mums of small people with asthma - what would you do ? Quick straw poll please!

[gigglewitch]

Have got 2 dc with asthma and it's usually me trying to help other mums out - Now boot is on other foot and I've lost all perspective.

Looks like we're on for a third night of pretty much solid coughing, wheezing and gasping with DD (she's 3yo in a month) and i can't make my mind up whether to sit it out and continue stuffing her with inhalers (ventolin working for around half an hour at a time) or to hit the paeds a&e. have already decided that the out of hrs dr is no use to us, there's not really anything they can do afaik. She's completely knackered and is asleep atm propped up on my good ol' 'banana' bfing cushion, seems to be working for now.
Gawd, I'm confused.

if shes asleep atm id leave it for now.if when she wakes it continues id go to a and e.hope shes ok.

thanks sarnie

no kerry we haven't got one - didn't know you could? have only ever used them in hosp when they've been admitted.

No advice really - what cheesesarnie said sounds about right to me. If you are worried which you obviusly are then it wont do any harm to take her a&e and they might be able to help.

Hope she is OK.

I'd do A & E - she sounds like she needs a nebuliser. She prob won't get much sleep without it anyway?

I had this almost exactly a year ago with at the time 3yr old. Took to out of hours - sent home. Next night she was taken to kids hosp and was admitted straight away, very low o2 level and was in for over a week. So from my experience if you feel you should go then go.

I KNEW she was really ill even at out of hours and felt instinctively it was wrong when we were sent away. If everything you have isnt working then imo she needs to be seen asap.

you can get a nebulizer for home

We had a trip to A & E last week for DD's asthma.

Fact is, you probably won't sleep because you will be worrying. And there isn't a way to check their 02 levels at home...

The advice I got is after giving 10 puffs over a 4 hour period, and this wasn't enough, then she probably needed to be seen.

Worst that could happen is that they give her steroids, more inhalers and tell you to go home?

Go to A&E. Out of hours is useless for severe asthma. If she has really bad breathing problems call an ambulance. Not worth the risk IMO

hi gigglewitch, sorry you are having a rough time of it

I believe that the "step-up" treatment pathway for paed asthma would tll you that if the inhalers are not giving relief you should seek further help. Has your dd had the max dose of ventolin? (you should have been told this in particular for her, but would usually be up to 10 puffs every 4 hrs)

do you have a nebuliser at home?

could you give nhs direct a call ?

how is her breathing?

Out of hours doc could surely gie her some prednisilone? which I always find effective.

Don't sit it out. Phone an ambulance, they can check oxygen levels, heart rate etc and give her a nebuliser on the spot which will ease her through the night. If they're worried they can take he in. If she doesn't get taken in, then you'll still have had some treatment and you can go to your GP in the morning and get some prednisolone.

Does she have a regular steroid inhaler? You should probably double it for the time being too.

All this is advice I've been given for my asthmatic dd.

thanks for all the replies. Atm she's still asleep, wheezing a bit and just the occasional cough. my hunch is to let her sleep for a bit as getting her up to go to hosp would possibly wait til she wakes up (presumably coughing) again.

Thanks for the neb link sarnie.

Thing is, she hasn't got 'chronic' asthma. On occasion [last summer] it was even described as 'mild' but generally it's neither of the extremes, she's just on a not-too-high dose of becotide [100mcg am and pm] and ventolin if she's got a cold or allergy giving her wheezes.

erm that should have said 200mcg am and pm.

have re-read everything. Will take her to a&e when she next wakes up / if the coughing starts again.

good luck

As an adult asthmatic I have called NHS direct for advice (was not sure wether to go to A&E or wait and see GP next morning) and they called a paramedic for me because I was struggling to breathe and talk - despite my protests! Excellent para gave me nubilsier at home and didn't need to go to hosp.
However, if you can get her to A&E safely I would suggest that.

In the meantime do you have a spacer? I was told to put 10 puffs in the spacer and breathe through that for a couple of minutes. New research suggests it's as effective as a neb. But I don't know if this is recommended for children.

are you sure thats all it is?? Only ask as i have spent most of the afternoon with dd2, it ended up with needing steriods. There is loads of virus's around atm, croup and broncitis being a few. Hope your ok.

If in doubt, I have taken mine to the out of hours Dr, they have then either treated with nebuliser and prednisolone on the spot or sent us up to A&E.

I have actually found a few times that taking his nibs outside to the car (change of air) has improved the breathing so we were sent home from OOH.

Don't hesitate to take action if you are not managing to control it with ventolin.

I alway worry about over-reacting when I am in that situation and then when everything is ok I realise it is better to keep him safe and look a bit silly once in a while.

Hope L1 is ok.

how are things today?

how is she giggle?

thanks for all the advice last night and awwww you sweeties who've asked how she's getting on today!

• well we did make it to the local walk-in (somewhere between out of hrs docs and a&e) it turns out she has a chest infection and because she was wheezing both in (asthma) and out (which i missed) I was baffled as to why all the inhalers werent fixing it . Anyway, the asthma is under control and she's got antibiotics for the chest infection. hopefully all will be sorted in the next few days.

am a bit that i didn't notice the extra wheeze with the cough after the inhalers. she was holding her breath as well which is what she does when her asthma is bad. She's still a bit too little to tell me properly what is going on so i have to guess

Glad you got it sorted.