allergy or asthma?

[Gwen]

my 7 yr old son doesn't have any diagnosed chronic health issues. last yr he was congested and after playing he would have trouble breathing. i thought asthma and took him to the doc. i was told that sometimes ppl can have a temporary asthma (or asthma symptoms) that will go away. so he was prescribed an inhaler for isolated incidences to treat the symptoms when he was congested. we used to 3 or 4 times the entire yr. all when congested with a bad cough. so he was not given a diagnosis of asthma.

a few days ago his leg was cramping and i put a menthol based product on him. he started complaining about not being able to breath very well. i didn't think much of it and thought he was complaining about the smell. it can knock you over if you aren't used to it. but then tonight someone else in the house was using it and he started complaining again. i took it more seriously this time. when i listened to his breathing he did sound a bit wheezy so i used the inhaler we had from before. he said he felt better right away. and yes i feel very guilty for not listening to him the first time.

so i looked up a few sites on reactions to menthol. if i understood it right, apparently with ppl that have asthma it can trigger an attack (where others it helps when they have an attack, go figure). but i also read that if you are allergic to menthol it can cause the throat to close and cause similar reaction as an asthma attack.

so... how would i know the difference? does he have a really mild asthma that is only triggered by extreme/specific circumstances or is he allergic to menthol? would a general doc know the difference or should i just look for a specialist?

[Lbybug]

sounds like allergies to me. not that i'm an expert. but i know i've been prescribed an inhaler in the past for when i have bad allergic reactions and can't breathe well.

[mormonwifey]

It sounds like combination of allergies and asthma.My son was diagnosed with it when he was 2 1/2 and I have had allergy and asthma problems all my life.I have had to be around breathers (termed for pt's with any breathing problems) all my life,including my grand dad passing away because of copd and emphyzema,now my step father and my husband both have it.It is terminal and there is no known cure for either one.

But it does sound like combination of asthma and allergies

[john doe]

Probably a combination of the two. I would take him in for an allergen test.

[Gwen]

i had totally forgotten i posted this. lol

when spring hit this yr he had a lot of issues. i started thinking pollen allergies and gave him some meds for it. it made a huge difference. so much that we forgot for about 2 days and he came to me asking to take a pill. so i guess that confirms a seasonal allergy. not sure how that relates to the menthol. lol

[Gwen]

Probably a combination of the two. I would take him in for an allergen test.

what dr would i go to on that? a specialist? i'm honestly not sure i trust the competency of the gp's here.

[john doe]

When I had mine done I was going to a specialist in internal medicine. He put a large adhesive sheet on my back with small squares of different kinds of allergens on it. The next day I went back and he inspected it for welts or splotches indicating an allegic reaction. He used that to determine what I was allergic to.

My daughter has mild asthma and allergies, so she takes Advair and also takes Claritin D to help with the congestion. My problems are more allergy-related and I take Zyrtec daily, no matter the season. I switch between Zyrtec and Claritin every couple years or so because I find that they lose their effectiveness after taking the same drug for long periods of time.

[bl8tant]

i had totally forgotten i posted this. lol

when spring hit this yr he had a lot of issues. i started thinking pollen allergies and gave him some meds for it. it made a huge difference. so much that we forgot for about 2 days and he came to me asking to take a pill. so i guess that confirms a seasonal allergy. not sure how that relates to the menthol. lol

I have a 12-year-old who has asthma and a few allergies (like to cats, boo hiss) so I know a bit about this.

Asthma attacks happen when the smooth muscle surrounding the bronchioles of the lungs constrict so that it's harder for air to pass into them. This makes it hard to breathe. These attacks can be triggered by lots of different things, including allergic reactions and exercise.

Allergies usually cause swelling of the membranes in the nose, sinuses, and mouth. This causes the stuffy-head feeling, and it can also make it hard to breathe. An allergist can help you figure out exactly what kinds of pollen (or whatever) your son may be allergic to. In my case, my son's allergies have gotten way better since we moved from the midwest to the west coast-- different plants and trees mean different pollen.

If he's allergic to menthol, that might explain the problem-- it may be triggering an asthma-like attack of something called "reactive airway disorder" (RAD). I don't know how RAD differs from asthma, really, just that some people have one but not the other. The symptoms and treatment seem to be the same.

Good luck!

[FairChild]

I am guessing, but if he was having an allergy attack, asthma medication would not have helped. The real problem is that you really don't know exactly what is going on. If you want a specialist, your Dr may be required to provide a referral. Call and find out. Couldn't hurt.

[Gwen]

what i read on allergy to things like menthol (something you breath in) it reacts like an asthma attack and is treated the same way (with an inhaler). but i may have not been on a reputable site. i know how internet medical advise can be.

he's not used the inhaler since i've cut off his exposure to the icyhot. the dr gave us some samples of singular to try if i thought he may have seasonal allergies. we didn't use them at the time, they are still good and that's what we've been using this season. that's what he came to me asking for. they are about gone so i'll have to nail down exactly what's going on and see a dr soon.

[bl8tant]

the dr gave us some samples of singular to try if i thought he may have seasonal allergies. we didn't use them at the time, they are still good and that's what we've been using this season. that's what he came to me asking for. they are about gone so i'll have to nail down exactly what's going on and see a dr soon.

I'm glad your son's feeling better! Icyhot has such a strong smell I can easily see why it would choke him up, and it's good that just cutting it out seems to have helped the problem.

Two quick notes about allergy meds.

First, when my son takes Singular it makes him really cranky. Some patients have this symptom, and some don't. (This is apart from his stupid inhaler, which makes him jittery and generally devilish for days after he uses it). Be alert for behavior changes when he's on it.

Second, Singular, Claritin, and most similar meds take a few days to build up to a useful level in the bloodstream. You may find that he needs a few days of consistently taking the meds before he gets lasting relief.

Good luck!

[Hemidakota]

my 7 yr old son doesn't have any diagnosed chronic health issues. last yr he was congested and after playing he would have trouble breathing. i thought asthma and took him to the doc. i was told that sometimes ppl can have a temporary asthma (or asthma symptoms) that will go away. so he was prescribed an inhaler for isolated incidences to treat the symptoms when he was congested. we used to 3 or 4 times the entire yr. all when congested with a bad cough. so he was not given a diagnosis of asthma.

a few days ago his leg was cramping and i put a menthol based product on him. he started complaining about not being able to breath very well. i didn't think much of it and thought he was complaining about the smell. it can knock you over if you aren't used to it. but then tonight someone else in the house was using it and he started complaining again. i took it more seriously this time. when i listened to his breathing he did sound a bit wheezy so i used the inhaler we had from before. he said he felt better right away. and yes i feel very guilty for not listening to him the first time.

so i looked up a few sites on reactions to menthol. if i understood it right, apparently with ppl that have asthma it can trigger an attack (where others it helps when they have an attack, go figure). but i also read that if you are allergic to menthol it can cause the throat to close and cause similar reaction as an asthma attack.

so... how would i know the difference? does he have a really mild asthma that is only triggered by extreme/specific circumstances or is he allergic to menthol? would a general doc know the difference or should i just look for a specialist?

You need to find out what is the root of the cause. Did it start in the house or outside?

[Nelly]

Asthma is usually the result of an allergic reaction to an inhaled, ingested, or injected substance.

Asthma has a lot of excessive mucus production with swelling of the mucus lining of the respiratory passage. You hear wheezing from your son when he is trying to exhale through partially obstructed air passages in his lungs.

The substance that is triggering off your son's difficulty breathing isn't the substance itself. That's not what is causing it, it seems to me that it's an exaggerated response of your son's body immune system to the substance that causes the reaction.

It sounds like the allergies are what causing his asthma attacks to be triggered. There's are many things that can set off asthma in anybody. I use to get asthma a lot when I was little and I couldn't breathe; my inhaler came handy a lot of times. A lot of times when a cat was around me too, my asthma would set off as well. That was what happened when my allergies started playing up.

The doctor probably prescribed an inhaler because of the difficulty breathing, and he was likely to have the same trouble before.

The medication you give your son helps him as well because of the purpose of the allergies he is experience that is setting off his body's immune system.

I would go to a Ear, Nose, and Throat specialists. They will usually do tests because that's where a lot of allergies and sinus are played at.

I hope that help a little with some of the medical knowledge I have :)..

Hope you get it all worked out! :)

[livy111us]

Remeber that Aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (Ibuprofren, naproxen sodium, etc...) can trigger an asthma attack. For the older folks, Beta-blockers (blood pressure medication) can trigger an asthma attack.

[Nelly]

Remeber that Aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (Ibuprofren, naproxen sodium, etc...) can trigger an asthma attack. For the older folks, Beta-blockers (blood pressure medication) can trigger an asthma attack.

I hope you don't give kids Aspirin . They recommend not to under the age 12 because it's a blood thinner and it lasts about 9 days in your body from not really forming clotting if you're cut, scraped, etc.

[Guest Alana]

Asthma inhalers help me with allergies.... just saying.

Also, even if he does have asthma, but only needs an inhaler 3-4 times a year, sounds like it really doesn't matter. Sometimes stressing over having a 'disease' is worse than the actual symptoms. As far as the menthol, probably just an allergic reaction, but that's just my guess. When I did allergy testing I did it at a dermatologist, because they put the test on your skin.