DS ill on holiday - when to seek help?

[whereismysleep]

We're away on a family holiday in the UK.

DS was off from school 3 weeks ago feeling generally unwell - temperature, sore throat and a cough. We all had it.

Although he seemed to get better at first like the rest of us, his cough hasn't gone and I was worried enough about it to call the doctor about 10 days ago as it seemed really chesty. We could only get a phone appointment though, the doctor said not to worry and if he was still coughing in 2 weeks to bring him in.

On holiday his cough has got worse. He's coughing in the night and kind of whooping - he's waking up and struggling to breath. It's horrible to see (and for him of course!).

A family member with us who used to work as a nurse has given him one of her asthma pumps to use when he's struggling to breath, which did seem to help on the first night he had it. He says he's generally feeling unwell, (although he doesn't look that unwell from the outside, no temperature and he's up and about).

I had planned to take him to the doctor as soon as we get home on Tuesday but should I be acting quicker than that? He can take it easy here just as much as if he was at home.

He's had covid jabs (a while back), his whooping cough jab and us up to date with all other jabs. I did test him for covid when he was first ill but only the once so not 100% reliable I guess. We're a 6+ hour journey from home and don't have the car with us, we came by train.

WWYD?

The minor injuries unit says it's open 24 hours every day, according to the NHS website. There's a number to call, I'll do that first, if I don't call 111 first.

I've actually got him sleeping in with me as it's the only comfortable bed here! And so I can keep an eye on him.

And he's got all the pillows, bar one.

This place seems pretty well cleaned to me. It's cheap and cheerful, but spotless, no dust.

A different washing powder is always possible, but he doesn't have allergies more generally.

NHS website and others have v useful info about whooping cough. My oldest son was on a nebuliser when we went to a and e and that really helped thin the mucus, he then slept properly for the first time in a week. At that point they thought it was his asthma despite his oxygen being 99 and him being adamant his chest was fine.

12 weeks?! Oh no, I hope not.

No pet fur allergy.

Thanks everyone, this is really helping me organise my thoughts and work out what to do.

If you can, record the coughing or whooping if it's only at night, as you can guarantee he won't do it in front of the doctors, and they will be able to tell from the sound if its whooping cough.

That's a good idea, thanks.

OK, I have the voice recorder app open on my phone, ready to record.

Bet he doesn't cough any more this morning, now!

We've both had a really wakeful night, so I'm going to try catch an hour's more sleep while I can and will call either 111 or the walk in centre once DS is up.

If you have private GPs through work it might be worth trying to see how quickly you could get an appointment to talk to a doctor.

I have private GP access through a work health cash back plan, and when I used it in February was able to get a call with a doctor within an hour. In my case, they issued a private prescription electronically and I was able to pick up in Boots instantly.

If you can get an appointment as quickly with yours, then if you called now it would mean you could get a doctor's opinion on where you should take your DS rather than wading through 112's prioritisation steps or sitting around waiting in minor injuries. If it's a really straightforward decision that they need antibiotics they could sort that, and if not at least you'd be going in with a better idea of what needs investigating.

If there is a minor injuries unit nearby I’d try that first. They are usually quite quick.

Just go to minor injuries. They'll assess him quickly and decide what to do.

That's a really good idea. Fingers crossed you will get a good doctor who recognises it.

My eldest had whooping cough aged 4 months and it lasted 10wks. He was in hospital for 5 days

Goof luck

If you are in the UK I can't understand why you would wait.

Get an oxi meter so you can gauge how much oxygen he is getting they are relatively inexpensive like this one £16/17-20 each
https://www.amazon.co.uk/OxiPro-Supplied-Saturation-Certified-Pulse-Oximeter/dp/B09NQPMRKQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=2EPQUMO9CD1QV&keywords=oximeter+nhs+approved+uk&qid=1690615909&sprefix=oximetrr%2Caps%2C75&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1

The whoop is really distinctive with whooping cough. My little one had it and it is etched into my memory. Recording is helpful. They also have to notify the public health authorities so if he does have it you might have some extra calls from them.

You should get him seen and I would definitely try 111 first as they may want to make isolation arrangements rather than having him in a full waiting room at our if hours or a walk in.

I called the minor injuries unit and we're to go in a bit later this afternoon (when the doctor is there).

Thanks for the advice everyone.

@whereismysleep

How did your son get on ?

How did you get on OP?

We went in, and he came away with his own blue inhaler. He's to take 2 puffs, twice a day plus he can take it any time he feels he can't breathe. To use while he still has symptoms and to be reviewed by our GP at home, who we'll see later this week.

(Family member who was a nurse raised her eyes at that as apparently it's not meant to be used as a preventative, but it was a while since she practiced so maybe advice has changed?)

The nurse at the unit said she couldn't hear any crackle, his oxygen, heart and BP are fine. She said because of the length of time he's been coughing, our GP will want to investigate further but she was happy we'd be taking him in at home.

And any change for the worse, we're to go back in, they're 2 minutes by car from here and open 24 hours.

So we feel reassured.

DS is much the same, he was up coughing a lot last night.

Thanks for helping me think it through, everyone.

2 puffs, 4 times a day, I meant!

My DD (4) was prescribed a blue inhaler to be used in a similar way earlier this year after coughing for about 2 months. She’d previously had antibiotics which hadn’t helped. Night times had been awful with her coughing and sounding like she couldn’t breathe properly. She was also being sick from coughing so much, as well as coughing up handfuls of phlegm several times a day. I was sceptical about the inhaler but after a week the cough had gone.

Hope your DS gets better soon.

That dose is not a preventative dose, it's for a flare up. We need to implement a four hourly regime like this (through the night too) if my child has a bit of a cold. It opens the tubes in the lungs. Your GP may want to give a preventative inhaler following on from this. This will not help if the inflammation in higher up in the respiratory tract, like a older-kid version of croup (Cough Variant Asthma), then steroids are necessary.

Have a look at Asthma UK. If it's happening at night and barking it may be this. I have found a lot of GPS don't consider this but it happens a lot to my son and we have a rescue dose of meds at home. Great advice to record. Does it alleviate if you go out doors at night? Need wet air, warm and dry air will exacerbate it. You can probably find a recording online to see if it sounds the same. Do you know the signs of Respiratory Distress, sucking in of clavicle and under ribs - look for this. It's not unreasonable to think this could be a viral response rather than asthma but really need a good GP/asthma nurse to monitor.

Hope all ok.