Daughter just diagnosed - I know nothing!!

My very sporty 12 year old has just been diagnosed, following a couple of attacks during hockey. Today she did cross country and struggled for breath towards the end but she struggled on as she was in a good race position. Having finished she took her inhaler with spacer. Should she have done this, or is she risking her airways closing completely by keeping going?

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First of all (but you may hopefully have already been told this.by a doctor or nurse?) if your daughter finds that sport is a trigger for her asthma then she should try taking the required dose of inhaler a few.minutes before she.actually starts exercising. It is also very important to always warm up and warm down well. If she still gets symptoms then she is the best judge as to how shes feeling although it may take a while to know what is acceptable that she can deal with or not. Finally if in doubt about the severity of asthma symptoms then always play it safe and never be worrie or ashamed of making a fuss if you or hher feel it is necessary.

Hope this is of some help. All the best.

Rose

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Thank you, that has helped. Exercise is her trigger and I know it is good for her to do, I just don't want her to push herself too far and collapse beyond the need for just ventolin!

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Welcome! Let the doctors keep you informed too. So your daughter can enjoy sports safely. You can also speak to the asthma nurse on this site( top left hand corner) who are vert helpful. You know enough to seek advice, well done.

Gill

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I have suffered from Asthma & exercise induced asthma all my life, and managed at school without an inhaler as I didnt get prescribed one until I was 16 you generally cope, long distance running was definitely the worst.

I would recommend she keep the inhaler in her pocket and use it without a spacer if she is having trouble breathing during a race, for hockey give the inhaler to the coach then its always close by.

I have worked out a regime, that for me, reduces the need for me to use an inhaler during exercise.

It is vital to warm up properly, exerting yourself enough to bring on a mild tightness, then stop and recover your breathing and try to relax, then exert yourself again to bring on the tightness and recover. Sounds like a lot of faffing but I can do this in about 10mins. If you cant do this then she will need to have a puff on the inhaler before she starts and then try not to start the exercise session too hard but start slower and build up.