clenil modulite Inhaler any good?

[Anxiousmummy2023]

My 18 month old son was prescribed the low dose steroid inhaler clenil modulite on Wednesday and he’s not started coughing again? Not sure if it’s coincidental but I’m worried it’s not helping!

He’s suffered terrible with bronch hospital admissions since April this year and finally got to see a consultant about it all and they said to use the inhaler to help prevent him getting poorly, but I don’t know, feel like they fob you off with inhalers!

anyone had a similar experience with their toddler and the inhaler did help? Or cause a cough when they first started using it?

Do you have a blue inhaler too?

The brown inhaler reduces inflammation in the airways. I think it typically takes a few weeks of use before it reaches full effect.

Your child has been reviewed by a consultant who has started a treatment. Just wondering why you feel fobbed off. Did you have a different treatment in mind?

Clenil modulite is the generic name for Becotide if memory serves, which is the standard first steroid inhaler. It'll take a while to work so keep up with the reliever for now

The brown inhaler is the preventer inhaler and lasts 12 hours, and is usually used every day morning and night, the idea is you shouldn't need to then use the blue one which is a treatment inhaler for flare ups. Sometimes the dose of the brown inhaler might be 2 puffs morning and night for winter when you might get more flare ups. Basically the blue one shouldn't be needed consistantly and if it is being used consistantly then an asthma review is probably needed.

Why do you feel fobbed off? If I had a child who kept getting chest infections a steroid inhaler is exactly what I'd be pushing for btw (I'm not medical but am asthmatic).

My sons was 3 when he had inhalers prescribed and that was after he ended up in hospital twice with what was thought to be a viral wheeze. So he was ill when we started then so I wouldn't have noticed him coughing more because he was already coughing a lot.

@LovelyDayInnit
yes we got a blue one aswell which he’s had several times at each hospital visit and it never made any difference. So when the consultant just offered the blue one again I said no and that’s why she suggested the brown one aswell

@bringmelaughter because every hospital visit he had they tried blue inhalers and they never made any difference which I explained to the consultant. I just feel like they assume a inhaler is always the option to give without really looking into things properly, if he always gets bronch then inhalers don’t work.

@BarbaraHoward thank you will continue to give it as we’ve been told, was just worried it wasn’t making a difference and was actually causing the cough to come back

@BarbaraHoward feel a bit fobbed off as we explained that when he’s been in hospital with bronch the blue inhalers never made a difference and they have said if it’s bronch then inhalers can’t do anything to help so don’t really know why we’ve been given one if it’s not going to help prevent bronch and hospital stays going forward

Getting on the correct preventer has been literally life changing for my asthma. I no longer get a horrible cough with every cold.

It sounds like it may be helpful for you to either book a GP appointment or, if you’re still under the consultant, ask for a call or letter about the plan for your child. It sounds like the treatment plan and reason for it either hasn’t been explained well or you haven’t heard/understood it.

@Cotswoldmama thing is my son hasn’t been diagnosed with asthma, he’s just been in and out of hospital with bad bronch since April and the blue inhalers when doctors tried in hospital never made any improvement to his chest, so was wondering if the brown one was going to help or not.

I don't think he's old enough for an asthma diagnosis yet, but if he's prone to chest infections you may well find that's the path you're on and the formal diagnosis is made when he's a few years older.

The asthma UK website is really helpful, have a look on it.

So my son has had a brown one and a blue one from about 2. Lots of hospital admissions before for breathing issues. The brown one is a ‘preventer’ needs to be used consistently to work and may need to be supported by use of the blue one until the right dose is reached. My son is now 13 and pretty much only uses the brown one. At his last review we did ask about taking it off and they recommended keeping going

are You using a spacer with the inhaler and leaving it on for long enough for him to get the full dose? I am sure you are but can be tricky at first

@Gizlotsmum we were told to hold it on until the yellow spacer flap thing breathes in 5x. It really is a struggle getting him to have it without pulling his face away, feel so bad holding him down to get it in. Tried making it fun with a spare spacer we have but he ain’t having none of it lol

My youngest had 24 hospital admissions with bronchitis when he was very little, it was only using the brown inhaler consistently along with the blue that those admissions reduced in length, then frequency and then stopped altogether. To my mind they really helped but it took quite a while to completely go away. By didn’t help my nephew QUITE as much and he had to go on permanent antibiotics for a year which massively helped him. I know it’s really hard and scary but give the inhalers time. It’s not being fobbed off, it’s a really legitimate and reliable form of treatment x

That’s what we did. It is hard. We used to try and get him used to the spacer by putting it on and just breathing without the inhaler, if you have a spare could he put it on a teddy or favourite toy with a face so teddy gets medicine too

Hi, first of all I'm sorry your son, and you, are going through this - I've been there, with hospital admissions and A&E trips and feeling desperate. Last autumn/winter I was very much in your shoes. Some things from experience:

• as others have said, the brown ones (clenil) are preventer inhalers that are meant to be taken every day - they take a while to build up in the system so they won't work right away. They also won't stop him getting sick but the idea is he'll get less sick/wheezy and need the reliever ones less, and not need to go to hospital. Give them a few months. BUT if there is no difference in 2/3 months, and he's struggling to breathe with every cold, then PUSH to have this reviewed. Clenil did nothing for my son, we had to push and push and finally a consultant changed him to flixotide (an orange preventer inhaler) and it made a huge difference.
• For the blue reliever inhalers - first, make sure you have the right "wheeze plan". They've been reviewing them based on evidence and the newer ones include giving less puffs in one go. (but then escalating to doctor/hospital earlier). I found that, esp before my son was even 2, following wheeze plans that involved like 10 puffs of salbutamol at a time just raised his heart rate like crazy, got him really agitated, and his breathing actually got worse.
• There is mixed evidence on when salbutamol starts being really effective age-wise (something to do with airway formation). 18 months is still v little and some will say that salbutamol isn't fully effective yet. There is another inhaler called Atrovent - it can be used as a preventer for some but also a reliever - we got given this as well as salbutamol as my son reacted better to it (esp when under 2) and it worked better as a reliever for him. It doesn't work as fast though.

also with the spacer, the only thing that really worked with my son was TV - as he has the every day inhaler, we decided to tie it in, i.e. inhaler = gets to watch something on TV. he very soon got into a routine and even got excited to do the inhaler because it meant he could watch something!