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I've just been told my DS (12 weeks) is something called a "Happy Wheezer" ..what the?? ...tried googling it and that really wasn't a good idea, especially seeing as how I couldn't get any practical medical information...just scary stuff and other medical conditions
So if anyone can enlighten me I would really appreciate it..I'm trying REALLY HARD not to freak out thinking this may turn into asthma (which DH has family history of)
..hanging on with baited breath...
I have no idea what a "happy Wheezer" is... but my DD has wheezed since she was just a few weeks old, ended up in ED at 3wks with broncitus and developed many chest infections from then on including a bad case of pneumonia last year. Te pneumonia finally prompted the dr to give us ventolin to use when ever she developes a cold to widen her airways. It can't be diagnoised as athma until she is older but we are hoping she grows out of it like my DS did (arond 5) All the best with finding out more info
I think it means that he is wheezing but doesn't have any respiratory distress. Try searching Happy Wheezer Baby, you might find more info that way.
Hope he's alright.
Tinkerbell- thanks, I've just tried your suggestion however it didn't change the results by much. Will try other synonyms though, thanks :)
Hey BabyQ,
I think I have a "nearly" happy wheezer. Just had a quick google, and it's my understanding is that this describes bubs who might have a tendency towards bronchiolitis.... and those who get bronchiolitis are slightly higher risk of having asthma later on.
I've got a big bubba boy who tended to be very wheezy/snuffly/snorty particularly around2-4 months. I was convinced he was wheezing at various stages (sure sounded like a wheeze to me) but my paed wasn't worried at all, and explained that it was all upper respiratory noise and we didn't need to worry (he also checking his nasal tubes). Basically it's just small tubes and fluids shuffling around, but not respiratory distress per se. It seemed to happen particularly when he became more excited.
So I don't know if your bub is just noise or some bronchiolitis? I'd be asking the doc what to watch out for and anything I needed to do. Hopefully that would set your mind at rest - googling can be just plain scary!
But, I can relate, cos my DH also has asthma so I was equally worried re DS getting it! But, my DS seems to be growing out of his wheezing & snuffles - and I think I've come to terms with the fact if he's gonna get it, he'll get it. (In the same way he did get eczema which I had truly hoped he wouldn't). Oh and he snores (bubba that is) loud enough to be heard on a plane!
Also, my niece had bronchiolitis at about 8 weeks and a bad chest infection, and she's now 10 y.o., fit as a mallee bull and no sign of asthma at all! So goes to show that asthma doesn't always follow.
GL and I hope it turns out to be nothing at all!
DS was described recently as a happy wheezer because he was doing the classic wheeze, but was happily carrying on playing etc. He wasn't distressed or clingy or anything with it. He is 3 though, so a bit different to a young bub I would think.
We were at the hospital with him, coz he did get very lethargic & his breathing was really laboured, and they treated it as an asthmatic attack, but because he had a fever as well, the GP was reluctant to say it was asthma, rather just that he's prone to wheezing if he has a chest infection or something, so she reckons he had bronchiolitis. But it was at the GP's the next day that she described him as a happy wheezer. We haven't had anything since, so I'm hoping he doesn't show signs of asthma as he gets older.. my BIL had childhood asthma.
Definitely have a chat with your doc about what to look for. I knew nothing about what wheezing looks like (I've heard it before tho) so just knowing physical things to look for helped me feel more easy.
Just when I had an inkling that I may be going crazy (especially as the MCHN nurse looked at me like I made up the diagnosis!!!) Belfie comes to the rescue!
Well if anything it makes me feel a bit better that someone else knows what I'm on about! It sounds like we're both concerned about our kids getting eczema and asthma..i guess if i knew how to manage it all it wouldn't be so scary..my ds only sounds like he's got mucus in his chest when he's more relaxed..either sleeping or staring into space but he'll be in a position where he's draped over my arm, his neck to chest kind of thing...and it's not happening all the time, kind of hit or miss..but other's have said something and they have felt the "wheeze" in his chest and back....
but anyway, off to the doctor this afternoon to get a referral for a paed. ..anyone got any good recommendations in the se suburbs of melbourne?
thanks for taking the time to help me out belfie!
Liz,
That sounds like what I was told as well, so good to get confirmation of definition. my ds doesn't have any other symptoms of being ill at all, no cough/fever/crankiness or what you would expect if he had something like bronchiolitis, which is prolly why they said he sounded like a happy wheezer.
I hope it's just as simple as it sounds and doesn't lead to other things..i guess that may be why i'm worrying! it just sounds too simple! especially when "Wheezing" is involved!
good point tho, will ask about physical symptoms to look out for....
My DS was called a 'happy wheezer' - lol i thought that my MCHN made up the name- never heard of anyone elses baby being a happy wheezer until now
he made a wheeze sound all the time but it did not bother him
He is now 6 years old
DS was born 10 weeks early and had RDS- and HMD- he also has chronic lung disease from being prem- and that is why he was a wheezer. At age 3 years he was dx with asthma as well- and is now on a preventer puffer that stops the wheeze and keeps the asthma under control.
He use to get pnumonia heaps when he was younger- however this stopped after we had the pnumonococial vaccination- it made a HUGE difference!
His O2 levels at the best of times are not great- but nothing stops him- he just takes his puffer when he needs it- but the preventer means that this is not often. Just got to watch him with the cold air!
hope this helps and if you want to know anything else - just let me know
I actually heard this expression just today. It is someone with Asthma that smiles and laughs and carries on normally but you can hear them wheezing.
The entire phrase is "fat, happy wheezer" and it's one of those cute medical terms that is falling out of fashion. It refers to a child that has an ongoing mild bronchospasm (narrowing of the airways) during infancy, but has no other symptoms or ill effects as a result. It is similar, and sometimes used to refer to, post-infection airway hypersensitivity, which is where a cough or wheeze persists for weeks or months after an infection, even though the other symptoms (fevers, or difficulty feeding or breathing) have gone. If you compare it to the alternative, which is an acutely unwell child, it's actually a good thing ;) You are right, though, in that he may be prone to asthma later in life, and some "happy wheezers" do get sicker, quicker, when they get upper respiratory tract infections.
Hi everyone, thank you so much for your support.
I think I've just got to do some research on asthma as I don't know much about it- which is where the fear is coming from. Schmickers thanks for helping me to understand it more clearly, it's interesting that the doc I saw the other day said he'd never heard of a fat happy wheezer, and said there's nothing he could hear in the lungs.
Sorta came out with the feeling "oh god he thinks I have Munchausen syndrome" as he just stared at me when I stopped speaking about ds's occasional wheeze :redface:
again thank you all so much- if it wasn't for you I would be a nervous wreck by now!