Can we start a new asthma support thread now dreaded winter season is looming?

[Knackeredmother]

Hi,
I can't seem to find the old support thread. I lurked on it during many long, lonely and frightening nights and admissions with ds over the past year and a half.
My ds is 21 months now, was hospitalized at 8 weeks severe bronchiolitis (really thought he would die) then every 3-4 weeks since whenever he gets a cold. No symptoms in between colds but a wet, crackly chest with some wheeze with every cold. Plus of course the dreaded tracheal tug and sternal recession that heralds an admission.
It is all so bloody draining and heartbreaking!
We are just starting with a new bout today after a whole 8 weeks of being well. I am debating whether to call in sick for my nightshift tonight or leave poor hubby with an inevitable hospital admission AND our 4 year old!
Anyway, would be good to hear from others going through similar so we can all support each other ( or direct me to the original support thread!)

[lifeistooshort]

Thank you for the tips Cedmonds and Elmofan. I will try. Glad your DS is out of hospital Cedmonds!

[Nuttychicken]

Hi,

Don't often post but would appreciate some advice. Son (3 years) is currently taking brown inhaler twice a day as preventative, blue reliever. Has had a cold. Today his cough has started up and I am just filled with dread. His blue inhaler relieves for an hour or so at most and then the cough comes back.

Annoyingly he is not diagnosed as asthmatic despite a trip to hospital in March which was very scary and involved chest xrays and nebulisers with antibiotics and steroids. We have been given the inhalers but no advice on what action to take when he gets these symptoms.

There is nothing more frightening than watching your child ill but being faced with apathy from health care providers who seem to think every parent is neurotic and overreacting.

At what point to I call the on-call GP? At what point do I need to take him to hospital? I have read up online and there is a lot of talk about an action plan but nothing has been set up with my son. Does anyone have any experience of this?

So far he is sleeping and hope that he will stay that way but will he wake if his breathing gets worse or do I need to check on him?

I would really appreciate some feedback from anyone with experiences like this.

Thanks,

Nutty

[roliepolie]

hi all i see a lot of our dc are suffering at the same time,cedmonds glad to see your ds is out of hospital and doing better dd just had her ventolin dose increased and seems to have stopped the heavy sighing.Nutty we were the same with dd with hosp addmissions,xrays nebulisers,antibiotics and steroids but was told very hard to diagnose asthma in young children,after a visit to a private consultant he is fairly sure its asthma and changed her brown inhaler to an orange one which is stronger called flixotide

[Nuttychicken]

Thanks Rolie.

I wish we had the resources to go private but its totally out of the question at the moment. DS is better today but still getting breathless very quickly and seems worse again this evening. Perhaps its something in the house making it worse as we've been out most of the day and he's been ok...

Did you find the flixotide worked better?

[ilovemydogandMrObama]

cedmonds sorry about DS. DD1 (as she is now!) saw the respiratory consultant a few weeks ago and he didn't think she was ready to reduce the Seretide . She's still on the singulair and a ton of Ventolin, but as the consultant reminded me, she hasn't needed to be on oxygen for over 6 months and hasn't seen the inside of an ambulance for about 9 months....

[sillywmama]

so... sorry to hear everyone's been having a tough time. I'm just checking in. DS is very bubbly in his chest and that wet cough is building again. We've doubled his clenil for a few days and are giving the atrovent to try and steer off a chest infection. The wetness on his chest is so hard to manage when he gets a cough. It just builds in the night. Still, we panic less now and haven't done an A&E run since before summer. Fingers crossed it stays that way. We are getting into the dairy free now and I have high hopes for it, will report back when it's been a few more weeks to see if it has an impact! I hope all your DC's are feeling good tonight!

[cedmonds]

Hi Nutty Ds is on flixotide and it has really helped but i thought it was out of licencing for under 4yrs. Ds is doing really well now almost back to normal.
Hi i love congratulations on dd2 that's good news that dd1 has Ben stable and you have had no mad rushes to hospital.

[Nuttychicken]

Thanks for the feedback. Have done some Googling and it does seem flixotide is for 4 yrs plus. Shame as I thought there might be some hope there.

Had another bad night last night. DS was up from 4.30am and actually asked for his inhaler which is a first. He is really rattly in his chest again. It looked like another day of calling on-call GP today and getting nowhere fast.

This morning however he is like a different child and I am now left wondering how he is fulll of beans and I am ready to collapse! My state is not helped by DD who decided to cut her 4th tooth last night too (as well as mastering crawling) so she was up every two hours. Why do all these things come at once!?

:-(

[ilovemydogandMrObama]

nutty DD1's respiratory consultant said that at Children's Hospital they are more willing to prescribe some medications that aren't strictly approved for pediatric use as there are lots of factors to be taken into account. DD1 is on Seretide 125 but she was taking quite a bit of pred in the meantime, so her asthma wasn't controlled. Plus she is being seen by the consultant every 6 weeks and her height is being monitored closely as one of the side effects of steroids is stunted growth.

[cedmonds]

Sorry nutty i didn't make myself clear ds was on flixotide when he was 3, because as i love said it was the only way to get his asthma sort of under control he is also at the hospital very 8 weeks . I know some Dr will not go out of lienceing though.
Its always the way when they are full of beans after a rough night and you feel like curling up and going to bed for a few hours.
Ds was coughing again last night and actually got up to have his inhaler himself bless him.

[Chrysanthemum5]

Hi can I join? DS is just turned 7 and has asthma. Looking back he had a terrible chest infection as a baby and was hospitalised. Then not much in terms of coughs until January this year when he was hospitalised again as unable to breathe. GP says the infections have triggered asthma. A few weeks later he was struggling again, back to GP who gave him a programme of steroids which really helped. He now has the blue inhaler for if he is wheezy and a brown inhaler which we have to give him if he is starting a cold.

Been very stressful, and really dreading another winter so it gives me comfort to know we are not alone.

[alibobins]

We've had a stable few days until last night when ds2 started with a cough and wheeze :( he is well in himself so fingers crossed it stays like that as I have a very important exam tomorrow.
Ds2 has been on flixotide since he was 6 months old so it my be worth asking about. We were lucky that we saw a fab consultant early on who we already knew through ds1.
Ds1 is having surgery on wednesdy for a unrelated problem and then opefully can book the sleep study before we go back to the consultant 2nd November.

[roliepolie]

Hi all weather here terrible so expecting plenty of ups and downs..nutty dd is only two and has been put on the flixotide i couldnt afford private consultant all the time i just went for one visit for a second opinion and an assesment..alibobins hate to hear the cough i instantly panic and fear the worse but not so much now as in the beginning..sillywmama hope your dc is feeling better now they are an awful worry..hope all have a good day

[alibobins]

I've shipped him off to granparents loaded up on meds :( off to do my exam if I can remember anything!!!

[cedmonds]

Hope your exam goes ok to allibobins as you stay away from drs with ds.
Ds is of school again today he has a horrid cough and is very tight chested. We have got a dr appointment tonight. I think the weather going from hot to cold and back to hot again really isnot helping him.

[Sirzy]

Ali hope the exam goes well and ds is ok with his op!

[roliepolie]

best of luck alibobins hope ye do great,cedmonds think your right abt the weather hope your ds feeling better how did you get on at docs?

[cedmonds]

Hi
Ds chest is still very tight.The gp wanted him to go to the hospital we have manged to stay at home with strict instructions if he gets any worse he needs to go straight there
He also said that lots of asthmatics are having problems at the moment because of the weather.

[alibobins]

Ds2 managed okayish at grandparents although very wheezy tonight but still eating and smiling which is all good.
Exam went okayish too so glad it's over feel like I can have my life back.

Cedmonds fingers crossed u stay away from hospital did your gp give you any pred or extra meds?

[cedmonds]

hi alli glad exam was ok.He is on pred anyway so just had extra and the inhalers have been increased back to what they were.

[alibobins]

so rubbish hate the winter months the dark nights waiting for the mad dash to a&e yuck yuck

[roliepolie]

just back from a&e AGAIN poor dd had very rapid breathing all night and then at 6am temp spiking at 39.3 rang doc on call and said to take to a&e turns out she has an upper respiratory tract viral infection ears throat nose and chest which doc says makes asthma worse.....and thats after having the flu injection

[cedmonds]

Oh no rolie Ds always used to get mild flu like symptoms after getting his flu jab. This year he was just a bit under the weather.
Ds went to school today and was then sent home at lunch at least he managed a morning. He is still very tight in his chest so we are going back to the gp tomorrow morning.

[alibobins]

Ds1 op went well although we did have to spend all day on the ward as he took a bit of coming round and was in some pain.