I Need a name for a Paed Respiratory specalist in Melb & general asthma qns...

[Yael]

Hi all,

I need a recommendeation of a good Paediatric Respiratory specalist. I just called one and can't be seen until Jan, but really don't want to wait until then as we have a sleep study in mid oct and then we are going to see our Paed, so i would like all the medical problems for DS started by then, so i can get her opinion.

We think he has asthma or some other respiratory problem, and until then we will be giving him a preventor via spacer morning and night at the GPs recommendation - but doing that for 4 months without a real diagnosis seems silly.

Can anyone help me? Also, for anyone else who's child has asthma - 1. how did you know, and 2. how was it diagnosed, and 3. what do you do to treat it?

Thanks.

[Jennifer13]

Yael, I hope you find some answers sooner than four months away!

I also am amazed at your strength and ability to cope with all of the health challenges that have come your family's way this year.

[Turkish Delight]

I had to wait several months to see DS's paed.

Don't know where you live in Melb and don't know if DS's paed is specialised in respiratory probs, but probably worth a phone call. This paed is in Berwick, Pakenham and the Gippsland area.

PM me if you want his details.

He really is a great doc and so easy to talk to.

GL

[*Beema*]

DD has just been unofficially diagnosed last week.

She was admitted to hospital having a lot of trouble breathing, chest recessions, chronic wet cough (couple of months, never really going away) and she was desatting to 82/82% (Oxygen Saturation Levels). It was 4 days before she was able to come off the O2 and Ventolin out to 3 hourly before she could maintain her saturations. She'd had 6 respiratory infections in 4 months, and this was her third trip to hospital, but first admission.

They decided to run a raft of tests while we were there, including BT's and Chest X-Rays, we are waiting on results of Immunogloblin and waiting for a Sweat Test for Cystic Fibrosis - which we think is unlikely, due to passing the newborn screening and gut feeling, but it is the only test they can do to confirm either way.

The diagnosis for last weeks admission was Chronic Mild Asthma, and Pneumontis (Acute viral infection in the lungs causing inflammation of the lungs). The key markers that she has for Asthma are the chest recessions, low o2 sats and chronic wet cough. We have been feeling for the last 2 months or so that things weren't normal or normal resipratory infections (3 cases of Croup and 2 of Bronchiolits, they originally diagnosed her with Bronchiolitis again last visit in the ER).

Thanks to the admission we are finally in the system, and we are now back to her Paediatrician who we haven't see since she was 6 months old.

She is now on Ventolin 2 puffs 4 hourly during the day and overnight as needed. We were on 6 puffs every 20 mintutes to star with and the streatched it out to hourly and slowly out further from then.

The Paeditricians and Respiratory specialists and Dr's at the WCH, confirmed she has all of the markers of an asthmatic but the diagnosis isn't official until she has had three attacks or is over 2 years of age, and each followed with make sure your ambulance cover is up to date and we will be seeing you again , she had probably already had attaks, they just didn't monitor her sats long enough, only a minute or so when we got there each time, as she was sitting up and looked "ok" unfortunately for us DD is good at hiding that she is not as well as she looks, so we have to advise them that she does not show all the signs in the book as such

I sympathise it is a very hard journey to follow to actually get a diagnosis, but it is a relief when finally something happens.

So I guess for us it was the hospital admission that actually did it and Dr's that listened that this wasn't "normal" for her.

Take care and I hoep you get some answers very soon.
xxoo

[Yael]

DS has a chronic wet cough also, it has lasted for months, along with case of reoccuring chest& ear infections.

He is always coughing at night and after he runs. He wakes up almost every night from coughing. e gavce him ventolin a few months ago when it was really bad at dr suggestion, and that was the only way to stop him coughing.

The dr who saw him about a sleep study says he has a wheeze when using her stethescope, but i don't hear one.

My brother has asthma, but more concerning for me is that my FIL had a genetic condition where one of the proteins that helps lung repair doesn't function. He has bronchextasis since childhood, and from what i have read children who have inherited this are at a lot higher chance of having some ongoing respiratory problems worse than asthma.

he doesn't really have trouble breathing, so i've had no need to have his o2 stats done. But i don't want to wait until he has an attack to find out either.

[Inanna]

Yael big hugs honey...

So far none of my kids have asthma - Mr Wonderful is severely asthmatic and his siblings have it as does his mother. They also all have exzema except Mr Wonderful.

There is a strong familial occurance with asthma - is that the case for you?

Often it is triggered by an allergy. To housemites, dust, cats, pollens or food.

I have researched this until the cows came home - because I wanted to do all I could to prevent it in my children.

There is a very very strong link to gluten and dairy products and asthma. People with it should stay off those foods and ideally not begin them until they are over 2. My children I did this with and so far none have asthma. Mr Wonderfuls sisters 4 boys all have asthma and exzema. Of course that could be lots of things. But if she is eating gluten or dairy products I would keep her away. It really isn't too difficult once you get used to being wheat and dairy free (as well as gluten).

If I can help any more just let me know honey...

[*Beema*]

DD's wheeze was audible when the attack started, but by the afternoon on Day three we could not longer hear the wheeze, but by listening to her chest we could still hear it, she also had a lot of cracking and popping as she was fighting the infection.

I have a couple of friends whose children are diagnosed with asthma and they have a non audible wheeze, so as you have said it can only be heard by using a stethascope.

Unfortunately we found that the only way for us to get actual answers was taking her to hospital, and reinforcing that this wasn't normal. We were told that by our GP that some children don't actually show signs of haivng a lot of trouble breathing and the form of asthma they have is just the wet persistent cough (often referred to as a smokers or old man's cough), which is what we have, but it was the acute viral infection that caused the asthma to become uncontolled requiring the hospitalisation.

Has he had chest recessions, where when he is breathing he is drawing in his ribs to breathe rather than using his tummy, after exercising or during/after coughing episodes?

We didn't realise that she needed O2, she was saturating around 94/95, when we arrived (borderline for O2), desatting to 88 or so, but recovering to 92/93, but when she went to sleep she was desatting to 83 and not recovering very well. O2 sats get worse when sleeping or at night, exaserbating the cough, I am not implying that your DS is having problems, but I am pretty sure it is something that the sleep study would pick up.

I am sorry I can't help with any Melbourne specialist, wrong state, but I hope you can find someone soon to help you get some answers and solutions