asthma without a wheeze?

[Sirzy]

Am I right in thinking not all asthma attacks are accompanied by a wheeze?

DS (2.9) normally has pretty wheezy asthma, but today he is generally breathless sounding and breathing faster with a very slight trachial (sp) tug.

I have given him inhaler and encouraging him to stay still etc but the lack of wheeze has got me slightly flummoxed!

Hi Sirzy asthma without wheeze is a recurrent topic on the Asthma UK forum (see example linked) and elsewhere on their site they say:

"Symptoms of asthma

The usual symptoms of asthma are
coughing
wheezing
shortness of breath
tightness in the chest.

Not everyone will get all of these symptoms. Some people experience them from time to time; a few people may experience these symptoms all the time."

Pollen count is very high today, it might be a good idea to have DS checked by GP/asthma nurse?

Thanks will take a look at that link, he has had some loritadine which has actually helped.

He is seeing his consultant on Thursday so in that sense it's pretty good timing

DS1 has asthma without wheezing. Has done since he was 18 months. I would describe it as laboured breathing. Occasionally there is a tiny grunt when he exhales.

He has night time coughing with lots of mucus. Apart from that, I only know it's bad when he gets very lethargic and pale.

He is 8 now and is still on a daily preventer but it is nothing like it was when he was little and had lots of visits to A+E.

ds has only ever wheezed once, usually coughs non stop. I very rarely wheeze, just feel very out of breath. HTH

DD is 22, she has been a diagnosed chronic asthmatic for 20 years and had her first ever attack of wheezing asthma about three weeks ago. It stunned her boyfriend of four years so much that he actually looked in the wrong person's kitbag for an inhaler (she is a swimmer and had just finished a race against a team-mate who is a wheezy asthmatic).

It is entirely possible to have an asthma attack with no wheeze. DD usually has decreased breath sounds in her lung when they listen through a stethoscope but has no audible wheeze.

My DS, 14 months, has mild asthma, sometimes he gets a bad wheeze when an attack is coming on, other times it's the increased respiratory and the tugging around ribs with no wheezing. So yes I'd say asthma can be without a wheeze.

Thank you all, very helpful - now I can mention it tomorrow without feeling daft!

My DS2 has asthma that wasn't diagnosed for ages because they kept asking if he wheezed and, when I said no, they said it wasn't asthma (diagnosed at age 4 after 3 years of problems).
Now he's 10 and he has just occasionally started to wheeze whilst before he just has the cough when his asthma was bad. (Bit like your DS but the other way round!)
The best help we ever got was a peak flow meter(when he was about 5 as need to be old enough to use it). Then we could measure his peak flow and gauge whether a cough was an asthma cough or just a cough!! I know your DS won't be old enough for that yet. It does seem that asthma symptoms can change and don't always show in the same way. Asthma UK (if I remember correctly!) have a handy checklist. It says something along the lines of, if you're too breathless to talk/sleep/sing... and explains what it means in terms of asthma. I found it really useful because everything else I had been told was so vague.

How did you get on Sirzy and how is he?

Got on well, the Dr could hear his chest wasn't clear so he has been bad without the wheeze. Given him a new inhaler which will hopefully help in the long term