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Original poster

Wheezing into 2013 - Support thread for parents of asthmatics

993 replies

Sirzy · 26/12/2012 14:19

As the old thread is filling up I thought I would get a new one started!

This thread is for anyone with a child with asthma, or asthma type symptoms. Between us we have to much experience of inhalers, nebulisers, steroids, sats and all things asthma!

OP posts:
BrandybuckCurdlesnoot · 18/09/2013 18:41

Hope everyone's little ones are ok.

We had my son's appointment with the Asthma Nurse and he has been officially diagnosed now. She was great, explaining everything to him, upped his dosage and swapped his inhaler for one that is easier to use. More monitoring and back in 4 weeks for a follow up.

It's a relief that it's finally being monitored and controlled. He can start using his brown inhaler again tonight so hopefully he'll be feeling better again soon.

Original poster
Sirzy · 18/09/2013 19:13

Glad you are home Well.

Brandy, fantastic that you have a diagnosis and a good asthma nurse. Hope he feels better soon.

OP posts:
cedmonds · 18/09/2013 20:07

ds is still plodding along ok. The cold mornings and wet hasnt helped, hope everyone else is ok

Original poster
Sirzy · 19/09/2013 08:54

Oh well DS managed 8 mornings at pre-school before needing a day off :( was up most of the night coughing, asleep now with the soundest sleep he has had all night.

OP posts:
lollipoppi · 19/09/2013 10:35

Oh no Sirzy hope he is better soon!

Been up most of the night too, not with DS but with DD (8mo) this morning she is wheezing ConfusedConfused off to the doctors at 11.30, we have been to hell and back with DS, I don't think I could do it again with DD

Original poster
Sirzy · 19/09/2013 13:06

Oh no lolli, hope she is ok and its a one off.

OP posts:
gingerbiscuitandacuppatea · 19/09/2013 15:13

Hi, I'd like to join you please? My DD, age 7, has been diagnosed with Asthma now for a couple of weeks. I feel like I still have a lot to learn about how to control it better, although the gp says she only has mild asthma. She has a cold at the moment and is struggling quite a lot, phoned gp and been told to increase the preventative.

Brandy, I'm new at this too but 90 peak flow sounds low to me in an 8 year old. my DD was 140 this morning and that is her lowest yet. She normally hovers around 200 though when reasonably controlled. It was all over the place before starting the preventor.. it is apparently the difference between morning and evening peak flow that indicates asthma. I'm sorry he has a diagnosis now, but glad the asthma nurse is good.

At the moment DD is rarely using inhaler at school even when it sounded like she really needed it. Any tips? am going to talk to class teacher.

lollipoppi · 19/09/2013 17:08

DD is fine, just me over reacting thank god! This is just how DS started when he was 9mo with broncholitis so think I'm just panicking

Welcome ginger biscuit!!
Have you seen an asthma nurse? They should give you an asthma plan which you could give to the school, I defo think a trip to talk with the teachers is necessary

stubbornstains · 19/09/2013 20:01

Hello everybody,

I was just about to start a new thread, but I wondered if I could ask you all here?

Right, I have mild asthma, and a blue Ventolin inhaler. When DS was a baby, he had some chesty symptoms and the doctors prescribed him- a blue Ventolin inhaler.

Today, for the first time since then (he's now 3.5) he has been wheezy and chesty with a nasty barking cough. The doctor told me to get him to take some of his inhaler if he was wheezy. Well, he's just woken up, coughing and wheezing and very upset- and I could not find that bloody inhaler.

Do you think i could give him some of mine? It looks identical- blue salbutamol. Surely if a child's inhaler was a lower dose or something it would be a different colour??

Thanks in advance folks...

Original poster
Sirzy · 19/09/2013 20:03

Ginger - I would arrange to go into school and talk to the teacher to put a plan into place.

Lolli - Glad she is ok

Stubborn - Ventolin only comes in one strength so as long as you have a spacer then should be ok to give yours. Perhaps phone OOH to check?

OP posts:
stubbornstains · 19/09/2013 20:12

Thank you so much Sirzy! I suspected as much...Yes, the spacer's till there in the drawer- I strongly suspect I may have pinched his Ventolin for myself after 3 years of non use Blush. He's asleep now, but I can hear his wheezy snoring from downstairs.

Original poster
Sirzy · 19/09/2013 20:47

Hope he is ok stubborn.

DS is struggling again tonight but has a temp to so off to the GP tomrorow I think

OP posts:
WellThatsLife · 19/09/2013 21:24

Still home, have just started to reduce salbutamol(was on 10 puffs 4 hourly)and she's starting to cough again. Keeping an eye on things and will be seeing gp tomorrow as instructed by hosp. just hope things don't kick off overnight

Original poster
Sirzy · 19/09/2013 21:29

I would keep the salbutamol up for now wellthats, especially if you are seeing the GP tomorrow.

DS never manages to reduce his to the 'schedule' the hospital give!

OP posts:
stubbornstains · 19/09/2013 22:21

DS just woke up again, horrible barking cough, struggling to breathe, v. distressed....after a short tussle managed to get some Ventolin into him, and I think he improved almost immediately. Think I'll take him into my bed tonight to keep a closer eye on him....night all.

Original poster
Sirzy · 19/09/2013 22:50

Hope you manage to get some sleep!

I have a feeling DS will be in with me tonight

OP posts:
BrandybuckCurdlesnoot · 21/09/2013 15:25

Hi Ginger, sorry to hear your daughter is also struggling with asthma at the moment. My son is quite good for taking his inhaler at school when he needs it so I don't have any tips sorry.

Since he has been taking his preventer again and has got over his cold his peak flow has risen to around the 140/160 mark but is not going any higher yet. He always ends up coughing after doing it too. He may still have a bit of the cold bug in him which is affecting his peak flow. It is rising, slowly.

BrandybuckCurdlesnoot · 21/09/2013 15:28

Also the asthma nurse is invaluable in my opinion. My son has been using inhalers for years without a diagnosis and we were not showed the correct way to use the inhaler for it to have the desired effect. 20 mins with the asthma nurse demonstrating it with my son and he is taking it perfectly now and it has much more of an effect when he's struggling.

gingerbiscuitandacuppatea · 24/09/2013 12:12

Hi and thanks for the welcomes. I hope the kids that were struggling last week have improved and you have all had better nights sleep.

We haven't seen a Asthma nurse no, when I asked before about appointments it was over a months wait so I booked to go back to GP instead. I will see about getting an appointment again. The pharmacist showed us how to use the inhaler/spacer, so hopefully we are doing it right, but it doesn't hurt to get it checked!

I have spoken to teacher and was told she is using the inhaler.. but I know she wasn't fully confident yet. We asked about break/lunch times as well so she knows what to do then. Since talking to teacher I think she has been more confident about asking for it.

Brandy, the preventer makes DD cough as well. She hates the taste as well and would sometimes make a huge fuss about not wanting to do it. I got a chart from Asthma uk with stickers to use and promise of reward at end of week and it's helping so far!

DD still struggling, low peak flow, and using ventolin lots. Just had call from school saying she'd had two puffs after break and they hadn't helped could she have more. She used it 8 times in one day last week, which is twice the amount I was told to use.. but she was really tight chested. I hope that wasn't the wrong thing to do.

Original poster
Sirzy · 24/09/2013 12:21

Hope she is better soon ginger. DS has 10 puffs of ventolin a day as standard and normally an extra 5-10 so I wouldn't worry about the amount but get her checked if worried

OP posts:
BrandybuckCurdlesnoot · 24/09/2013 13:22

Hi again Ginger.

Is DD using a spacer still? We stopped using the spacer when he started taking an inhaler to school because he couldn't use it himself.

However when we saw the Nurse last week she told us to start using the spacer at home again. The speed the medicine comes out of the inhaler can make them cough or gag and affect whether they are taking it all in properly. My son was finding it irritated him when it shot in his mouth and it ended up coming out of his nose sometimes. So we use the spacer at home now which means he is getting the correct dose. For school she gave him the inhaler that you do not have to press the canister down to activate, he just sucks and it activates the medicine being released which he finds easier to use.

We were initially told by the GP only to use 2 puffs every 4 hours. I used to panic then when he was really struggling about giving him more. But the Nurse reiterated that it is fine to give up to 10 puffs, one every minute if needed. Obviously if they are having to do that too often then it's time to get them to get them seen by the GP or Nurse (or A&E if necessary).

gingerbiscuitandacuppatea · 25/09/2013 14:13

I'm glad the amount is ok. School haven't rung today so hopefully that means she isn't as bad.

Yes she uses a spacer. I didn't realise you could suck on the inhaler to get a dose, will try remember that for if we ever end up without the spacer somewhere.

Is it ok to do an out breath first in the spacer? DD is not always remembering to blow out first, and i'm sure I smell the medicine so it must come out of the valve when she blows. She also sometimes refuses to do slow breaths with the preventer and just does a couple of very short breaths.. we will get there though!

BrandybuckCurdlesnoot · 26/09/2013 18:17

There are two types of inhalers I have seen. One you press down to release the medicine and another one which you suck on. My son has both now. The one you suck is for school and the other one is for home to use with the spacer

The nurse explained to us that when they breath into the spacer, no breath actually goes into the spacer. There are small slits around the mouth piece and the "out" breath comes out of those, then they breathe in the medicine from the spacer.

The way she showed DS was that he takes a long breath out first, to empty the lungs and then takes slow breaths in and out of the spacer.

WellThatsLife · 02/10/2013 00:32

Not very happy with school at moment. dd seems to be doing ok altough still has a bit of a chesty cough which just won't go. She rang me about 12 and i could hear straight away that she was bad. She said that she had taken 10 puffs of ventolin and it hadn't helped, told her to go straight to the office and that i was coming down. When I got there she told me that she had started coughing and wheezing during pe lesson but the teacher had told her to carry on. I took her straight to drs where she was put on a nebuliser. I'm not at all happy that teacher told a child who she knows is asthmatic to carry on when she was coughing and wheezing.

MrsShrek3 · 02/10/2013 07:40

wheezing season has arrived here, can I join you again? ds2 holding out so far, fingers crossed all his footy is strengthening him up a bit Smile
dd on all her inhalers, montelukast and still on antihistamine for a few more weeks, her peak flow is rubbish. 10 years of dealing with asthmatic children and it's never any easier tbh.

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