I need some help regarding asmtha!!

[coffeecake]

Hi, I would really appreciate some info about this, I'm desperate.
Basically DS (nearly 4) has had a cough for 6 months.
It started with a bad cold that he caught from his big sister, he then got a dry cough and then chesty.
Since then his cough has not stopped, I can only remember him not coughing at all for one whole day, and that happened maybe 2 or 3 times.
Everytime he seemed to get over it, he caught a cold again which made his cough come back.
After 2 months of cough I told my doctor who suggested anti biotics if the cough got any worse.
It didn't so I didn't give them.
I went back 2 months later and saw a different doctor and was prescribed a brown inhaler to use twice a day for 4 weeks (Clenil Modulite preventer).
But I was really scared to give him that as she wasn't even sure it was asthma.
In fact she even said "It could be asthma but I don't think so". It just seemed a bit "experimental" to do that.
I was then prescribed a ventolin inhaler by yet a different doctor because DS had caught another cold which set his cough back again.
Having misunderstood the doctor (I thought he told me to use the ventolin just in case of weezing, and DS was never Weezy) I didn't give it.
When the cough carried on I went to see a 4th doctor, who explained to me that I should give the ventolin a go for 2 weeks, 2 puffs 4 times a day.
So this time, I religiously did it. It seemed to improve for the first few days but we then had milder weather. When the weather turned cold again his cough came back (associated with another little cold).
He has had a swab for whooping cough which came back fine, but I went back to the doctors today and she suggested trying the brown one for 4 weeks, once in the morning once in the evening.
I asked her a few questions about it as I was really confused about it all, and she basically got impatient and said "I will give you a leaflet about it, but that is the treatment you need to give him".
I almost burst into tears in her office, as I have been worried about this for 6 months now, and they all seem to contradict each other, no one has any explanation for me, they just tell me to go away and do as I'm told.
I am not entirely comfortable about giving him this inhaler when there hasn't been a proper diagnosis. Plus when I read the side effects it freaks me out (slow growth, changes to normal production of steroids in the body, a decrease in bone mineral density etc...).
Please please, can someone enlighten me on this?

You don't need to worry about the side effects. I have been on inhalers for years. My two DSs have been on then since toddlers and are both tall and fit.

The brown inhaler builds up in effectiveness so you need to do it properly and over a period of time. I would advise giving a couple of puffs of blue then a couple of puffs of brown twice a day.

Although I thought they had phased out the brown ones in faour of the more effective purple ones now (seretide.)

Maybe you should make an appt to see a proper asthma nurse - your surgery has probably got one.

Your ds sounds just like my dd.
I to didnt want to give inhalers but my dd gets a cold about every five weeks in winter and ends up with cough with phlem every time.
I gave in and used them and she is a lot better.
I was worried about side effects as dd is small for her age and doesnt like eating but when we saw the nurse she had put weight on and grown in height.
She still hasnt been properly dx with asthma and noone else in our family has it.
But she is definatly better on the inhalers they take a while to work so you should see how ds is on the brown one for a month at least if I were you.
Dont think doctors know if they have asthma half the time but if they are chesty it does help.
Hope ds cough better soon

Thank you so much, you guys have reassured me in the space of a few minutes (something doctors could not even do in 6 months!!).

Now it's beginning to make sense, and I will give the brown one a try, I have more faith in it now.

I think it didn't help that the doctor couldn't even be bothered to explain why she was giving it, and instead gave me a leaflet about asmtha, because it made me think that she didn't know what she was talking about, which decreased my faith in her.

Katisha, I had never heard of the purple inhaler, I was never offered it.
Pixie, honestly I don't think it's a tic, I know the health visitor said that some kids cough out of "habit" but my gut feeling as his mum, is that it is a genuine cough.

I would say there is no proper pattern to it, other than it seems to get worse when he has a cold and when he first goes out in the very cold weather. And it seems to sound more chesty as it's getting better, and more dry when it's starting.

He rarely coughs at night, unless it's quite bad (ie when he has a runny nose at the same time like now), in which case it seems to go from dry to loose in one coughing session.

Sorry about the long post initially, thanks for taking the time to read it, I know some posts really put me off when they are long like that, but then again I did hold off posting for ages (that's my excuse! )

One little query about the dosage, the doctor told me to give him the brown inhaler morning and evening but I forgot to ask how many times, I assume it's 2 puffs like what I was told about the blue one?
Also she said to keep using the blue one maybe before he goes out in the cold etc... or anytime I think he's going to cough, or at night if his cough gets bad, but I forgot to ask how soon after using the brown one can I use the blue one?
Also if it is a dry cough at night as opposed to a chesty cough, is there any point in giving the ventolin? Or is it just good for chesty coughs?
I hope I'm not being a pain but I'm new to all this.

Doctors arent necessarily clued up on asthma, and most surgeries have a specialised nurse. Have a look and see if you've got one. You could ask for an appointment just to make sure you know how to use the inhalers etc.

I was never diagnosed as a child, doctor didn't "believe in it" - could have saved a lot of misery if I'd just been given some inhalers! Anyway that was a long time ago now!

Do the blue one first - couple of puffs, as it opens things up. Then you can do the brown one straight away.

Yes, will do Katisha, good idea.
A little word for Pixieonaleaf, thank you so much for taking the time to answer my query, I really appreciate it, I hope your DD is doing ok. I wish you all the best and thanks again.

It says clenil modulite 50

This how DD2 started January last year at 4yrs old.

She has Clenil Modulite 100 2 puffs twice a day and a blue reliever inhaler for if she is coughing away and it doesnt ease.

We had a very hard 6mnths last year where she was changed around a bit with inhalers, but she is pretty much ok now. Cold weather, central heating and coughs/colds and also hayfever are all a complete nightmare!

We keep her bedroom cool (probably colder than I could face!) and we have found that and olbas oil or vicks on the chest help her at night as nights are tough on her.

She has a cold now, and I kept her off school yesterday as the need for ventolin (blue) increased, but she seemed well enough to be back at school.

Pixie is a little angel on all things child-asthma related, and helped me a lot last year when we were struggling. Good luck and give the brown inhalers a chance to work x

When I gave him the first puff this morning by the way, he coughed even more, it freaked me out, especially after reading the information which said "If you notice an immediate increase in wheezing, shortness of breath and cough straight afte using your inhaler stop using clenil modulite and use a quick-acting "reliever" immediately. Contact your doctor straightaway."
He didnt' have any of the wheezing or shortness of breath, just the cough seemed to get a bit worse. It wasn't chesty though.
but I gave him the blue one after that like the info said, and he was still coughing.
Then it stopped (after about 20 minutes).
Should I have phoned the doctor to let her know?

I wonder if taking a deep breath to take the inhaler might have set off the cough?

Someone more knowledgeable will advise, I'm sure. Just wanted to say, as others have, that my dd was on the brown inhaler for about 7 years before changing to seretide and flixotide, and she is both very tall and very strong and fit.

There you go, Pixie advised before I got there.

I found I got the timing wrong on the inhaler the first few times with DD2 and she would cough more!

I now look for the outgoing breath (can see it on the nose bit of the spacer, and press the inhaler as she is breathing out, then it is going in when she is breathing in rather than squirting the inhaler as she is breathing in as it catches on the throat!

Yes I think it may have been something to do with his throat, because he wasn't wheezy or short of breath as a result, just coughing more.
Yes funnily enough usually with the ventolin I press it when he is breathing in but with this one (by chance) I did it when he was breathing out. So it's strange that it would have done that isn't it?
Anyway I'll use my common sense and if I see that it's making him worse or wheezy I will stop using it, I'm sure I will know.
Weird he hasn't actually coughed since about 10 o'clock?

Also regarding the spacer device (I assume it's the same as the chamber?), I was given one for DS with a mask, but he gets really funny with smells and things around his nose, he's got a very sensitive sense of smell. So I was given one without the mask which he got on really well with.
The doctor said that's ok, but I forgot to ask her (again) if the breathing process is the same. Can he just breathe in and out normally 4 times even with the maskless one?
I've been doing this for the blue one as well but I'm now wondering whether I've been doing it wrong.

I dont think it matters when you press it, or when they breathe in or out - I just puff a couple of puffs into the chamber and let DS breathe in and out about 7 or 8 times. I never used a mask either - they just stick their mouth round the "spout" and off they go.
The point of the apacer chamber is that they don't have to be able to co-ordinate their breathing with the puffing of the inhaler. The drug goes into the chamber and then they breathe it in from there.

Ah fantastic, thank you for that!