Are hormones the common thread causing DD's (17) asthma, acne, fluid retention, period cramps?

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And would I ever be able to get a GP to look at all these issues holistically and do something that will help?

It's only recently that I've read about the impact of hormones on asthma. It's supposedly the reason girls' asthma can get worse after puberty and boys are more likely to grow out of it. And women can develop or have flare ups of asthma during peri-menopause. My daughter's asthma has got worse since puberty and symptoms fluctuate throughout the month - we often cannot pin flare ups to any of her supposed triggers (allergies).

She also suffers from cramps which aren't the worst - i.e. she hasn't had to miss school too many days due to them - but they can plague her all day erratically throughout the month, and she needs to use heat pads/hot water bottle to function. Her periods are heavy and not yet entirely regular.

She also has never totally got rid of the spots that started in Year 7 (when she got her first period) Cerave cleansing/moisturising and using Niacinamide + zinc and Salicylic acid reduce them but it's an expense I'd rather she didn't have to take herself through adult life.

She also suffers with fluid retention in her face, feet, hands and sometimes flare ups in her ankles, and sometimes she gets puffy eyes. She had full blood work done which tested her thyroid and other functions.

Obviously I have taken her to the GP for all of the above but mostly as separate issues. The last time we went was for the cramps and I also mentioned the fluid retention (again). The GP put the cramps down to anxiety (lead up to GCSEs) and the fluid retention down to her allergies.

If we go back to the GP, do we have any hope of a GP listening to my amateur hunch? Are there any tests that can be done to measure her hormones? If I can't get this looked at by a GP, what else could we do?

Is the obvious answer for her to take a contraceptive pill or are there better ways to regulate hormones?

I swear by Period Power by Maisie Hill for all hormone info and wish it had been around when I was a teenager. Sorry I can't offer any more info on your daughters specific problems.

I guess my question is, if hormone imbalance is the issue, does the cause of that need to be investigated or is it just something that sometimes happens in puberty?
Do the nhs ever do tests of this nature? Will a gp roll their eyes at me if I suggest this? Should I pay for testing? Is there any point? Should she try the pill and see if that helps? Is it better to try supplements like B6 instead of the pill?

Has your GP considered lupus? Just throwing that in the mix. It can cause joint and facial swelling, rash on the face and there is a connection between lupus and asthma.

Thanks. Looking at symptoms that doesn't seem to fit.

I would ask the GP to refer her onto an endocrinologist; these people treat health conditions related to problems with the body's hormones.

When did she last have blood tests done; anything over six months should be discounted and she needs up to date test results particularly with regards to her thyroid. Something is causing all this and it is in her interests to find out what that is.

Thank you. Is that something the GP would do if I request it?

She last had blood tests summer 2020. They didn't measure sex hormone s but did measure thyroid and other things to check for other reasons of fluid retention. No follow up was offered.

BTW - DD is happy me being involved and signed a firm to say I can still act on her behalf even though she is over 16. It was stressing her out having to order her asthma meds and sorting review appointments when she was in the middle of mocks and GCSEs.

Your daughters asthma sounds un managed so you need to find out the trigger. Go to a proper allergy specialist and have the tests on skin to find allergans. Once thats done and excluded you should look at hormonal cause. Generally though there will be a trigger. Im asthmatic and thats what worked for me. Is she medicated daily and have you had an asthma specialist review this?

It is possible that she has pcos but because she is still young the recommendation is to wait for blood tests. In the meantime she needs to find some symptomatic treatment particularly for her acne whic can leave scarring. The 'pill' at be offered as treatment for her skin and to reduce the heaviness, frequency and pain with her periods. It would probably be a good trial if she doesn't have contraindications. A GP , particularly if you have one with an interest in women's health is probably your best first point of call. Their training means that they have the generalist skills and experience that a specialist, for obvious reasons, doesn't gain.

Thanks again everyone for your views.

ThisisMax She just had an asthma review and has to fill out a diary for the next month with her peak flow readings. It's cough variant asthma and although she takes preventative inhaler, antihistamine etc... she's still using her blue inhaler a lot.

I will try the GP again and see if there is one who specialises in women's health. The one who ordered the blood tests to test her thyroid was not sympathetic at all and was just humouring me because I would not get off the phone.

I hadn't considered PCOS as she has periods within the normal cycle range, if not entirely regular.

Her most obvious asthma trigger - other than seasonal stuff - is artifical preservatives in food and drinks. We mostly avoid ultra processed food and drinks. I don't think there is anyway to officially test for this though.

Hi, just wondering if you managed to get your daughters asthma under control? I'm in the exact same predicament right now 😔

Well, DD's asthma was cough variant asthma. The inhalers did not seem to control it. Eventually she just stopped using her inhalers and the coughing stopped 🤦 What we didn't know was coughing can because side effects of the steroid inhaler.

I'm guessing she outgrew the asthma but the inhaler kept her coughing and we thought it was the asthma and not under control. Her peak flow always registered low normal. She still has allergies, and takes antihistamines, but managed fine without the inhalers.

She still has the other issues. She has improved with omega 3 and tretonin. She's had thyroid investigations and they are in the high normal range. And is now being treated for PCOS as has a lot of fatigue and weight gain. She had a boyfriend and took the oOCP but did not find that one helped with her skin or cramps.