Chronic (?) Cough - Asthma? 4 yrs DC, please help

[theonlyoneiknow]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has been through similar and had any advice?

DD developed a cough about 6 weeks ago, it seemed to come from nowhere. Nasty horrible dry cough that would appear about teatime then go on and on through the evening and into the small hours and then be not too bad during the day.

I'm normally happy to just ride a cough out but this just seemed particularly nasty so went to GP who gave her a blue inhaler to use (2 puffs) when she started coughing at night. This seemed to help a tiny bit but nothing significant. We carried on doing what we could - raised bed / humidifier / steamy showers etc then went back to see a nurse last week who said her airways were inflamed and to use neurofen and prescribed antibiotics (as they couldn't hurt) even although her chest was clear.

For the first 3 days of antibiotics her cough totally disappeared and for the first time in 6 weeks everyone was able to get some sleep and DD was much more comfortable. Then 2 days ago it came back with a vengeance and is as bad, if not worse than before.

So, back to the nurse who has said we need to be using the blue inhaler 4 times a day and when her cough has gone to make an apt to see doctor to get tested for asthma? My understanding was that the blue inhaler wasn't for using that frequently? We used it twice last night (2 puffs each time) and it really didn't make much difference to the horrible coughing. She is nearly being sick each time :-(

I did wonder about trying pirotin to see if that would help but wasn't sure about using it if have been using blue inhaler and the nurse didn't know?

I have an apt with the asthma GP next Tuesday but right now that feels like an awful long time away.

Sorry for waffle, thanks for reading
TOOIK

If she's nearly being sick with it I'd go back to the GP. You can use the blue inhaler several times a day but if she's needing it that much then they probably need to look at adding a steroid inhaler into the mix (if it's asthma related).

You must all be exhausted, hope you can get it sorted soon.

Its absolutely fine to use piriton along with the blue inhaler. Definately worth trying. Does she have a lot of soft toys on her bed? If she does it might be worth cutting it back to one favorite one, washing the favorite one the keeping it in a bag in the freezer during the day to kill any dust mites incase it is a dust mite allergy?

You're totally right that the blue inhaler shouldn't really be used frequently as a preventer. Fine to use often if someone needs it, but shouldn't be a long term plan! Is she using it with a spacer? If not she needs one! You could try multidosing her before bed and see if that helps. It means taking 10 puffs of the inhaler. With a spacer it should be 1 puff and 5 breaths before the next puff. GPS can be really bad at telling parents how to actually use it! If that helps might be more indicative of asthma.

Theres no one single test for asthma as such. Depending on her age they can check peak flows but you could discuss with the asthma nurse a prevented inhaler or medicine like montelucast to see if that helps?

Hope you get some relief soon!

I have experience of this. The Steroid inhaler helped a lot more than the blue one. Definitely go back to the doctors.

FWIW DD got an asthma diagnosis at 3, partly due to family history and partly because she had had a tiny bit of eczema as a baby. I don't think she has it though, she's now 7.5 and hasn't had any inhalers since she was 4 and shows no signs of it at all now. I don't think diagnosing at that age is particularly reliable tbh.

Thanks for your comments. She is really good using the spacer but it's hard to get her to take the slow deep breaths. I've been getting her to take 5/6 breaths and waiting a minute then doing it again.

I tried pirotin but didn't notice any difference although we are all so exhausted I couldnt work much out right now!! It's just so never ending and I'm reluctant to get her flu nasal vaccine until she is better. I've put all her soft toys at the end of the bed bar one but now she has a blocked nose which means even more restlessness. Mwahhh! Poor mite.

I have an appt with respiratory GP on Tuesday so will see what he says.

Thanks again all

I was once told to watch for the little disc in the spacer (between the chamber and the mask) to click as that shows a breath, as that can be easier than trying to count their breaths. The medicine is held in the chamber so if she's not taking long, slow breaths (quite possible due to age and also how short of breath she is anyway), you could always count 10 breaths or something as she will have been given more chances if you like to take in the same amount of medicine.