Please could i ask for advice from mums of asthmatic children - inhaler strife

[ohbugrit]

Poor DS has had a really chronic cough and the GP prescribed inhalers for him. The problem is that while he can use dummy inhalers fine he hates the taste of the drugs and becomes hysterical. So far we've tried a spacer and mask, ordinary pump inhalers and most recently we've got a turbohaler.

After an hour of battling and cajoling this morning he took both his inhalers without me priming them, in the hope that I can eventually get him to take them properly. Any other suggestions at all?

He's 4. One of the problems is that he had a mask induction last year to have his tonsils removed and he's terrified of the mask.

He's totally fed up of coughing but nothing, bribery or otherwise, will persuade him to do it.

Well, that's what was thought which is why, after a big confab between the nurse practitioner and the doctor, we decided to try the turbohaler. But it seems that he also hates the taste. A different spacer might help - I'll ask the pharmacist this afternoon. Thanks :)

Im afraid I am quite the mean mummy when it comes to inhaler and have in the past pinned DS down and given it to him through the screams if nothing else works.

DS is much younger than your DS though and has been on inahlers since 4 months so is used to them now.

We had similar issues with our DS, aged 3. He's a Fireman Sam addict so we got him to pretend he's Sam with his breathing apparatus on. It took a good few weeks before he was totally comfortable with it, but calm and persuasive was the key!

Thanks so much.

Sir, we did the pinning down thing for a week previously and he just got worse and worse. As he's probably going to need to take them on and off for quite a while I'd rather negotiate a mutually acceptable deal (if such a thing exists!).

Lack, it's great to know that you got there in the end. I thought that him seeing me take mine would mean he was OK with it but not at all. I may dig out Fireman Sam from his drawer and see if we can incorporate him, good idea.

I agree finding an easy way is easier, thankfully we are through all of that with DS (for now!)

Have you tried pretending that you take it, then you having some chocolate or something straight after and then let him take it and do the same?

He's too young for a turbuhaler really - he's unlikely to have the inspiratory function to use it properly and most of it will end up at the back of his throat and taste worse.

Does he have a favourite character? I had a little lad pretend to be Darth Vader recently which worked, another girl was given yoghurt or chocolate after doing her inhalers to get rid of the taste.

I'm smiling now - he's a mad Star Wars fan so we've tried Darth impressions! And I line up chocolate buttons before we start for maximum visual effect!

Maybe we're being impatient and a bit more gently gently stuff will work. I thought he was taking the piss a bit and DH and I got very tough about it thus morning but he really got completely hysterical :(

We found the aerochamber spacers much more child friendly than the big ones.

And the turbohaler is just the GP'a desperate attempt at finding something that DS will take - it's licensed from 5 years and he's 4.5 so we figured worth a bash.

The medication in the turbuhaler is licensed from 5, but IME when you test them with an In-Check Dial (a device to see how much inspiratory effort they can make) very few young children can manage a turbuhaler effectively.

I can understand the desperation to find something they can take though!

Hope Darth Vader works

Thanks Sidge :)

The pharmacist showed me a maskless aerochamber which might be useful so I'm going to persevere this weekend with him trying unprimed inhalers, then go and get that if we don't have any success by Monday. I'll need to go and stock up on chocolate buttons anyway

It's a plan!