Just found out 2 year old has asthma and feeling a bit lost

[FrankReynolds]

Our story briefly - I've had a feeling for ages because he was wheezing at night time and when he was active and when he didn't have a cold or anything. He's always coughing for no reason.

We've been to and fro to the GP, out of hours, A&E, children's unit of our local hospital since he was born. He was diagnosed with CMPA at 5 months and then hay fever at 24 months.

On Saturday, everything came to a head when he caught a mild cold from his older brother but it went straight to his chest and within 24 hours he was panting for breath and burning up. He was listless and wouldn't drink so I rang 111. First responder came and sent us to hospital as his temp was 39.4 and she heard crackling in his lungs. Eventually we saw a fab consultant who listened to his history and examined him etc and said straight away that he has childhood asthma. He was put on a viral wheeze programme with a blue inhaler which he finished yesterday after progressing down from 8 puffs every 4 hours. He's on a 6 week trial of brown inhaler, 2 puffs morning and night.

Basically the reason I'm posting is because I'm stressed and looking for advice and maybe stories from further down the line. I'm trying to do some research but it's hard to do that without specifics. What happens after the 6 week trial of the steroid inhaler? Did your child grow out of it? How did you find their triggers?

Hi Op, I think it's totally normal to feel a bit lost when you find out something like this, especially when your child is only 2.

Give yourself time and space, you'll find his triggers but it will take time to figure out. Once you've had a few weeks to take it all in consider speaking to the asthma nurse at the hospital, they will completely understand your stresses.

Hope someone with a bit more specific experience of asthma comes along soon for you, and all goes OK with your son now too.

My DS2 was similar from the age of two, but without hospital involvement. Lots of GP visits through.

He started on a blue and then a brain inhaler at 2 and a half and is still on the same medication at 14 years.

It is fine, just needs managing. He has always been happy to use his inhaler and spacer twice a day. Triggers became obvious as time went on (cold air, tiredness and viral infections).

He has needed oral steroids after viral infections (closest we've been to hospital) but he has gown out of the tiredness trigger now.

Now he just keeps a blue in his pocket /school bag just in case.

Oh, and the change in him when he started his brown inhaler was magic. He put on weight went up two clothes sizes. Colour in his cheeks.

Absolutely nothing to be stressed about my lovely.
My youngest had a cough whenever he came in from cold to warm (not the other way around) I cried and panicked like a headless chicken when I was told it was asthma.
He was put on a steroid (brown inhaler) and blue to manage the cough and slight wheeze.
I did not want my two year old on steroids but actual it stops damage to the lungs. We managed.

He ended up on large quantities of brown inhaler and then all of a sudden around aged 5 we suddenly realised we hadn’t used the inhalers for ages and at his review we stopped and he hasn’t had any problems since.

On a practical note - get a couple of tubes that for over the mouth much much easier. My GP surgery was lovely and gave us at least 3 at all times. One at nursery all the time abs action plan and one in the steriliser and one in cupboard / handbag. Cold water steriliser is your friend here and cosmetic / make up bag. Once steriliser it went in the plastic zip bag and back in the handbag.

If they struggle or get frightened even during a wheezing episode do one puff for stuffed toy and one for them.

Pm me if you want more info. Your nurse at the GP clinic should see you regularly. Yes it is serious but entirely manageable. I only had one really life threatening episode with him.

Wearing a scarf when they come in for ten minutes and keeping his coat on helped mine as his main trigger was cold to warm. Watch for triggers and try to manage them eg dust or animals etc

The aim is to stop the need for the blue inhaler.

They upped the brown inhaler until he no longer needed the blue and then reduced it back down. You can get a child spacer that goes over the mouth and nose - it’s yellow and I’d ask for that.
Triggers I kept a note on my phone in notes any use of the blue, any wheeze or cough.

After 6 weeks tell them how many times he had been wheezy / cough how many times you have used the blue and they will adjust the steroids accordingly. You want to control it with the brown inhaler to stop using the blue. That’s the right dose.

Don’t look at foods straight away. Look at temperature change and animals. If you have any plug ins take them out for the moment and open the windows instead.

Watch does he have a warm day - fine and then a cold day - cough. Etc just watch and relax

Thank you ladies, I really appreciate it. I have OCD and have been having some intrusive thoughts about finding him cold in his cot. It's been a really tough week and I need to be a bit kinder to myself.

I've got a personalised little pouch off Etsy for about £8 with his doses on for when he goes to nursery or his grandparents'. So cold sterilising will get rid of the static with the spacer then @2021V2 ?

Our DD has been diagnosed with asthma today, she’s 23 months old. Feeling gutted but also a bit relieved that we’ve potentially got an answer for why she suffers with colds so badly. We’ve had a terrible Christmas, 11 days of tonsillitis and coughing so badly every night That’s sheS vomiting. She’s had two doses of steroids in those 11 days (and had croup about 8 times since 8 months old).

I’m a bit lost about what it all means for her and the management of it. We’ve got a brown and a blue inhaler. I think we’ve got to give the brown one twice a day (I’m assuming morning and before bed?) and the blue one as and when we need it.

Does anyone have any advice for me? how many should I have? Do I need to have the blue inhaler with us at all times? (She’s never had an ‘atttack’, how do I clean the spacer? Etc etc

Oops sorry this was meant to be a new thread 🤦‍♀️