Asthma - Terrified.

[Worried234]

This may be long, so apologies, but I'm very scared and want to try and give a full picture in case anyone has any advice or experience.

My DD is 15. A month ago she had a cold, fairly mild, but with a bad cough. I contacted the GP after the cough got worse, and we were told at an appt with the nurse practitioner that it was viral and it would go away on its own. A week later, no better and the cough has now become coughing fits which ended in retching each time. With huge amounts of phegm. Contacted the GP again and was given an appt with the paramedic. Again we were told it was viral and no treatment offered. A week later and the coughing fits were ending with vomiting. We saw our GP herself, who provided antibiotics 'just in case'. By now I was convinced it was whooping cough, but the GP disagreed.

At the end of the antibiotics nothing had changed and DD had a coughing fit at school so bad that she almost passed out. Then later that day had one so bad at home that she couldn't breathe. I contacted out of hours and we were sent to Children's ED. The doctor we saw said it is most likely asthma, refused to test for whooping cough, and gave DD a dose of dexmethasone and a chest x-ray. He then said it was almost certainly asthma on the strength of the X-ray and listening to her chest. She now has a brown inhaler for morning and evening, and a blue inhaler for as and when she needs it. Also she is monitoring her peak flow morning and evening. The cough is no better and she was sick due to it twice on Saturday night.
Yesterday she and I were walking to the shop and she had an episode of coughing which then became what I can only assume was an asthma attack. It was terrifying. She just couldn't breathe at all, and didn't have her inhaler, as she just isn't used to carrying it. I was moments away from calling 999 when she managed to regain her breathing. I can't explain what happened other than to say she couldn't breathe. She was fine after a while.
I have barely slept and I have to go to work now and leave her to it (her brother's are around, but one is 17 and one is 11).
I can't shake off the awful feeling that it's not asthma, or that if it is it is going to kill her with a huge attack like the one yesterday, when she is by herself. I am beside myself with worry.
We have an appt on Thursday with the asthma nurse, but that feels too far away. Should I call the GP now and ask to be seen tonight after work?
Does this sound like asthma or something worse?
I am sick with worry
Can anyone help or advise?
Thank you.

Why would they not test for whooping cough? It sounds very similar, also Asthma is not just diagnosed by one random doctor for one episode of what sounds like acute illness rather than asthma.

Whopping cough is doing the rounds where I am ( NW). I’d want a second opinion and a swab to rule it out. It can cause episodes where people can’t catch their breath. I would not want her to be diagnosed Asthmatic for life because of this episode.

Id keep the Asthma nurse appointment but try and get another appointment with a doctor.

Well it may be asthma. I’ve had asthma since 8, then it completely went away - didn’t need any inhalers etc- from around 12-37 when it came back with a vengeance and like you dd I had mostly horrendous coughing with mucus as a symptom. I’d literally wake in the night unable to breathe. Just awful. I found out you can have cough variant asthma where you don’t have the normal wheezing etc. And it can be triggered by a virus. The inhalers she has may not be enough for her - the brown preventer is a relatively low dose one compared to the mainstream Seretide or Fostair one they can give if the brown one isn’t controlling things. She also needs to make sure she takes her blue inhaler - and spacer - everywhere with her. It’s so important.

If things just aren’t improving with better inhalers etc then perhaps a course of prednisone should be given to calm down any inflammation.

But yes asthma can absolutely present like this and it can be truly horrible.

Thank you so much, both. I'm so so scared. I'll call the GP again today.
I don't know anything about how asthma is diagnosed. It's like they just gave us some inhalers and sent us home to deal with it all.
We're monitoring her peak flow, but I don't know what is good and what is bad.
Would I be OTT to ask for a specialist appointment? I'm terrified after yesterday.
All the health professionals we've seen have said her chest is clear, but the cough is so phlegmy, how can it be?

Oh and they wouldn't test for whooping cough because she was vaccinated as a baby. But I've read that you can still catch it, even if you've been vaccinated.

There are charts online that tell you what a normal peak flow is - it depends on age and height. Is your daughter using the blue inhaler at first signs of an attack? is she using a spacer? There’s a great video on YouTube by abrahamthepharmacist showing good I helped technique.

It could be asthma but they don't diagnose it properly until aged 5 because the airways are so small and underdeveloped. Could've been a really bad virus and took a while for her to fight it off. My son gets coughing fits like this and they gave him an inhaler but it didn't really help so we don't use it now. He generally only gets the cough when he's got a cold and is full of mucus. There's so many nasty things going around, hope she's ok xx

The whooping cough vaccination only lasts about 10 years so it could be whooping cough. Antibiotics for WC are only useful if given in the first three weeks of the infection to stop it spreading.

My DD has had a really bad cough (could have been WC, could have been pneumonia) for months which has affected her asthma. We are now under a paediatrician because the cough hasn't cleared after multiple steroids and antibiotics. He has said that her asthma diagnosis might be wrong because she was diagnosed at 13 which is an odd (old) age to get it as a child apparently. She is now on a longer regime of steroids and antibiotics and that seems to have kicked the cough. Chest pain and shortness of breath are still there though.

What colour is the phlegm?

I would be tempted to ask the GP for steroids and antibiotics. DD is on azithromycin.

You should see a GP/asthma nurse within 24 hours of having an asthma attack to see if the inhaler regime needs to be changed.

Pollen is on the rise so it could be allergy related.

An asthma attack is scary for spectators as well as the patient. Put the inhaler and spacer in an easy to carry bag and remember to check she has it everytime the front door opens!

@Worried234 if your dd breathing difficulties went away without the use of the blue inhaler it was not an asthma attack. You need hospital treatment and a nebuliser for asthma attacks as they aren’t resolved with use of a blue inhaler alone although obviously it does help until the ambulance arrives.

I have asthma with almost identical symptoms to the ones you have described. It can be very scary. Your DD needs to be seen by a doctor as her's is uncontrolled. She must always carry her inhaler and use it when her coughing attack starts.

I haven't seen the phlegm, as she can't cough it up. She says it just seems to get stuck in her throat and then she reaches and is sick, or is unable to get any breaths, and come close to passing out.

I have asthma and see an asthma nurse once a year for a check up. It is completely under control as an adult but was less controlled as a teenager. I take a preventive inhaler every morning and thus don’t have attacks any more, it’s callled Fostair (pink inhaler). It also acts as a reliever of symptoms so I occasionally take it at other times if I start to feel breathless.

I always have a spare even though my asthma isn’t even bad any more. I carry one on me at all times and keep a spare at home. I would ensure she has one in her school bag each day (or bag at home).

This isn’t true for me.

When I have an attack I will cough and cough and if I don’t use my inhaler sometimes eventually the mucus will shift and I will gradually be able to get my breath back - this was the experience I had during my first reoccurrence of my asthma when I had a sudden attack at home after doing some gardening (gardening / dust is a trigger for me). Literally thought I was going to die and then suddenly it cleared and eventually I was able to breathe - although it felt like through a straw- and then slowly calmed down. I now know if I use my blue inhaler during those times it calms down quickly and I have never needed to go to hospital for an attack. I am on Seretide 250 2 puffs twice a day and this has been key to calming things down for me.

@Pigeonqueen I’m a brittle asthmatic so on the more suffer end of the spectrum, if you ever find the Seretide not working as well as it once did request DuoResp. This inhaler has been life changing for me I can now go months without needing to be admitted, it has given me my life back.

@SpiderPeter Please could you explain what brittle asthma is?

Brittle asthma
@Worried234 this will explain it better than me.

Thank you for this advice.

Try not to panic, make sure she always carries her inhaler with her.

Asthma uk the charity are often really helpful have a look at their website. They also have nurses that you can talk to or WhatsApp.

I'm not a dr just a lifelong asthmatic. What you've described however sounds very like whooping cough. Passing out or vomiting after coughing are classic signs.

There's a thread running somewhere on whooping cough I don't know how to link but search for it and see if the experiences match your daughters

As well as a test for whooping cough, the GP should probably ask for a sputum sample to be tested. If she's had the antibiotics but has a bacterial infection which doesn't respond to those antibiotics, she may still have an infection.

As PPs have said: keep the blue inhaler and spacer at hand always. Do you have an oximeter at home? (That will tell you if her oxygen levels are low.)

Whooping cough www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/5015903-whooping-cough