3yo just been diagnosed with Asthma

My daughter who has just turned 3 was diagnosed today with asthma. For the past 18 months she constantly gets coughs that are that bad she is sick with them and they last for weeks. We have taken her to see our GP so many times and also ended up in hospital with her on numerous occasions but whenever i have asked about the possibility of it being asthma I was told no. For the past 3 weeks she has had this cough and it is bad during the day, night, if she goes outside, comes back inside, runs around etc. She also coughs so much that she is occasionally sick and is slowly losing weight. I was hoping that someone on this site would be able to advise if these symptoms are common in asthma and if the blue inhaler that a doctor has prescribed us today will make any difference as I have heard different reports on them. Many thanks in advance.

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your post

Hi i have a six year old girl and your story more or less mirrors mine and im still only just getting good advice, the blue inhaler will relieve the coughing but really your child should be having the brown preventor inhaler once a day every day to keep the symptoms at bay. A great thing to do is keep a diary of when your child gets the syptoms right down what the weather was like over the previous 48 hours whether theyve had excersise, what theyve eaten whether theyve been stressed or emotional or on medication and after a few months you may find a pattern ehich could help you find what triggers the symptoms so you can do your best to reduce or stop the symptoms. Your child may also benifit from allergy test to see if any household products or foods could be triggering it. Hope this is helpful, yours paul.

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Hi Paul, thanks for responding to me. I am not sure how to feel about the diagnosis. Is it usual for children with asthma to cough so much they are sick? Is there anything else I can give her to assist with getting rid of the cough/cold. Thanks Lucy xx

[yaf_user681_23350]

Hi both my boys had asthma and both used cough so much they were sick (projectile vomit) they ruined our 1st sofa in 18months because of it! we bought a leather 1 and it's lasted 10 years. They are hardly ever sick now but my youngest only ever coughs no wheeze and it has been a nightmare getting him diagnosed. We have been told as many times it's not asthma then when they reduce his treatment he starts coughing so much and becomes really ill,then ends up on steroid treatment for 6months. We noticed when the heating went off when he was 18months old it used to trigger asthma attacks, it took us months to work it out, half an hour after the heating went off he became ill.

The blue inhaler really helps my son, it's just worth trying to find if there is a cause. Sometimes it's the most simplest thing that can set them off. All children are different, my eldest is allergic to animals whilst my youngest is not allergic to anything but excitement, stress exercise and colds make him ill.

My eldest Sons asthma seemed to disappear when he was 7 and so did mine only to return at 35 but mine is really mild now.

Hope you get the help and support you need

take care kate

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Getting worried now???

Hi All, I spoke to my daughters doctor again this morning as cough seems no better and he now wants to see her again next Friday instead of in 3 weeks time. He also said that he is going to refer her to a chest specialist for chest x-rays and mentioned as well that for her height and age ( she is 3) she should be between 14-15 kilo's in weight and she is only 12 kilo's. I am getting concerned that there is something more seriously wrong with her. xx

[yaf_user681_15459]

Oh poor you. Sounds like you're all going through the mill.

I agree that Im surprised your daughter isnt on a preventer inhaler too. As for her being sick, my little girl is sick with her cough too unfortuntely. Its awful to watch. Is this why she is loosing weight do you think? Merely the amount she's vomitting? Im sure by coughing to this extent it has an impact on their whole body including digestion and possibly appetite.

Hope you get it all sorted very soon.

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Hello - I understand your anxiety about this, children coughing that much can be really shocking, and there's nothing more stressful than having to worry about long-term health conditions in your children.

Like you, my son was diagnosed at a similar age with asthma, and we knew well before this that he also had extreme anaphylaxis, and terrible childhood eczema. Even with this mess of conditions, at almost 9, we have it mostly under control now. Alex struggles to remember his preventer sometimes and as the other writers note, there can be many different triggers around you that form exacerbations to the condition. Think household cleaners, dust, pets, perfumes - the list goes on.

We have struggled to get consistent quality of care across his range of conditions, so have spent a lot of time building up our own knowledge to be able to engage with healthcare professionals (and our current GP is really good). If you are unhappy with your child's treatment, seek a referral - either to an asthma nurse or a specialist doctor, and just don't take no for an answer, remember YOU are the expert on your child, not them!!

Make sure that medication is taken regularly (the blue inhaler does work!), you use a child spacer for the reliever, and don't give in until you get a set of meds that are effective.

Also cannot recommend enough the diary of observed reactions, and lastly calming your child down and trying to reduce their anxiety whilst taking their medication is a big help.

It will get better.

David

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I know your situation well. doctors wont admit asthma till a childs older. My son has had asthma since born, I kept asthma diary top show triggers were not only cold and chest infections, when he was old enough took his peak flow regularly. Withg a history of asthma in the family, this did not help back up my situation/. his meds were constantly dropped causing hospital admissions. The blue inhaler is a rteliever so only helps when an attack happens. Hopefully now that the diagnosis of asthma has been given, your child will get pescribed a type of preventer to help prevent attacks. My son was very ill for the first rew years of his life till he was put on medivation. stand your groud with the doctors till something is done. good luck