Parents with asthma how do you survive respiratory viruses?

[Mamabear04]

I recently developed asthma after having my last child and ended up in hospital for a few days after I caught RSV from one of my kids. One of them now has whooping cough and I'm terrified I will catch it and make me really ill. Any advice?

If it's a recent development, do you have a working plan? You need to be on a preventer that has you feeling truly healthy when you don't have anything.

I'm allowed double my combination inhaler when ill so I go from 2 puffs to 3 as soon as I feel a sniffle and step up to 4 once I start a cough. I also WFH and stay indoors as much as possible as soon as I feel something starting.

These strategies mean I haven't had a properly bad dose the last couple of winters, but there were a few bloody unpleasant winters before that, including one when I was pregnant with DC2.

So definitely be very proactive about your meds. If your practice has an asthma nurse they can be brilliant and have more time than the GPs.

We haven't had whooping cough though, I really hope you dodge that one.

Did you have the whooping cough vaccine when pregnant? I would imagine that would help with the severity of you did catch it x

Do you have an asthma plan? And if so do you actually follow it? I had a very embarrassing conversation with my GP asthma nurse after an exacerbation when she pointed out I hadn't followed any of mine

I would say back to asthma nurse for review given your recent admission as you may need a change in your regular treatment. And you need a clear plan to when you need a course of steroids so it doesn't get left to be an emergency.

I have an annual review coming up next month. I had a follow up appointment just before Christmas 3 months after I got discharged and the consultant just said to continue on with the preventor and reliver as I had been doing. I don't have the asthma that creates an attack rather I have asthmatic episodes and I feel it flaring up when my cough starts and then the reliver usually pacifies it. I did get the vaccine when pregnant so hopefully that will help.

Thanks for all your words of wisdom, it's all so new to me. I really appreciate it.

It's like a lot of other conditions, you need to find what works for you and that can take a while. Moving from becotide to a combination inhaler was a game changer for me, and then the steps of upping the dose and lowering activity that I described above.

Bring a list of questions to your appointment, including the steps you can take when you feel a cold starting.

Asthma UK are very good, I haven't needed them for years now but I've called their helpline a few times over the years and found them very helpful. Hopefully they're still running!

And as ever, remember that asthma can and does kill, so never feel shy in seeking help.

I found moving to a duo inhaler helped me so much too. I have Hayfever too and take TreatHay which is also helping a lot.