Asthma

[alistairgreen]

Struggling to cope with our 4 year olds asthma. His triggers seem to be when he gets a cold, cooler weather and exercise. He coughs continuously (esp. at night), he doesn't really wheeze unless having an attack. He has been tested for allergies and nothing showed up. We've tried steroids and ventolin but hasn't really helped, also tried homeopathy which helps but doesn't always work, any suggestions?!

Does he have the steroid inhaler daily to prevent an attack?

hello,sorry no experience of asthma with my children but just felt i had to post. i am recently diagnosed as an asthmatic (about a year ago)and although i didnt really believe my doc when i was diagnosed, after using the brown steroid inhaler twice a day, i have now really began to notice a difference in how i am feeling. it takes a while for the brown steroid inhaler to work, has your child been using it for long?it is important to use it every day and not to miss.
also,i am still bad when i get the slightest cold,but the ventolin does make a difference. coughing is a classic symtom as you know.maybe you should go back to the doc?

Hello alistairgreen. My dd used to suffer badly mainly when she used to be ill. oh your poor lil ds. My dd did have allergies but they put her on a preventer which seems to help no end,like what ggirl has mentioned.

she used to have chest infection after chest infection and end up going to the emergency docs for the nebuliser thing when she got colds. Now its great. She has the preventer inhaler one puff morn and night and she seems really cured. On the onset of a cold we have to increase to two puffs morning and night for 2 weeks, but it really does the trick.

he had the orange steroid inhaler and was on it for 3 months, 2 puffs morning and night plus up to 10 puffs of ventolin. it seemed liked quite a lot to us. he was also given an oral steroid which i believe is even stronger. his asthma seemed worse rather than better. when we went back to the paedieatric respriatory specialist he said double the does which seemed absurd. then of course he was perfectly fine all summer. is the orange and brown puffer different?

When did you last see GP or Pracice nurse?
Poor wee soul!
Are you still using the brown or orange inhaler?
If so which and what dose?
How often does he use his Ventolin(blue) inhaler?
This is often the time of year when people have problems with their asthma. But there is alot that can be done to control it for him.

Different types of puffer work in different ways and suit different 'types' of asthma.
I think brown and orange are both different brands or strenths of 'preventer' inhalers (ie take every day to prevent an attack).
Ds is 2 and is on 2 puffs twice a day of preventer. Plus a puff or 2 of ventolin when he is wheezy - with a max dose of around 10 puffs I think (which can be repeated an hour or so later if he is having an attack). For a 3 month period then for review to see if the dose etc is right.

Asthma quite often a bit seasonal - cold air is a buggar and sets my asthma off. As does exercise.

Might be daft question but is your ds definitely taking the puffer properly? I assume he has a spacer? Is it making all the right noises to show he is really inhaling strongly ( ds's makes a gentle 'tick tock' noise with each deep breath)

Def. bad time of year for asthma...ds was inpatient with attack a couple of weeks ago and place was full of children wheezing.

Sounds like you need to go back to the asthma clinic. You also could change his bedding. YOu can now buy anti allergen, anti dustmite mattresses and duvets etc.
I find my asthma gets worse in damp weather.

The Brown and Orange inhalers are different drugs but both are 'preventers' ie they are used daily whether symptomatic or not. They calm the inflammation in the airways that lead to cough, wheeze, chest tightness or breathlessness. to be effective they need to be taken regularly. Doses vary depending on age of person and severity of asthma.
Blue inhalers are relievers - several types - act quickly 5 -1 0 mins to relieve symptoms and last for approx 4 hours. Frequent use or reduced releif are signs that asthma is not well contolled and additonal treatment such as long acting relievers or other meds need to be considered. Hope you lo is using his spacer !!!

because he doesn't have any symptoms for 6 months of the year we haven't seen any doctor since april, as i say because he has not been suffering with it. he just started 2 weeks ago but had a particularly bad night last night, when they're coughing so hard they're about to vomit, he's on no steroid puffer but we gave him venotlin a good 10+ puffs and it didn' help that much. but it sounds like you are all saying we should go back to a specialist and try again - maybe a brown puffer instead of a blue one. he is really good about taking his puffer with his spacer so he does seem to get it properly

yes agree,you need to make sure the steroid is being delivered adequately.

is spacer clean? Always forget to clean ds's

do you shake puffer between puffs?

I think if you need to give him ventolin regularly then a trip to the asthma nurse is needed.The idea is that the steroid inhaler prevents the need for ventolin.All that coughing could damage his lungs so you need to have his meds reviewed asap imo.

Ds is on a drus called singulair (tablet once a day) that has improved his asthma tenfold.It dampens the allergic reaction that causes his asthma.It may be something the nurse can talk to you about.

Hope he improves soon.

I would get appt with GP surgery asthma nurse or asthma clinic.
Does sound like it might help if he was on regular preventer inhaler (which is inhaled steroids) with the blue one on 'stand by' in case he has an 'attack'. They shoudl also give you a managment plan whihc tells you how many puffs of ventolin to give and how often to repeat for different degrees of attack.
Steroid tablets are usually given when child has an underlying cough/cold so the system is under extra stress.
Having a cough can make asthma worse as the breathing tubes are already swollen from coughing. Poor little guy.

He needs a brown inhaler as well as the blue one - if its been going on for 2 weeks I would take him to the doc/nurse today or tomorrow as it will take a few days of regular preventer before you see a difference, during this time you may need to give him his blue one more regularly.

There's some stuff you can do to help him but it's quite tough on you I'm afraid. Here goes

No stuffed animals in his room - maybe one for comfort
Hoover his room every day
Wash his curtains every other week
To go the whole hog - remove all carpet and rugs and have laminate flooring in his room
You basically get the idea...it's all about dust mites and allergens in the air so removing as many as possible will help him

Poor him and you. Asthma is horrid isn't it? You have my upmost sympathy
Another thing to try is to lie him on his side and put his arm that's nearest the ceiling above his head (resting on his ear) this helps open up passages and assists breathing
Love to you

My DS has asthma, and is is also more seasonal. Worse in the winter and def. worse with colds. When he was first diagnosed at 2 (!!) he was on the brown 2 puffs 3x a day and the blue 1 - 2 puffs twice a day. It took a good 3 months to get him stablised (this was last Aug - Dec). But since we've reduced his brown down to 2 puffs twice a day and touch wood he's only used his blue one once since Feb.

The preventer does need to build up. I remember thining it was never going to help DS. Then it did and he started sleeping, stopped coughing at night. etc.

If he gets a bad cold, I give him an extra brown puff if his breathing harder. And so far, touch wood, it helps.

Go back and get them to talk it through with you. Maybe he didn't build up enough??

THANKS that is very helpful as your child's symptoms sound similar to mine - i think with the fear of giving steroids we were looking for a quicker repsonse than was realistic - our son was also diagnosed at 2.

We just had our asthma check-up last week and the nurse said that his lungs were clear. They were clear 6 mths ago as well (March check up). So she doesn't need to see him for a year YEAH!

I was a bit nervous about the steriods as well. But my DH did some research on it. His findings reassured me at the time -- of course not that I can remember clearly enough to state them here. Just the rememberance of reassurance.

My DS is 4 and was diagnosed with asthma when he was 2. He has 2 puffs twice a day of his brown inhaler and 1-2 puffs of the blue when needed (up to 10 puffs if he's really bad).
He has had no problems with his asthma this year and has only needed the blue inhaler a couple of times, but this weekend he's been really bad. I think it's because of the weather , it's so cold and damp at the moment. I'm wondering if he should have the flu jab, he hasn't had it before but if his asthma is bad now what's he going to be like when the weather gets worse?

Hi aliasairgreen,ds1's asthma is particularly bad atm.
People I have spoken to with asthma or who have children with asthma have all said that theirs is bad as well. Dp, whose asthma is pretty mild now is complaining of a tight chest,
There must be something in the atmosphere, fungal spores perhaps?

Ds1 has 2 puffs of a purple inhalor (brown and blue combined) twice a day and when his coughing is bad, like now ,he also takes his orange.
He aslo has a cold and that certainly makes things worse.

I find the worst time for him is Autumn and spring. It is also a time when my dds' eczema flares up. There has to be a link.