Friday, October 26, 2007

Over Albuterol - We're Reaching Straight for the Combivent

B started coughing slightly a few nights ago...so slightly that I (bad mommy!) didn't bother starting albuterol.

Well, ha-ha and me (and pity on him!) he was coughing so badly last night that he was begging me for Dimetapp! I had given him 2 puffs of albuterol, and then 30 minutes later, another 2 puffs, but it hadn't worked. He was coughing his head of most of the night.

Today, when I picked him up from school, he was coughing a bit. It wasn't alarming in frequency, but it sounded SO BAD.

When we got home, I couldn't find the nebulizer, so I gave him two puffs of Combivent.

I swear, he's coughed maybe twice since then.

I'll look back, and I'm willing to bet I've written this before, but giving this kid albuterol is a waste of a perfectly good pharmaceutical. It just doesn't work on him anymore.

I called the PP for a refill, but I'm not sure if they were able to get it to the pharmacy because I called late...I probably have enough to get through the weekend. Just.

2 comments:

Terri Jones said...

Hi
I'm also mom to an asthmatic 4 year old. We spent the first seven months in and out of the hospital right after he turned 2. He had pnemonia; he wasnt diagnosed properly until the day he lost consciousness & i had to carry him through the hospital to the emergency room. Anyway, we ended up with the asthma diagnosis with a strong allergies seven months after that incident & him in & out of the hospital so much I have the staff of the pediatric ccu & radiologist on my christmas card list. After a period of calm now we're having issues again; he was on steriods a couple weeks ago. And we have an appointment w/ his asthma dr tomorrow. I was glas to see your blog & know that this is a common issue & I empathize with you. Thanks!

Aimee said...

OMG, Terri -- LOST CONSCIOUSNESS??!! How terrifying!! I'm so sorry you had to deal with that! And your poor little monkey...so sick!

I still beat myself up because I didn't take Oz to the ER last year when he had RSV. We'd just gone for a chest X-ray (negative for pneumonia), and he was practically gray and so still and quiet. He wasn't even three years old, and he's usually so vibrant. He was horribly sick; had get nebs for almost a month.

Obviously, I was able to care for him at home (as long as I got up every single night for two weeks for the overnight nebs, and heck - Ig was up with his chronic ear infections then anyway)...but I should have had him checked out in the ER. He probably was satting at 92 and would have been admitted. He could have used round the clock care, and may have recovered faster. And we both probably would have gotten more sleep!

...healthy of me to still harp on this, no?