Getting ds to use his inhaler...help!

[happymerryberries]

Ds has had an inhaler with a spacer device for a little while. He has 'suspected' asthma....I'm seeing the doc today and I am sure that it is asthma. The trouble is that he will not use his inhlaler. The last twice we have tried he has become so worked up he vomited. I try using it when he is sleeping, but this often wakes him and he gets upset.....not helpful with his breathing problems. He is almost 5.

Any ideas would be very helpful!

(such a bad night last night he is off school and so am I , so insted of catching up on house work I am 'wasting' time on MN!)

[RTKangaMummy]

brill hmb

[Casmie]

Oh hmb that's brilliant news Was wondering how he was getting on!

[happymerryberries]

Just as a quick follow up Ds has now taken his preveter inhaler six times. He doesn't take it wonderfully, but good enough I think. We are getting less fuss each time and his chest is already much better. We had our first cough free night in weeks and he is hardly wheezing at all.

Thanks again for all the support, it was a real godsend!

[Casmie]

Sounds like very similar triggers to mine. Poor little man - hope the preventer starts to make a huge difference soon.

Oh, something else I remembered. The reliever (I have Ventolin - not sure what your ds has been prescribed) makes me slightly hyper - in particular if I end up with a full dose just before bedtime I find it very hard to go to sleep! Something for you to remember if you ever find yourself peeling him off the ceiling

[happymerryberries]

It doesn't sound as if he has had one. I know that he gets worse around pets (be don't have any) and if people smoke (we don't and neither do any of our friends). He also seems worse when he has a cold, or if it is cold outside. But so far it is limited to coughing fits and wheezing

[Casmie]

the official asthma uk guidance & signs of an attack is here

[Casmie]

that'll teach me not to preview!

"that the relievers and relieving" should read "that the relievers were not relieving"!!!

[Casmie]

PS you're not a drip hugs

[Casmie]

You would know.

I'm struggling here to describe it from what it would look on the outside, tbh. Main sign would be that the relievers and relieving, iyswim. And almost certainly your ds would be panicking.

(even when you know you're not in immediate danger, that you still can breathe enough in to keep going, it's a very primal fear not being able to breathe properly - and the oxygen you get in doesn't feel "sufficent" - I assume at the time I'm hyperventillating by that point).

If he's sounding very wheezing, coughing and distressed, then get him to take his reliever and sit him down quietly (a small miracle in itself, I know) for the 10 mins. If no obvious change after that then I'd assume full blown attack - no-one will EVER get upset for you "wasting their time" with a child who can't breathe properly. Err on the side of caution.

Other symptoms apparently can be slight blueness around lips and mouth, too out of breath to talk properly, laboured breathing, etc. In retrospect, you can often see that it took a while to build up, for example an overreliance on relievers for the weeks beforehand (which is why it's important to see the asthma nurse/GP if you notice he needs a reliever more frequently over a period of time).

An awful lot of mild asthmatics don't ever experience a full attack though.

[happymerryberries]

I don't think that ds has ever had a full blown attack....just a lot of night time coughing and wheezing at night....or is that an attack? What does an attack look like? Sorry to sound a drip

[Casmie]

Yeah tamum - shouldn't taste as bad with the spacer, but I think some kids can be quite sensitive to it all the same. I used to have the dry powder one at one stage as a child ... now that WAS revolting!!

hmb: the only other thing I can think of is to familiarise yourself with what you would do if he had an attack - it's very unlikely you'd need to use it, especially with regular preventer use and check ups, but I find it reassuring for myself knowing what to do.

PLEASE check the information in your medication leaflets and on asthma uk, but from memory:

• take two puffs of reliever immediately
  
• sit down (don't lie down) in a position that's comfortable and rest for 5-10 mins (takes that length of time for the reliever to act fully)
  
• it's important to stay calm (or for adult carer to help calm the child) as panicking closes the airways even tighter and can cause hyperventillation
  
• if all clear after 5-10 mins it's safe to carry back on as normal doing what you were doing
  
• if not clear then dial 999 and take one puff of reliever every minute until ambulance arrives (perfectly safe to "overdose" like this in an emergency - as my doctor pointed out in hospital you would be nebulised with this same drug to open the airways)
  
  As I say though, don't take my word for it as I am not a doctor - double check on asthma uk or with your asthma nurse.
  
  To put things in perspective, I've only ever had 3 full asthma attacks - one before I was diagnosed, one before I was prescribed preventors as well as relievers and the other one at a time when I was highly stressed and not looking after myself properly, and I've known since I was about 8 that I was asthmatic.

[tamum]

Incidentally, Casmie, you must be right, but ds always complains about the taste when he uses inhalers without the spacer but never when he uses them with the spacer. Weird.

[tamum]

Looks like I'm too late to help much here hmb! Ds has been using his spacer since he was a baby, so we haven't really had problems. He certainly preferred to use the spacer without the mask. Dd now has one and she loves it because she's like her big brother ( and ). We used to have a whistle that you could fit in the end so that if they breathed in properly the whistle would sound, I don't know if that's worth a try?

[happymerryberries]

THanks again casmie, you have been a wonderful support, and have put to rest several unvoiced worries . Mumsnet at it's best, I think!

[Casmie]

hmb - I'm the reverse, if my kids had eczema I wouldn't know what to do!

That asthma uk site is invaluable (I've even found information out myself recently that was new to me) and I'm sure if you need info/reassurance that you will post here, but if you would like to CAT me at any time you are very welcome to!

[coppertop]

Ds1 has the one with the teddies on it. The hospital gave it to us when he had his first attack.

[happymerryberries]

That is the one that we have, I think, small with teddies on it? Very soft mask?

[hayleylou]

The inhaler that lunavix was refering too is a AeroChamber, my dd was give a huge spacer which was almost as big as her head which freeked her out, so I asked Asthma nurse and she suggested the aerochanber which is fantastic

[happymerryberries]

Thanks you for that, it was a great re-assurance to me. Both my kids have eczema, and that didn't worry me, because I have it myself and know what to do. Asthma is new to me, so your support is a great help. And otherwise ds is a healthy little chap.

[Casmie]

hmb I am in awe of your blagging skills! Hmm, you don't know if spiderman uses a similar mask, do you?!

BTW, the preventor you've been given should make a huge difference - my asthma got a lot better as soon as I got one, and it's so much better for your lungs than repeated reliever use. Be aware though, that it can take up to 4 weeks of regular use to make a noticeable difference - so be prepared for that.

I know it must be a bit scary to be told your child has asthma, especially if you have no family history and they're balking at taking the meds, but I can hand on heart say that 99.9% of the time it makes no difference to my life whatsoever as it's controlled properly with the meds.

(Just recovering from flu at the moment, and that's a different story - but my own fault because I'd got complacent and hadn't been taking the preventor regularly - there's a lesson there somewhere!)

[happymerryberries]

reverse psychology at it's finest!!! How sneaky we all need to be! Motherhood, the worlds finest lifeskills trainer!

[Chandra]

DS is younger than your DS, we tried the teddies, play to be elephants, etc. but what worked better was let him put the thing together and then when he finished I "used" it and told him he was not suposed to use it -only for big people, you know-. It worked like a charm, we need to hide the thing now to avoid him from using it on his own accord!

[RTKangaMummy]

very clever

[coppertop]

You're a devious woman, hmb.

[happymerryberries]

ds said, but Mummy the Thunderbirds don't cough.

Yes, said I, because they use their masks!!!!!

I was proud of myself!