Night Time Coughing

[MunchkinsMumof2]

My DS aged 4 has asthma but it's only brought on by viruses.He has a preventative inhaler 4 times a day and ventolin as required. He coughs every night at 11pm and again between 4-5am. He doesn't seem to be wheezing but he doesn't cough at all in the day. Has anyone else experienced this and if so do you have any advice please?

anyone??

Not sure if it is the same thing my DD has been told she is asthmatic, at 15, and her only symptoms have been coughing first thing in the morning.

She was given an inhalor to use before she gets up and that has made it better.

The GP advised it was because fluid settles in the lungs during the night so the coughing is to try and get rid of it.

other than propping him up with a few pillows so he is not quite so flat, I dont know waht to suggest.

Our GP surgery has an asthma clinic, might be worth a call to yours?

Sounds like his asthma isn't controlled if he has night coughing. I kow he's using a preventative inhaler but is he using it correctly? Might be worth taking him to an asthma nurse (if your surgery has one) to check his technique - it's so easy to get it wrong. Otherwise a pharmacist (just pop in to your local pharmacy) should be able to do it. If his technique is OK, he may need a higher dose of his preventative (presumably a steroid?) inhaler, or mayb e even to use his blue inhaler before his brown to increase the amount of steroid going into his lungs (the blue opens the airways up so increases the amount absorbed of anything that follows). That may sound scary but it's much better to have asthma under control at a slightly higher dose tha not. And side effects from inhalers are rare and when - and if - they happen usually mild.

I write as a pharmacist and mum to a 3yo with asthma, so it's not completely random advice!

Thank you both, that really makes sense as I usually do his brown first. He's not officially asthmatic as is under 5 but I guess I could get the asthma nurse to see him. He's fine in the day and can bounce endlessly on the trampoline with no ill effects and he has 2 pillows at night with no soft toys in the room.