Parents of Asthmatic children lets chat here...

[Nemoandthefishes]

As we all know now tends to be when the asthma kicks off worst so thought we could all have a thread going where we can chat about different things...

My dd1 is asthmatic and is 2.9yrs old, started with breathing issues at 3wks old and was officially diagnosed last october.She has been admitted too many times to remember from asthma attacks/respiritory issues. She is currently on 4mg montelukast, 5ml cetrizine antihistamine, clenil modulite 100 2 puffs morning and night, salbutamol when required

Shes still not 100% is getting better in the day, night time is still not good, struggling to breathe etc, i thought she was going to have an asthma attack last night, thankfully managed to control it.

He's had six courses this year but at least 9 last year. He's just starting another attack Croupy cough all night. He should just make it for his Christmas play if we dose him just before he goes on. He's missed so much nursery this term - 1 week in 4.

aww web hope he gets better soon, and doesn't miss the play x

Hello mums hope all your dc are as well as can be at the mo

my daughter is 4 in march and has been asthmatic sone she was about 18 months old - triggered by colds and viruses mainly, and shows as a cough. it seems to be getting worse at the moment, not surprising with all the viruses flying round

we have asked the teachers to give her 2 puffs of her blue inhaler before playtime or PE but every time i collect her they say they havent given it 'because she wasnt coughing at the time'

i am sure we have been advised that this is good practice, to give it in advance of exercise - can anyone advise please?

Does she start to cough on exercise usually?If so explain this to the school.

not always, its a bit hit and miss, but i like to know she is covered IYKWIM?

well DD has just had a minor asthma attack, and been back to docs again. He FINALLY diagnosed her with chest infection, croup and the flu virus going around . I knew i should of taken her to hospital at the weekend. I feel so guilty.

I didn't take her to hospital as we'd been in and out of docs all week. just to clarify!

Oh muppet, hope she feels better soon. Don't feel guilty! I know I certainly let mine get pretty bad before I take them to the docs.

Ds made his play - just! As soon as he'd done his bot as a camel he burst into tears and hid behind the teacher.

He had another small attack at the weekend and has started his wheezy cough again so we're off to the gp this afternoon. We're in France between Christmas and New Year so I'm going to stock up on antibiotics.

I'll also be pressing for a referral to a consultant. While the Singulair has reduced the severity of the attacks, he's still having them at least every fortnight. He starts reception in January and will miss so much if we don;t get it under control.

chuffinell - what has your gp advised?

muppet nothing to feel guilty about. We do trust GPs to know what they are doing.Sadly sometimes they just dont. I tendto avoid my GP now as he is one of those of she is under hospital for asthma so I cant help people

Hmm i think i will consult the hospital from now on. as every winter shes like this

Well he has a chest infection which explains why the wheezing's still there. The gp's also referred him to the paediatrician at the local hospital. His view is that he shouldn't be having ANY attacks, given the medication he's on so hopefully we'll get this cracked in the New Year.

As to gps, I've learned the hard way which one to take him to at the surgery. One of them just kept prescribing prednisolone without ever suggesting proper asthma treatment, even though he kept putting asthma as the diagnosis.

How's she feeling muppet?

Shes still not 100% shes had her steriods this morning. I was ill overnight which wasn't good. my mum has the day off work so offered to look after her.

I think i will go to hospital next time it happens as shes like it every dec.

How is DS web?

Well the ABs seem to have done the trick as he's a lot brighter and eating for Britain although he's still coughing a lot at night

With any luck we'll get a quick referral - the gp certainly was going to make sure it got priority.

How's your dd doing muppet?

I hope everyone is well during this festive period.

DS2 spent most of the night at the hospital after he started wheezing, his peak flow reading dropped through the floor, and he vomited spectacularly all over my lovely new bedding.

His wheeze and his readings are better after prednisolone and inhalers, so we've come home for him to have a rest - it is so busy and noisy in the hospital.

His chest now sounds clear, but we've been given ABs "in case he has a chest infection".

He is now sparko, so hopefully he'll sleep it off.
DH and DS1 are out for the day, so I'm going to snuggle up next to DS2, and join him for a snooze.
We need an 'exhausted' emoticon.

Oh HC that's crap Know exactly what you mean about hospital. How does your ds react to the levels of salbutamol? It sends mine completely manic which makes it a nightmare to keep him quiet. Hope he feels better soon and that you can get some rest.

We're off to France for a few days and will be taking a pharmacy with us. The ABs seemed to work on the chest infection and he was fine for few days but is now coughing at night again. Oh joy....

Happy New Year etc! Wishing us all a less wheezy 2009!

Just wanted to post and say that it can get better as they get older, although I know it may never seem that way.

Dd2 had/has asthma and I spent the first 14mths of her life trying to get docs to believe me, and eventually after several hospital admission they did and she was on 3 inhalers and regular prednisolone from about the age of 2.
Hers was always a nightmare in the winter months and I used to to dread putting her to bed as she'd start straight away. I think we had one summer where we had a few very hot days and she suddenly started to struggle, but that was a one off.

Anyhow, dd is 9 now and I could count on one hand how many times she has used her inhaler this year. I never used to believe people when they said children can grown out of it but dd has, almost.
I know not all children will, but just wanted to show you that there can be light at the end of the tunnel.

That's a hopeful post, IB, thank you.
I'm glad your DD is needing her inhalers less and less as time goes on.

DS2 is struggling again tonight.
He was given 6 tablets of prednisolone at the hospital yesterday, and that helped.
He had another 6 this morning, and has slept for most of the day.

Now he's starting to cough and wheeze again, and I don't know what to do. Peak flow has dropped also.

The ventolin helps a bit - 2 hourly.

Should I give him the prednisolone tonight (he's been on 16 tablets a day in the past, so having 12 in 24 hours will be OK), or should I take him into hospital for a nebuliser?

HC its your judgement call. I hate how chaotic the hospital is[obviously because it has to be] but also the constant checks means they dont get a decent sleep. Dd1 has been wheezy today but inhaler is helping so am just hoping it stays that way

hi nemo

thanks for replying - i didn't think anyone would spot this thread amongst all the fighty ones.

i don't know what to do really.

the out of hours docs surgery is in the hospital, so i think i'll try there first.

they often nebulise DS2 and then send him home again.

we went yesterday and it was full of people with flu though - i took him and sat out in the corridor, as flu is the last thing he needs.

it's tricky to know what to do for the best, isn't it?

fingers crossed that your DD stays well.

it is hard especially as you say if everyone else is ill as would mean lengthy stay if he got it. Phone out of hours maybe and see what they say. Does he seem to need the neb?

He's borderline for needing the neb, I think.
I just worry that he's had the prednisolone and inhalers, and is still struggling.
If he goes downhill in the night (his usual form!) then we've got nothing else.

He has been shown how to use the ventolin and spacer as a nebuliser, so I'll get him to do that first.

Then I'll phone OOH surgery as you suggest.

Thanks Nemo.

hope he manages to keep the demon at bay

How's he doing Hc?

Fingers crossed for a good 2009 everyone

Well we're all feeling sorry for ourselves here as DS1 ws admitted to hospital over the wekend with an asthma attack.

It started at about 3 am on Sunday morning when he fell out of bed, and when we went in to sort him out he was wheezy. We kept it under control with salbutamol until about 10 am, when he got a lot worse, so we got an appt with the OOH doctor. The doctor gave him a salbutamol nebuliser but there was no improvement, so we got sent through to a ward, where he had hourly nebulisers all afternoon - they had another drug in them too but I've forgotton what it was called. He went to 2 hourly nebs through the evening, and then 3 hourly after midnight. He was a lot better yesterday morning and we went home yesterday afternoon.

He had a canula (sp?) in his hand as they took blood tests, gave him potassium (?) to counteract the effects of so much salbutamol, and some fluids as he wasn't eating or drinking, and didn't wee for hours. He slept ok last night and he seems quite bright this morning. he's coughing a lot but his resps are much slower now.

It was very very scary - he went downhill so fast, and was crying so much, which of course doesn't help matters. We had the added complication of 12 wk old DS2 who's fully breast fed. Luckily we've been giving him a bottle of EBM in the evenings so he's used to a bottle. I wanted to stay with DS1 overnight at the hospital as when he's ill he really wants me rather than DH, so DH took DS2 home and gave him formula, while I pumped and dumped at the hospital to keep my supply up. Not ideal but I felt that DS1's need was greater than DS2's that night. DS2 was a complete angel throughout though, and DH was brilliant with him.

They've reviewed DS1's daily medication, nad he's now on 3 puffs of Beclazone 50 twice daily and montelukast granules in the evening - the montelukast is a new one for us so we'll see how we get on with it.

Fingers crossed that'll be that last stay in hospital for us, but who knows