Can somebody talk to me about an asthmatic cough please????

[LonelyLinda]

My DS(3yo) has been diagnosed as having an asthmatic cough, the GP explained that this is not the type of asthma where you get out of breath when running but the type of asthma where the airways are swollen which makes him cough as his body thinks he has something to clear in his throat but its the swelling.

I am really scared because I don't really know anything about this other than that we are trying him on different types of medication inhalers/tablets/different inhalers to treat this ongoing cough (which GP also referred to as viral induced asthma) because the first set of inhalers caused nightmares and the next set was another set of side effects and this new inhaler Qvar doesn't cause any side effects that i have noticed but he still coughs all day every day but not at night. It isn't a barking cough it sounds more like a clearing the throat cough 'ah hem' type of cough. But i'm just worried as I know nothing about this. I obviously need to return to see the gp but I wondered if anyone can enlighten me in the meantime please. I am getting really stressed about it.

My DD suffers from something like this.
Asthma as most of us think of it is the one where children cough and wheeze when they get out of breath. As you say, this type is different.
It is caused by a virus or other bug, which the body reacts to be getting wheezy and coughing.
Whenever my DD got a cold or bug it always went to her chest first and she always ended up coughing and wheezing, especially at night.
It isn't something for you to be stressed about. It is not difficult to manage and control once you know about it.
When DD was really bad the inhaler was sometimes not enough and she needed a nebuliser, but I could always manage it in some way.
If it persists too much, it might be worth getting your DS allergy tested to see if there is an underlying cause. In my DD's case, she is allergic to dust mites. Knowing that I have been able to control it completely using dust covers on her bed, keeping her room clean etc.
Talk to your GP more and he will be able to help you and allay your fears.

Thank you, it does seem like this inhaler isnt working, as he is still coughing (this has been persistent since the middle of December).

I will ask to have him allergy tested as anything I can do to improve the situation would be great, thank you for that advice, and I will also see if there is an asthma nurse or somebody I can talk to for more information to help me understand it better.

Thank you for your response.

My ds (6yrs)has this type of clearing the throat cough. It is very annoying as it upsets him and his teacher has started to complain. He developed the cough after our visit to Spain last summer. I wonder if it was something he got from the air conditioner because my husband has the same cough which is an urge to clear his throat. The brown inhaler does not seem to make any difference. I am also trying the blue inhaler, I have not seen any change or relief. We are due to see another doctor who specialises in respiratory illnesses, in a week.