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Original poster

6 year old wheezing at night, please advise

26 replies

anorak · 21/10/2006 09:36

My DS aged 6 seems fine during the day, is very active, eats well and says he feels fine. But each night for the last three nights he's starting coughing after he goes to bed. The cough gets bad enough to wake him. Last night it was worse than ever, his wheezing was so severe that I was very worried, I managed to calm him and prop him up on a pile of pillows and I slept with him. He coughed and wheezed on and off all night and was very restless.

We have given him Tixylix before bed each night and in the morning. We also gave him his inhaler which the doctor prescribed ages ago for very mind asthma. But none of it seemed to help.

His nose isn't blocked and he has no other symptoms. Any ideas please? I can't decide whether to take him to A & E or the Sta-doc today as my doctors is closed at weekends. As usual, he seems fine again now.

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Original poster
anorak · 21/10/2006 09:38

Sorry, very mild asthma!

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PretendFriend · 21/10/2006 09:39

Does he cough at all after strenuous exercise, anorak? Or is it just lying down? It does sound like asthma - it could be that it has got a bit worse since that inhaler was prescribed so it's ineffective.

What's the Sta-doc?

Original poster
anorak · 21/10/2006 09:41

Sta-doc is the emergency doctor service - you take the patient to see them at the hospital or in very extreme cases they come out.

Until now he's been fine after exercise.

The inhaler is only ever needed when he's got a cold or something. In normal life it's not used for months at a time. This has all happened in the last 3 days.

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PretendFriend · 21/10/2006 09:42

So is he coughing after exercise in the last 3 days too?

Orlando · 21/10/2006 09:43

two of mine have had reactions to Tixylix, so that could have something to do with it.

I think if you have an inhaler that's the main thing in the short term. Does your GP's surgery have an asthma clinic? It might be worth seeing the doc and getting referred to them.

Original poster
anorak · 21/10/2006 09:43

Sorry, no, not coughing after exercise.

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PretendFriend · 21/10/2006 09:46

What are the instructions for the inhaler? eg if he was supposed to use it once, it might help if he did it twice - one of mine had one and was allowed to vary the usage.

Original poster
anorak · 21/10/2006 09:48

I don't think he has a reaction to Tixylix, he's taken it before and is fine in the morning after taking it.

Just checked GP leaflet and yes they do have an asthma clinic. Good idea.

I'm just concerned about getting through the weekend at the moment - whether to go to hospital or not. And curious as to what this could be - it's so markedly different from night to day. He seems absolutely fine now.

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Original poster
anorak · 21/10/2006 09:49

PF, he is supposed to have 2 puffs when needed. I'm a bit worried about giving him more. Don't want to do it without consulting the doctor.

And I will deffo take him to the doctor on Monday. Even if he's better. But I'm just wondering about how to tackle this over the weekend.

Why do kids always fall ill at weekend?

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princessmel · 21/10/2006 09:53

My son has an inhaler which he has every morning and night. Recently I've noticed he's been coughing more so have occasionaly given him double doses. This is allowed. He usually gets worse in winter and when he has a cold.
Maybe you need to start with the inhaler regularly again( the brown/grey one ) It works better when you use it for a period of time rather than just once in a while. If he has a blue one- reliever , it would be good to use it when he's like this. This one you can use just when he's bad.

My ds did exactly what you described in your op every night for months before he got his inhaler. Since getting it and having it every day, he's been fine for 2 half years.

He may have a chest infec though. I'd go to stadoc ( I've been there before) and then start his inhaler every day.

Original poster
anorak · 21/10/2006 09:56

He only has the blue inhaler and it's gone out of date too, which is worrying me.

I have to take my DH to hospital this morning to have some stitches out so I'll have to deal with that first, then perhaps I'll take him to the sta-doc.

Thanks everyone.

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Original poster
anorak · 21/10/2006 09:57

PrincessMel, my DH has only suddenly got like this in the last 3 days, did that happen with your son?

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PretendFriend · 21/10/2006 09:58

Mine started out just with the blue reliever but then graduated using a preventer daily and reliever as needed, like pm's son. Mine was worst in the spring - tree pollen probably. The doses definitely increased with age.

You could ring NHS Direct, anorak? This sounds as if it might be the sort of thing they could be helpful with - is it OK to give more than 2 puffs of an inhaler? - then you could wait until Monday to see your GP.

princessmel · 21/10/2006 09:58

It sounds like he may need to have the brown one on a regular basis till he's better. They may give you one at docs. Fingers crossed.
Something to do with the temp changing affects my son.

princessmel · 21/10/2006 10:03

Pretend> My gp's tell me do 4 puffs when ds is bad, has a cold etc.

Anorak> He just started off coughing occasionaly at night when he was 1 ish then it got more and more till it was every night. He'd wake up coughing and crying off and on till 12am ish every night. It was awful. I was always taking him to docs and they just kept saying he 'just had a cough'. Once we went about 6 times about the 'same cough'.
Eventually a doc gave us a brown inhaler to try and that night we had no coughing and it was heaven. She could see I was getting desperate. Been good ever since. He was 18 months when he got it.

Original poster
anorak · 21/10/2006 10:05

OK just been passing on what you've said to my DH and he thinks DS's room is a little cold. I've been putting off turning the central heating on this autumn because it's so expensive.

We've decided to take an electric heater up and warm DS's room tonight before he goes to bed and see if that helps him a bit. Obv we will give the inhaler as well and see how he goes tonight. If he's awful again I'll prob take him to the hospital tomorrow. If he gets by okay I'll take him to GP next week and see about a new routine treatment for him.

Thank you all very much.

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katyjo · 21/10/2006 10:17

Hi anorak,
Is it something in his room that is triggering the attack, feather pillows or duvet maybe his mattress.
Could even be washing powder.
I would give his room a good clean, hoover mattress, strip all the sheets and dust room with a damp cloth after all the dust has settled. I would also check his pillows and duvet are synthetic and do not contain feathers.
If you are worried about him, take him to the out of hours doctor, they will not tell you off for going.
Mums know best, we always do!! XX

princessmel · 21/10/2006 10:27

Oh yes , If we hadn't got an inhaler when we did we were going to get a vaporiser. Apparantly moist air helps to relieve coughs. You can get them from chemists I think, or the gp used to suggest putting wet clean tea towels over a warm radiator.

princessmel · 21/10/2006 10:28

And we have an alergy duvet and pillow for ds. Little things like that may help but I think the inhaler will be the answer.

Orlando · 21/10/2006 11:06

Thinking about this while painting bathroom ceiling, I just came back to suggest the same thing as katyjo. Could be dust mites (I always lie in bed lacerated by guilt listening to dd2 wheezing and coughing and know it's time I cleaned her room...) Change bed, hoover underneath it and hoover mattress too.

Christie · 21/10/2006 13:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Overrun · 21/10/2006 13:27

sounds like Asthma to me, I would get his medication reviewed. Not all Asthmatic children wheeze after exercise, every one had different triggers.
Asthma is often worse at night, because the bronchial tubes tighten anyway, so with Asthma its worse.
Hope you get some medical advice soon

Original poster
anorak · 21/10/2006 16:19

thanks for all these comments. Plan to clean his room, (had a major blitz planned for half-term anyway), heat the room, and boil up a kettle in there before he goes to bed to steam it a bit. Give him inhaler before bed. Then docs Monday to review the situation.

Don't think it's an allergy but will be aware and look out for that.

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princessmel · 22/10/2006 07:53

How did he sleep last night, after your blitz Anorak??

Original poster
anorak · 22/10/2006 10:48

Thanks for asking. He slept a lot better, still coughing a bit but the steam and the warming the room up seemed to help.

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