Back from another night in a&e with croup:-( when does it end ?

[alibobins]

Ds was fine yesterday playing well eating no sign of being ill.

Woke up at 10.45 blue lips and struggling to breath

Phoned nhs who then sent an ambulance

Ds spent the night on oxygen had steriods and two nebulisers. They gave him chest x-ray as he had a temp but decided it was croup brought on by a viral infection

Thought croup season had finished.

Hope your lo is better soon. My dd1 has just got over croup after a visit to my moms in the midlands. (not blaming midlands btw!!) She mentioned on the phone to me the other day that a few people she has spoken to kids or grandkids have just had it/got it, so there seems to be a bit of an outbreak or something?

Well we are in the midlands thanks

my daughter's had it on and off since last October (though luckily not nearly as bad as your poor DS- hope he's better). Happens every time she gets a cold (which is often as she goes to nursery). I thought it would be all finished for the summer by now as well - feels a bit relentless. Bought a humidifier which does help (thought quite high maintainance if you want to avoid risk of bacteria growing in them!).

it is my belief that croup is caused by the cold virus and so it is year round. my dd always had the croup, endlessly all year round and just over a year ago was diagnosed with asthma. now that i know the symptoms i think she probably has had it all the time she has had the croup. would it be worth asking the gp or practice nurse to have a chat with you about the croup and asthma - is there a link? If so, having a blue inhaler might help. my dd has been so much better since starting steroids and her cough is rare but when it's thre it still sounds like the croup! (she is 8 now)

DS has got chronic asthma so takes quite a bit of medication anyway, maybe thats why it hits him hard

I'm a little worried about him he seems to have gone down hill this last half hour might give gp a ring.

My dd has also been prescribed a salbutamol inhaler, although she's too young to be officially diagnosed with asthma (20 m). What usually happens is immediately after the cold starts she has a very harsh, dry "croupy" type cough and the inhaler makes no difference (although the humidifier does), then it changes to a more wheezy "chesty" cough and the inhaler does help a lot (we're in that phase at the moment). Then it finally all clears up for a few days before she gets another cold and we start again.... I think as you say, Ska, it's just that some kids are prone to it when they get a cold rather than it being a specific virus.

Sorry - missed your second post - how is he now, Alibobins?

He's really hot and clingy he's on medinol and nurofen

I think he just needs some rest

Gp just said if he gets any worse then to go back to hosp.

My dd suffers terribly from croup, every time she has a cold. We now have a humidifier going all night in her room when she's suffering and so far, since we've done that, she's been OK. You need to keep the room ventilated though. Can't receommend them highly enough. They sell them in Argos, brand name Bionaire, for about |£30.

HTH x

hi ali - hope he's OK.

I'm not sure how old your boy is but this is our first year when we haven't had croup - dd is now 6 (turning 7) and ds 5 (turning 6). They do outgrow it in the end!

Hope you get through this bout quickly.

Fox- He's 2.6

Kerrymum- yeah we have got a nebuliser never thought of using it last night

His chest has been quite bad this evening and he has been coughing lots its more of a chesty cough than a barking cough iykwim.

Had another bad night

waiting for gp to open so I can get an appointment.

I've got a cupboard full anyway.

Gp said upper airways are still inflamed so has prescibed a five day course of prednisolone.

Sorry to hear you had a bad night - poor little chap. Hopefully the prednisolone should kick in fairly quickly, and things should start getting better.

My dd had her first attack of croup at 18mths in June and like other posters have said, any time she had a cold, she had croup. The GP at one stage diagnosed asthma as she was wheezy too but despite getting the prescribed inhaler etc, I never used it. I suppose my gut feeling was that it was just croup and I didn't want to start her on additional meds.
Anyway, cutting to the chase, by the age of 7, she had outgrown it and has never been bothered by it since
Take heart that things will improve. Despite the fact that your dc may suffer from it for a few more years, you become alot more confident in dealing with it, which does help.

Best of luck

PS, re the asthma, my dd has never been wheezy since either. In fact, she was representing her school in sprinting, in our Borough Primary School sports competition today!