new user. child is 2 and gp thinks asthma.

hi. firstly my name is Chelsea. I'm 24 and have 3 lovely kids. Stevie is 5 she's my eldest. then theirs Darcy my 2 year old girl and then my 13 week old son Finn. a bit about my history with asthma is that my younger brother and dad have it and I did as a child but not bad and it went untreated for many years I admit as I didn't take it seriously as I grew up. my mum an aunt both have eczema as do I and I was told by my gp that id you have either asthma or eczema your likely to have the other too if its in your family.

the reason I have joined is that my daughter Darcy who turned 2 in march has been coughing persistently since December that I recall when I moved into our new house. her room now has carpet wheras I had laminate in my other house, I swapped house with a lady who had 2 cats and a dog. I cleaned the carpets professionally and I hoover daily, so I'm baffled as to why she's coughing so much at night and in the day sometimes too, Darcy also has really bad eczema as well and has prescription stuff for it and I too have it.

i took my daughter Darcy to our gp about the cough and was given anti histamines to see if it helped as she was waking so many times in the night from coughing. they didn't help much an today she gave us a inhaler and said she thinks its asthma.

I've gave it her today before bed as she coughs the most at night with the spacer and i followed the instructions. she's coughed abit still but not as much.

what else can i do to help her? would wooden floor be better? hypo allergenic mattress and bedding? i really want to help her as she gags sometime she coughs that much, she's only 2 though so cant tell me how she feels.

any help is much appreciated xx

[Hidden]

Hi,

I am new to this site too. I have two kids, a 6 year old daughter and a 3 ( nearly 4 ) year old son. My son was diagnosed with asthma about 2 months ago, and we have been in and out of doctor's with him since then as he also has enlarged tonsils. I am still getting used to dealing with his asthma symptoms, as a lot of them seem similar to that of the enlarged tonsils, so I have spent the last 2 months trying to find things out and have been quite confused with it all.

My son's symptoms started off with coughing at night too, which was quite gaggy and he was getting almost like sleep apnea, where his breathing was very erratic - going fast, then slow, then stopping for a few seconds, which was very scary. He was diagnosed with asthma and is now on the brown inhaler x2 puffs x2 a day and blue inhaler when needed. The brown inhaler has seemed to control the sleep apnea and coughing at night ( although tonight he was coughing in bed, following a runny nose and cough all day - gave blue inhaler, and no coughing since )

We have carpet in his room, and I hoover daily like you. We swapped his bedding to hypo-allergenic ones and I try and change his duvets covers once/twice a week. I was told by a nurse to also damp wash his room once a day and hoover curtains etc..

Hopefully, you may find the brown inhaler starts to ease the symptoms at night soon, as with our son it took about 4 days to work, and the doctor told us the preventer has to 'get in their system' before you notice a difference, which can take about a week.

Thats all I really have found out so far, as I say, as I am new to this too. But I hope her symptoms get better soon, it's horrible isn't it when they are so young and don't understand what is happening to them.

Take care.xxx

[Hidden]

hi, thanks for replying. weve only been given the blue inhaler and told two puffs of a morning and two at night, also told to keep up with the anti histamines. im currently saving for wooden floor and hope this helps her at night, I don't have soft toys on her bed either as I know this can hinder asthma sufferers. im also going to get her a full size bed so shes not so close the the floor as shes currently in a toddler bed wich is quite low down. deffo going to get her hypo allergenic bedding.

what about a air purifier. would this help do you know?

[Hidden]

Hi,

I'm not sure about an air purifier. Maybe keep a diary of her symptoms, though, and then maybe you can pinpoint when they are bad and try and find what the link is.

Have you spoken to an Asthma nurse through this website? I have phoned them a few times and found them to be really helpful.

I hope you get some answers asap...

Take care.

xxx

[Hidden]

I am sorry I can't give much help as I am new to this. Have a word with GP if you are worries and need more advice.

My 2yr old(3 next month) has just been diagnosed after suffering two attacks in 5 months whichx required hospital admission. We were discharged Thursday evening and were told to give blue inhaler 2 puffs every four hours up until yesterday but I have given it to him today too after running around and playing on trampoline. He has a cough at the moment too which does seem to make asthma worse. Does everyone have an Astaire plan written out for them by Gp? At hospital, I was told to give two puffs every 4 hours if need be but then 10 and if not any better to go to Gp within hour or straight to a&e. They spoke about possible preventative medication but not heard anything. I feel like I am on pins and had to stop him from running around with others earlier as he was getting out of breath! Felt so bad I am debating whether to book a Gp appt Just to gain more advice and ask about preventative medication . any advice would be much appreciated

[Hidden]

Hi,

So sorry to hear about you son having those two bad attacks. That must of been terrifying for you.

I have seen an asthma nurse this week ( after going backwards and forwards to the GP ) who has given me a 6 week symptom diary for me to fill in. Then I have to go back and she is then going to fill out an action plan after looking at my son's symptoms. Although I think there seems to be a lot of different procedures and practices, so this might not neccessarily be the 'right' thing.

I want his action plan, though,as my son starts school Sept, so this will help me work out when to use his blue inhaler. As at the moment he is on Clenil ( brown inhaler ) which is a preventer x2 puffs a day a.m and p.m.

I think the preventer did help him, especially with coughing at night, although from what I am aware it takes about a week to 'get in the system', when you first start using it.

Maybe give an asthma nurse a call on here, though if you are worried as I have found them very helpful.

Hope you get the answers your looking for.

Take care.

xxx