Hi...need some help

My daughter is 15y old..will be 16y in a few months..at 9y old she had a problem with coughing at night and the odd wheeze..but nothing more than that. In the last few months she has developed more of an intermittant wheeze and some days it can be quite distressing. Following a cold she was unwell and very wheezy..the Doc prescribed antibiotics for a chest infection and gave her an inhaler...she also had to do peak flow every day for the last month..this was handed back to the Doctor and he thinks she has 'mild' asthma. Today she is very wheezy, was a horrible colour on her return from school..i have got her to have a hot steamy shower, she is currently in bed and has been breathing deeply over a basin of boiling water.

We arent sure what the triggers are..they arent always exercise..we rehomed the parrot as she was a trigger to the wheezing..we do have dogs but she doesnt appear to react to them.

Any thoughts on where we go from here?

Sorry for the long post!

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Welcome to Asthma UK, Kalico.

Firstly, if you are worried about your daughter, please get her seen tonight. You can access help through NHS Direct (0845 46 47) or from your local Out of Hours GP service (usually accessible via a number on your GP's answerphone). We unfortunately can't see your daughter or advise on acute situations, as it would be dangerous (please see Terms and Conditions for more detail regarding this).

Whatever happens, it sounds as though your probably need to go back to your GP to discuss asthma control and therapy. The aim in asthma treatment should be to minimize symptoms and lead a normal life, and there are a number of treatments available to achieve this. The first step would be a preventer (steroid) inhaler, for example, which would be taken every day in order to prevent wheezing.

Triggers can be sometimes very difficult to identify for all asthma sufferers, and to some extent it's ""trial and error"". Asthmatics vary widely as to their triggers - what triggers one won't trigger another. Common triggers, however, are colds/coughs, smoke, perfume, house dust mites, and pollen.

I hope this helps some. Please lets us know how you get on, and keep posting and asking questions.

CathBear

(Moderator)

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Call your out of hours GP (call the normal surgery number and they should give you the out of hours contact number) make sure you are clear about her symptoms do not let them talk you in to going to them get them to come to you, it is cold out and the effort could make her worse.

Please get help now.

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Thank you for your advice, she had a settled night after the evening, the breathing in of steamy water appeared to make a huge difference, i also had a damp towel on her radiator. We have been back to the Doc this morning and he has given her a brown inhaler (preventor?) as well as the bluey silver ones she has, i asked for a spacer and she has this also. He has dispensed Pred 5mg tablets to be taken today and tomorrow...20mg each day. He has also suggested blood tests next week to see if we can find the trigger. We have dogs and a parrot, but had to rehome our Grey parrot a while ago as she did react to her. She doesnt appear to react to the other parrot or the dogs..the Doc says that it is mild asthma that she has, but we have to learn to manage what is there. Thank you for all your help/advice..i will let you know how my daughter gets on. We also are to attend an asthma clinic at the local GP.