Its been a ruff few months for us all my nearly 12 year old son has just been told he has asthma he has been on the brown pump for 3 weeks and blue as and when he needs we are really struggling to gain it under control at the min
Im feeling very stressed trying to copr with work and his asthma
Not to mentionthe fact that im worried sick about my son this has all of a sudden happened to us out of no where i feel helpless and i feel i should know more
Any wise words to help this worried mum.
Written by
lisamac12
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At three weeks the brown pump will only just be starting to work and have a noticeable affect
You could do with learning his triggers (it can take months if not years to learn them... then a few of them will change) these are what sets him off and here may be subtle indicators... a sneeze, a runny nose etc etc
It's very hard to learn and understand but you will get there your son will learn what's happening and how he needs to treat it (as will you)
Also allergys and headaches have a link..something to do with histamine and allergys are common in asthma as is eczema
I know it's hard but with time and the right medication it's manageable
Does he take his inhaler through a spacer?
You say "brown inhaler" is that chenil?
And blue, ventolin?
The cold weather is an issue for me too ( and a lot of asthmatics)
As are:
Perfumes
Dust
Pollen
Animal dander
Certain chemical smells
Damp air
Hot and dry air
Hello lisamac,
The thing you have to remember is that asthma can vary a lot from sufferer to sufferer. As such it can take a while to get to know the various things that will act as triggers in an individual. There are a number of different medications for the condition and different asthmatics respond well to different medications. However, once you and your son get to know and understand his version of it things will get easier.
I've been asthmatic for over fifty years (that's almost all my life) and so long as I am on the right medication for my version of it I manage to lead a pretty normal life provided I take my preventer inhaler on a daily basis. I also have an asthmatic son (diagnosed when he was just three). His asthma is different to mine. When he was first diagnosed he was very unwell on a fairly regular basis. Being on the inhalers made a huge difference to him and over the years his asthma has improved markedly He's now in his twenties and he rarely needs to use his inhalers.
Winter is not an easy time for asthmatics. If you are concerned about your son's asthma you must discuss it with your GP. If your GP is any good he/she won't mind you doing so. If he is struggling at the moment I recommend you try to get him seen before the practice closes for Christmas. You may need to push for an appointment, but explain that your son is newly diagnosed as asthmatic and that he is still struggling despite being on inhalers for three weeks. There might be an infection there (which never helps with asthma) and if so that needs to be dealt with before the surgery closes.
He should have a peak flow metre. Do you have one of these and are you keeping a daily record of how he is doing when he uses it? If you don't have one, ask for one (and make sure that it is explained to you how to use it); they are available on prescription.
Hope things begin to improve for you and your son soon.
Asthma uk online is briliant. U can speak to one of their asthma nurses who are highly experienced and will understand you and answer yr questions. giving u reassurance. Education is the key if u understand adthma u can deal.better with it.
It is always worrying when you have a child with Asthma. You have found Asthma UK, there is a wealth of information on their web site that can help you and your child. One of the important things when you have a child with Asthma is teaching them to manage it themselves and be in control and to recognise when they are becoming sick.
A few things that are worth putting in place. 1) was your son given a spacer to use with his preventer (brown inhaler). If not, he should have one, it makes delivery of the medicine much more efficient. You can get one on prescription, you can also buy one from the pharmacy.
2) Did your doctor / Asthma nurse go through a written asthma plan with your son. Everyone with Asthma should have one.
3) As per the other replies, get a peak flow meter (Also available on prescription). Encourage him to keep a peak flow diary. Measuring night and morning. This will help him identifying what his main triggers are. It will also help when it comes to visiting the doctor again. It is also worth recording how many times a day he is using his blue inhaler (apart from for exercise) That is really helpful for the doctor, and will help assess how much preventer medicine he needs.
4) Try not to worry, In most people, asthma can be really well controlled when you get the right plan in place. Do remember that you can call the Asthma UK help line and speak to an asthma nurse if you are worried about any aspect of his treatment.
Unfortunately, anxiety has an adverse effect on asthma. The best way you can help your son is to be calm, even though you are so frightened. This will help him to calm down and his breathing will be less laboured.
If you can find out all you can about asthma - Asthma UK has lots of info and advice - you will see that although an attack is very scary, you can cope, and with the right treatment he will be ok. Speak to a nurse at Asthma UK if you need more help. I absolutely understand how you feel, but you have to come to terms with this problem somehow. Take heart.
I can't say anything that others haven't said, but as someone who has lived all my life with asthma (50 - something years), plus both father & son lifelong asthmatics, I can tell you that modern treatment is effective, largely free of side-effects & once your son gets the right balance he will be fine.
My son spent most of his early years struggling to breathe, in & out of hospital, etc., but if you saw him now as a 6'1" central defender charging around football pitches & living life to the full, you'd realise that asthma, treated well, becomes a nuisance rather than life-altering.
As others have said though, make sure he takes the inhaler correctly (it's common for youngsters to think they are well & get out of the habit, then get hit with a bad attack), get plenty of exercise, & as far as you can learn what his triggers are & avoid them.
Good luck & feel free to ask about anything you aren't sure about.
I agree with all the careful and clear advice given. My son suddenly plunged into asthma at about 9 years old, and we had some difficult times until we learned the ropes. Do get help sooner rather than later if he's struggling. As has been said, he may have developed a chest infection that needs dealing with promptly.
For my son, asthma lasted just until he was about sixteen, then he gradually grew out of it, with just the blue ventolin inhaler for occasional use, never used now that he's forty-four. Look after his health, provide a good diet, a clean bedroom - dust was a problem for him, and remind him to use his preventer inhaler efficiently, every day, whether well or not.
We had to just think ahead a bit, like avoiding sleeping in rarely used rooms with friends or on school trips....dust n mould...or in rooms where dogs or cats were resident too. Once the asthma is under reasonable control, he'll cope with the occasional 'trigger surprise' by using his rescue blue inhaler and walking away. He also needed to take ventolin before serious exercise, football etc, and not do cross country runs in very cold weather...always led to an exacerbation that stole days or weeks to recover. Having said that, he runs in all weathers now, without any problems as far as I can tell.....but I still keep an eye on him! Good luck. Don't let asthma get you down....it's do-able and you'll get used to it.
I have had asthma for 37 years, since I was thirty. Had my ups and downs and agree with everything said before. One thing I think is important to say is be positive, I am sure you allow your son access to the web, do as I just did and put in famous footballers with asthma, do you know who came up, one of the most famous of my lifetime -David Beckham. So if he is interested in sport, let him search for his favourite and see how many "famous" people have the illness.
Don't wrap him up in cotton wool, very hard as both of my children (now grown up) developed asthma as children, one at 9 and the other 12, both have grown out of it and the oldest 48 occasionally needs to see her doctor to get an inhaler when she has a very bad cold.
I know this is not offering the usual medical type advice but I felt a different spin on things might help.
Good luck and stay positive, you will both feel the benefits. Our surgery has a nurse who specialises in asthma, book an appointment for you and your son to have a chat with her and help you worries.
Wow you guys have been amazing with you responce thankyou each and everyone of you its nice not to feel alone in this !!!! We are using a spacer at all times and recording his peak flow we did for two weeks b4 he was given the brown inhaler but the gp said no to bother doing this everyday (i will start from now on as it cant do any harm) im trying to not let him see me worry and we talk about how hes feeling in the morning and he is able to use his inhalers in the correct way on his own hes very grown up for his age i guess we will jist have to wait and see whst happens thank you guys again you have all really helped me to put my mind at rest x i hope we are asthma free over the holidays ......fingers crossed
I do my peak flow twice a day (morning and night) before my preventer inhaler
And more if I feel chest tightness (every few hours) but now I've finally started to get my medication right for me I don't do it more than twice a day often
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