Asthma Advice

[BuildingBlocks1]

My 2.5 YO DD has always suffered with barking coughs & 2 weeks ago was given a spacer & a blue & brown inhaler. Diagnosed over the phone with seasonal asthma. We are making sure we give her the brown inhaler morning & evening, the blue one when she has a coughing fit if we can.

She coughs through the night despite me doing everything I can think of, vapour plug (she has a cold atm) raising head of bed, humidifier, open window all day, Piriton etc.

My question, not knowing much about asthma, is is it normal that the minute she moves much, I.e, running, rolling around on the floor, or the minute she's out in the cold air, that she starts coughing so much? I mean we have a long old winter left to go, I'm not sure how I'm meant to manage this if pretty much anything a toddler wants to do sets it off.., can anyone please help/share their experiences? Thank you.

I have asthma mt dc technically dont but as you say do get the coughs and one now at 9 complaining about throat when running.
We do olbas oil on tissue. As i assume the plug in stuff would irritate my allergies. Maybe check what is in it.
Check dc is getting a good vitamin. With say c d etc
Allergies
Cats? Maybe dog.
Dustmites.
Even foods can cause reflux and coughs
Window open will dry the air so may not be good idea.
I still get coughs with the preventer.
I would be seriously ill if we had a cat so for me that would be most important to avoid if you have one. And obviously cigarette smoke or maybe wood fires.

Speaking as an adult with asthma, she may need a stronger preventer (if they supply them to children) or there could be something in the home triggering her that you’re not aware of. I’ve had asthma since childhood also (30s now) and even I started wheezing recently when it was very brisk out!

Not suggesting you are slovenly op but vaccum every morning with windows open. Dc's window open a bit all night. Ds 7 is just starting to need his inhaler now the weather has changed...

Personally cold weather and physical exertion are the main triggers for me (not so much animals, I've always had cats and am fine around them). But everyone's different.

I don't have much advice though, maybe contact a doctor again if it continues to be a problem?

My dd is the same, she is 13 now and has had a blue and brown inhaler from 2. When she has the flare ups she coughs all night long no matter how much blue inhaler she has. Normally after a few days the steroid inhaler starts to work and eases it slightly.

Thanks everyone

@LaMagdalena do you find, say if you go out for an hour or 2 a day in the cold, say around lunch time, it makes you worse that same evening? Or does it only affect you for the time you're actually out in the cold?

My asthma is not so bad at the moment, so if I'm affected by it, it is generally just in the moment. However, when I was about the age of your daughter, apparently I went to the beach once, was affected by the cold, and spent the next day wheezing on the sofa, so I guess there could be a delayed reaction??

I'm not an expert though!! I forgot to mention that my GP surgery does have a specialist asthma nurse who asthmatics are invited to once a year. Maybe see if there is anything similar at your surgery?

The brown inhaler is a preventer and takes a few weeks to make much of an impact. DD had constant coughs as a baby and signs of asthma, diagnosed before she was 4. Coughing all night long, every night, plus whenever she went out into cold air.

Gradually the brown inhaler wasn't enough and the asthma nurse prescribed montelukast which has been incredible! Taken before bed and now no night coughing unless she's caught a virus. She's like a different child. Still has two puffs of the brown inhaler morning and also evening which helps with not needing the blue inhaler in the day.

@PragmaticWench Thanks for that. We are 2 weeks in to giving the brown inhaler so I'll give it another 2. I had heard of Montelukast & will think about it if the coughing continues.. but have also heard horror stories about it giving children nightmares & changing their personalities, sounds amazing that it has worked for your DD.

Mine has just been rolling around playing on the floor then starts coughing her head off, so have given her the blue inhaler. She's had an on/off cough since she was 3 months old that sounds very much like a croup cough (but it's not croup) it had buggered off for the summer & now it's back. Can't take her outside for long at all else it starts up. Not sure how I'm meant to mainly avoid outdoors until about May!

The rolling around on the floor is a stress of her lungs. I'm asthmatic and my absolute worse trigger is laughing which stresses my chest muscles. I laugh out loud a lot less than other people.

Birthday parties when I was a child were terrible I remember coming home and taking a shed load of inhaler to settle things down.

I went to see a comedian a few years ago and was so ill afterwards I had to get a course of steroids. All triggered by the laughing.

Bless you @actiongirl1978 that sounds a bit miserable for you. Is yours any easier to handle in the summer/warmer weather?

Has she actually seen a Doctor or Asthma Nurse to check her peak flow. My DS was diagnosed with asthma at around 1 year old. His symptoms were mainly coughing through the night and wheezing. A few times he had to have additional steroids in tablet form to help clear his airways. We had a steamer cup which I put vics in with hot water and held it for him to breathe in, also a bath at nightime was helpful.

@BuildingBlocks1 no, in the summer it's worse with the pollen.

But as an adult I can handle it much better and I'm much more aware of triggers. White wine and laughter - so I stick to drinking red wine quietly on my own

It must be very worrying dealing with asthma in a child.

I was diagnosed in 1985 and the drugs were very different then. You are lucky that you have peak flow meters and wet inhalers.

I started off on twist powder inhalers where the powder would hit the back of your throat and make you gag!

I hope you get some relief from the drugs/useful assistance from the GP.

Actiongirl me and my sister both asthmatic used to set ourselves off when we were being silly laughing.
Carpets hold a lot of dust and mites.
Have you tried the pillow and duvet covers op?
My dc1 always used to struggle with birthday parties as its often bouncy castle or trampolining or tobboganing etc. She never wheezes just tires easily

@Mindymomo Interesting you say about the steroids, only last week we were given a set of those as they said it sounded like she had Croup (despite me telling them it's not, & just always sounds like this when she coughs!) Touch wood the viral cough she had last week has died off but we are still left with the asthmatic one. I have a catch up with one of the nurses at the doctors next week. She will have been taking the brown inhaler for 3 weeks by then so I suppose we will know a bit more if it's having any effect or not.

Reduce contact with pets and milk intake (it lines the throat)
I was an 80’s asthma child and remember the awful powder inhalers, I spent time in hospital as a child due to asthma and have very few attacks as an adult (as in one a year) just to give you some hope

DD diagnosed w asthma at 3, after several hospital admissions. Hers is viral induced, and unless she has a cold is fine now (she’s 10). Exercise, pollen etc are now all fine. Traffic fumes, particularly in cold weather are awful for her, though.

If yours will tolerate it, try covering her nose and mouth with a scarf (or mask!) in cold air - she’s then breathing in warmer, wetter air which might help (it dud when DD was little, and helps me now).