A bad cough or asthma?

[donafeefee]

My 8 yr old dd has had a loose cough for about four weeks now. Just a cough I thought but it's taking a long time to go - better now but she still coughs a little at night. She has slight asthma and has a preventer the doc gave her to use between October and May. This kind of cough has never been one of her symptoms so does that mean it is a cough or is it asthma? This asthma thing is very confusing - I've never known anyone with it before and even my dd's symptoms fortunately, haven't been very bad - so I don't really know what to look for and how to treat it. Maybe i shld put her back on the preventer or shld i see the doc first. any ideas anyone?

I would say that if you are not sure, then see your doc, or even better an asthma nurse if your practice has one.

It coulod just be a lingering cough, but sounds like it's worth checking.

My Dd has asthma and I can now just about tell the difference between a normal cough and her asthma cough, but it is confusing i agree.
HTH

it could be. or she could just be finding it hard to shake a cough off. (had a another flu like bug the other week, took me 3 weeks to stop coughing, i'm not asthmatic). does she cough throughout the night, or is it early morning, when she gets into bed? have u tried to remove as much dust/dustmites as possible from her room to try and remove allergens?

why does she only have a preventor oct thro to may? (brown one?). does she have a blue inhalor at all?

Thanks nutcracker, I was rather hoping it, the cough, would just go...so I wouldn't have to go to the doc, yet again. We don't live in the uk and since asthma is a new thing for me I'm still on a big learning curve and when I'm at the doc's I can't speak english which makes it all the more stressful. It's great to be able to type in English, at least and get some good advice from you all on the net!

The specialist we were sent to, this was only 18 months ago, prescribed it - I presumed because her symptoms were fairly mild - she'd never had a big attack, just coughs and fast breathing and the like. She also has Ventolin (i think it's called) which is the one to open the airways - the equivalent of a blue inhaler, and I've occasionally given her that if she's told me her breathing feels tight - before bed or during the night. And it seemed like we were/are doing the right thing. The specialist we were sent to was recommended by my favourite local doctor here who is a woman in her thirties and whose advice has always been right ever since my children were babies. At the moment she coughs a few times in the early morning, sometimes she clears a bit of phlegm, has a sip of water and goes straight back to sleep - it seems like a normal cough but last night as i was listening to her I suddenly thought is this asthma? or part of it ... or what for pete's sake?

MY then 4 yr old had constant cough and loads of visits to GP.I was'nt happy with using puffers etc, wasn't sure if asthma was so easily diagnosed. Asked for paed referral and x ray. Had x ray and near paed appt cough dissappeared.Went anyway and was told poss Whooping cough. How? child immunised. Told still poss but if had not been immunised problem would have been much worse Glad I did,nt use puffer etc, however, asthma is on the increase so get as many opinions as poss and ask for referral if not happy.

If it's an asthma cough there tends to be a weeze with it as well and a shortness of breath. You don't tend to just get a cough if it's asthma. But it's worth bearing in mind that if you do suffer from asthma when you get a cold you tend to suffer a little more than someone who doesn't have asthma. When I get a cold I always get an horrendous cough that takes weeks to shift. Plus at the 1st sign of a cold I double up on all of my preventative inhalers and when ds has 1st sign of a cold I double up his becotide. That's something I've asways been told at the hospital and drs. Any sign of trouble double up for a couple of days. Prevention is better than cure IYKWIM.

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Ooops, should have said if I'm wheezey at night I find a warm drink settles my chest a little, warm milk, hot chocolate etc. Sounds mad but it does work. Hope you get it all sorted and shge's feeling better soon