Viral wheeze....worried

[AWOIF]

Hi just after some advice DD 2 yrs, has a viral wheeze. Took her to GP today, he prescribed blue and brown inhaler. Neither are helping. She's still well in herself, she's asleep now, but still wheezing and coughing. Wondering if I should wake her up and take her to a&e or wait it out and see how the night goes?

Has she had calpol/iboprofen ?
Have you raised the head of the bed slightly ?
Did they give you a spacer for the inhalers, how often is she to use them ? It’s really important she has the brown one.

My DD was in and out of hospital with a viral wheeze all the time. The hospital told us to look out for them “working hard” to breathe, ie look for the skin between the ribs sucking in. Also count the breathes per minute. If she’s well in herself, that’s a good sign but if you’re worried phone 111.

The brown won't work straight away. It's a preventer and needs time to work. The blue should give her some relief. Does she have a spacer?

Yes she's been given a spacer. I've just given her 8 puffs of the blue inhaler, while she's been asleep, however I can still hear a faint wheeze.

Try propping her up on a pillow so she isn't flat. If the wheeze is just faint I wouldn't worry much as she is asleep and doesn't seem too bothered by it. See how she is in the morning. She might just have phlegm in her throat

I've got one with viral wheeze. It's frightening
Is she sucking in her chest/tummy under her ribs when she breathes? That's 999/A&E if so. Mine never actually has an audible wheeze tbh, the so gns of things going wrong are generally fast/laboured breathing, grunting and skin going a bit mottled. But call 111 if you are worried

Brown inhaler will take a few weeks to make a difference.

My dad has asthma so I've been through many long nights monitoring her.
Definitely keep her propped up high on pillows, it can be tricky. When dd was small she always wriggled down.
You might still hear a wheeze but if she is sleeping comfortably and isn't struggling for breath -pulling in at the throat or ribs or breathing jerkily (difficult to describe but sort of stop/start breathing) then I would let her sleep and keep monitoring her.
It can be scary dealing with breathing issues. If you are in any way worried that she is struggling for breath then go with your instincts and have her checked out.

Looking blue around the mouth is another thing to look out for.

Follow the protocol the Dr has given you 8 puffs should see a lot of relief

Is your house air dry?
Have you sprayed chemicals like deodorant air freshener etc?
Have you given antihistamine?
Did you dry the bedding outside? (My son has a viral wheeze aggravated by pollen his bedding can be dried outside but only inside out)

Ultimately my son sounded like darth vader on a bad day and still had Sat's of 98% upwards so it's not always as bad as it seems just watch the chest moisturise the atmosphere and beware of pollen we wipe down with a flannel before bedtime hair included to get rid

DS had moments of being quite wheezy growing up... we got kind of used to it. If he could still talk non-stop I reckoned he wasn't really struggling for breath.
What I mean is zero wheeze is hard to achieve.

Our son has this. Advice from respiratory paediatrician was to look for signs of working hard to breathe and also frequency (over 60 breaths a minute is A&E). We were told to give 10 puffs of blue inhaler via spacer (10 breaths per puff) and if that doesn’t help then A&E. NB salbutamol makes them breathe fast so don’t expect breathing rate to improve after it but the effort and wheeze should. Hope it all goes ok.

I haven't given her antihistamine. I should have really.
I've put on warm mist humidifier, that may help. I've had a look at her throat and chest, I can see she's using her muscles to breathe, but im not sure what's normal or not. I will keep an eye on her throughout the night

if you can see she’s using muscles to breathe that could mean she’s working hard.

I would call 111 and speak to a doctor.

also though is the hollow of her collarbone sucking it? A&e if so.

when my wheezy child was a baby and first struggling to breathe, I wasn’t sure if I was seeing something normal or not and found some videos on YouTube posted by parents of children having asthma attacks. That’s when I realised my child was in fact having a respiratory crisis. It helped me understand what “working hard” looked like. Worth looking if you aren’t sure?

But honestly no ambulance driver or. A&E medic is going to complain you’ve over reacted. They’d always rather check them over