To not agree with the nurse practiser's view that my DS has asthma and to think a diagnosis should come from a doctor?

[PolkadotCircus]

Soooo my v healthy but skinny boy 9 has had a nasty winter virus that he has had problems shaking off,symptoms involve a cough that won't go away.Loads of other kids and adults have had/got it here.

The same happened last year and our fab doctor gave him temp inhalers to calm his airways down which worked a treat and were never used again.

His grandad is the same(very skinny and some times gets a chest infection in winter it takes a whole to shake off) but still cycling 16 miles a day at 80.

Anyhow dtwin 1 keeping dtwin 2 awake so tried to get an appointment with our fab GP but because he is so fab it is nigh on impossible so was offered an appointment with a nurse which I reluctantly accepted as all I wanted were temp inhalers and ds better ASAP.

Anyhow after a very lengthy appointment when his puff was measured,history looked at,records filled in,weighed etc she finally gave us some inhalers.Puff was poor(errr yes he has a virus and a temp) and we were told to come back for a follow up asthma review.I said but he doesn't have asthma only to be told well this happened last year etc,etc.

So we went to the review puff beyond normal now and very good,virus over so no surprise.Nurse then said as he had asthma she'd like to see him again,keep him in her records,how many inhalers did he have etc,to keep him topped up when tight in the chest etc etc.

I said very firmly he doesn't have asthma and never gets tight in the chest.She then asked if he had eczema or hay fever.He had eczema as a baby and gets a bit sneezy in the summer ahhhh then they are linked so he does have asthma.Me-no he doesn't he just gets a cough he can't shake some winters.
I don't want asthma on his records unnecessarily.We politely agreed to disagree.

So aibu to think a)he doesn't have asthma and b) a diagnosis should come from a doctor.

Personally, I'd make another appointment with the nurse, or ask which nurse in your practice is the specialist asthma nurse. Two out of the four GPs I saw when my asthma was mild were completely useless. The other two will treat in the case of emergency but would usually suggest seeing the nurse instead of them.

Write down a couple of key questions that you think are the most important to you. Also, have a look at the Asthma UK website. And listen to MNers. There are some posters here that are very knowledgeable about asthma and their advice is usually worth taking.

If the gp had referred us to said nurse I would be questioning this less yes,however he didn't we only were sent to her because the practise was snowed under(their words).If said gp answers my questions and thinks he does indeed have Asthma thus referring us back I will go gladly to get said inhalers we will need to stock up on.

As it is the receptionist decided we needed to see the nurse and my questions were not answered.If. Nurse can not answer my questions then next portof call is gp. Parents are entitled to ask questions re their dc's health and most professionals I know are only happy to answer them -if they can.

Are you just too proud of an unblemished medical record? You start your OP with off with saying how healthy your child is. Would you be embarrassed if suddenly he isn't perfectly healthy?

Stop being so resistant to diagnosis. Surely it's better for him to be healthy than for you to be able to boast about having perfect children?

Clay will do.

Why are you so obstinate?

I had asthmatic bronchitis diagnosed as a child, it manifested exactly as your DS, when I got ill usually in the winter and would be ill for long periods of time, and have persistent cough that just won't go away. Unfortunately only the bronchitis part of my condition got treated but not asthma. As I got older, I grew out of bronchitis but asthma got worse, but still wasn't give a proper diagnosis or medication despite having regular attacks where I wasn't able to sleep at night as was struggling for breath. I was diagnosed with asthma and given proper medication when I was 20 after I moved to the UK. Looking back I realise how lucky I was to never have had a very bad attack as child as I never had any inhalers to hand. This was a long time ago - I'm 36 - and I didn't grow up in a western country so the standards of medical care in my native country at the time were not great. My DSis, who's 10 years younger than me and still lives there, on the other hand, got her asthma diagnosed when she was a child, got inhalers which she only ever needed to use occasionally grew out of it by the time she was 18. I can't help but wonder if I too might have grown out of it or had lesser symptoms now it got treated properly when I was a child.

You do sound like you are being stubborn for the sake of it over this issue. Determined to find fault somewhere.

And it sounds like the nurse did a very thorough job.

Oh well, enjoy your GP appointment!

How ridiculous Sir,you don't know me or my dc.I don't want perfect children however I also don't want meds taken unnecessarily and to be fully informed/supplied if my dc have a condition.

PolkadotCircus, do you think now that your son does have asthma?

You are totally correct... That you know NOTHING about asthma. He sounds incredibly typical of an asthmatic, especially a child asthmatic. The stuff about how he was last year and how his grandad is is totally irrelevant as regards HOW HE IS NOW. Asthma isn't a set disease, ie it's not like you experience X every day and you take Y medication every day. Asthmatics can go years without needing an inhaler (although may get v wheezy or out of breath but not quite require an inhaler) and then have to take one twice a day for 3 months and then not need it again for ages, and so on and so on. Having to use an inhaler only when it is cold or when you have a chest infection is possibly one of the most common examples of asthma. It's actually how my asthma presents. Eczema and hayfever are linked to asthma, as they are all part and parcel of having a more allergic system than average (although you can have them all separately.

Do you want to deny your son treatment that might one day, out of the blue, save his life, for the sake of a term on his medical records that you (possibly wrongly) think might affect insurance premiums. We have the NHs - for now - why do you need to worry about health insurance so much anyway?! The fact that his brother needed medical investigations for a serious and more rare condition which will affect premiums is just not the same thing as being asthmatic. So many people are asthmatic it'd be like highering premiums for people who get bog-standard headaches. I also don't get all this 'protect his records' business either. Asthma is hardly anything to be ashamed of. In fact, what disease is to be ashamed of, actually?! Do you have some personal issues surrounding the thought of 'having something wrong with you'?! You sound almost freakishly angry and scared at the thought of your child having the most common and everyday childhood complaint that has zero stigma associated with it.

Many nurse practitioners are actually better trained in spotting, diagnosing and treating asthma, did you know that? It's common yet (usually) easily treated and it can save a lot of appointment time and money to have NPs sort asthmatics out. Your attitude is offensively condescending and patronising towards this highly qualified medical professional. You have the cheek to just want a prescription for inhalers -putting medication into his system without checking it is what he actually needs right now - yet sneer at what actually sounds like a thorough check-up and insightful disgnois.

And that's what I find really stupid. NPs can give lifestyle advice that can reduce or do away with the need for inhalers for asthmatics and yet you just want to give him medication without a diagnosis. This is really dangerous, you don't just give drugs willy-nilly when there could be ways of sorting a child out without putting strong chemical mixtures into his system.

If, god forbid, your son had a massive asthma attack and was hospitalised or worse, I bet you'd blame the medical services.

Obstinate about what exactly Bun?

I have questions the nurse couldn't answer and may well need more inhalers sooooo I need to see my gp.

Well that will be a wasted gp appointment where I suspect the op will be bounced straight bac to the np, a wasted appointment that might have been better used.

X-post - how can you say you don't want him to be given meds unnecessarily when you keep banging on about just wanting a prescription for inhalers again?! What you really mean is, I do not want my child to have a long-term medical condition, at least be honest with yourself. It's fine to feel scared of that, just not to refuse to accept it at his possible detriment.

Oxford he has colds just like any other child without ever getting wheezy or short of breath.

He has never been wheezy or short of breth-ever.

However posts on here have concerned me enough to ensure I get my questions answered and a clearer picture.Said nurse was v vague re diagnosis and a course of action.

Nope would have been happy with cough mixture but apparently it's not that effective.Said inhalers were fab last year,just wanted the same this year for this virus,others requested them for the same virus.Just wanted a few puffs to knock it on it's head,that is what we got and it did the job.

However on reading this thread will see my gp and get the info I wanted,a referral back if needs be but answers to my questions,a clearer plan ahead and some spare inhalers.

Again what questions did you ask that the nurse couldn't answer?

YABU and very rude.

And you don't think it is possible that your dismissive attitude and firm rejection of her professional diagnosis might have had any bearing on the situation, PolkaDot??

Can you explain the contradictions in your account, please?

• your GP knows your family well, yet you say you rarely see him.

• you would prefer to have strong drugs prescribed sight unseen by a doctor who hasn't seen your son for a year, than have him see a qualified, experienced professional.

• you don't want him labelled as asthmatic, but want him to have several inhalers.

Sidge 11.53am You ar an asthma nurse.

You say in your last paragraph, that "I wouldnt necessarily have the time [or want] to give all the information in the first appointment".

Maybe that happened to the op too?

op, did you refuse any info that the asthma nurse may have tried to give you?

You don't need to see your GP. You need to see your surgery's asthma nurse. I know she did't answer the questions you had but otherwise it looks like she's done a very thorough and professional job here.

Op you are right to pursue this. 2 long coughs in 9 years may be a cough, may be asthma, and your appt with nurse practitioner may have been with her asthma hat on, on a very busy, day. Maybe you only normally get sent to see hr if gp duiagnoses asthma, so she assumed it was?

Please do update us after yr appt

But he's tried them and they work - so clearly they're not unnecessary.

Of course cough mixture isn't effective, for a proper cough rather than just a tickle.

And stop saying 'thus' it isn't making you sound any more intelligent.

It's not 2 coughs in 9 years though is it? It's 2 coughs in the last 2 years.
It's a diagnosis, not a prognosis.
She diagnosed at the second appt after your sons respiratory test was returned to normal after asthma treatment. This is correct procedure I believe.
www.asthma.org.uk/how-we-help/publications/publications-for-the-public/ucProduct?product=279
Perhaps ordering this might help
If you read your original post you were asking if a) the diagnosis was correct and b) the NP was qualified to diagnose. This is what we are answering primarily.
I have never been diagnosed with hayfever but I know I have it. Your son gets sneezy every summer, thats hayfever, an allergy, which predisposes him to asthma.
And I know officially bow out, as clearly 200 odd posts are wrong and you are right op.

Nope Amillion I didn't.

I asked why he was now asthmatic after never being wheezy or breathless and just got a shrug.We had chatted quite pleasantly beforehand.So I said I don't get it-cue silence.

Sorry if anybody's child was given a diagnosis with very few symptoms you would want a rundown of how said condition worked,why your child had it when it presented itself with few makers, a plan ahead etc,etc.A leaflet at the very least no?Asthma is a a lifelong serious condition.