My Son Has Been Having Chest Congestion And Nasal Blockage

Posted on Mon, 28 Oct 2019

Question: My son has been having chest congestion and nasal blockage for a few days. We gave him Duolin 2.5ml through nebulizer. Soon after he complained of coughs and increased in running nose. Is this normal ? He is now 11 years old. As a child he has brochitic asthma till age of 6 yrs. how concerned should we be of his cough and increase in running of nose and also complain of dryness in throat after giving duolin ?

Answered by Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (48 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Thats because nebulisation is done without humidified oxygen

Detailed Answer:
Hello...I understand your concern.

The symptoms he's experiencing are due to nebulisation being given without humidified oxygen and this can irritate the throat and nasal passages.

I suggest you stop nebulisation and shift over to metered dose inhalers which are far more easy to use, carry and maintain please.

Please discuss this with his pediatrician as the technique of using a metered-dose inhaler with spacer needs to be taught please.

Best regards - Dr Sumanth Amperayani

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (4 hours later)

Is there anything i need to worry and take him to an emergency now ?

Also how long will it take for these symptoms to subside ?

Any medication he needs to have or long term impact of this ?

Follow up: Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (46 minutes later)

Also how can he get relief from symptoms?

Answered by Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (12 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Further suggestions on wheeze management

Detailed Answer:
I am sorry for the late reply as I got an intimation about your response only now.

Suggestions:
1. There are certainly alternative management therapies in allopathy now-a-days. Medicine has advanced a lot and not asthma is 100% controllable.
2. Inhalers are the newest management strategies for this. If I were your paediatrician I would have suggested the use of Budecort metered dose inhaler (100mcg) 2 puffs twice a day through a spacer and this is for regular use for 8 weeks. Another metered dose inhaler is Levolin and this can used as rescue therapy whenever the kid is having severe cough in spite of regular usage of Budecort. The technique is very important and very crucial for the drug to be delivered correctly to the lungs. Regularity of medicine usage also matters a lot. So do not discontinue abruptly after you notice some improvement. The technique of administering an inhaler using a spacer has to be taught to you by your doctor and these are prescription medicines. So I suggest you consult your paediatrician for this.
3. Triggers can be environmental changes/ dust/ talcum powder/ seasonal changes/ un-cleaned a/c vents/ cold weather etc....we can specifically say this is the cause - unless we observe the kid closely - best person is the parent.

Best regards - Dr Sumanth Amperayani

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D