Could this be asthma?

[lockdownmummax]

i am on hold to 111 btw and I'm also a student nurse ( adult ) so I am seeking medical advice and not relying on Mumsnet but just looking for other mums advice as I feel really fobbed off!

My son is 1 in 6 days,
Since he's been around 4 months old he's had terrible coughs, if he gets a cold / viral illness he's in coughing fits and I'm back and forth to the dr's with him, it's every other week and he's got a constant cough when he lies down every night,

2 weeks ago his cough was terrible, he had a chest infection so was given antibiotics which cleared it up, he had a day cough free and was back to coughing, took him back to GP who told me his chest was clear but his cough did sound bad, dr was about to give me an inhaler bjt couldn't as he wasn't 1 yet, dr asked me family history of asthma ect which I have a family history of, both sides do,
His cough has been really bad since yesterday, tonight he's not getting a break from it and has been projectile vomiting during a coughing fit it's horrible for him, I really don't know what is going on I'm thinking asthma but I feel fobbed off anytime I take him to be seen they tell me it can't be diagnosed this early which I understand but surly this isn't normal? I have a nearly 4 year old who I've only had to take to the GP twice in her whole life for respiratory issues,
Any advice or encouragement?
As I said I'm a student nurse for adult nursing so have general knowledge and enough knowledge and mum instincts to know this isn't normal but just looking for some other mums who may have been through similar ?

Yes I think it does sound like cough variant asthma. It’s awful to see them like that isn’t it. I hope you get some treatment for him poor boy. You must both be exhausted. I’ve witnessed it with my child and my sibling too at similar ages.

It could indeed be asthma but he’s too young to diagnose properly.

Many many babies and toddlers get RSV, bronchiolitis and viral wheeze. Not all will go on to have asthma.

It may be worth asking for a referral to a paediatric respiratory team if your GP is unable to offer anything. It’s hard as most inhalers are licensed for age 4+ but can be used off licence for symptomatic relief.

At that age its more likely to be a viral induced wheeze. It's managed the same as asthma with salbutamol multidosing. The not being able to give salbutamol to under 1s is nonsense! Although in children under 1 it often doesn't work as they don't have the receptors in their lungs to respond to salbutamol, but if he's close to 1 and he's wheezy it would be reasonable for them to give a trial and see if his wheeze is reversible.

Theres no simple test for diagnosing asthma in children, it's generally just diagnosed based on a pattern of recurrant wheeze and symptoms in-between wheeze like coughing at night etc. If he's only wheezy when unwell, it would initially be diagnosed as a viral induced wheeze which lots of children grow out of, but there's always a chance he could go on to develop asthma. Because most children grow out of the wheeze, they're reluctant to diagnose asthma early as once the label is there it's hard to remove! But it shouldn't affect the treatment that's given as the treatment for viral induced wheeze is the same as asthma.

If they listen to his chest and find him to be wheezy, I would ask for a trial of salbutamol. If it helps great, if it doesn't then no harm but worth a go!

Hope he feels better soon!

@SendMeHomeNow
Yeah it's horrible he seems really tired as well as he's not getting to sleep or rest due to the cough!
I have a little sister who's 6 she has asthma and a quite bad case of it, she's on steroids and she's had a few scares in the hospital it's horrible to watch

@Sidge
yeah I am thinking the same, so far in his nearly 1 year of life he has had bronchilitis twice, RSV , covid and many colds it just seems never ending!
What I worry about is the cough at night time it's every night he's coughing even when he's well within himself

@IwillrunIwillfly
Thank you for your info I will ask the Dr for this we are in the waiting room at out of hours,
I am thinking the same, I worry about this cough he has at night time that's why asthma pops into my head every night when he's lying down he's coughing but it's a lot more severe when he has a viral, my sister has asthma and the cough / wheeze and pattern of how the cough comes on just reminds me so much of my little sister, she's 6 and she's had a few scares with her asthma she's on steroids for it
Hoping to get something prescribed to give him some relief as he can't go on like this the poor we soul is exhausted

Sounds more like recurrent viral induced wheeze, at that age. He's old enough that it might be worth trying a reliever inhaler (usually salbutamol) via spacer for when he's unwell. Preventers very rarely work this young.