Asthma

[naayie]

My three year old son has a severe egg allergy and was diagnosed with asthma at 12 months, I have seen a number of doctors, nurses and peadiatricians, he has recently been given a new green inhaler (he already has the blue and brown) and has been using it for about 6 weeks, but I have seen no significant improvement, I have singulair tablets but his peadiatrician did not want me to give him these yet, has anyone got any advice? I would like to send him privately, does anyone know any very good asthma specialists/clinics?

whereabouts in the uk are u? in herts, the lister hospital asthma clinic with doc hyde is good.i take it the new green one u are on about is serevent? i'm sorry i cant offer u much advise, i'm still a bit shakey after my daughter started wheezing at my sisters yesterday and i'd forgotton her inhalors (bad mummy) so had to fone her dad to race them over.

Thanks for the reply, I am in Gloucestershire, but I will travel, is that a private clinic? how old is your daughter, does she use the green inhaler? They are such a worry aren't they?!

its not a private clinic i'm afraid, just i have been very satisfied with the treatment they have provided and they give very good advice. she doesnt have the green inholor but her dad was perscribed but he canbt use it due to heart problems. is your son seen by the asthma nurse? could he be referred to a hospital dept specialising in asthma? my dd was . she is 3.5years old. also disagnosed with asthma at around 12months. does u're son have ecze4ma as well?

No eczema any more, he had it when he was tiny but I have to carry epipens (adrenalin)with me for his egg allergy. My son sees a peadiatrician every three months or so and a asthma nurse, he is also 3.5 yrs old, but although the clinic is good his asthma is not under control, he is wheezy throughout the day, although very active, but I have to give him steroids about once every 5 weeks because he gets poorly. I feel not enough is being done. Have you heard of singular tablets for asthma? sorry I am going on a bit it is good to speak to someone else with a child so young with asthma, none of my friends children have asthma and at the school it is always older children.

i havent heard of the singular tablets, are these the same as steroid tablets? my dd has to have courses of these if her asthma or ezcem is really bad. by now u son should have found a treatment that is right for him to keep his asthma under control? have u had any other allergy testing? i know my dd is allergic to cats, as this is what caused the problems we had yesterday. one of my sisters (mieow) will kick her cat out when my dd comes over, my other sister doesnt and if i dont spot the car is about then it causes more problems. i would ask to be referred to a specialist clinic, as altho his nurse appearsd to be good, there may be other treatment available. does u're son go swimming at all? it is meant to be good for asthmatics to go swimming regularrly. i can only take my daughter when her skin isnt too bad, and smother her in emulysiying ointment first to try and reduce the effect the pool water has on her skin.

what does of becotide is your son on? my dd was on 50, but was upped to 100 earlier this year and has asthma has reduced a bit since.

misdee, log on....

My son is on two sprays of 100 becotide twice a day and he will start swimming in the spring, he has had no allergy testing, the peadiatrician thinks it is unwise as it will proberly pick up more things and I would end up cutting everything out!! I saw Dr Mark Porter, he advised allergy testing and said I should be able to get it on the NHS!!!! no such luck. Dr Porter thinks he is also allergic to house dust mites which I am inclined to agree with but we now have cushioned lining on the floor of his room, I clean regulary and we have no pets or carpet in the house, I am going mad! Any way thanks for the reply Misdee and no the singular tablets are non steroid and available through your GP, try them, I will soon, I will try anything! Does the exzma upset your little one?? I suffered bad in pregnancy and couldn't sleep at night due to itching, must be hell for a 3yr old.
Coppertop, I have a neb machine at home and use it when he is bad with the steroids, does help a bit.

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robinw - thanks for the very useful info, do you know a website for the anaphylatic campaign? your up early aren't you? I have thought of the milk thing but my son loves milk and as his diet is not that brilliant I have been too scared to try, can you recommend soya, goats?

Naayie, I'm sorry to hear about your ds's asthma. All four of my chldren are asthmatic (the oldest, who is adult and lives in Los Angeles, has just had to have oral steroids, due to a severe attack caused by the bush fires out there.) and I know it can be a real pig to live with. Ds2 had chronic brittle asthma for many years and we searched constantly for things to help him. The Asthma Campaign people can offer a lot of help and info and keep you abreast of new developments, plus they have a helpline. Best wishes.

eobinw, i know cat dander can hang around for ages (6months i think), but my daughters asthma and eczema gets a lot worse if she somes into direct contact with cats. if they kick him out, then the reaction isnt so severe.

on the sunject of flooring etc, well i have roller blinds everywhere to cut down dust that collects on curtains, laminate flooring in living room and dd bedroom, am soom going to put down hard flooring in my room and the hallway, effectivly cutting out soft furnishings which are dust traps. i really want to get a leather sofas but atm they are out of my budget.
my dd has inhalors at nursery, her grandparents, usually one in my bag, but for some reason i didn take it on sunday, so i feel guilty.
she is due to have some allergy testing done soon as she is having lots of skin reactions lately, we know cats are a major thing, she does have hayfever as well, over the last few months she has been an itchy blotchy mess at least one day a week.

suedonim - thanks for the info I will look them up, are all of your children still asthmatic?! hope your eldest is ok.

Misdee - we bought new sofas ayr ago, wish we had bought leather now but again out of our budget now. wonder what the skin reaction is, my son occasionally gets small blister type spots, that appear for a few hours, then disappear, you can't feel guilty about what happened its hard work remembering everything, especially if your anything like me, I always late and rushing, my son did his inhalers himself in the back of the car this morning and he's only three and half, he walked into nursury and fell flat on his face, bless him he had his shoes on the wrong feet! - what does that say about me. My husband is allergic to cats and comes up with really itchy rashes, red eyes and wheezy.

the skin reatcions that are like small hives, sort of hard blisters, slightly red around the edges and itchy. they some and go, a bit of piriton works well. she gets them when i go for a hard cleaning session, (i clean every day, but the ones where i have to strip the beds, do all the nasty little jobs that dont need doing every day) so i think dust mite allergy is in there somewhere. with all the stuff i carry for dd1, somethimes i can hardly fit dd2 nappy and bottle in the bag as well.

We have a high performance air cleaning system in the boys room I put it on when I clean, it sucks it all up, we put it on every night in their room before they go to bed, you can feel the clean air when you walk in, this has helped as since we had it my son has not woken in the night with his asthma, unless really poorly, but he still wakes at 5.30 - 6 each moring coughing and wheezing, I will dig out the info on the air filter if you like, its made in switzerland but we purchased it locally

do you use the allergy and asthma sprays on the bed when you strip it and hoover the mattress?

she has an allergy protective cover, and all bedding gets washed at 60degrees. and yup, i hoover the mattress, much to the delight of my neighbour. she finds everything i do funny. but the dyson is amazing!!!! i hoover everything wih it lol.

Naayie, my girls, who are 16 and 7, seem to be virtually asthma-free at the moment. I've just had an email from ds1 and he says his asthma still isn't too good at all. It's about 12 yrs since he had regular attacks so this has been a blow to him. Unfortunately, while it's possible to outgrow the asthma itself, you retain the tendency to it and I suppose that is what has happened with him. Ds2 keeps pretty well, although is susceptable if he gets a cold or cough. But he is sooooooo much better than when we was younger, thank goodness.

Re cats, their presence can make a difference. My nephew can go to a house where a cat lives, no problem. But if the cat puts in an appearance dn starts wheezing and his eyes redden and pour with tears.

I love my dyson!

suedonim - do you have asthma, can't imagine what it must be like to have all children with asthma, thankfully my eldest boy who is nearly 6 is extremely healthy - touchwood!

i know what really irks me, is people who dont understand. they see me doing the houseowrk, wety wiping everything, and ask why? erm, why do u think, i dont go mad with cleaning products, just multi-surface cleaner, bit of bleach for the loo and sinks and furniture polish. all clothes get washed everyday, using half the usual soap powder, and they dont undertand why dd1 will strip off on a relativly cool day cos she is too hot and her skin gets itchy. she loved dressing up but the funny materials will annoy her skin, her nursery is good about her asthma, but wont help with her skin. they dont get the fact that a flare up and can happen with-in minutes and wont give piriton if sher has an allergic reaction.

No, I don't Naayie, nor does dh. I've had a few episodes of wheezing over the years but not continually and it's never been diagnosed as asthma.

It is a horrible condition, you never know when it is going to strike - we spent years having to lug a nebuliser everywhere, cancelling plans and so on. This was almost always with ds2 - the other three have been much more manageable, thank goodess!

Misdee, thats not good enough, should be able to give a spoonful of piriton, have you given them written permission to do so? The nursery my sons at has permission to use inhalers and adrenalin jabs for his egg allergy should he need it because as you say an allergic reation can happen very quickly. I wet wipe everything and it really annoys me when people comment on how clean and tidy things are, I have their toys in seperate see through boxes etc, even my own sister, who has seen my son ill and in hospital - she thinks i am fussy!!

Don't know if this is of help, naayie, but I am a severe asthmatic and my fantastic GP prescibed me an inhaler called Seretide. I tried the brown and then the brown and the green together and still wheezed like an old accordian. Since being prescribed Seretide, things are massively better. It comes in a purple inhaler case, so if you can't remember its name, tell the GP its colour! It is fantastically expensive (£100 per inhaler) so you may find GP practice unwilling to prescribe it, due to budgets etc. The only thing I don't know is whether it can be used for kids. Sorry.