asthma peak flow reading- ds is 6, what is normal?

[Crystaltipsandalaistar]

ds age 6 has just been given a peak flow meter to take readings with for the next two weeks. He has asthma, and takes the brown morning and night, and the blue when he needs it. It's a bit out of control at the moment, and he is using his blue inhaler a couple of times a day which i think is to do with hay fever making him tight chested, but doc not sure, and wants some readings to see....
Have never used one before, and his reading is 120. This is when he is normal, not short of breath. He is 6, and is about 118cm tall. I have googled and found a chart, and this shows him to be low. Can anyone tell me any idea of a average? thanks

My son also 6 but dont know height gets 170 but everyone is different and if he rountinely gets 120 when he ok then thats fine. Try doing it after he has had his blue inhaler, about 10-15 mins and see if that makes any difference

I will do it before bed time, before he has his inhaler, and then after, which is what she has told me to do, but i was just curious! She has also told me to give him one puff of blue 20 minutes before i give him his one of brown, so it will open his airways to make the brown work more efficiently. He has also started coughing again in bed, which the inhalres had stopped.

I am asthmatic and normally have a peak flow reading of about 2/3 of that expected, so it is not necessarily a cause for concern.

Does your son see a asthma nurse or just his GP.

I was told by my asthma nurse a few years ago not to take the blue inhaler before the brown one because the blue inhaler prevents the brown inhaler from working properly. She said this was the result of new research.

oh gosh elk! She told me to do this while he was struggling - as no good pushing a brown inhaler down narrowed airways! Open them first with the blue! This was the asthma nurse at the practice. Then i saw doc who told me do peak flow for 2 weeks, and then they will see what is going on!

Elk: are you sure? That's absolutely the opposite of asthma clinic advice here. You use blue first to open the airways, otherwise the brown can't get through.

I think 150 is considered very good.

Can find nothing on any of the reputable asthma sites about blue inhaler "preventing" brown working properly - if you think about it they are designed to work together, so I think it highly unlikely that they'd still be used in this way if this were the case.

Incidentally, the advice about taking preventer 20 mins after the reliever is spot on - as it takes at least 10 mins for the reliever to work fully and that will make sure he gets maximum dose of the brown.

Everyone is different but there are averages. Best use of the peak flow is to chart over time - you'll start to see peaks and troughs and be able to nip things in the bud before he starts to get really breathless. I can drop to under half lung capacity before I even notice tightness or wheeze which is quite shocking the first time you find that out!

I now always monitor when I have a bad cold so I can up medication accordingly if my lung function does start to drop. Don't bother the rest of the time - but that's because I now know what my triggers are and what my "usual" peak flow is, iyswim.

Incidentally, the website I always recommend is Asthma UK - lots of really helpful information on there, plus they have a helpline number which is manned by some lovely and helpful asthma nurses.

He started struggling to breathe at tea time - not wheezy, (and sneezing and runny eyes) so i took it then, and it was 100... Then just before he went to bed, 20mins after he had had his blue, then brown he did it again, and it was 140! This is the best it had been all day! So now I can see a bit of a pattern.

well I have monitored his peak flow over the weekend, and have found that at best - straight after his blue inhaler he is 140, and when he is wheezy the lowest it has gone to is 70. Resting is about 110. He had 3 doses of blue during the day because he was wheezy, plus one morning and night before his brown. He also had 2 blue in the night, but it's still not getting it under control. I've upped his brown to 2 puffs as well (morn and night), for a few days. Doctor wants me to monitor his peak flow for 2 weeks before we go back though.