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Children's health

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Original poster

please give me your tips to help 2.8 ds asthma

42 replies

mad4mybaby · 02/03/2009 16:08

he has ventolin and takes it everyday. worse at night. had carpets cleaned today and 2mo getting anti allergy bedding (any recommendations?)bwhat else can i do? he is always very 'bogyfied' in the morning.ihave a little portable air humidifier too

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Original poster

mad4mybaby · 02/03/2009 19:50

bump

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CMOTDibbler · 02/03/2009 20:18

If he needs ventolin everyday, then he should be on some sort of preventer medication (brown inhaler for instance) as well.

Has he been tested for allergies ? No point in spending money on anti allergy bedding if no allergy to dust mites

DS is currently taking Sudafed liquid (prescribed by GP, but you can buy it over the pharmacy counter) as he is very bogeyed in the morning and had major nighttime cough. It has really, really helped to dry him up and stop the cough (as well as the runny nose), so might be worth asking GP about

Original poster

mad4mybaby · 02/03/2009 20:33

yeah he had that just before xmas but couldnt keep him on it all the time. He is allergic to dairy, soya and egg and gets eczema....

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Leslaki · 02/03/2009 20:37

I used a humidifier type thing for ds which worked - or a bowl of milk by the radiator. He also has excema (like me) and I've tried putting oats (yep, like porridge oats - not oatibix etc!) in a muslin sq, t towel, sock etc and use it in the bath. (make sure it is tied tightly or you get some mess!) It works wonders to get rid of the red soreness of excema. I didn't believe it for years but it is the best thing I've ever tried. Someone mentioned oat milk. That might help if he is allergic to the others. Hope he is OK.

Original poster

mad4mybaby · 02/03/2009 20:41

the eczema is under control, i use cream from the doctor every day to prevent it coming so it isnt a problem unless he eats something he shouldnt (egg) or if he gets worked up or hot.

This has been going on since last summer but has only been diagnosed as asthma for about a month. What would cause him to be really 'bogeyfied' particularly in the morning?

I dont want him to have to have a blood test for other allergies

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CMOTDibbler · 02/03/2009 20:43

It's just a skin prick test for the asthma/eczema allergies. DS was tested for 30 or so things when he was 1 as part of his asthma tests and he didn't cry at all - much less traumatic than I thought

Sidge · 02/03/2009 20:45

If he needs daily Ventolin he should have a preventer inhaler. You need to go back to your GP or asthma nurse and tell them he's needing the blue inhaler every day, and they should give him a preventer (usually brown) inhaler with a spacer.

RumMum · 02/03/2009 20:47

hows his tecnique with the inhaler m4mb, is he using his spacer correctly? if yes it does sound like he needs a brown preventer inhaler, when did you last see the asthma nurse?

My son is also allergic to dairy and eggs, and also peanuts,
he has regular skin prick tests done.

Original poster

mad4mybaby · 02/03/2009 20:53

i havent seen asthma nurse. gp said to use it every night before bed...it is hard to know how much he inhales as i have to pretend the inhaler is 'talking' to him and he is giving it a big kiss so i put the mask over him and try to count to 5, sometimes he lasts for 5 sometimes he pulls away quicker... its hard as i dont want to hold him down to do it and he is now alot better at it

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Sidge · 02/03/2009 20:58

If he pulls away before 5 or 6 breaths he won't be getting the correct dose, so you have to be a little bit brutal and pin him down. I know it's hard but it's really important. If you don't hold it firmly against his face and only count to 5 and not 5 breaths, then he probably isn't getting it.

Original poster

mad4mybaby · 02/03/2009 21:07

he breaths very quickly when he's doing it.... is that right or wrong? Its just what he does as he likes making that little disk bit move

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Sidge · 02/03/2009 21:20

Try and slow him down a little as if he breathes too fast he will be shallow breathing and won't get the medication all the way down into the lungs.

I know it's hard when they are that young but try counting as he breathes, or breathe with him but really exaggerate it, deep and slow. Or do it in front of his favourite TV programme so he's distracted.

Original poster

mad4mybaby · 02/03/2009 21:22

i think i better ring doctors tomorrow. hes up there coughing his heart out. Worried about him. For the first half hour or so when he gets up hes the same

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Original poster

mad4mybaby · 03/03/2009 19:25

doctor gave him brown inhaler and said he has to have it twice a day. She said he has a 'croup' cough at the moment (thing she implying he HAS croup) and that it was making his asthma worse.

Ive just read another thread about someones poor LO having an asthma attack. Ive not been given a great deal of info and feel abit out of my depth with this, what is it like when they have an asthma attack and what should i do?

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scrambledhead · 03/03/2009 19:47

I've been through 4 years of croup. Steam and cold air have never worked, DS has always needed oral streoids.

He now has mild asthma but he's never had both at the same time (yet). I'm just bumping for you as I do feel for you - it's so stressful and scary.

Good luck.

Original poster

mad4mybaby · 03/03/2009 19:47

bump

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Original poster

mad4mybaby · 03/03/2009 19:48

thanks, x post!

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Original poster

mad4mybaby · 03/03/2009 20:08

anyone??? hes up there coughing badly again. im dreading another night like last night.

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scrambledhead · 03/03/2009 20:13

I can't help you with the asthma side - it's all new to me. But if he's got bad croup you will need to go to A+E for oral steroids (in my experience). Croup is always worse at night

Original poster

mad4mybaby · 03/03/2009 20:27

why didnt the gp give me anything? She said i just have to prepare myself for a few sleepless nights! I have a 15 week old aswell! Are you sure A&E would give him something? really wouldnt want to drag him down there in the night if there was a chance they wouldnt. Would out hours doc do anything? Is this contagious?Should i keep him from pre school? I have to pay for it and he loves it so dont want to not go but dont want anyone else to get it!

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mooseloose · 03/03/2009 20:32

Hi, my ds is 7 now, and was diagnosed with asthma when 3. He has the brown inhaler morning and night, two puffs with the spacer (never had the mask).
One of my older ds friend has asthma and used his inhaler with the spacer at a party, and ds was impressed. Since then he has breathed properly with it, really deep.
See if you can find a child to show him how they do it.

DS has had a night time cough since he was a baby. This, when the jigsaw was pieced together, was the first sign.

The second was that he was out of breath running at playschool, and also never had energy to walk home.

Between the ages of 4 -5 his asthma settled down, but last year it got worse again.

His asthma goes up and down. At bad times he will use his blue two or three times a day. i would also do the blue a few minutes before brown to open his airways to get the brown down. He now also had some chewy pills to try and regulate him through the day, so he can run and swim etc without gasping. These are new, so haven't seen a difference yet.

The doctor thinks his is more allergy triggered so come hay fever season he will be worse. He is also better if I wash his bed linen, and move soft toys away from him.

We have a cat, but I dont think this makes a difference, because once he was bad on holiday.

DS is also allergic to soya, and this makes his face swell.

Hope this gives you a picture of things that do and dont help.

Re the coughing, can you elevate his head slightly, a pillow of something under the mattress. This always helps ds. And i use vick. To be honest now his inhalers and the pills are sorted I haven't heard the cough for a long time. But I know it can drive them mad.xx

Sidge · 03/03/2009 20:34

It's not contagious. If he is asleep but coughing you shouldn't need to go to A&E - give him his blue inhaler. You would need A&E if he is struggling to breathe, getting tired of breathing, becoming blue or using all his chest muscles to breathe (where you can see his chest pulling in as he breathes).

Hope he is better soon.

scrambledhead · 03/03/2009 20:34

Croup is viral and not contagious.

Maybe it's his asthma and not the croup? I only know about croup.

The 1st time DS1 had croup we took him to A+E in the middle of the night but the cold air on the way helped so they sent us home. By early morning he was bad again so we went to our surgery and they called the hospital to admit us - this was the first (of many) times that he had nebs and then oral steroids. The other times he's had it we've always ended up in A+E and admitted overnight 3 times. I know the croup bark and I know my boy. But your DS has asthma too so I don't know what to suggest about his asthma. I didn't mean to frighten you. Croup comes from nowhere and with treatment goes quickly too.

Have you tried NHS Direct and getting them to listen to him down the phone? They diagnosed my DS's asthma which was brought on by his most recent croup attack . When you see the GP in the day the cough is never as bad is it.

Original poster

mad4mybaby · 03/03/2009 20:36

yes i do have pillow under the matress! There must be SOMETHING that is making the asthma worse, i just cant work out what. Ivemoved all his soft toys, im going to buy some anti allergy bedding to see if that helps. Did you? We dont have pets. Had the carpets cleaned yesterday and im not sure it was a coincidence that he is this bad? There werent any chemicals, just steam.. i left his windows open all day yesterday and today but too cold and wet now to have open.

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Original poster

mad4mybaby · 03/03/2009 20:38

well she heard him coughing and she said he def astmatic and that he had a croup cough on top of it and that was making the asthma worse... Im scared that i dont know to what point to let it get to before going hosp?

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