blue/purple tint to face

[yaf_user681_15459]

just wondered if anyone else sees this with their little one when asthma is going through a bad time?

my little girl is 14 months old and her asthma flares up about every month. She is on ventolin, clenil and Montelukast. We have prednisalone at home on standby too, given by her consultant.

When her asthma is about to flare up, she tends to get a blue/purple ring under her eyes and the rest of her face pales.

Ive mentioned it our gp when Ive been and he said maybe its just tiredness. Why does it happen when she's brewing an attack though? Is it an oxygen issue?

Any ideas or advice would be hugely appreciated.

Many thanks.

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Ideas, sorry I don't have any, but advice seek another opinion from another GP in the practice or get your little person to her consultant, I don't have any children but if I was a mum, I wouldn't be happen with GP's answer and would want my child thoroughly checked over, hopefully everything will be fine, but it is better to feel that everything has been checked out, than being left feeling uncertain and anxious.

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Hi Emily,

I would agree with Katina. It certainly sounds like a good idea to get a second opinion. It is impossible for us to say really whats happening and I would say that with symptoms such as bluish tinges you definitely need a medical opinion.

Have you spoken to your consultant about it?

Feejay

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Hey Emily

Not to panick you, but a blue tinge is very serious, if your daughter every turns this way again please get her to A&E asap, or phone 999, as turning blue is a sign of very low oxygen saturations.

Is your daughter seen by a consultant? It might be an idea to get a secound opinion other than the GP, and help aort long term control.

I hope things settle down with your daughter really soon,

ally x

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Hi Emily

Before I begin I just want to clarify that the blue/purple tint you are refering to is just around your daughters eyes? With the rest of her face pale but not blue? The title of your post might have been a little bit misleading judging by the responses below. However I must stress that if your daughter is struggling to breathe and has a blue ish tinge to her face or lips then please call an ambulance or take her to a + e straight away.

With regards to dark purple-ish circles under the eyes, I get this too just before my asthma is about to flare and it is usually something that my close friends or family notice and mention to me, my boss has also picked up on this as an early warning sign that my asthma is going down hill.

I remember it being discussed on this forum a very long time ago but cannot find the discussion now but I do know of quite a few other asthmatics who get this and take it as an early warning sign for my asthma getting worse. I've never really asked my GP about it but I'm thinking I might do now. I did a little bit of googling to see if anything came up (I put in dark circles under eyes asthma into google) and there were lots of pages that came up including this one, which is American but refers to the dark circles as 'allergic shiners.' pediatricadvice.net/2006/10...

As your daughter is so young I would go back to see your GP again to discuss it further. There are other asthmatics out there who get this warning sign too and hopefully some people on here will come along and share that they get this too!

Sparkly Fairy

[yaf_user681_15459]

thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Yes, my little girl has the purple tone predominantly around her eyes while the rest of her face seems to go a mottled colour a day or so before an attack> I will definately mention it to the dr next time I go.

Thanks once again.

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very pale/blue tinge

Hi,

My little boy, Alfie, when he's poorly (or more poorly) gets grey around his nose and mouth and has dark circles under/around his eyes. Its a definate sign of him no longer coping well with his asthma and poor lung function.

He's now old enough to be doing his peak flow and the peak flow dips then stays down after a couple of days he starts to look really poorly for us the way he looks is really important in terms of what we do for his treatment.

Alfie has permanent lung damage from an illness when he was a new born baby and is on lots of meds but the way he looks along with his peak flow is often what determines whether he has another pred course or not.

I think the signs you are describing are very linked to poorly controlled asthma and you should make sure you tell your little ones consultant.

Margot x.

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Hi Emily,

Just wanted to say another wee word after reading what others and yourself have expanded upon. It does concern me that your little one (who is very little) is having any sort of colour change which may be related to her having breathing difficulties.

Mottled skin and bluish/purplish skin tinge is a cause for concern in my books. I think it would be a great idea for you to seek medical advice on this. If your baby is ever having breathing difficulties and changing colour please do call 999 for an ambulance - don't hesitate - they would much rather be called out and not needed than not called when things start to go wrong.

It does concern me that you really need a medical opinion from someone who can see your little girl and make an assessment, any change in colour is a warning sign and mottling of the skin in a little one is a real heads up sign for health professionals.

Let us know how you get on with the doctor,

best of luck to you both

Feejay