Viral wheeze advice

[prmj]

My son, just 2 had a scary hospital admission for viral wheeze a month or so ago. He's on day 3 of a cold and its started again.
I'm giving ventolin (4 puffs) but it didnt last 4 hours (around 3 only) so gave 6 before the nap. I know we go to A&e if 10 puffs dont last 4 hours - but what do other people do before they 'escalate' as it were? Do i start the clock again and see if 6 gets him through the magic 4? Then 8, then 10...?

It'd be useful to know how other people manage this. Thanks!

My son had a very similar experience to yours and I used to give him two puffs of ventolin every 3-4 hours over a twenty four hour period. I found that this usually only lasted a couple of days (the point at which he was coming down with a cold). If this did not relieve the symptoms I believe you can give up to ten puffs with the advice to contact a GP/ambulance as this is exceptional circumstances.

I would seek a referral to a respiratory nurse as he/she can look at your sons particular case. I found keeping a diary helpful too.

My son is now six and half and we have found that as he has got older he gets this less and less and he plays a lot of sport and has no lasting effects. I know when my son was younger it was very stressful and quite a worry as hospital admissions are not great for the child (or you).

I am off to do the school run now but will check in later. HTH.x

Dd was admitted for the second time recently for viral induced wheeze. The advice we were given was give 10 puffs straight off (different from previous advice which was 2-10) and then go in if it was needed more often than 4 hours. She's 5 though and I don't know I'd the advice is standard or tailored to yet iyswim. I'd probably ring the gp for advice on what is best.

Hope it clears up soon. It is nerve wracking watching them struggle.

thanks both - the advice from drs seems so variable some say 10, the dr says 1-2 on our prescription and i vaguely remember them saying 4 at the hospital. But we are now 3+ hours with 6 puffs and all clear still so I'm crossing fingers.
By the way I've bought my own stethoscope and blood ox monitor after last time which are proving invaluable.

Glad he's feeling better.

Our prescription says something different to the hospital as well. Quite frustrating when you get told off on arrival at hospital for not doing it right! And its not just the inhaler. She is peanut allergic as well and the instructions on her antihistamine prescription are 5ml once a day. The hospital's instructions are "keep shoving it in her until she stops reacting or you get to hospital"

This time round the hospital were really good and gave us written instructions on dosage so I'm relying on those in future unless changed by a consultant.