Asthma and ADHD

Lillian,

After re-reading my post, I think "lunatic" was the wrong choice of words. The Xopenex (some people use Albuterol-theyre similar meds) Makes his heart race and seems to kick him into hyper-drive. This is apparently a "normal" reaction to this medication, but when it's given to an already hyper child it can be downright brutal. The Oral Steroids can make him very irritable(also a normal reaction). Since both meds are given at the same time it can be very hard to take sometimes. Thomas has been tested twice for allergies and is apparently allergic to nothing. His Asthma is usually brought on by cold, flu, viruses-even a simple runny nose can trigger an attack. He's 7 now and he's been asthmatic since the age of 2. He's been hospitalized 2 times for it. The older he gets the easier it is to manage because he can read his own symptoms now.

My little guy is almost 3 and he's been asthmatic since 9 mos old. He also gets hyper on his meds but not as much as Tommy. 

I'm just curious. My son was recently diagnosed with ADHD and has been on Strattera for about 1 month now. He also has Asthma. He hasnt had an episode since he started his ADHD meds (Thank God) Does anyone else have a child with asthma as well and if so, is there any difference in how they react to their Asthma meds? I know personally, my son becomes a lunatic on his asthma meds.  His Doctor says that there is no danger in mixing the 2 meds but I'm just curious of any side effects. He takes Pulmicort and Singulair for maintenence. When he's wheezing he takes Xopenex and also needs Orapred (oral steroids) when it gets really bad (about 5x a year).

I was just hoping for some insight

Lillian,

What do you use for your son when he gets wheezy? Do you have a nebulizer or an inhaler?

we have tried every asthma meds on dillon, singulair made him very hyper and mean,albuterol does the same, pulmicort is the only med that doesn't flip him out.dillon has asthma and allergies to everything. we just started allergies shot 3 weeks ago. i hope the shots help him.  

Redhead,

A doctor mentioned it to me.  I guess the medical community noticed that a disproportionate number of fair people have atopic conditions (like asthma, eczema and allergies) and they are studying a genetic connection.  (I wonder if Scandinavian people have higher rates of these things.)  My husband and son are both light eyed and fair skinned.  My son's hair was nearly white his first couple years and now it's ash blond.  My husband has dark hair now, but his family is Norwegien and he was a "towhead" for several years as a child.  The doctor who mentioned it to me had a particular interest in the subject as she's red headed and fair skinned and eyed herself!

Have any of you heard of the studies being done on a correlation between ADHD and asthma?  Have you guys noticed that there are many, many kids with this combo?  It'll be interesting to see if they find a genetic connection.  My husband and son have both been diagnosed with both (but for my son, the ADHD dx is in doubt now in favor of an autistic spectrum disorder.)

Also have you heard of the studies regarding a connection between light hair, light eyes and light skin and increased atopic conditions?  It's really interesting.  Sorry I don't have any links.  Just wondering if you'd noticed it or had heard of studies being done. 

BTW, my son doesn't respond well behaviorally to steriods like prednisone or even to Flovent, and he doesn't do all that great on things like Benedryl either.  They make him aggressive sometimes.  He's on no meds except Flonase and Albuterol as needed.

Danielle