probably not the trigger. He was wheezing weeks ago and the doctor said it could be a one off or if it keeps happening its asthma and unfortunately it is asthma. He does have a carpet in his room so I`ll probably get rid of that after christmas. He doesnt like the inhaler, ive got one of them aerochamber things and dh has to more or less restrain ds and i have to try and hold it over his face long enough so he gets some. He really fights like mad to kick me off him. I have been looking forward to this year being over, i wasnt expecting poor ds to develop asthma as well. I will have to find out about allergy testing as im not sure if they do it on the nhs?

[sphil]

2mum, DS2 used to do this too and still pushes it away sometimes. What worked was to keep doing it and give him a reward straight afterwards. We also count the breaths out loud and because he likes counting it seems to help him accept it. Good luck - I know just how you feel about wishing the winter over!