My Son has a mystery trigger for his chronic asthma. Any tips?
Posted , 7 users are following.
So at about four years of age my Son started sniffing lots, then coughing lots, sneezing. Soon it developed into late night admissions to the hospital from severe Asthma. He's seven now and rarely a day goes by when he sleeps well. I get up almost every night to give him ventolin, poor little guy doesn't get enough oxygen and a restful nights sleep.
I've taken gluten and dairy out of his diet among many other things.
I wash his bedding, removed polyester, vaccume his room and still he sniffs.
I would love to hear stories of other mothers who have this similar issue and if you figured out what the cause is and found a remedy/cure.
My latest theory is an allergy to Sulphites/preservatives possibly?
Any help would be super appreciated.
Peace.
1 like, 11 replies
Guest aprilgirl92
Edited
Might try an air purifier, also make sure to wash his pillow not just the case or get him a hypo-allergenic one. No feathers. If you have animals try to keep them out of his room and especially off of his bed. Id avoid dryer sheets or anything that has a strong fragrance like plug ins and wax warmers. Sounds like you are a good mom and are doing what you can. I hope some of these suggestions are helpful to you.
aprilgirl92 Guest
Posted
Thanks K. I've got hypo allergenic doona and pillows, good idea to wash the pillow also. I don't use the chemical stuff even that gives me a headache! No animals here either.
With the air Purifier is that a machine or you mean like, a plant?
Guest aprilgirl92
Edited
It is a machine that has a filter that the air goes through and the filter catches dust, allergens etc. I would not have house plants either as the dirt and soil can get moldy causing breathing problems. Also might use an allergen filter for your furnace and stay up to date on changing it. Also has he been tested for food allergies?
aprilgirl92 Guest
Posted
I totally thought he was, just got a blood test for him and turns out he's super allergic to dust mites, now I know what it is. I didn't realise this whole time I could just get him tested and find out. Yay. I think it's we have a lot of old rugs around our mud brick house so I think ill replace them with Jute or something. Definitely getting a purifier also. Thanks for the tips 😃
moon53540 aprilgirl92
Edited
Cleaning products can affect me, there is this preservative called Methylisothiazolinone and in fact anything ending in zolinone give me dermatitis and breathing issues. It can be in washing detergent, fabric softener, shower gel, shampoo, hand wash, washing up liquid, hand creams, cleaning products even paint and wallpaper paste. I get a lot of eco friendly stuff because there aren't all those toxins that can trigger off allergies.
Is he getting vitamin and mineral supplements? Deficiencies in certain vitamins like B12 and D can affect allergies. Also, if you are cutting big food groups out of his diet he will need supplements. It could be down to a pet or even a plant? Or maybe a fabric or dye in one of his items of clothes or on some curtains or a cushion. Feather pillows and duvets can also be a trigger. There are so many things that can trigger allergies. I wish you luck because I have suffered with allergies most of my life and you really have to check the ingredient list of everything you eat, drink, clean and wash with.
aprilgirl92 moon53540
Posted
Thanks Moon. 😃 Thats interesting about the reaction to cleaning stuff. I mostly stay away from chemicals as much as possible anyway, also preferring to use eco friendly stuff I sprayed some 100% eucalyptus spray once near him though and he was coughing straight for like 10 minutes!
Will look into supplements that's a good idea, tricky to get kidlets to take extra medicine. I am wondering if there is pollen in the air that he might be allergic to... however it is all year round thing.
How did you cope with your allergies, just by removing what you thought was triggering it and you noticed and improvement?
moon53540 aprilgirl92
Edited
I used to take a lot of antihistamines but I only take them now if I am really bad because they make me really drowsy (even the non-drowsy ones) and they can affect my sleep. There can be new things I find myself allergic to which I have to try and find the source. I used to be able to use Fairy liquid and head and shoulders sensitive shampoo but they started adding that preservative I am allergic to a few years ago so I had to stop. Things you may think are ok, can suddenly change one ingredient and you have a problem. I was around some balloons recently and found I had a reaction to them, which I had never had before.
I often sneeze when things are in spray form, it may not be the ingredient but the spray itself, if that makes sense. Allergies can get better as you get older. Mine got a lot better in my 20s, but I am finding as I get older a few are coming back like pineapple!
You can get vitamin sprays which have flavours, I take vitamin d spray which tastes like mint and vitamin B12 which tastes like peach. You can also get flavoured chewable multivitamins for kids to make them more appealing.
aprilgirl92 moon53540
Posted
Ah what a life. I never really got allergies so It's going to be an interesting journey as a mother to regularly maintain and watch out for triggers. I found out he's got an allergy to dust mites but I bet other random things could be triggers also. I give him vit c powder regularly but I didnt know about the sprays, thats a good idea.
angela81235 aprilgirl92
Posted
You could check if he is allergic to polyurethane,That can cause all sorts of allergies.
And it can be in the mattress.
Glennie68 aprilgirl92
Posted
Hi there!
I have just found out I have an allergy to soya. it is in tons of gluten free. I found out due to GP getting me to follow low Fodmap diet- she thought I had IBS - and allergy is one of those things that can either affect your breathing or your digestive system. I found out after eating soya custard - I've been ill for 3 days afterwards . I am now cutting it out completely . it's one of those hidden ingredients in a lot of things.
I hope you manage to find the trigger. it is miserable to not feel well. You are doing a great job because you care.
Lindsay56 aprilgirl92
Posted
Do you keep a food diary for him? Sounds like it might be a good idea to do an elimination diet just to rule foods out. I am histamine intolerant. for example normally I can eat salmon, but when histamines are high for me, it can give me asthma. just a thought..