colds, chest infection, asthma

[nearlyreadytopop]

just a moan really. ds (2) has had a lovely cold/infection/asthma free summer. Now after some rubbishy weather and a trip to a germ breed facility (soft play) he's on antibiotics.
last winter just seemed to be a sequence of colds, chest infections and wheezyness.
is there anything I can do to prepare for this winter

Just hope that he gets less of them as he gets older! A good diet and healthy lifestyle and good hygine can't do any harm either.

I know how frustrating it is but it's pretty hard to avoid the bugs unfortunately.

I would avoid all obviously germ ridden places if possible.
Use handgel when out and about, also wash ds hands regularly even when out and about as he probably sticks his hands in his mouth.
At the first signs of a cold start using saline nose spray (i find Sterimar easy to use), to clear nose as much as possible, several times a day, especially before going to bed and first,thing in morning. This reduces risk of ear infection, throat infection, respiratory infection due to mucus build up.
Healthy eating as much as possible, not just fruit and veg but also dairy (unless he has dairy allergy) etc, drinking water is also good to keep mucus loose or luke warm chamomile tea if he has a sore throat.

Hopefully this winter will be better for him, his immune system is still developing so ultimately there is only so much you can do.

thanks will be of to boots at lunchtime for some saline spray.

Just a thought - if he is asthmatic then does he have the flu jab? He would be entitled to one at the GP. My DD has had asthma since young and always has a flu jab - there is no medical science to back this up as it only gives immunity to flu germs but she gets significantly less colds and viral infections than her peers.

I know how you feel with the constant round of coughs and colds - I have been there and it is horrible.

yes, have been told he will be offered it this year. slightly cpmplicated by him having an egg allergy so it will have to be given in hospital.
Last winter was just a merry go round of illness for him. We had quite a few a&e visits as well. He is on a steroid inhaler now so hopefully this winter will be better but its not too hopeful atm.

That is a worry if he has an egg allergy but I found is has made a difference so hopefully it will be the same for you. The first one DD had was split into 2 jabs a month apart, but since then it is just one a year.

We too had the a&e visits together with the constant round of illnesses. I know how you feel. I became paranoid if anyone DD was around was coughing or had a runny nose as it was only a matter of time before she would come down with it.

If you have a steroid inhaler then that should help get the inflammation in his airways under control. My advice would be to try and get his wheeze under control before the winter starts. DD's asthma nurse told me that she should be completely wheeze-free with the correct dose. How long has he been on it? It may take a couple of trips to the GP/asthma nurse to get the dosage right, but if he is wheeze-free when he catches a cold, he is in a much better position to fight it off.

It is probably not much consolation to you now, but as DS gets bigger, his airways will get bigger and that will also help.

How long has he been on the inhaler? Assuming it is the brown one that needs about 6 weeks to work, it may be that he needs a higher dose over the winter or he may need different medication or others adding. The brown inhaler was useless for DS but he has quite bad asthma.

he's been on the brown one since march. since then there has been 1 episode of v bad wheezyness which resulted in a&e and 2 chest infections. our gp won't change his dose without the consultants say so.

Perhaps push to see the consultant before winter? What dose is he on?

we are due a review of asthma and allergies in sept so I can talk to them then about upping his dose.
I can't help but think this time the wheeze wasn't as bad because he was already on a course of predisolone after an allergy attack last week.
it is good to know that he should improve as he gets older.
I had a very close friend die from asthma at uni so am vv cautious.

If he is on prednisolone be very careful that he doesn't get in contact with chickenpox. Check with your GP/consultant but often the advice is that following exposure (so don't wait for symptoms) to go straight away to a&e for antivirals as chickenpox can be life threatening if your immune system is suppressed (that is what prednisolone does).

I suppose he has a spacer/volumiser with his inhaler and a peak flow meter plus recording chart?

Asthma can be treated really really well but needs to be carefully monitored.

he had a 3 day course of predisolone, no one metioned chicken pox to me. how long after a course of steroids do I have to be vigilant for?
we do use a spacer but no peak flow, I assumed because he is too young.

Best to discuss all this with GP and consultant TBH.

You can also check the leaflet which came with the prednisolone.