Inhaler - Immediate relief??

[Twohootsunderthemistletoe]

DD (19 mo) has been given a ventolin inhaler by GP to try. She had a cold and it's gone on her chest is wheezy and coughing. She only had a chest infection 5 wks or so ago from another cold and was given ab's to clear it up. This time GP suggested inhaler to widen up her airways.

I had severe asthma as a child and always got immediate relief from an inhaler, however DD doesn't seem to have improved much (granted she's only had 3 doses but I would have thought relief would have been pretty immediate).

She didn't cough as much last night but did start again in the early hours of this morning.

Do you think I should go back to the GP or give it a little longer. She seems OK in herself but her breathing is definatley wheezy and coughy still.

I used to work in a lung function lab testing the effectiveness of inhalers, Salbutamol takes about 15-20 minutes to work fully, if it works at all. Are you sure she's taking in properly? You need to hold it in your lungs for at least 10 seconds for it to work and I appreciate that cannot be too easy with a 19 mo. Follow the prescribing advice from the Pharmacist. Two sprays should be enough, if you spray more it wont make any difference to how well it works.

have you got a spacer an invaluable aid in givin sprays to little ones?
plastic like the bottom of a bottle you spray the salbutomal in and the child breathes the air and medicine in the spacer
hope she is feeling better I think asthma in children is so not nice for them and you.

We had salbutomol in liquid form when DD1 was this sort of age cos we just could not succeed with the inhalers even with spacers.

I had a horrible cold the other week which went onto my chest and brought on my asthma, quite badly. I was using ventolin an awful lot and it gave relief for an hour or so then I was back to needing it again. In the end I was given a preventer to take every couple of hours through the day which really helped. You might be better to ask about one.

Has your dd got the little rubber mask with the spacer? If not, ask for that too, it makes it a lot easier to keep all the vapour in the spacer and therefore into her lungs.

Hope she's ok, poor little thing

It should work immediately, I'm wondering if you are maybe confusing the fact that the inhaler is only aiding her breathing and not actually to clear her infection. Her lungs will not be cleared by the inhaler, but it will make her breathe easier.

Yes have a spacer/mask and we are managing to keep it on her face for 10-15 secs after spraying - she seems to see it as a novelty at the mo - so do think she is getting the dose. Not convinced it is working tbh - on my other post I asked about asthma and whether in fact she may have it - GP thought potentially yes, but difficult to diagnose at this age.

I personally think she has another infection. As yes the inhaler may help with the breathing but she has a chesty cough which doesn't strike me as asthma.

How long should I be leaving it before contacting the GP again as clearly the inhaler isn't helping her breathing at the present time....

I have to answer a couple of posts here.

Firstly, "I was using ventolin an awful lot and it gave relief for an hour or so then I was back to needing it again."

If Salbuatamol (AKA Ventolin) works, which for some people it just doesn't, it works for four hours. You can suck on that inhaler all day and it wont make it work any more than it did initially, the effect you're getting from using it over and over is in your mind. The reason the preventer worked better for you was that you clearly weren't getting enough effect (if any) from Salbutamol.

I think breathing in particular is very psychosomatic, if you think your inhaler works it will calm you to take it so you are getting some kind of effect, just not a pharmaceutical one!

"It should work immediately"

Well, it starts to work immediately, but 20 minutes is how long it takes to be fully effective.

Asthma is pretty difficult to diagnose until your wee one can follow instructions from you or a hospital tech. Like I said, Salbutamol sometimes doesn't work, although working in the hospital I encountered lots of people who said it did when their test results said otherwise!

Good luck with your DD.

I would consider going to ask for ab's to get rid of any chest infection and also mention that she is still struggling even after using the ventolin. Hoe she's ok

When dd has ger inhaler she doesnt get immediate relief. It can be quite hard for a young child using a spacer to get the same effect as you or I would or even an older child which is why they have 5 breathes to 5 puffs rather than the 2 puffs recommended to us. DD has been on inhalers from being 3mths old and it usually takes at least a couple of days to see any improvement. Also if it is a wheeze but without her sides tugging by the ribs then it could possibly partly be in her throat aswell if that makes sense. DD usually has to go back and see gp or to hospital within 2/3days for a course of steroids or antibiotics.

Thanks again ladies I have read that ventolin doesn't always work on little ones - I really do feel it is more a chest infection than possible asthma (GP gave her inhaler as a way of helping her breathe but only prescribed two puffs four times a day not five puffs??).

She is very chesty which I don't think would be caused by asthma (as I said earlier I was/am asthmatic - severely so as a child and this just seems more 'chesty' to me but when it's your own child sometimes you can 'see' what you want to see IYSWIM).

Think I'll see how she is tomorrow and then review - she has a jab scheduled for tomorrow but I'll prob have to cancel them!