Ventolin- effective when diluted?

[tigi]

Hi, my 4 y.o has recently been diagnosed with asthma, and had an inhaler, with a spacer. He has just had a bad episode, and the inhaler didn't touch it, so he now has ventolin medicine- which he refuses to take! I have sometimes been able to hide it in squash, but then he sometimes knows it's in it!
I wondered if anyone knows if it's effective when diluted in squash? or any tips to get it down! thanks

I didn't even know they can have it as medicine, this thread has been quite useful for me as one of my ds's just refuses to have it, but sorry don't know answer to your question. Good luck, hope someone knows for you

It's all a bit new to me too, as he has out of the blue become wheezy up to 3 times a month. Coughs a bit, then straight into a wheeze, it's so quick.. He had been given a blue inhaler 'salamol' (salbutamol sulphate).The medicine is ventolin (salbutamol sulphate BP). Doc says it will get into him quicker to get working...

TBH tigi the oral medicine is next to useless and GPs shouldn't be prescribing it. If the inhaler via spacer hasn't helped him then take him to A+E rather than messing about with the medicine.

my ds was prescribed salbutamol liquid when he was very young and uncooperative with the spacer.I was told it would take hrs to work.It never really did any good and ds usually ended up with nebulizer in surgery or a&e.
Thankfully he's more stable now,and cooperative. He's on preventer inhalers which help a lot .

Yep, the liquid is much slower acting - if you think about it, the inhaler sends the needed medicine straight to the lungs, rather than having to have a much higher dose that goes via your stomach first, gets absorbed, then shipped around your body to reach your lungs.

It's worth visiting the Asthma UK site as it's really very useful. There's also a helpline with trained asthma nurses on there who may be able to talk you through strategies on how to get him to take his inhaler properly. I would also get him booked in to see your surgery's asthma nurse, as they can watch him taking the inhaler to make sure his technique is effective at getting the medication into his lungs.

The really important thing is to familiarise yourself with what to do in an attack (i.e. when the inhaler isn't touching it). I'll copy and paste here, but it really is worth reading the site properly:

The following guidelines are suitable for both children and adults and are the recommended steps to follow in an asthma attack:

1. Take your reliever inhaler (usually blue), immediately
2. Sit down and ensure that any tight clothing is loosened. Do not lie down
3. If no immediate improvement during an attack, continue to take one puff of your reliever inhaler every minute for five minutes or until symptoms improve
4. If your symptoms do not improve in five minutes ? or you are in doubt ? call 999 or a doctor urgently
5. Continue to take one puff of your reliever inhaler every minute until help arrives

You are having an asthma attack if any of the following happen:

• Your reliever does not help symptoms
• Your symptoms are getting worse (cough, breathlessness, wheeze or tight chest)
• You are too breathless to speak, eat or sleep

Do not be afraid of causing a fuss, even at night. If you are admitted to hospital or an accident and emergency department because of your asthma, take details of your medicines with you.
After an emergency asthma attack:

• Make an appointment with your doctor or asthma nurse for an asthma review, within 48 hours of your attack
• You will also need another review within one or two weeks after your asthma attack to make sure your symptoms are better controlled

Do not ignore worsening symptoms

Most people find that asthma attacks are the result of gradual worsening of symptoms over a few days.

If your asthma symptoms are getting worse do not ignore them! Follow your personal asthma action plan. If symptoms continue to get worse make an urgent appointment to see your doctor or asthma nurse. Quite often, using your reliever is all that is needed to relieve your asthma symptoms when you start to have an asthma attack. At other times, symptoms are more severe and more urgent action is needed.

As a life long asthmatic (I'm now 42 OMG) I can certainly vouch for the fact that the inhaler is much quicker and better working than the medicine! It came as no surprize to me that DS (now 6) was diagnosed as being an asthmatic when he was very young, although having said that he has virtually grown out of it now, lucky thing.
Anyway, when he was younger I virtually had to wrestle him into taking his inhalers but it was worth the effort, don't give up. I had to almost pin him down on the floor and as he was shouting I would spray the inhaler, it meant he got a good shot of it into his lungs. It was distressing for me and for him but the result was always good and in the long run very worth while.
I remember when I was about 4 my Mum tried disguising my asthma tablets (pre inhaler era) in strawbery jam or sugar cake sprinkles (hundreds and thousands) to this day I can't stand either of them!
Don't give up on the inhalers Tigi, it's not easy but it is worth it believe me!

Thanks so much - but I am so cross the doc said to use the medicine if it is slower- he definatly said use medicine instead of , not as well as. he said ut acts much quicker. The inhaler wasn't making any difference at all at the time, but i wouldn't have taken him to a&e because i didnt think it was life threatening. All he said to me was that he is young to be so wheezy so quickly, and to think about giving him a preventative every day. No other advice -that was it. I've never heard of an asthma nurse, he didn't mention that! I said two or three times that I need to know how to deal with it because it comes on sooo quick, and has really just started up in the last 3 mths, and is now about 3 x a month. I'm even more worried about the duff information he has given me now.

Phone up the surgery and ask if you can see their asthma nurse and just deal with her in future if you can (most surgeries seem to have one these days). I do agree with him though, that a preventer might be a good move if your ds is regularly taking ventolin.

An asthma nurse would talk through your options and work out an individual asthma plan with you, but as I understand it if he's using ventolin more than twice a week, then the asthma isn't being controlled well and you should investigate upping (or introducing) preventative medication. It could be as simple as just using a preventer during the winter months if he suffers badly when having a cold, so it needn't be a "for life" thing.

But do try and book an appointment with an asthma nurse at the surgery - they're really good at showing you inhaler techniques (especially with young children) too. They can also prescribe.