Newbie

Hi Just a quick intro. I have been asthmatic for 6 yrs and it is well controlled on symbicorte 200. I have had asthma attacks in the past but only when ive had chest infections ect.

My son (7) was diagnosed with asthma at 18 months and we plodded on with the brown inhaler.

By 3 he was doing well and we had everything crossed that he'd grown out of it. Then it felt like he hit 5 and bam it came back with avengance!! Thankfully we've been very lucky and managed to avoid an attack but the constant cough is very draining on him.

I feel that everything has been handled wrong. Ive only ever seen our gp about his asthma and he has had hid inhalers upped and upped all the time. He was out on seretide 50 about 18 month ago and this started to fail in jan so we were finally referred to the asthma nurses. After an initial home visit she referred us to the consultant. We had the appointment last week and found out his airways are compromised from 3 ways. He has nasal problems, his is always congested he cant breath through his nose he possible has large adenoids he gets a lot of nose bleeds. his tonsils are larger than normal he may have sleep apnea and obviously his tubes are inflamed. The breath test showed a small change in his breathing after ventolin so she was happy with that but has put him on singlair. As I'd heard of bad reports i questioned her and she said she had never heard of any of the side effects i described (agression, deppression) So i have agreed to a trial. He started the tablets weds last week and i have to say he hasn't snored since!! He woke up terrified after a nightmare last night and his behaviour has been bad all weekend. I have asked school to keep an eye on him as i'm not sure if i'm reading too much into his behaviour as i know the effects singulair can have.

We are now currently waiting for blood test for allergy levels and blood clotting ablibities as he bruises so easlily and gets so many nose bleeds, an appointment with ENT and an appointment with the asthma nurses for the sleep study.

Well thats me and my son sorry this post turned out a lot longer than i intended and thank you for reading if you got this far.

I apologise as i have no idea about asthma really which i know is bad but it was all very new to me and i'm now learning.

Thanks again

Teresa x

[Clarefraser]

Hello Teresa

Welcome to what I have found is a fantastic support network! My son is 6 years old and has asthma, he didnt get along with singulair he had night terrors when he did eventually fall asleep, as it also made him hyper and he went from being in bed asleep by 7.30 to still wide awake and buzzing at 11pm. We tried giving it to him in the morning instead but he couldn't concentrate at school and was getting into trouble, which wasn't like him (at school anyway, lol). So we gave up after a couple of weeks, I do wonder if we should have stuck with it a bit longer as other people have found it really helps and has made a huge difference to their asthma. It is probably worth trying it for at least 6 weeks I would have thought and monitoring how your son is as other people swear by it. I hope things settle down for your son and you get some help for his possible sleep apena, what a worry for you. Take care. Clare x