Asthma...is it, or isn;t it?

[FrayedKnot]

Ds (2.6) has had a cough for about 4 weeks.

He seemed to have a cough permanently all last winter, and tbh I didn;t think much of it...I think at one stage we went to the Dr with it and he had some antibiotics.

At nursery one of the carers mentioned asthma as did someone else I spoke to, so I took him to the Dr yesterday.

The Dr suggested it might either be a viral infection or possibly mild asthma, and did I want to try an inhaler to see if it improved...the other option was to do nothing at least for now, which I opted for.

So...is it, or isn;t it, and if it is, should I be doing things to reduce allergens etc in our home?

We have a cat (black mark from the Dr), DS room is carpeted - nearly brand new carpet whcih am reluctant to change but would if I thought it would improve his health.

I am very reluctant for DS to be labelled asthmatic or to start using inhalers unless absolutely necessary.

At the moment his cough is not inhibiting his activity in any way.

Just not sure what to think, anyone been in a similar situation?

If it is asthma, is it likely to get worse?

Yes this is how my ds2's asthma started - a propensity to coughs, coughs that went on for weeks and weeks. Has your son tried a peak flow meter? This was what my son tried and it showed that he din't have asthma, but within the year, he had a clear asthma attack - wheezing etc - and we went to the Gp and have been trying out various inhalers and doeses ever since. It is a very inexact science, asthma.

BTW, we have cats (since he got asthma) and have carpets everywhere, so I don't think you have to necessarily worry about that.

DF Dr didn;t suggest a peak flow meter but I said I would go back if it hadn;t cleared in a couple of weeks.

Dr said that reducing allergens could ahve a very positive effect on mild asthma...his opinion obviously.

My Mum has asthma quite severely since she was a child and she is very allergic to cats (and otehr animal fur) - she only has to sit on my carpet and she will be wheezing - I try to vacuum thoroughly before she comes round.

I think DRs are reluctant to diagnose asthma until DS has had at least 3 episodes. My DS2 was admitted to hospital in the summer with what I thought was asthma, but was dignosed as a viral wheeze. He has caught a cold now and today is wheezing and off colour so will be back to the GP tomorrow........

Frayed, is this a cough following on from a cold? Is it at night, after being out in the cold/windy air, after running around?

I know some doctors are unwilling/unable to diagnose asthma until at least 2 +, and it has to follow a pattern.

I hope it's not asthma tbh.

they tend not to do the peak flow meters till they are much older

they only started using them with dd when she was 6

I dunno frayed - I remember agonising at this age as to whether it was asthma or not but the truth is that it's hard to be 100% sure. Dd has asthma and she has always had a problem with coughs. Ds doesn't have asthma but had lots of wheezy chest infections between the age of 0 and 3 so looked like a prime candidate but never went on to develop it fully.

I would treat the symptoms the way the doctor suggests and just keep a watchful eye on it (and keep an eye on any potential triggers).

Oh I didn't know that about the peak flow meters. Ds2 was 6 when he first had one and then 7 when it was decided he had asthma.

I didn't know either till dd got asthma! I think it is because they need them to understand the instructions and take a proper breath iyswim.

No he just seemed to develop the cough without cold symptoms (although DH also had a cough around the same time it started).

He isn;t coughing much at night atm, starts coughing when we leave the house in the mornings (change of air temp / humidity), does start coughing a bit after running around in the cold etc.

Dr did say they would find it difficult to diagnose at this age, presumably if they are too young to use a peak flow meter etc.

I agree I'm not sure DS would understand about breathing in & blowing eitehr.

I guess we'll just have to wait & see.

I may try to limit the areas of the house the cat goes in.

We've had similar problems recently with ds2 (3yrs). I took him to see the doctor a couple of months ago because I was concerned about his frequent coughing. The doctor said that he wasn't sure whether or not it was a virus and gave us an inhaler for ds2 to try. The inhaler seemed to help so the doctor asked us to keep a diary for 2 months and record any coughing/wheezing and if/when ds2 needed to use the inhaler. A few weeks after the appointment ds2 had a bad attack and ended up in hospital for a couple of days.

The asthma nurse said that although there is no diagnostic test for very young children a non-asthmatic child would still be coughing even if given inhalers, nebulisers etc. Ds2's breathing improved almost immediately each time he was given a nebuliser. Ds2 still has no official diagnosis but is being treated as though he is asthmatic. The asthma nurse is reviewing his progress regularly.

In this country they are reluctant to diagnose asthma until over 2 or several episodes. UK docs referred to DS2's A&E episode the Christmas he was 16 months as "viral wheeze", but when I went back to Singapore where we were living, the Singaporean doctors said it was asthma.

They said it didn't make any difference calling it viral wheeze because it still needed to be treated the same way - with inhaled steroids for prevention, bronchodilators and possibly oral steroids for serious attacks.

Different treatment protocols and diagnosis criteria in different countries, it seems.