my 5 year old son is being treated for asthma i think its wrong ?

Question

he coughs all the time and has never had an asthma attack. he has a runny nose and is starting to be sick because he is coughing so much. what do you think i could be other than asthma.

Answer 1

be careful of the answers you might receive for this question because most of us here are not trained professionals and there is no way that we could diagnose your son... especially with the limited information that we have. you don't want to second guess here with your son's health.

Answer 2

He might have activity induced asthma. My 5 yr old got sick and had this really bad cough. It ended up staying around after her cold had disappeared. Then i noticed it was worse when she was outside playing and running around. Took her to the doc and they said she has activity induced asthma right now. (which more then likely will develop into regular asthma since her father and his whole family has asthma). She's taking xopenex right now since she is allergic to albuterol.

My daughter has never had an asthma attack either. But she coughs so much after being really active that she has trouble breathing.

You can always get a second opinion if you feel you need one. I've heard of people outgrowing asthma that they had as a child. My mom had it and does not have it as an adult.

If he coughs a lot, especially when he is not sick. I think it could be asthma developing. You don't always have to wheeze and all that to have asthma. A lot of times it starts as a cough after a chest cold.

Answer 3

You do not necessarily have to have an attack to suffer from asthma believe it or not (long term asthma sufferer) and coughs can be a symptom of asthma in small children. Having said that I would not hesitate and ask for a second opinion if you have any concerns or doubts about the treatment your son is receiving. Far better to find out now whether it truly is asthma or symptoms of something other than that.

Don't be afraid to ask for a second opinion. I know it can be so intimidating but don't be put off by your doctor.

Answer 4

Get a second doctors opinion, if you have any doubt.

Asthma medication should react fairly quickly, if does not change things, than he may have a serious bronchial infection that could be remedied with antibiotics.

Some asthma attacks appear to have coughing fits, but it is more a combination of choking and coughing.

I have suffered from asthma since I was a little kid, which was not correctly identified and I had to suffer for a long time before getting the right treatment.

Get a second opinion. (not from Yahoo)

Answer 5

My daughter has asthma and although she has never had a full blown asthma attack, coughing is one of her symptoms along with reduced lung capacity.

Sometimes asthma can be made worse when a child has a cold or is suffering an allergic reaction to something (runny nose etc)

The 'preventers' that are prescribed to minimise the symptoms of asthma can take a while to be effective.

Children that have eczema often develop asthma.

The best thing is to seek medical advice. If you are not convinced that the diagnosis you have is correct - try another doctor to seek further medical opinion.

Good luck with your quest.

Answer 6

Ask the doctor to check if he has hooping cough this causes coughing fits and if he has another coughing fit hold his arms above his head and if this helps then its possible he has it. Also being asthmatic myself since i was little (started off as a cold then I got diagnosed with asthma), When i get a cold I cough a lot and also a neighbours daughter has asthma and when she get a cold she to has thrown up while having a coughing fit but a few Puff's of her inhaler helps ease the cough.

Answer 7

It could be mild asthma, or just allergies of some sort. Does he get this way after running around? There is physically induced asthma. My son never really had full blown asthma but was taking something for his coughing that I noticed he got when he would move alot or have PE at school, etc...he never had an asthma attach either. .He has since grown out of it, but I always thought if its not asthma, then some sort of allergy. Have your pediatrician test him for the allergies first.

Answer 8

I have two boys with asthma they both take two pumps sometimes they are fine sometimes they are not. You need to remember to give your son his pump regularly especially his preventative pump. My younger son has a really nasty cough at the minute so he has to take some steroids as well. Neither of my boys have had an asthma attack (thank goodness). If you are not convinced though ask for a second opinion.

Answer 9

Constant coughing is a sign of asthma.

Although most people think that the full wheeze attack is the way that it manifests itself this is not necessarily the case.

The cough is caused by trying to clear the fluid in the bronchial tubes that is causing the irritation, the person may not wheeze because they can clear the fluid, but it is still caused by asthma, and needs medication to control it.

Answer 10

this could be croup, its similar to asthma, my son suffered with it as a child and it developed into asthma, it is important to have his breathing checked often, my son has started to grow out of it now, he goes to see a nurse at the doctors every 6 months, if controlled your child will stop coughing ask the doctor for a brown inhaler to be used twice a day to help prevent coughing

Answer 11

My son has been going through the same thing for a few years although when he did finaly have an asthmatic attack he was treated for it. He is only 4 and has realy bad broncial coughs alot. It gets put down to a broncial infection but it can also trigger a closage of his passageways and lead to an asthmatic attack.
If i was you i would stick with the inhalers when he has these bad coughs and see if he manages to get over it in time.

Jay