older children and asthma

Hi everyone

I Have noticed that, a lot of asthma publications, seem to be for children up to the age of 11. I was wondering If anyone, knew of anything for older kids.

My 13 year old son is fed up, he is having a bad time with his asthma at the moment, sick of all his meds, and feeling right down.

Iv'e tried to get him to read some posts, on here but he won't. So thought maybe I could at least shove a book, mag, or anything specificaly about, older kids and asthma, under his nose (worth a try anyway) so he doesn't feel like the only one suffering, and help him get through bad times.

I know there is stuff out there for adults, but I think teens and young adults need something specifically for them, as It is hard enough for them, growing up into the adult world, but it is so

much, harder, when they have medical problems as well.

Also really need advice about how to stop him from panicking when he is having a asthma attack. He is getting worse with his problem, obviously, I try to keep him calm, but when you see the terror on his face it's heart wrenching.

Iv'e mentioned this to gps and other people , but all they seem to say is, "" well he will be scared"" Well that comment is useless to us. I need proper usefull comments, or advice.

So thanks in advance for any comments

Shelly

[Hidden]

if you look around the website, i think there is a website and forum for people his age with asthma, i will let you know what it is when i find it, but he is defo not alone i was the same at his age ( am 18 now) as felt isolated and down and a out-cast compared to my friends, i felt like this despite growing up with asthma so is normal, oh by the way never ask the gp things like that as most the time they wont help and shrug it off , in my experiance anyway.

ask his form tutor about it and how he is at school as asthma is very common and most likly there are people in his class with asthma that he dosent know about as in school children tend to keep it quiet as they often feel embrassed, but maybe would help finding if there are children in his class with asthma that he could talk to as i remeber there were three people in my class that had asthma

hope he feels better soon and finds someone his age that he can talk to it about

[angievere]

Shelly, Am in similar position with 13 yr old son. Have sent you a PM. xx

[Hidden]

I do sympatise with you, im 22 now, but when i was a teenager i found it really hard to cope. Looking back, everything seemed to be so much worse, when in reality it wasnt. I discovered then when i was panicking, or feeling that things were getting to much for me , that if i put in my headphones, to my favourite relaxing music, in my case, Boyzone! This really helped, in fact i still fo this now!

I think there does need to be more done to support older children with asthma as this can be a hard time, even if you dont have the exra pressure of asthma! But i was recently looking through the asthma magazine, and there was a section called Young lungs, there might be something on the website about it and if you could persuade your son to have a look, it might help.

Hope things get easier for you and him

Lindsay x

[Hidden]

kickasthma.org.uk/

That's the kids version of this website. There's a message board etc

x

[angievere]

AUK Kick Asthma Holidays

I mentioned the Kick Asthma hols in my PM to you Shelly, but didnt go into much detail. If your son hasnt attended one, it is certainly something for him and you to consider. It was very beneficial to my 13yr old son, who has had a very rough time of it over the last few years with asthma/feeling down.

The youngsters have a varied programme of events and they can pick what they want to do. My son did camping (one night), swimming, raft building, abseiling and a talent contest, amongst other things. There are also non sporty activities they can choose. There were also sessions on managing asthma, eg taking inhalers properly and doing peak flows. The youngsters are VERY well looked after and the volunteers running it all are absolutely super.

My son thoroughly enjoyed himself in a very safe, caring and fun environment. He also benefitted from being with other youngsters who have similar health problems. He feels a bit isolated with his asthma so all in all this was a very good experience for him.

Another benefit was to me and my husband! As a lot of you will know, living with a poorly child puts a strain on family life (to put it mildly). It was the first time me and hubby had time to ourselves without really worrying about our son - he has been away before on school trips but we always worried about him. On the Kick Asthma hols they are in really safe hands.

Sorry for the long post!

[Hidden]

thanks everyone for posts.

Will look into all info mentioned. My son is a bit better and had 3 full days at school, Horay, long may it last, lol.

Thanks again

Shelly