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Original poster

Wheezy babies- how do you handle the fear (yours)??

28 replies

mspotatochip · 01/04/2008 02:34

Have just settled my 14 month old wheezy daughter after another hour of will we/ won't we goto A&E. Shes on ventolin and a preventer inhaler for what looks like "asthma" too early to be sure. Took 7 puffs this time which relly is a lot

What we get are severe coughing fits mostly at night and therin lies my problem. At times I think oh my god this is so bad she needs to go to A&E but at night you feel so isolated. Tonight I realised I hadn't allowed enough time for the ventolin to really kick in (10-20 mins) before really pressing the big red panic button but time goes slow with a wheezer.

Now shes asleep breathing nicely and I'm wide a wake fretting actively and I've got work at 8.30 arrrghh

How do you cope?

OP posts:
luvaduck · 01/04/2008 02:39

could you call nhs direct and talk it through with them? or if you think she ok this time then talk it though with GP - signs to look out for/when to be worried etc
can you take the day off (sorry not helpful)
does it tends to be just with a virus or does sit just come by itself?

S1ur · 01/04/2008 02:44

It's good to be concerned in your case. But it is hard to be rational and make good judgements at all times (especially if you're tired) How about working out speific, measurable signs (like breaths per minute, response to ventolin, emergency signs like blueish tinge etc) and sticking them somewhere accessoble so you can look over them when you are panicked.

Oh and work. Well it won't be the first or the lat time you were tired at work eh?

Original poster
mspotatochip · 01/04/2008 02:46

was just about to do NHS direct whens she started to settle. Seem to have been at GP twice a week for last twp months they're good but vague. I need to get up the gumption to demand referral to asthma clinic or somesuch.

We do have to give the preventer time to work as she only started last week and it can take up to six weeks god help us!

The first time it happened was the night after we'd been to a friends with cats then it was a cough that wouldn't clear after a series of chest infections. Have also had bad attacks after grannys house (she later admitted she hadn't hoovered in 2 months!! can't figure out how her white carpets aren't grey).

Had mmr week ad a bit ago and has been under the weather all w/e think could be that or maybe a cold or who knows really.....

OP posts:
Original poster
mspotatochip · 01/04/2008 02:50

work for a local authority who have been v understanding. I just take some of the holiday stash I've had from mat leave. Of course not much of that left but will deal with that when I get there..........

slur that sounds good, we have a little problem with her and blue though shes very fair and can often seem blue around the edges even when well. of course this only tends to panic me more when shes not well!

need to adopt sleep is for pussies bring on the caffeine attitude..........

OP posts:
S1ur · 01/04/2008 02:54

Right. you are still up Go on bring her into your bed. you'll be able to monitor her while you sleep. It's odd but I guess because you are aware of her breathing as you fall asleep when it changes you are more likely to notice.

luvaduck · 01/04/2008 02:56

twice a week for a month and still no answers - sounds like a referral to a paediatrican is very reasonable
it is too early to diagnose asthma but if coughing at night and set off cats then it does sound like asthma rather than viral induced wheeze... but this all needs to be discussed with someone who knows her history and knows what they are talking about. if you don't feel confident with your gp's management then ask for referral.
as for now, until you get time to discuss with doc what you should look out for , go with your gut...if you're not happy and think she's worse than before then call nhs direct or take her. no one minds answering queries/seeing a sick child.

luvaduck · 01/04/2008 02:59

set off by cats sorry
you poor thing i completlely undetstand how you feel - i'm a doc and still worry about everything from cot death to could this be meningitis.... they are just the most precious little things in the world.
must go to bed. but if you are worried just call nhs direct (even though sometimes they are numpty's a mothers instinct is very powerful if you are not happy with - get her assessed)

slur -some wise words indeed.

luvaduck · 01/04/2008 02:59

uhhh can't type this time of night.

Original poster
mspotatochip · 01/04/2008 03:02

going to sleep now thank you both

OP posts:
Original poster
mspotatochip · 01/04/2008 22:32

hello thanks for help last night she slept unti l I had to wake her (grrr) at 7.30. had a good day at nursery, they gave inhaler once but she didn't eat much. Going to GP tomorrow am just to check as coughing again tonight but hopefully will make it through the 1-3 am darkzone......

luvaduck to be fair to GP all visits have not been chest / wheezing we have had usual D&v conjunctivitis etc. All this immune system building is hardcore

Off to bed wish me luck!

OP posts:
misdee · 01/04/2008 22:38

good luck. i am a mum to two wheezers, dd1 started off at under a year old. her first attack was terrifying. now they are older they cough rather than wheeze.

i remember being in a+e for several hours with dd1, and after 3hours they sent her home, this was after giving her several puffs every 20minutes for hours. we ended up back in within hours with dd1 on a nebulsier. she was so perky about it though, she was playing in the waiting room, the doc opened the door through to a+e, heard her wheezing across the room and said 'i think you will be sleeping here tonight'.

the middle of the night is the worst. what preventor is your dd on? dd's have just switched over the clenil modulite inhalers, and they find they irritate their throats as they breathe in so we will be seeing about getting them changed at next appointment.

cadelaide · 01/04/2008 22:43

mspotatochip, in answer to your question I don't handle the fear well at all. Gp has shown me the signs of respiratory distress more than once but i still find it so hard to judge.

Dd is now 7, and suffers from asthma maybe 3 bouts a year. She's in the midst of one now and I took her with me to collect a repeat prescription, asthma nurse took a look at her and said "oh, she's really not well is she?". She put her on the nebuliser and prescribed this and that and said to come back in 2 days and i was thinking;

"fuuuuck, i wasn't even going to see the doc/nurse, i thought she was ok"

So now I'm super-paranoid and cannot relax at all, I'm quite teary about it.

cadelaide · 01/04/2008 22:45

sorry mpc, just read it back through and that wasn't helpful at all was it?

misdee · 01/04/2008 22:46

cadeleide, did your dd te,ll you she wasnt feeling well? dd1 tells me now, and it does get easier, honestly.

i can now tell a normal cough from an asthma cough.

cadelaide · 01/04/2008 22:49

Thanks misdee.

She did say, but mainly she just goes very quiet. She missed her tea and went to bed saying she was "really tired".

I'm feeling upset just writing that, it's the fact that I missed the signs you see.

misdee · 01/04/2008 22:53

i ask dd if she feels 'tight' around the chest. but yes she does go off herfood and sleepy as well.

morocco · 01/04/2008 22:57

can I ask a few questions about the whole wheezy baby thing?
dd is v wheezy every time she gets the slightest cold, she's also been in once for bronchiolitis
we get stopped sometimes even by complete strangers who ask me about her coughing and tell me their kids were like that and are now diagnosed with asthma and tell me I should get it checked out
so what would I expect from the gp? when do they give inhalers? when can they decide if it's asthma or not?
we see paed next month for unrelated issue so I could always ask then as well I s'pose. any intelligent questions I should ask?

cadelaide · 01/04/2008 23:01

I shall comfort myself with the fact that next time I will recognise those signs, at least.

fakeblonde · 01/04/2008 23:09

I totally know how you feel.
Night time is so frightening .
I used to put about 10 puffs of ventolin into a spacer and hold it over nose and mouth with a plastic mask until i could see them breath it in.
I wouldnt worry about the dose because you need about 100 puffs to equalise a nebuliser which is all they do in A & E . My best tip is to invest in a steam sterilizer. Switch on full of water and take the lid off next to cot. Youll get absolutely piles of lovely steam-i even add a few drops of karvol-and it really helps the breathing.
Switch off central heating too
Hope you have a settled night and not too tired tomorrow x

misdee · 01/04/2008 23:11

morocco, under the age of 5 they dont dx asthma, but just say tehy are wheezey babies etc.

does your dd cough a lot at night? dd1+2 both do. dd2 was dx last year at age 4 after a persistant cough that wouldnt go. after 4 weeks (bad mummy) as i was helping her get dressed one morning, i felt her chest crackle as she breathed in. GP dx her as astmatic later that day. a week later the releiver wasnt doing much good so we started her on a steroid inhaler as well and its now under control.

i would get your dd checked out, just to be safe, they may just say its a cold/cough but they may advise inhalers as well. not all children who need inhalers at this age go on to be asthmatic, soemthing about their tubes being so little at this age its hard soemtimes to tell.

hth.

morocco · 01/04/2008 23:17

thanks misdee

yep, it's esp at night and you can often feel it in her chest. i keep taking her back to the gp and often she sounds clear altho she's had a couple of antibiotics and the bronchiolitis as well. they tried to show me how she was using her chest muscles to help her breathing but I was a bit crap at telling the difference to be honest.

so the steroids helped more than the reliever? they showed us at the hosp how to use an inhaler but it didn't seem to make much dif for her so we didn't bring one home. perhaps I will ask gp if they think we should get one? got to get steroid spray for ds2 and ds1 takes them all the time, so hey, l ets get all 3 kids on them

misdee · 01/04/2008 23:23

the releiver worked, but i could see she wasnt getting better iyswim. i knew she needed steroids as well. , dd2 is on clenil modulite 50 and dd1 has been switched to clenil modulite 100.

luvaduck · 02/04/2008 02:08

morocco
there are 2 types of wheezy babies
those that will go on to develop true asthma (ie allergic in origin, can occur without colds)
and then viral induced wheeze - only with colds
they are different aetiologies - in other words casued by different reasons but with same end product - wheeze
there is good evidence for the use of a medicine called montelukast for the viral induced wheezers

wite down all the symptoms - how bad she is, when and how often it happens etc - useful stuff to discuss with paed
good luck!

Original poster
mspotatochip · 02/04/2008 08:59

misdee shes on budesonide50mcg 2 puffs twice a day but has only had a week on that so far so will need more time to take effect.

not been as bad as mid monday night but shes needing ventolin every four hours and still some coughs and pants in between so have taken the morning off and going to gp this am. Feel a bit sorry for GP but feel like they should know I'm giving her way more ventolin than they prescribed!!

cadelaide I feel similar to you, for 6 weeks after she had a double dose of antibiotics at xmas people were saying to me oh thats a terribe cough is she ok
? and my mother (nurse
) was nagging me like mad. I kept saying "oh babies cough she'll shake it can't be giving too many anti b's" Asthma didn't really cross my mind and now I feel really bad

OP posts:
cadelaide · 02/04/2008 10:36

Good Morning Mrs PC!

I was chatting to a Mum at school this am and she made me feel much better. She's a Health Visitor (I know they get a hard time on here), a lovely lady with heaps of training and experience.

She said she went through exactly the same thing with her son, didn't spot the signs at all and got soundly told off by her GP!

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