Ventlin Syrup

[SenoraPostrophe]

Another question about drugs and their use in the UK...

Dd has a nasty cough - it's OK in the day (just a cough, though she has had a slight temp a couple of days), but she's been waking up lots in the night and getting very upset so i took her to the docs.

The doctor (who was lovely) said she had "bronchial hyperactivity" and prescribed ventolin syrup.

I have nothing against Spanish doctors, but they do tend to give out drugs much more than their UK counterparts, plus I am obviously not fluent in Spanish, so they don't explain things to me quite as much as I would like. Does anyone know more about this condition/drug? Is it related to asthma?

ventolin can be used in asthma yes,but it is basically a bronchodilator,in other words it opens upp the bronchials which are the little tubes in the lungs so allows more air in easier.Ventolin is what is used in inhalers but it also comes in a syrup form this takes longer to have an effect,taking up to 40 mins to start working.My son has asthma and a ventolin inhaler which i have been known to take myself when ive had a chest infection and it really does make a difference,making me feel that the person sitting on my chest is no longer there iyswim.

lucy, dd2 was given Ventolin syrup when she was a bit older than yours - around 2 - she was coughing very badly at night and the GP thought it was probably asthma, which she did turn out to have. Doesn't mean your dd has asthma but it's a possibility - what is the Spanish for asthma, do you know? Is "bronchial hyperactivity" a literal translation of what he said?

dd2 went on to have a variety of inhalers for quite a few years but seems now to have grown out of it. HTH.

Dd1 used to have ventolin syrup whe she was younger, because she was too young to use an inhaler for her asthma. It has the same effect as an inhaler. Bronchial hyperactivity sounds like another name for asthma, though don't quote me on that!

yeees, it's the asthma idea that worries me. Dp has been hospitalised several times with it and his Grandad spent a horribly large amount of time on a thingumy-machine. I was also diagnosed with asthma years ago (but I got better).

Jan, asthma in Spanish is asthma, but the doctor said "hiperactividad broncial" (see how excellent my technical Spanish is? ). She did also say pretty much what Loobie said - that's it's just to open the lungs, but I still worry. She also said to go back in 2 weeks to check it had cleared - I would usually ignore that as I hate medical centres, but i think I will.

PS my name is a secret now!

Well.... in Belgium Bronchiolitis is treated by physios which I have never heard of here!
One of my postnatal mums has a 3 months old who has just been given ventlin too.... also expected for this baby to have asthma but mum was told that will only be confirmed that when he is 2.

I have four asthmatic chldren who have used ventolin. It's also useful for non-asthmatic coughs as well, so your dd may just be a 'wheezy baby'. Don't worry too much about the label, getting her well is the impottant thing.

Btw, ventolin is also used to prevent premature labour - not sure how that works - Pupuce?

I was just going to say that if your dd is under 2, then most docs will be reluctant to diagnose asthma, so maybe in Spain they call it something else until they are sure.

It is sugar free these days, but wasn't when my DD had it at 2 years old. It did nasty things to her baby teeth.

I found using an inhaler with a spacer or polystyrene coffee cup the easiest way to give Ventolin, and less of a problem than trying to get nasty syrup down!

Suedonim-ventolin also relaxes the walls of the uterus this is why its sometimes used in the prevention of premature labour.

Thanks, Loobie - now I know.

thanks everyone - just needed reassurance really - I didn't like to ask the doc as there was an enormous queue.

No problem with giving her the syrup though - she gets upset and says "more" when she's finished the spoonful!