Just been told that my 7 month old DS may have asthma - should I be worried?

[millypip]

My poor DS has had a cold aaaaaalllll winter (well it seems like it!) He's always had a rattly chest, I've taken him to the Dr over and over again and they've always said he's fine, its not an infection etc. A few weeks ago one Dr said he probably had virus induced asthma which is only temporary and will probably go away when he is well again. He prescribed a ventolin inhaler with the mask. (DS doesn't like that at all!). He's been wheezing quite badly this weekend so I eventually took him to the out of hours Dr up at the hospital this evening. This Dr said that he thinks it's asthma too but maybe not viral. He's prescribed the becotide brown steroid inhaler as well.

Should I be worried? I have a very healthy 2 year old DD but also had a son a few years ago who was born at 26 weeks and sadly died when he was 10 days old. I'm probably therefore more of a worrier. Having said all this I am mildly asthmatic and so is my sister!!!

Does anybody have any tips or experience of asthma? Thank you!

He's too young to be diagnosed with asthma but it's not unheard of in babies. It's best to keep him out of a smoky environment, keep the room he's in warm as the cold can sometimes set it off, make sure you hoover his room every few days, pop soft toys in a bag and place in the freezer for a few hours to kill off any bugs or pop them in the washing machine to get rid of any dust. Dust his room when you can, make a rota for this.

Thank you scrooged. Funnily enough, a friend who is a GP told us a while ago that he would never diagnose a child under 1 with asthma. You can get such difference advice from different Drs can't you!

Yes. Especially ones with limited experience of paediatrics!

we were also told that they wouldn't diagnose a child under two (when ds2 was a baby and had wheezing etc) ... until dd apparently showed symptoms of it and was admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties, at which point they decided that she had asthma - at 7mo

Fair enough, at now 5.5 and 3yo, yes they do have it. If your child does have asthma type symptoms now - wheezing, mucous and so on, then it is fairly manageable with good advice and support, my dc are under the Paeds consultant and attend her asthma clinic in the local hospital. Sorry to say, I would also suggest some GP's just don't know what to do with wheezing children.

Thank you snifflewitch. I'm sorry your DCs have asthma. It sounds as though you are very calm and ok about it now. Was it tough at the beginning? I know that asthma is not a rare condition etc but I'm still a worrier (even though I have it myself!). How did you get on giving your 7 month old an inhaler? My DS squeals and wriggles when I put the mask over his face.

Also - if there is a problem in the night will he wake me up? That is my biggest worry I guess, him struggle to breath up there and me not knowing about it. I have the baby monitor on high so hear most noises and am a light sleeper. I briefly considered sleeping up in his room tonight but told myself to be sensible and try not to overreact.

I'm often guilty of crossing bridges before I get to them but as the saying goes, "its good to keep a ladder in your back pocket"! :-)

hang in there. I think worrying is the top line of the mum job description
omg - wriggling when you are tying to give them the inhaler - well i laughed out loud at that one (sorry) ds2 was used to the huge 'volumatic' spacer on his face from 1mo so he couldn't have cared less, just was used to it. But DD well different matter altogether. heavens could she fight?! well she had the meanest right hook i've ever seen from a child so small she could swipe the thing and get it across the room before you had time to blink!! we ended up using a different spacer, called an Aerochamber, which the hosp said was 'less effective' than the volumatic thing in theory ...but considering the volumatic on the floor at the other side of the room which looked pretty useless to me, the little aerochamber had to be a better bet She still uses this.
If in doubt, I went for co=sleeping, esp when they are wheezy. DD is a flippin octopus so it is not a decision i take lightly, but it is easier in that i do get some sleep when i have her honking and wheezing next to me as opposed to in her own room iyswim. And as saddo as it sounds, we have a baby monitor which gets used if ds2 starts wheezing - though tbh it's more to do with coughing in the night than anything, until you get the inhalers and stuff right.
Keep your mind open, at this stage they may or may not have it. Even if they do, there is a good chance that they grow out of it. You have a good insight in that you sadly know how it feels - I've never experienced it personally and the learning curve was massive and filled with panic at the start. But like anything, you just learn to accommodate it and it becomes part of life. The hardest thing in the world - but try not to worry too much.

Hellos! Thank you snifflewitch, I appreciate your time and support. I did end up sleeping in his room last night! He woke himself up coughing at about 2.30am so I took him downstairs, gave him some salbutamol and some of a bottle and he fell asleep again in my arms. As I was worried though I put the fold out bed in his room so I would be there if he woke up again. (It was actually really comfy!!!). He woke up again at about 6am but didn't cry when he woke, just played in his cot for a bit until he got hungry.

The wheezing sounds better today (but its daytime isn't it!) although he does have a very rattly chest which sound as though its full of mucus or something just as pleasant.

I picked up his beclomethazone inhaler today. The pharmacist said I spray at a time but on the label with his name on it said 2 - typical! I guess I will start with just 1 and see how it goes. The only thing I'm unsure about it, if he's wheezy at night time do I give him the blue one BEFORE the brown one? I should know this for myself but seem to have a blank at the moment. (am probably channeling too much brain power on worry!). If I remember correctly the brown one can sometimes make things feel worse intitially so I guess the blue one and then the brown one? Oh dear............. :-)

Just bumping for you as I'm following this with interest...

Hi scrambledhead :-)

I had an interesting conversation today with my husband's best friend who is a GP (miles away from us though). He had a look at my DS just a week or so ago and said he was fine, just a virus. I updated him. He said that he has never prescribed steroid inhalers to a child under 1 and that I should probably get another opinion from my GP. He also said that there is a sort of technical term of "fat, happy wheezer" for some babies that do just wheeze for no apparent reason. You never know.... It sounds like a much better option! :-)

I'm feeling much less panicky now but am looking forward to seeing my GP on wednesday (hopefully) for a chat. I just want to do the best for my DS and at the moment I'm not really sure what that is, the poor sausage.

He's sleeping soundly now (well, snoring a bit!). Fingers crossed for a good night.

hi - i'm back with my more usual name - not sniffling tonight y'see.
As you asked, you give the brown inhaler at the same time every day regardless of any symptoms, and if you are at the stage when you have to give both whilst you manage the symptoms and introduce the brown inhaler, then do all your puffs of blue, (opens airways), then brown (preventer), then drink - which rinses the mouth and makes sure the steroid doesn't stay in the mouth where it can apparently cause thrush.

And the other thing - yes there is such a thing as a "happy wheezer" - which is basically just that, a child who wheezes but appears happy and settled, no night time cough and no breathlessness which would indicate something nearer to asthma. DS2 began life as a happy wheezer ...then turned into presumably an unhappy wheezer and was given inhalers - at the point where he had permanent cough, couldn't shift colds, and was regularly holding his breath and doing the asthma 'shout' thing to try to breathe in deeply enough.

Can you get referred to the local hospital paeds consultant to get another opinion? these guys are far more used to dealing with this stuff than your average GP (sorry, GP's)... or a specialist nurse or something who has some more experience?

Well ... I'm not sure if anybody is still reading this but I thought I'd post and interesting update. I took DS to see the GP today. He's a GP at the practice who has seen him before and has a lot of paediatric experience. He quite bluntly told me that the brown (steroid) inhaler was nonsense for DS and pretty much said exactly what Gigglewitch and our Dr friend have said about diagnosing asthma at an early age.

He had a listen to his chest and said that things have changed since he last saw him and DS does have a bacterial chest infection. At last, something concrete! So I have some antibiotics which I am going to start asap!

Hopefully this will help and then I can concentrate on the next worry which is DS refusing his bottles (he eats his solid meals) and dropping down the centiles. Maybe its all related?.......

Fingers crossed the antibiotics help......

Thanks for the update.

At last?! Glad to hear something going in a useful direction! Chest infections basically filled my dc up with 'gunk' so they didn't want to eat/drink, so like your ds they lose weight pretty quickly. try not to worry yourself to distraction unless he's falling off the bottom of the centiles, he'll hopefully put some back on when he starts to get better? Don't be surprised if the antibiotics continue to wreck his appetite, they sometimes do.
Hope that things get better soon. This all just goes to show, as we've said before, how much of a minefield it is diagnosing little ones with stuff like this. Big hugs to you and your ds.

Wehey! Progress. Well done you for taking him back. Keep the good GP's name and go back to the same one in the future. He sounds like a gem!!

I saw a GP last week who doubted I had a kidney stone. It showed up on the x-ray though!

Thank you both. I really appreciate your support and advice. I've been feeling a bit down and panicky about it but just keep telling myself that he is at last being treated for something. My first son was very premature (26 wks) and sadly died from an infection when he was just 10 days old so I am probably more of a panicky worrier than I should be. My DD who is now 2 has never had any infections or antibiotics so this is new ground for me.

Jeepers scrooged, I hope your kidney stone has resolved. I've heard them compared to childbirth, I really hope you're ok. Get well soon.

It just goes to show that our instincts are very good things and we must listen to them! :-)