Give me some advice on childhood asthma.......please!!!!

[fordfiesta]

I have got myself in a real flap!
Ds has pretty much always been a snuffly child who has sufferred from every illness going (chest inf galore!)
Anyway, the gp started him on ventolin puffers and i asked for the respiratory nurse to come and assess him as well. She has started him on steriod inhalers as she felt his chest is currently particularily bad.
He does indeed get very breathless when running around, has a smokers cough, a smokers laugh and gets tired quite easily.
Just tell me what the big does and dont's are with a child with a bad chest, I dont smoke so that is not an issue, the cats are now on the re-homing list. But what do you find helps (ie diet,exercise etc) and what makes it worse........
Also quick bit of advice on using inhalers with spacer,in the evening have been told to give blue inhaler 1st and brown one 10 mins later and that when he is sleeping he will probably inhale more...... will he still get the medicine through his nose? the vent is definately open as he is lying on his back.
sorry for being thick,i know 100's of children suffer with asthma but it is scaring me a bit!

[SqueakyPop]

You are already doing what you can with the medicine you have been given.

It is a good idea to give the blue inhaler before the brown, but I think 10 minutes is a long time to wait. One minute is fine, I think.

[RTKangaMummy]

DS has had asthma since he was one he is now 13 and we have never waited 10 mins between blue and brown

IME we have been told 2 mins as the blue opens the airways

The advice may be different now but DS has been seen by Dr and asthma nurse and not told differnt

DS gets an attack after or during a virus like cold ear infection etc

[fordfiesta]

ds seems constantly to get colds and with every cold he gets a dreadful chest!
is it ok to use the inhalers when he is breathing through his nose ie when sleeping?

[Katisha]

We have always done brown (or purple in our case) sraight away after blue.

HOw old is he? Can he do the spacer OK?

Def rehome the cats and I think the general opinion is that exercise is a good thing. We don;t find diet has much effect (I am the same withmy own asthma) although you might try giving mucusy things like milk and dairy in general a miss and see if that helps.

[ruty]

yes getting rid of cats i'm afraid is a good idea. I always found my asthma improved as a child in dry weather and sea air. Not always very easy to arrange but any chance of a sea holiday? And i'm afraid carpets aren't great, if there is any chance of replacing floors that would be good. Also, dust mite covers for his mattress and pillow and duvets. I had horrible asthma as a child with many hospital visits and have it only mildly now so it may well improve. Good luck!

[ruty]

as sea holiday? A sea side holiday!

[ruty]

exercise can be a big irritant so whatever he does should be very gentle and take becotide before hand.

[Katisha]

Last time DS1 had a bad bout the nurse gave him hay fever tablets (he is 8). They have both been on flixotide (nasal spray) for a while as well (not constantly), in the general attepmt to keep the snot levels down.

[fordfiesta]

Carpets have gone now (we live in an old house so luckily have nice floor boards!) he is a bit inpatient with the inhaler but the valve is definately opening and closing, bit of a struggle to get him to breath slow and deep though!
Are dogs as big a problem, we also have a dog who lives predominately in the kitchen, but is very fluffy.......... would be utterly heart broken if the dog needed re homing as well...... I think when the cats are gone we need to holiday with my mum who lives on the coast for a week without the dog and see if it improves.
Ds is three by the way, for those of you with older children with asthma do they still get to play sports and stuff.... is asthma something that is a problem all the time or just flares up to triggers such as colds/virus's,allergy's etc etc
Ds coincidently also gets eczema and hayfever so seems quite likely that this is going to be an ongoing problem.

[fordfiesta]

oh and soya or goats milk??? which tastes the best?

[RTKangaMummy]

DS has done sports and has recently swam 800 metres in 23 minutes



So swimming is deffo brill, he has a kneee weakness so doesn't do running etc but can play all sports

If the valve is moving he will be getting drugs

We had a dog and cat when he was a baby {have now died} and now we have 2 cats but he is ok with animals

All children are different I think

[brimfull]

my ds had asthma attacks frequently at that age

he was put on a drug called montekulast or singulair

it has changed his and our lives

it dampens the allergic response that causes the asthma when the child gets hayfevr or a cold

he was about 4 when the asthma nurse put him on it

he also gets eczema ,hayfever and has nut/egg allergy so fairly typical atopic child

he is nearly 6 now and currently has brown inhaler and this tablet and he hasn't had to have a nebulizer or been hopsitalized sinec starting this new drug

What I am trying to convey is that your ds is at that age when the managemnet of his asthma is being fine tuned.He will probably improve with age as well as improved management of the condition.
I felt like you when ds was 3 as he seemed to always be ill.He's a different boy now!

So hang in there ,he will improve.

also we still have our dog ,we had a trial without her and it made no difference to ds

[brimfull]

just realised that I am assuming your ds is about 2-3 but you haven't said

[fordfiesta]

That is a relief to hear (all of what you said) ggirl, also glad to hear that sport is not going to be out of the question!!!
Why have so many people said to me 'do you really want your son on steroids' since has started on the brown inhaler?? What are the side effects?

[fordfiesta]

yep he is 3

[Sidge]

It should be the salbutamol (blue one) before exercise, not the becotide.

It's ok to give the inhalers via the spacer when asleep but they may get less through the nose than through the mouth, especially if he's very congested.

You don't need to wait ten minutes between blue and brown inhalers, technically you can give either one first, it doesn't have to be blue first.

My daughter always suffered more with cold weather, but then also got hayfever which made her cough worse so she needed antihistamines as well in the summer.

[RTKangaMummy]

Well DS is now 13 years old and has been having the drugs for the last 12 years and he is 5'5" size 7 feet so IME or IMHO the puffer drugs don't cause any probs

Also the tablets PREDNISALONE the pink fizzy used to send him like he had eaten a bucket of smarties - zinging and zanging all over the place really hyper also made him very hungry BUT the corse of drugs is very very very short and soon after coming off them would go back to normal

[brimfull]

the inhaled steroids are safe

i have always been reassured by medical staff that the prevention effect of the steroids is much safer for them in the long run than letting them get bad asthma frequently which will dmaage the lungs

the asthma nurse described the effect on the lungs if you don't prevent attacks as if you keep blowing up the same balloon the balloon becomes floppy and less effective

so I don't worry about the brown inhaler
just make sure you wipe his mouth after use when using it via a spacer as it can cause thrush around the mouth

We do it before teeth brushing then wipe face.

My ds was on oral steroids very frequenty when he was younger which was worrying but again a life saver.

[fordfiesta]

Thanks for that everyone, really useful..... think i was worrrying that the course of treatment currently he is on does not really seem to be helping (although he has only been on the brown inhaler three days so early days!) but at least there are other things as you have pointed out that can help!!! Oh God.... steriod tablets make you bounce!!!!! Ds bounces enough already he could not possibly bounce anymore!!

[RTKangaMummy]

the course of them is really short though

Also give the puffers a few more days to work

good luck

[ruty]

with inhaled steroids you only get a very small dose in the body. don't worry. Seaside trip sounds good. I don't know about the dog, but think cats much worse - it is the dander on their hair and they moult everywhere. How about allergy pinprick testing?