Anyone's lo got asthma?

[MumTo3Boyz]

Im convinced my ds has asthma. He is coming up for 3 yrs old next month and since he was a baby he has always had a bad chest & cough. Ive asked and asked the drs if he has asthma but no one will give me an answer. On Monday night he was taken into hospital because he couldnt breathe. He was put on a nebulizer but it didnt work and ended up with inhalers & steroids. He's much better now but still sounds quite chesty.

What symptoms does your lo have with asthma and how did the drs diagnose it?

Thanks
x

Your poor DS! That must have been an awful night!
With me, ds1 & ds2 are both "on the asthma spectrum"! With ds1 (now 9) we had endless chesty coughs (first chest infection when he was 8 weeks old) and a persistent night cough that frequently made him puke (always fun changing a top bunk bed at 3am!). This went on for ages and the doctor was very reluctant to diagnose asthma, which I guess in some ways is a good thing. Eventually I just asked to see the asthma nurse and ds was put on the brown and blue puffers, and what a difference it made! This summer ds2 had a never ending chesty cough so went to see new doctor (having moved) and were given inhalers straight off. So it seems to depend on the doctor.
Do you have a history of asthma in the family? My db & ds are both asthmatic, and this seemed to sway the doctors in their diagnosis.

That makes it sound like he was in the top bunk from 8 weeks old!!!. Honestly, it wasn't until he was 5 years old!!

Ds1 - no real symptoms until his first attack. It was diagnosed after his 2nd attack when he stayed in hospital overnight.

Ds2 - lots of coughing when he'd been running around. He had a mild attack when he caught a cold. Doctor gave him an inhaler to try and told us to keep a diary of when he needed it. Had just started it when he had a much bigger attack and had to stay in hospital. Still no official diagnosis from GP but unofficial one from the asthma nurse and ds2 is prescribed preventers and ventolin.

DD now 5 had her first chesty cough at 2 weeks then 4 weeks etc she had 8 bouts of bronchioloitis prior to her first B-day and persistant night cough (and yes vomiting here as well), but still Gp didnt refer on, it wasnt till we moved to Cheshire she was seen by cons. The Gp referred us on first attendance pointing out things had been going on a while and mybe we ought to get to the bottom of it (no shit sherlock). After seeing cons she was allergy tested and on second review they said she was allergic to cows milk, cat dander, dust mite and 2 types of pollen and these were exacerbating her chest and it was highly likley she was asthmatic - 2.5 years old. Put on inhalers and anti-histamines, sooooo much better, in fact she is now coming off the inhalers again as we think she is outgrowing it.

DS 15 months and by no means as bad as his sister, he has persistant night cough and regular chesty cold/coughs however he has been issued inhalers already to start if required, and hes on anti-histamines - again working wonders.

Dont know if youve had one DC diagnosed the subsequent ones are treated more quickly

my son is 3 years 4 months and has asthma hes been on inhalers since he was 6 months old, he was first given inhaler when he got bronchiltis but he didnt get better and was then given steroid inhaler btu still has cough, wheezing, breathlessness, attacks, hes been in hospital alot, hes now on another drug called singuliar as well as the preventer and reliver inhaler and is under the asthma nurse at the local hospital and also the respiratory team at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

i know alot of gp's r reluncent to diagnos asthma in under 5 but i think when it gets to the point of them being in hosp or having attacks then they can diagnos it

good luck

My ds was diagnosed at about 2yrs I think.

He went through a few awful yrs before being given singulair which has quite literally changed his life.the singulair has dampened down the allergic reaction that caused his asthma.He still has to have his preventer inhalers but he hasn't needed a nebulizer for ages now.

I used to dread every time he got a cold or went near a dog .He would always end up in hospital ,always on steroids .

His main symptoms were constant coughing and using his accessory muscles to assist his breathing,so his shoulders were always up around his ears.He was tired and looked it.He also had audible wheeze quite a lot.Night time coughing was regular .

I would push for a 2nd opinion.
ds' astham nurse said that they now don't shy away from early treatment now as it prevents long term damage to the lungs.If you think of a balloon being constantly blown up ,it ends up all withered and less effective.That's what happpens to untreated asthmatics lungs.

My little boy is just turned two. He has had two hospital trips with breathing problems and the doctors still don't like to label him as ashmatic although he is on both the brown and blue inhalers. The brown one is twice a day.
My ds breathing problems only seem to occur when he has a cold though.

DD1 has only been officially diagnosed with asthma 2mths ago. She is 23mths and from being 4mths old has had constant coughing,bad chest, wheezing, tugging sides etc. She has been admitted to hospital a few times with it and been to gps/walk in /a+e at least once a month from being born. She also got given a blue reliever inhaler and was constantly on steroids etc. It was only on her last admission they officially diagnosed asthma although they had been saying unofficially it was extremely likely from her being 5mths. They prescribed preventor inhaler and touch wood since then we havent been to gp/a+e/walk in centre with any breathing issues as we can deal with them at home with inhalers.

Thank you for all your replies. From what I have read I am even more convinced that he has asthma. Quite often I can hear him coughing during the night and also when he runs around his chest sounds awful- I get really funny looks from people when it happens but what can I do!?

The next time he has a bad chest Im taking him straight back to the drs and will keep doing so until someone gives me an answer.
My dp was given inhalers last year as he was constantly coughing at night and had a chest infection for about 1 month. They havent said he has asthma but said if the inhalers work then yes you do- if they dont then its not asthma. As they have worked we are going on the assumption that he does have asthma.

My ds also has eczema which they say the 2 come hand-in-hand. On my mums side of the family all the boys have asthma too so there is a really good chance my ds has it. My youngest ds is 10 months old and already Im convinced he is going to have it. He is very much the same as ds2 was as a baby- always chesty

I know having asthma isnt a huge problem as in treating it with inhalers I just want to know why he constantly has a bad chest.

My HV is referring us to the hospital so hopefully I can get some answers there. The thing that worries me is that obviously when we go there is a good chance that on that day his chest will sound fine- so how will they know what is wrong?