my doctor just given me brown inhaler for my 3 year old, is it asthma? What about those steroids, advice please!

[mohawk]

My three year old son has had a winter cough every year since he was born, which progresses and ends up on his chest and is nigh impossible to get rid of until spring. Last year he had a blue inhaler, but went to my doctor this morning and he said he thought it was asthma that recurred in winter and it would be better to move onto the steroid inhaler. Hmmmm. I have tried homeopathy, he did have a run of anti-biotics in desperation which knocked it back a little, or did it who knows. Nothing seems to get rid of it. Is steroids the answer??

if its asthma, then yes, as the inhaled steroids arent bad. they help strengthen the airways.

is it becotide? it's a very common treatment for asthma, and is a very small dose of steroids.

(there are steroid tablets for really bad asthma which are much stronger.)

have you got a spacer for him as well?

becotide info here

here is a site (linked by the NHS site) about becotide (the brown inhalor)
here

Becotide is a steriod, but because it is inhaled does not get into the body in the same way as a tablet would. It stays in the lungs and so you don't get the same side effects as you would for tablets.

These type of inhalors are called preventers (as opposed to relievers - the blue (ventolin) ones you would take in an attack). They help line the passages in the lungs and reduce inflammation so that a flare up or attack is less likely to happen. They tend to take about two weeks to build up. Your ds should still have his blue inhalor as well.

Homeopathic and breathing training can help, but I would use them on top of this medication and not instead of. Drs do not hand out the steroid inhalors unless they feel they are really needed and it may be that your ds can come off it after the winter when his chest is better.

Hope that has helped.

iota's link is much better than mine.

\link{http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/spacerdevice.htm\spacer info) - apparently they are very effective and everyone should use one - so I was told by the asthma nurse about 2 months ago - I've had asthmas for 10 yrs and have never had one before

spacer info

thankyou 'Dillo - I do love to google

If it's becotide (or betamethasone, I think is the non-branded name) ... I take this every day. I think the medical conclusion is that it is better to take preventative steroid inhalers rather than relying on the ventolin to respond to attacks in the long term. The ideal is that you take enough of the brown inhaler that you only occasionally need the blue inhaler.

For instance, if I feel I'm getting a cold I up my dosage of the becotide, as I know I always have problems if I get a chest infection. Similarly if I'm going to stay somewhere where there is a cat, or which is very dusty, I'll increase the brown inhaler dosage a few days before, then reduce it again once I'm away from the triggers.

It may be that your son only needs the preventative inhalers in winter - but your GP should be able to advise.

Have a look at Asthma Society ?

Thank you for all this and for the links. I guess the difficult question is, is it asthma (and can I spell it!). Although the cough is prolonged he does'nt cough all the time and has just gone very chesty in the last couple of days, the rest of the winter it hasn't been so on his chest. My other question about the steroids is how easy are they to come off.Do the lungs get reliant on them and also side effects, he has been prescribed 100. Is there any other way? Any way to boost his immunity. My friend who has chronic asthma reckons all the research goes on inhalers as its such a big business and there is very little else being researched. Is it true the cost of an inhaler is £100!! Its not something the drug companies are going to let go of, but maybe that's another thread.

Hi,

I can answer a couple of your questions. The reason that most of the research is into inhalers is that the drugs go directly to the lungs which is where they are needed & not into the bloodstream to do other uneeded things/cause side effects/be metabolised by the liver into non-useful compounds. Doing in an inhaler is chosen by the drug companies because it helps to reduce side effects and therefore get approval for a drug.

As for coming off the steroids - that shouldn't be a problem as they are not addictive.
Boosting his immunity - that is questionable as asthma is not really directly caused by a bad immune system - however it is true that chest infections & colds can exacerbate the condition and therefore preventing these may help manage his condition.

HTH

At 3 mohawk, it's still quite hard to tell if it is definitely asthma (from what I understand). Both mine at that age were on inhalers but only dd has gone on to have confirmed asthma (she's 6 now) and needs the inhalers every day - ds (who's 5), only needed them sporadically as a toddler and now seems to have no chesty breathing problems at all (touch wood).