so after no hospital/drs trips since march..looks like DD1s asthma is starting to play up again....

[Nemo2007]

only problem is she now completely fights me in taking her inhaler which makes her wheezing worse..so what do I do now???

how old is she?

she is 21months now and its been ongoing from 3mths. She seems ok at the min but night time is a horrendous affair..made not much better by the fact DD2 is full of cold so threw up 4 times last night

Its getting colder, cold air can make it worse so that's prob why its like this now.

My sister had bad asthma from being little too and my mum had to learn how to do a back massage to help her, maybe if you could do that too it would help and calm her down enough to get her to have her inhaler, any chance of promising her something nice if she takes it like a good girl? (like choc buttons etc?)

Does she have a preventative inhaler as well as a reliever? Now might be a great time to visit the asthma nurse. I know as a kid, I knew to step up my preventative inhalers every autumn ready for the onslaught of colds... in the summer I barely used them.

Also, it's worth chatting to your asthma nurse about different techniques of giving the inhalers to your dd. Maybe a different type of spacer might be more comfortable for her - it's always worth asking.

LMG have tried bribery and also showing her and doing mine at same time...she still screams..lol

RD she doesnt have a preventor as they said to wait until she is 2 but think I will make a gp appointment as she is 21m so surely should be able to have one now!!

Yes, if you're getting a noticeable difference between summer and winter it would imply a low dose of preventor at least during winter months would be a bonus.

From experience, I know that by the time you are audibly wheezing you're a long way into asthma symptoms and already at much lower lung capacity. I feel uncomfortable for a very long time before anyone can hear anything (often why you get comments as a child that you're "faking it" when you're puffing on inhalers - you can actually feel very constricted without anyone else noticing a thing).

A story I quite often tell is that when I was around 14 years old I had quite a severe asthma attack. As a result, I had to monitor my lung capacity for a month to see what was going on and if there could be a better way to manage symptoms. Every Wednesday evening, my lung capacity would drop to a quarter of its normal capacity but I would not feel ill in the slightest (turns out that the people at the village drama group I went to were all chain smokers and this seriously affected my lungs). That's what I mean by the audible sounds of asthma coming right at the end, long after your breathing is already significantly impaired.

thanks RD I know myself that sometimes I can feel tight without the rasp. Just wondering at what age does the chest tugging stop?? She tugs a bit around her throat but not her chest anympore which was always the most clear sign she needed intervention at hospital.

That, I don't know Neither of my boys have asthma, so I don't really have the experience of dealing with a child who has asthma... just of being a child (and adult) with asthma.

I haven't met an asthma nurse yet though who isn't fab and I'm sure that's something you could discuss with him/her? Definitely ask to make an appointment with them as well as the GP - GPs generally seem good at prescribing, but for the practicalities of taking them and everyday management, the nurses seem the best.

Do you also know about Asthma UK? Their phone lines are free and can be very helpful. Their website is also very comprehensive and I've learned a lot about how to manage my own symptoms from there and it gave me the confidence to know when it wasn't being well managed and to go back to the GP/nurse to amend medication.

Nemo my dd was 7 when her asthma developed... older than yours. But would echo what the others say - if you can go down the preventer route...my dd has this throughout the winter.. she rarely needs the Ventolin.

Appreciate the whole thing must be v. difficult to manage in a 21 month old? Try a new bribe... new dvd that you could keep to hand for these situations... a new tiny cuddly toy? Good luck.

Hi Nemo2007, my ds has had asthma since he was 7 months old, and has spent a great deal of time in hospital after some very nasty attacks. I would say that you ought to get your dd onto daily medication asap to try and stave of any further attacks.

thanks B+S Dh is going to take her to the gp next week. We spent all last winter fighting to get her on meds but all they would give was ventolin and regular courses of steroids[ around every 3/4wks she was on a week long course].