Homeopathic treatments and asthma in 8 year old.

[cindersrella]

So my 8 year old has asthma and the pollen count has made it horrendous. She has managed for several month with her Clenil modulate (brown) inhaler and her ventolin (blue) inhaler as needed. Last month was terrible as he tree pollen started to increase and she ended up having a five day course of oral steroids.

She is now taking montelukast 5mg meds, Clenil modulate, plus certirizine (antihistamine).

Her asthma has settled and is much more controlled.

However whenever she starts taking the montelukast her mood/temper/tolerance declines terrible.

I hate these meds but without them she has asthma attacks and cannot cope. I will not take her off them until the weather and pollen settles and I speak to the GP about this..

Does anyone have any experience in homeopathy meds?

Where abouts are you? I can see if there is a low cost homeopathic clinic. She would need constitutional treatment. You can try it alongside conventional meds.

My ds was unable to take Montelukast and dd2 had awful side effects (we are a very atopic family!) - they were prescribed Seretide (for ds) and Serevent (for dd2), and their asthma symptoms have been under control since.

I wouldn't bother with homeopathy, but I would ask your asthma nurse or paediatrician if there are any alternative action plans.

A nice summary of the effectiveness of homeopathy:

My GP said there are no alternative meds to Montelukast?

Get a second opinion. I doubt there are no other options. If there are substantial side effects then surely that is a reason to try other options.

I would also check that these are actually known side effects of that medicine and not just your DD being unhappy when her asthma flares up.

In my area in Scotland homeopathy is given on the NHS and the doctor who does it is a trained medical doctor. I have taken both my sons with different issues and it has worked well so have to disagree with most of the posts and say it would be worth a try. I would not consider it as an alternative to the current treatment as that would be dangerous but could be tried as a complementary therapy.

There are some GPs in every area who will prescribe homeopathic medicine. There was a fascinating recent study showing that GPs who do this are poorer across the board in their prescribing habits and more likely to prescribe other treatments that are proven to be ineffective.

I would however press my GP very hard on getting a specialist opinion on the side effects and any other options there mIght be.

Sorry it’s not clear from your OP, does your GP know about these side effects? Have you discussed it yet, because if not please make an appointment asap. Mood swings (and worse manifestations of that) are both rare and serious. If the GP knows I’m very surprised they are not looking for alternatives. There might not be another LTRA (zafirlukast has been discontinued) but there are potentially other ways to tackle this like nasal sprays, changing the asthma medication itself etc.

OP, you mentioned that you don't know anything about homeopathy and are asking because you, understandably want to help your daughter.

Sorry if you know this already, but homeopathy is just one branch of alternative medicine/treatment, which as you can see by the responses, is as effective as placebo.
There are many other alternative / complementary treatments, of varying efficacy, such as acupuncture, nutrition and herbal remedies. If you want to know more about these it might be worth reposting without the 'homeopathy' in the question as it is a bit of a red rag to a bull on here. Some people have mentioned other alternatives already, but I am sure there is more info out there which may help your daughter.

PS although homeopathic medicine is inactive, the placebo effect does actually help to heal many conditions - the brain is a powerful and mysterious organ. But obviously would be totally inappropriate for your daughters asthma.
And just as if the brain thinks it is getting medicine it can sometimes heal what is wrong ; scientists have recently identified the 'nocebo' effect that if you are told about a medicines side effects you are more likely to experience them. Leading to a moral dilemma : obviously doctors have to warn patients of potential side effects but by doing so they are more likely to suffer...

Sorry, bit of a tangent there, just I find this stuff fascinating.
Hope your daughters asthma improves. ( fake ones so no pollen )

We are in same situation, ds 10 is back on montelukast, antihistamines, inhalers and eyedrops. He's much worse during hay fever season and gp said after montelukast we are looking at paediatrician referral as that's everything he can prescribe. I'm sure he's grumpy and more irritable but what else can we do! I'm mildly asthmatic and I'm struggling so know how bad he must feel🙁
There is a better antihistamine but without getting up again I can't remember name. Good luck

She has a potentially life threatening condition. Homeopathy has no place here.

Thankyou all for replying to me. I am learning a lot about asthma as I go along, I do the showering, windows closed, her bedroom door shut, no drying outside etc all the time. Teddies are to a minimal too.

Her diet she is really good with and eats what i tell her is good for her asthma foods etc.

She is a real sports outside loving girl so she is topped up with antihistamine as prescribed

Her GP knows about her moods and changes when taking meds too. She also finds it difficult to sleep which is another side effect. I go around in circles with it!

I am learning from what everyone says the homeopathic treatment isn't for her too so Thankyou all.

I am hoping that with age she grows out of it. I am sorry to hear other are suffering too but also relieved in a way it's not just us with the struggles.

I am a member of the asthma uk website and that's brilliant. I will call there helpline though and speak to an adviser regarding it too. 😃