Asthma - please reassure me!

[colditz]

Ds had his first ever asthma attack tonight aftr tea, and it has put the frighteners up me.

Please tell me what to expect tonight - he is 3 and is sleeping now.

He was gigven 4 prednisilone tablets and lots of ventolin

oh no colditz.

has he been diagnosed asthmatic?

was it an allergy to something?

i'm so sorry. sure loads of people will be along any minute to help....how scarey for you.

I am sure he will be fine, scary though isn't it?

My ds has asthma and it is now totaly controled.

He takes inhaled steroids and hardly ever needs his reliever. As soon as dh had the steriods he was fine.

And a great trapping lad now, of 6.5!

Hugs to you though it is horrid!

he had 'asthmatic' symptoms when he had a virus last year, and the doctor says he has a virus now as his glands are up. He has never ever even wheezed when running around like a looney, and we have had a really wuiet day today.

I am so scared he will have an attack and I won't hear him

colditz -
An asthma attack can look - and be - very scary indeed. However, asthma is very manageable, given the right medication. I've had it more or less all my life, have gone through better and worse patches, and now it's all but disappeared . It is VERY likely he will eventually 'grow out of it'.

Ventolin is an excellent reliever (i.e. relieves symptoms, often to the extent that breathing becomes entirely normal again). Give that if he seems to be in distress. IIRC there is supposed to be four-hour gaps between (double-puff) doses, but stick to what the doctor told you. I think it's quite difficult to overdose harmfully on ventolin. Is he coughing and/or wheezing? I never cough(ed) with asthma, but do (did) wheeze. Funnily enough, one symptom of it with me is itchy skin on the throat/chin area, so if he scratches there it might indicate he's having trouble.

Will you have an appointment with the GP/asthma nurse?

It is NOT your fault.

I once had an attack during which I apparently (says my mother) went blue. As soon as I'd had the inhaler I was completely and utterly fine, but I can imagine my mother was terrified. It is awful to watch your child struggling for breath, but do remember you could not have predicted this.

colditz it can be very scarey when your child has an asthma attack. I suffer from asthma and have done from being a baby and DD is the same. Take him to gp who will probably want him to be seen by asthma nurse who will keep an eye on him. The one advantage you do have is his age..I know that sounds odd but DD is 10mths and has been diagnosed but not from being 3mths old but they will not do anything to help prevent the attacks which are fairly frequent. Your ds age will help with sorting out appropriate inhalers/medication.

I'm going to bed now colditz - will look in tomorrow. Hope you and your ds have a peaceful night.

By the way you usually have to take the prednisolone tablets over 3 days or so, so check with your GP if they didn't say that, or leave you with any spares.

Gp has given me a prescription to collect.

Didn't have too bad a night, I lifted him and put him in my bed in the end (which he wet within 3 hours - I put a nappy on him for the first time in months) But I had to give him the ventolin a few times in the night, then again this morning.

Thanks everyone for bringing me down off the ceiling last night.

Glad to hear it's calmer today Colditz. It is bloody frightening every time it happens. After 5 years of it I still get paranoid about coughs and snuffles. The GP lets me keep a box of prednisolone at home now which has kept us out of hospital for a couple of years - only have to use it about once or twice a year.