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.

Charlie she didn't have a plan to see us again.

Polka you are being very offensive and wifully misinterpreting comments about nurses. Scrape the surface and see old fashioned prejudices come out. I'm offended and also quite shocked.

Antibs did work to some extent,he was a lot better but left run down hence me wanted help with cough and building I'm up,getting some weight on.

Fine they had an infection then - particularly blood in wee could be a uti. The point everyone is getting at is the nurse wants to look in to your sons care and health and investigate this yearly bad chest problem but ur having none of it and don't want it on his records?!? You make no sense and clearly only going to listen to the gp / as I said earlier would love u to come back once you've seen him!

You said back in the beginning that you have to go back to her??

My DS was the same, he coughed in winter, had eczema and hay fever. All of a sudden one summer day he started coughing and going blue as he had his first asthma attack.
It is very, very scary indeed so I think YABU.

The nurse practitioner at our surgery is fantastic, in fact I see him more than my GP. I only tend to go to the GP if he's unavailable or if it's something that needs a referral to a specialist (ie, an ongoing problem that the NP has been unable to help with long term).

If you're unhappy with any diagnosis, be that NP OR GP, then by all means you have the right to a second opinion, but to just dismiss the NP because of what they are is unfair.

Why is a highly qualified and experienced GP giving antibiotics for a viral infection?

If one of the two GPs (both with years of experience) had put their hands up and admitted that they knew less than the nurse practitioner when it came to diagnosing and treating asthma. I might not have ended up in the absolutely terrifying situation I did last year. As a general rule GPs do not have as much training or knowledge about asthma as an NP respiratory specialist, so I'd be very careful about assuming the GP was right.

So Blubber nurses supersede doctors, I am confused.Are gps no longer part of the NHS?

Yes in a years times,.

As it stands asthma or not the symptoms at the moment r consistent and can be treated as of it wee asthma. Why don't you stop arguing over who gave you the diagnosis or not and concentrate in your ds. Get him some vitamins, go online research a bit as to how you can help his breathing and dizziness and make some high calorie nutritious snacks for him. Far better use of time than being here. Nuts and seeds r a fab source of fats and oils and vitamins how about some flap jacks. Smoothies with full fat yogurt and peanut butter, oats banana and honey. Look at propping him up at night etc who cares right now if it's asthma or not

Don't understand long word like supercede - only spent a total of 8 years in higher education and if you think that is what I was saying you either aren't reading or aren't understanding what I and other peopke are saying

YABU - the receptionist is doing her job in offering appointments using a protocol which is agreed by the GPs. The Nurse Practitioner is employed by the GPs specifically for her skills and knowledge. Patient leaflets can be found on the internet - if you ask your GP for them chances are they will go onto the net and print them off for you. All asthma clinics in GP surgeries are ran by nurses/nurse practitioners who have undertaken specialist training in specific areas. You are wasting a GP appointment just to a diagnosis confirmed - maybe that is why it is so hard to get an appointment with your GP, instead of dealing with urgent and chronic patients they are dealing with the 'worried well' who already have had a thorough investigation, medication prescribed and diagnosis.

I am sorry your DC is unwell but am very pleased to hear that (for once it would seem) the NHS has done something it is intended to do ... treat people at the point of need .....

Antibiotics should not be prescribed for viral illnesses op so if your gp did I would seriously question how good a gp he is.

Blubber nurses?

In defence of gp I am assuming it was viral and wee infections aren't good in young dc.

Good grief OP unclench.
You have been offered good advice by a NP, accept that asthma has various forms.
I have one DS with very severe viral-induced asthma, my youngest has had two episodes of wheeze/cough induced by viruses which my GP said should be treated in the same way as asthma for this Winter to see if it recurs.
They have no appetite, pale as ghosts and neither have the classic wheeze.
Having had hospital admissions I would far rather play safe and have the meds.
We now travel abroad with the equivalent of a small pharmacy and feel secure in the knowledge that were either of the dss to have an attack we would be able to give them good care.
Frankly I don't give a shit about the state of my dcs 'records' if it means they have relevant treatment.

Blubber you don't seem to like me seeing my gp which I actually don't see that often.

Our receptionists aren't that great actually,all are new and recently one stopped my mothers private prescription,doctor and consultant livid so lots stop assuming all nurses and receptionists are fab and all doctors are crap.

Web I wasn't told any of the below,as I said nurse gave me no info not even a leaflet.

PolkaDot - are you still persisting in this 'so now nurses supersede doctors' straw man crap?

I shall say it once more, in an effort to get it through to you.

A nurse who specialises in a particular area, such as midwifery or respiratory/asthma care, may know more about their particular field than a GP, who has to know a bit about many conditions.

THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS SAYING THAT NURSES SUPERSEDE GPs IN EVERYTHING AND WE NO LONGER NEED DOCTORS. Got it now?

So the np is useless, the receptionists are incompetent, and the gp prescribes antibiotics for a viral illness.
I'd move to a new practice op.

Sometimes, when you have a virus, you can get a secondary infection - if the immune system is busy tackling the virus, bacteria can sneak in and cause other problems; your DDs urinary infection for example. The GP will prescribe antibiotics to treat these other infections, not to treat the virus (hopefully).

Sometimes, when you have a virus acting on your chest, your lungs can over-react and you get a bad cough or a wheeze. The GP can prescribe an inhaler to calm down your airways - not to treat the virus.

But something like pneumonia could cause similar symptoms, so it would be foolish to prescribe inhalers without having the patient properly assessed. So you can't just get a repeat prescription from last year.

Polkadot, were you to see a paediatrician - something I will be doing in two weeks with my elder one as his asthma has been atrocious this Winter - I doubt they would give you different advice to what the NP has said.
Just accept that even with suspected asthma you have to play it safe.

And as recommended above, look at the Asthma UK website.

Web will do,Boul I think that was the case,I was I'll too so a lot of it went over my head.First time he has given us Antibs in a very long time,think the word secondary was mentioned.