anyone who has used steroids (prednisolone ) for asthma

[festiveface]

i asked a similar question earlier but still unsure.
how bad does the asthma normally get before prednisolone is used?

doctor has given ds2 antibiotics and prednisolone tablets. his symptoms are mild wheezing which has gone worse during the night and his chest is full of phlegm which is green/bloody looking when he coughs it up.

would i be daft to just use the salbutamol and antibiotics? will it go better like that?

also can salbutamol be used with prednisolone?

i am worried about giving him the steroids as he already has a problem with low immune system and he is on nasal spray, eyedrops, antihistamines for hayfever too.

what would you do?

Follow the doctor's advice?

and would you send them to school if they seemed happy but wheezy?

I took them when pregnant and after as well

seriously if they've been given its for a reason .. take them .. it works remarkably quickly

salbutomal is a reliever .. of course you should continue to use becotide / salbutomal as normal

What has the doctor suggested you do - presuambly ds already has his normal blue and brown inhalers and GP has added prednisolone tablets? Sounds as if GP is acting right in line with the guidelines. Salbutamol can be used with prednisolone, that's kind of the point - salbutamol is used routinely and tablets added in if necessary.

The steroids used for asthma are very effective and safe - you really don't have to worry about his immune system. Tablets are only used when they are needed for short periods of time. Google the British Thoracic Society if you want to track down the guidelines doctors use - National Asthma Campaign and British Lung Foundation also good.

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i think what confused me was that the g.p said his chest sounded o.k when he listened to it and i always assumed steroids were given when you were hospitalised.

how lonmg is the course for? dd1 has had them for severe eczema and when she has asthma attacks. longest course was a week. they help get the chest clear very wquickly, the last course dd1 had was only a 3 day course.

'would i be daft to just use the salbutamol and antibiotics? will it go better like that?' in all honesty, yes. please do remember that asthma can be a killer, if your ds has been perscribed prednisolone its for a very good reason. he wont be on them forever.

thanx,he isn't using a brown inhaler because his consultant said we could stop it ages ago, just the blue.

I'm not sure, I have seen that a bit of wheezing doesn't always means wheezing is diminishing. I doubt they will acept him in nursery if he was wheezing from the start of the day, one thing is they have to use the inhaler out of necesity and quite another that I take DS there when he is obvioulsly not well.

However, my son is young and his asthma is not that bad so... I don't know.

it's 4 5mg tablets a day for 5 days

i think he may need to start the brown inhalor again after he has finished the steroid tablets. the brown is the preventor inhaler.

i just wish i had started that brown inhaler as the hayfever season began.
i'm finding all this really scary tbh

it can be very scary. dd1 asthma isnt under control atm either. have had to ask the aschool to give her the blue inahler before PE lessons and other exe3rcise, she is often using it once she is at school. she really needs to be seen by the asthma nurse again.

our asthma nurse isn't very good.

the tablets say take with breakfast of a morning. so, if i give him them tomorrow morning should i really be keeping him off school?

I would say there is really no reason to keep him off school. Most schools (including the one I teach at) have a better, if not perfect, understanding of asthma these days. I recommend mentioning to the teacher that he is a bit wheezy and tell your ds not to run around too much at playtime. Make sure the school knows to give him his inhaler whenever he needs it and he should be fine. I have a couple of bad asthmatics in my class. They have been really suffering during this weather but have continued to attend school regularly. As an asthmatic myself I am probably more aware of it than others but I would say send him. The kids in my class are pretty good, they usually ask for thei inhaler if they need it. Can your ds do this?

i suppose i worry because he doesn't seem to know when to have it, although i don't feel confident either!