I was hoping those of you with experience of childhood asthma might be able to help/share your experience. We're currently querying whether my son (almost 12) has asthma. He started around 5-6 weeks ago with a dry, unproductive cough. No wheeze, no phlegm. After a week he started vomiting because he was coughing so much. After a week of this we went to the doctors who said there were some signs of a chest infection (which I disagreed with but that's by the by) and prescribed a week of antibiotics.
After the week, the cough was still there, so we went back to the doctors. She listened to his chest (still no wheeze) and checked his sats which were fine. No peak flow was carried out. She prescribed Montelukast, 1 a night for a month.
After a couple of days the cough was getting worse, especially after exercise, and because my son had PE coming up I called a pharmacist for advice regarding whether I should keep him off PE for the time being. Pharmacist was confused as to why he had been prescribed the montelukast but no inhalor, as montelukast is an asthma treatment but not usually the first port of call. He recommended that I go back to the Dr and get a little more information about what she was thinking. We went back, explained what the pharmacist had said and told her I was concerned that the cough was worse after exercise. She prescribed a blue and a brown inhalor. Brown for morning and night and blue for as and when required. Appointment made for 3 weeks time to review. She was reluctant to diagnose anything at the moment which is understandable.
So that's where we are now. Has anyone else had similar experiences? And what was the outcome? I work for the NHS and often see and treat patients suffering from asthma attacks so I know what we could be facing, and I want to prepare myself. Thank you.