anyone's child have excema then go on to have asthma - symptoms? age?

[yentil]

dd2 had excema which is now either gone or well controlled. now she had a cold about 3 weeks ago which we all had, but now has a persitent cough, sometimes chesty sometimes dry, mainly in the morning.

CM has suggested she maybe asthmatic. how would i know. about a week ago the Dr listened to her chest and said it was clear.

what should i do now. anyone had a child with excema who then went on to get asthma. at what age did this happen and how did you cope?

[yentil]

bump

[Cappuccino]

I would trust doc rather than CM tbh

if you are concerned go back

[jeangenie]

gp recently told me that these two are often linked and to watch out for asthma in my youngest who has excema

hope your dd is ok - go to gp again and explain your concerns, things can develop in a week

[Dior]

Message withdrawn

[Mercy]

My db had exzema from a very young age and then went on to develop asthma (and hayfever). He was around 2 iirc when the asthma was diagnosed - the exzema hadn't gone though.

The two conditions can be linked but equally a cough can last for 3/4 weeks after a cold.

How old is your dd? Is there any history of either condition in your families?

[Mercy]

eczema, even

[BernieBear]

Sorry - same here. Ds had excema from 6 weeks old. He is now 3.6 and we are off to see Asthma nurse tomorrow as he has a persistant cough and wheeze

[yentil]

dd is 2years 2 months and we have family history of hayfever (me) asthma and excema (DH).

oh dear I am worried now

[Mumfie68]

DS had eczema from about 4 weeks, found out about the severe milk allergy at 2 months, then he developed asthma at 3 months. He was always a snuffly baby, then one day when I was changing him I realised that he was more than just stuffed up with snot, his lips were a bit blue. If it's any consolation, it's well under control now (he's 6) and whilst at first we had a rough time (countless emergency admissions to hospital), I can't remember the last time he was badly wheezy.

[pointydog]

yentil, yes.

dd2 had very bad eczema from birth. ALmost cleared by the time she turned 6. Developed asthma pretty much as soon as we were over worst of eczema. Hers is also triggered by teh cold virus.

Bit of hayfever too.

[singersgirl]

DS1 had eczema as a baby on face and limbs. It was almost gone by 2 except for a persistent patch by his mouth. He developed asthma at 3.5, and has one or two episodes a year, usually associated with a cold or with eating large quantities of highly coloured, flavoured and artificially preserved foods (eg low-sugar squash).

[pointydog]

Speak to your gp. They don't like to diagnose too quickly (fair enough) so might talk about bronchial coughs etc but they will monitor it.

[MetalMummy]

DS1 had eczema from 8weeks old, from about 18mths he would get wheezy when he had a cold and then when he was 2yrs 2mths we had to call an ambulance for him because he was having serious problems catching his breath. At the hospital he was put on a nebuliser and we were given a blue inhaler (reliever) for him but we were told that he was too young to be diagnosed with asthma so on his medical records it just says he was wheezy. Over the next few months he had a few "wheezy" episodes 2 of which he had to have prednisalone for, until about 7 months later we saw a different Doctor at our practice who said that he definitely had asthma and gave him a brown inhaler (preventer) too. At 2yrs 6mths DS1 had his first bout of hayfever too and when his hayfever is bad his asthma is worse.
Speak to your GP about it but I doubt you will get a diagnosis of asthma until she has been wheezy a few times.

[Mumfie68]

It's odd how people are saying that they're reluctant to diagnose asthma; I was told DS almost certainly had asthma the first time he was wheezy - I was convinced it was bronchiolitis as two other babies in the village had it too. Maybe because we were in hospital, or maybe because of the eczema/allergy too - the so-called 'allergic march'.

[chloesmumtoo]

To be honest my dd was rattley from the start.I always remember everyone worrying whilst they fed her and felt her back. She had eczema from a couple weeks old. This then gradually became worse to the stage of wet wraps. She always rattled and wheezed. Used to get nothing but chest infections and ended up on the nebulizer a number of times. They never done much about it and just always called her a wheezy baby and then it changed later to 'having asthmatic tendancies' so I was given ventolin for at home. Frustrating. Then she became peanut allergic and finally had a really bad breathing problem after a cold and had to be rushed to the emergency dr again. She came home in as bad a state as she went and I really new nothing as to how to help her. Awful. They prescribed the preventer during that episode and now its still used everyday. She doesnt seem to have much problem now from asthma but on the daily medication its meant to help. It only ever seemed to take hold with having colds. I then give her an extra puff morning and night at the on set of a cold. She was probably three ish by the time they finally gave her the preventor. Since then I discovered they had an asthma nurse all along and all I had to do was to make an appointment and she would talk me through everything I needed to know but why they never told me this along time ago I never knew. ARH makes you so cross.

[pointydog]

mum, if she was in hospital due to breathing difficulties the, yes, I'd've thought they'd diagnose asthma pretty quickly.

[Isababel]

GP told me that one in every 4 children with eczema will develop asthma.

DS was sent to hospital being one month old because GP suspected asthma. Obviously, at that age it's almost impossible to know for sure. The child can't be tested for it (as such) until she/he is 4-5 years old. But that doesn't necesarily mean that asthma wont present itself before then.

DS was prescribed his first inhaler being about 1 yr old. He had been wheezing long before then, actually, for as long as we remember.

He had severe eczema from around 3m old to probably 18m old, the eczema has been very much under control since then although we kept him under the same moisturisers etc for a couple of years afterwards (eczema returned as soon as we stopped)

[Heartmum2Jamie]

If it makes you feel any better, my ds2 had severe eczema from 5 months although it is very well controlled now. He also has mutliple food allergies. There is a family history of asthma and hayfever (me) but ds2 (aged 3.3) has not gone on to develop asthma (yet). I was told by his paed and GP that his chances are high of developing it, but it is not guaranteed and he may be one of the lucky ones who do not get all 3. I am vigilant and make sure he sees a dr if he gets a cough he can't seem to shift.

I am pleased that they are not always quick off the mark to diagnose asthma. If they had done that with my ds, it wouldn't have made a jot of difference as any wheeziness he had was later found to be due to his heart. Now he breathes quite loudly and always sounds like he has a slight wheeze, but his chest is always clear, so we were told it was most likely due to trauma from surgery and being on the vent/being re-intubated after 5 hours off it. I think I would be able to tell if it changes from his normal wheeze to the wheeze of asthma, as he currently makes noise on the in breath and I believe asthma is on the out breath. Is this true? (I was diagnosed as asthmatic, but it seems different to every other asthmatic I have met) I wouldn't want to wait until he turns blue

[yentil]

what changes should i make now she is possibly ashmatic? I have a humidifier in her room at night which seems to help stop the coughing. should i get an air puifie. there is little carpet in the house and i have always tried to keep dust to a minimum. any tips?

should i ask for a referal?

i have given her the ventolin a couple of times but not really convinced the slight improvement i have noticed is due to that because she was kind of geting better already. also i cannot hear the wheeze myself but dr said it was an expiratory wheeze

[pointydog]

so she's been prescribed ventolin?

[Eliza2]

If she does have asthma, having a humidifier in the room wouldn't necessarily help (though it would with croup, for example, are you sure this isn't what she's got?). Lots of children are allergic to dust mites and this is why they wheeze. Mites need moisture to survive. They die in dry conditions.
In fact, lots of people with asthma invest in dehumidifiers. I've also read that carpets can be BETTER than wooden floors for controlling dust, as they tend to keep it at ground level, whereas, with a wooden floor, more dust circulates.

If she does get asthma, it can often be easily managed. My two both have asthma and they are good cross-country runners, for example, and enjoy lots of sports. We know the climactic conditions likely to trigger their asthma (wet and windy) and I make sure they take their preventers around this time (and, indeed, when they're had colds or when the farmers have cut the crops and released lots of dust into the air).

[Mustdobetter]

Atopy - hypersensitivity to a variety of allergens - can result in any one or any combo of asthma, hayfever, eczema and other allergic reactions to foods, for example. My DS developed moderate to severe eczema at 8 weeks, which improved dramatically at around 4 y. Food allergies became apparent as soon as he started to wean onto solids and many of those resolved at around 4 y but he still has a number of allergies. Developed hayfever at 2.5 y. Diagnosed w/ asthma at 7 y but had had a cough for months and in fact the same symptoms were there at various times since he was 4 y. He has a daily preventer now and invariably has to use a reliever too whenever he gets a cold. He also has allergy to something else we haven't yet identified possibly food, possibly dust/pollen, maybe all of them that makes him almost permanently congested, and this all makes him more liable to asthma attacks. Asthma symptoms and triggers vary between sufferers my DS doesn't usually wheeze as such, but he coughs and in a bad attack his heart rate increases and breathing is rapid and shallow. Definitely see your doctor, if for nothing more than a good check-up and reassurance it's not worth letting your child suffer a problem that can prevent them from sleeping well and that can suddenly worsen if exposed to the 'right' triggers.

A good site for info on asthma is www.noattacks.org/index.html. Boots also do a little booklet (~£6) on asthma and if your child does have asthma then a peak flow meter (Mini-Wright) can be extremely useful to help you monitor things.