Any tips for easing mild asthma attacks?

[kittywits]

My DS1 now 8 has had mild astma since he was three. Most of the time it is kept under control using his purple ( combined ) inhaler. What i am finding is that it gets particularyt bad when he has a cold. He had a number of attacks yseterday and I got him to breathe in and out of a paper bag which helped to calm him down. Now his cold is coming out and he is very 'mucousy'(sp?) he is exhausted when he walks and talks and is contantly coughing he has had his inhalor allowence for this morning..
I know it is only a temporary thing,while he has the cold, but wondered whether any of you had done things for your children that helped ease their breathing. I don't want to keep pumping him full of more and more steroids if another relief method can be used. Thanks for you help,

DS1 always has 2 puffs of his purple inhaler morning and evening ( a mixture of blue and brown inhalers), this does seem to manage it fine and we have check ups with the asthma nurse regularly. It's just sometimes, for example when a cold comes that it all goes haywire and then it takes him ages to get back on track. I think it is also a seasonal thing. he gets much worse in the spring and then the summer. He hasn't needed the blue inhaler for ages so this attack has really suprised me. I don't think he will be ready for school tomorrow and I'll take him to see the asthma nurse.
Georgina, thanks for your font of knowledge and the link to that site

No need to apologise! At least you know what it feels like to have asthma.

I get a bit upset hearing about asthmatic kids struggling to breathe too because the first time it happened to dd2 (before diagnosis) I had her in bed with me as she was choked up with the cold (I thought). She was awake nearly all night telling me how hard it was for her to breathe and I was getting crabby, telling her it was just a cold and to stop whinging . I felt awful afterwards as it must be such a terrible, scary feeling.

aaagh. Even writing it I feel awful. She can get a bit fixated on breathing and death now.

not sure if worth looking into but i have had severe hayfever for over 20 years and use to get asthmatic symptoms. i found buteyko method really helped. there are courses which are expensive but there are now books available detailing the method buteyko books on amazon.

I bought one of those books, haven't got round to taping up my mouth at night ( dp wishes I would do that during the day)

hi my ds now 8 has asthma and has since baby, i use blue inhaler as often as he needs it if he seems to be having more than normal i would advise trip to drs he may need a course of steriods ! or might have chest infection, i also use karvol on a tissue when he has cold and plenty fresh air in house windows open, propped up on pillows when in bed and boring calming games during day like monopoly

good luck

pointydog: "She can get a bit fixated on breathing and death now"

I suspect it's a common asthmatic thing. Every now and then (fortunately fairly rarely - last time was a good couple of years ago now), although not actually being wheezy, I can get into a state of mind at night where I'm so focussed on my breathing I'm convinced that if I stop concentrating I'll actually stop breathing. I suppose it's some sort of minor panic attack, but I do wonder if it's connected in some way to memories of asthma attacks.

I took ds1 to see the asthma nurse today. His peak flow was down to 100 and he is still tight.
We are on a new plan of action for when he dips and he is to stay off school until his chest eases.
I think I need to be more aware of the signs that he is starting to struggle, eg. coughing and get in there with the extra inhalers. He has steroid tablets just incase, but the nurse says that we don't want to have to use them if we can avoid it. He's better today than yesterday, but looks pale. Thanks again for all your kind words and the efforts you have gone to to help

Yikes, 100 is fairly low!

What might be worth asking is if you can have a peak flow meter for home. I got given one after a particularly nasty attack when I was 14 and had to test my peak flow 4 times daily for a period of weeks. What was amazing to me was that my peak flow could drop by 25% on exposure to cigarette smoke (used to go to a weekly village drama group and they were all chain smokers), but I hadn't even noticed a drop in ability to breathe at that time at all.

Just thinking if you keep regular track of peak flow (say, once every couple of days) then it'll be easier to be on the ball with upping the inhalers?

Hope he's feeling much better soon

Actually, I have recently got a peak flow meter so I'll be doing that. Do you think it is worth checking at reasonably frequent inteveals anyway, judst to get an idea of what is normal and ok for him/

Sorry Georgina, didn't read you kind message properly and see you have already answered a question before I asked it . I'll certainly be checking it very regularly from now on.

Ds couldnt afford to miss a day with his blue inhaler. We had to be religious about it.Also fanatical about hot washing bedding and hoovering bedroom every day.

His asthma was worse at night and we did find that he liked having vicks vapour rub on his chest. I dont know if it help the asthma but it did help him feel calm.

He is 13 now and hasnt had an attack for over 5 years so there is hope

Also he used to cough so much at night that he was sick. Very regularly.

Definitely cough mixture helped. Might have been tixylix? A spoon of that when he was really hacking would soothe him .It seemed to work as well as the brown inhaler in those situations

kittywits - certainly worth doing until you both feel comfortable that you know what to expect At age of 8 I wouldn't of thought it'd be long before he's well aware when his chest is getting a bit tight, or that you know (for example) that September - March is always the worst time, or whatever and you can adjust preventative inhaler usage accordingly

I know it seems like a horrible faff and very scary now, but you really do become a dab hand very quickly! Apart from remembering to take my inhalers now, I hardly remember I even have asthma. It's just a learning curve to get to know yourself, get the right medication to keep it under control, and recognise the signs which mean it's time for a review

lorina, do you mean the other way around? Normally the brown (or purple in mine and kittywit's son's case) is the preventative you need to take regularly and the blue is the reliever in an emergency.

I would say if night coughing is a regular occurrence then the asthma isn't being controlled properly (I realise your son has grown out of it now, but in case anyone else is in a similar situation!) and a visit to the asthma clinic is necessary asap.

Thanks georgina, you should hire youself out here as the resident asthma expert

LOL, I just push myself unwanted onto any asthma thread I spot instead

More seriously though, I do think it's a shame that so many doctors subscribe inhalers for asthmatic children but then don't seem to explain well the optimal way to use them and what to do in an emergency.

There's a bit of paper in the box (but lets face it - after the first time scanning through, how many of us actually LOOK at medicine information leaflets other than the dosage sticker on the front?) which gives a link to Asthma UK, and if you're lucky they'll call you back to the asthma nurse after six months who'll THEN tell you the best way to hold an inhaler and how to breathe it in, etc. By which point said child has been using it wrong for 6 months, and has to unlearn or they and the parents just assume that regular wheeziness is expected as part of the condition and that nothing can be done to help.

A lot of surgeries also don't seem tell you that as an asthmatic you should get the 'flu jab free as part of their "at risk" groups... (and having had 'flu as an asthmatic, I can tell you I've had the jab every year since).

Oh I don't think you are unwanted!!!!

It's true. I made our asthma nurse write everything doen this time as I find it very hard to keep it all in my head nad know I will have been doing things wrong. Up until today I had just assumed that it was to be expected that he would have these awful dips and that there was little we could do to prevent them, they could only be treated post crisis

Oh Lord yes Georgina! Sorry you are right ,brown for prevention and blue for an attack. I knew what I was doing at the time....!

Very bad idea to give the blue more often than necessary. I seem to remember it made him a bit 'nasty'. Infact I was just posting on the boys fighting thread and realised that the height of his fighting coincided with the height of his asthma.

No, told nothing about the flu jab. That wouldn't have crossed my mind.

I have read that drinking some water should help, (in this book):

www.amazon.co.uk/Your-Bodys-Many-Cries-Water/dp/1903571499/sr=8-1/qid=1159207575/ref=sr_1_1/026-4872742-5495646?ie=UTF8&s=books

Did another peak flow test tonight and he'd gone up to 150, that's much better isn't it?

Yes, that's much better kittywits.

I was at the asthma clinic last Friday with dd2 who will be 8 next month. She stopped the brown inhaler recently and we've been monitoring her peak flow. I was told 226 is average for her height and weight (she's probably a little over average h&w for her age). dd2 averages out at 200 when she's feeling ok (150-240). Just to give you a ballpark figure!

Thanks for the tip pointydog. Ds has to take 4 puffs of orange inhaler a day now as well as 4 puffs of purple until he has settled down.
A little while ago we had managed to take him off everything he was only having the occasional reliever and he was doing really well. He has aloe juice everyday and that has really helped his lungs. (I think it sooths lung irritation.) then he just started coughing and wheezing again and we're back to where we were.
I hope one day he might 'grow out of it' as they say, but if not it would be great if he could be like GeorginaA and be so effectively treated that he won't notice.

Should probably keep him off school until he stops wheezing and coughing do you think? He still looks rather pale and has been crying this evening and he NEVER cries.