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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To disagree with my GPs diagnosis

51 replies

degroote78 · 10/02/2012 10:39

Last October my daughter caught a really bad cold and has been coughing at night since then. She has been on two courses of antibiotics and since then the doc has decided it's childhood asthma (no test have been done to check this). I have given her the asthma medication for over 8 weeks now and its not making any difference at all. I keep going back and they keep upping the dose. She's only two so can't do the asthma test as she doesn't have the co-ordination yet. I really don't want to keep giving her these meds as they are steriod based and many of my friends with kids have told me a lot of children are mis-diagnosed. I'm not a medical professional but I do know my child and know these meds aren't working. I'm interested to know how the other mums on here would handle this situation or if you've experience anything similar with your own children as I'm worried firstly about giving her meds she doen't need and secondly that it is somthing else completely that isn't being treated!

OP posts:
dikkertjedap · 10/02/2012 21:39

I would first try another GP in your practice. It that does not work, you could take her to A&E explaining that you are really worried and think that something is really wrong -I know you are not supposed to do this but if your GP is unwilling to take your concerns seriously and if a private paediatrician imposes financial hardship I think you have every right to use A&E because you don't have choice. Hope you get it sorted.

Animation · 10/02/2012 21:51

Has your child had a immunoglobulin blood test? My Dd3 had a lot of chesty colds as a baby and then pneumonia. A blood test confirmed she had a deficiency in Immunogloulin A (IGA). Everything made sense after that. She needed antibiotics whenever she started with a cold - but when she hit puberty she started to make IGA, and now appears to have grown out of it - with no more chest problems.

PrincessWellington · 10/02/2012 21:51

Does anyone smoke? This makes my ds cough even if they don't smoke in front of him or indoors - the smell is enough. Also could it be an allergy, damp, some environmental problem where she is sleeping?

BokkleofSterra · 10/02/2012 21:54

night time coughing maybe from enlarged tonsils and/or adenoids after a virus.

finsophmum · 10/02/2012 22:22

My son too fell ill in October 2 years ago, after a lot of coughing during the nights and me not really doing anything about it he did fall really ill and ended up on a nebuliser at our GP surgery. He got inhalers, steroids, antibiotics and he improved. My son has suffered with this on and off for a while, mostly in the damper weather. But does your wee one suffer from excema as well, my son always seemed to get the two together.
I think very often this can be an illness that they tend to get and then grow out of. This has happened to my son and my cousin. I would say..if in doubt check it out! make an appointment with your gp to run through the treatment again.

SarahStratton · 10/02/2012 22:32

Cradle cap is another indicator, it's a form of eczema.

Have you tried hot washing her bedding, including the duvet, etc, and hoovering her mattress? Then damp dust the bedroom and be on the look out for mould growing anywhere, particularly hidden behind wardrobes etc, or round the windows.

c0rnsilllkrunninglikealaydee · 11/02/2012 11:48

OP - my GP has an asthma nurse that visits every week but the GP didn't tell me about it, another parent did. I just rang up and make an appt, I didn't need a referral from the GP. It may be worth phoning the surgery and asking if there is an asthma nurse that you can make an appt with.

ragged · 11/02/2012 19:33

Degroote, if it were me, I would drop the meds & just pay close attention to how she's doing. Trying to be open-minded (in all ways).

topknob · 11/02/2012 19:36

How old is the child?

Heswall · 11/02/2012 19:40

Steroids are reducing the inflammation in the lung and the SABA (blue inhaler) is opening up her airways, I don't think I'd be dropping either of those meds personally.

featherbag · 11/02/2012 20:15

ragged, that is a very irresponsible thing to say. OP, if you're not happy, keep at the GP until you are, or change GP if you feel you're not being taken seriously! I'm sure my GP thinks I'm mad, he's diagnosed my DS with dry skin, I know he's got eczema, but it's intermittent and it takes so long to get an appointment with my GP that the flare-up's always died down by the time we get there! But I badger him for prescriptions anyway, and we're starting to see improvements, although I'm sure he thinks I'm inventing the whole thing!

featherbag · 11/02/2012 20:16

Meant to add - but don't stop the medication!

SarahStratton · 11/02/2012 21:00

feather take photographs, that's what I did with DD's urticaria.

ragged that is an incredibly stupid thing to suggest. Someone dies from asthma every 8 hours.

DizzyDizzyDinosaur · 11/02/2012 21:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

batsintheroof · 11/02/2012 21:29

I spent the whole of my childhood on ventolin, which didn't work. There wasn't anything stronger at the time. Now I'm on seretide and my asthma is under control. It could still be asthma. It might be that what they're giving her is just not working.

BagofHolly · 11/02/2012 21:34

My 13 month old has been diagnosed with asthma and we got the PurFlo mattress which has helped enormously. It's a hollow mesh and you can place a bowl of hot water underneath and it rises up through it! The whole thing is machine washable and it'sade such a difference we have them for our other two children.

iggly2 · 11/02/2012 22:08

Keep going to your GP until you are happy your concerns are addressed. Do especially emphasize the lack of improvement and how ill your child has been also ask if it could be something else (this should encourage the GP to think of alternatives as certain ailments are easily overdiagnosed). If you are worried about inhaler application can you demonstrate how you use it in front of the GP (obviously timing/dosage appropriate). Can you ask what else she recommends to ease the symptoms (this would be an ideal time for her to recommend an appointment ith the asthma nurse).

sashh · 12/02/2012 06:13

Solbutamol is vwntolin - ventolin is the brand name.

Getting an adult to take an inhaler properly is difficult, for a child it is virtually impossible - you need the spacer. It also takes up to 20 mins to be effective.

The preventer needs 14 days to start to work effectively.

Check your home - particularly your DCs room - make sure it is dust / damp free - if it is asthma or an alergic reaction this will help - you might need to vacuum the matress and get rid of curtains.

INSIST of a referal to a paediatrician or chest clinic.

Asthma can present as a night time cough, more usually an early morning cough so I see where your GP is comming from

ragged · 12/02/2012 09:45

It would be incredibly "stupid" and "irresponsible" to assume that the doctor is always right. DH was diagnosed as asthmatic by an asthma expert, someone who shouldn't get it wrong, but he did.

For 2 years I kept asking dentist to remove DS teeth because orthodonist (perfectly qualified & experienced) insisted they had to come out; thankfully dentist said it would be too difficult because last week Orthodontist declared that DS probably won't need teeth taking out after all. Medicine is an art, not certainty.

As others have said, asthma can be very difficult to accurately diagnose, especially in under 5s. OP is not describing a child with definitive or severe asthma symptoms, she's describing a child with symptoms that could be due to a dozen other things. OP is right to question and wonder.

SarahStratton · 12/02/2012 10:00

But not right to stop the medication. You just don't do that with asthma. Or potential asthma. What you do, is you ask for a second opinion. You do not stop medication.

Or suggest it to others.

DrWispalove · 12/02/2012 18:14

www.sign.ac.uk/pdf/qrg101.pdf

Hi again Degroote, this is a useful document to have a read of before you go back in. Night time only wheezing is quite suggestive of an allergic response, which may or may not have an asthmatic element. please don't stop the treatment without the GPs knowledge, as you don't know what the symptoms would be, if the drugs were not working. Technique may be a part of it so PLEASE do keep going back. See every Dr, nurse, HV there if you need to. it's ok to keep asking for a referral. In fact ask them to record that you requested it on dcs notes. You can always write them a letter, it's normal practice for requests by letter to end up on notes. hope you get somewhere next week. it's a truly horrible situation to be in :(

Of course you could take dc to OOH service when wheezing and cough are most obvious. Good luck.

SarahStratton · 12/02/2012 18:44

I agree DrWispa, I've suggested basic allergen removal further back in the thread. It won't do any harm, and it may well help.

I still think finding out if there's an asthma clinic at the GPs is a good idea, or seeing the practice nurse.

Original poster
degroote78 · 14/02/2012 11:07

My internet has been down for a few days so sorry for my lack of response.

I went back to a different GP in the practice and they are now trying her for two weeks without the inhailers. She has stopped coughing the last few nights but thats because she's had a cold and I've been rubbing a bit of vicks on her chest and back and putting olbas oil on a tissue near her cot. I am hoping it's just one of those things and it may have finally cleared up on its own.

I am also going to try vacuming her mattress as well. The flat we live in is a new build and does not have any damp. Hopefully I clean well enough that there isn't too much dust but maybe I will clean even more. We do have cats so I am quite conscious of hairs etc. My daughter is two years and four months old (don't think I put in original post).

OP posts:
SarahStratton · 14/02/2012 11:10

Damp dust her bedroom and make sure the cats can't get in.

Original poster
degroote78 · 14/02/2012 11:52

They don't come in our room at night (she is still in with me) but she is forever cuddling them and lying on them etc the rest of the time, but there isn't much I can do about that. I just make sure there are no hairs where she sleeps. I will try damp dusting as well. Thanks.

OP posts: