My 17 month old daughter is in hospital every two weeks with viral wheeze

[Philbs1980]

I’ve just joined the forum and I would really appreciate so help and advice. We have been in hospital 7 times this year with our beautiful baby daughter. Every time she gets a cold it ends up causing her lungs / airways to construct and we have to rush her to hospital. She really struggles for 1-2 days then we get to go home on day 3 or 4. We have a blue inhaler but she can’t last the 4 hour does gap. We also started the brown inhaler 3 weeks ago. We are really struggling mentally and physically. I would really like to speak to other parents who are having a similar experience and and help or guiding you have for us. Sending love and light to all. Tony

[Claire_ALUK Partner ALUK Asthma Nurse]

Hi Philbs1980, this sounds like a struggle for you all, we would be happy to advise and help on the helpline 0300 2225800 option 3 nurses

[Homely2 Administrator]

It can take a few weeks for an inhaler to become fully effective. There is huge range of them. Asthma UK can tell you which ones a child could use.

You need to spend some time getting your knowledge of asthma up. Asthma management involves quite a bit of self help.

So definitely ring asthma UK and have a long chat with them. Then ring back with more questions. Then ring back again, until you are happy you know all you can.

I am an allergic asthma sufferer, I react to dust, dust and a cold is horrible for me. My asthma reaction to a cold is much worse when my asthma is getting a lot of day to day aggravation from dust. So I would be trying to make sure that dust is minimised to avoid any risk of day to day low level aggravation, leaving your child vulnerable to an attack. When I was a young child I mainly reacted to tree pollen. So apart from a cold, is there anything else, dust, pollen, pet dander, that could be triggering low level asthma, leaving your child more vulnerable to a cold.

[madamestephens]

Hi. Just a short reply to echo two things others said. This happened to my son at more like age 2 1/2. What helped for us was the brown inhaler (took a few weeks to settle so may still kick in over next week or two) and phoning the Asthma UK line. A year or two later he did need Montelukast tablets too, so there are other things "out there too". But I know what you mean about how awful it is. Definitely give the phone line a call.

[hilary39]

I am so sorry to hear this, it sounds so hard and scary. I have a two-year-old and we've been in the A&E a few times with emergencies. It feels like you're wearing your heart outside your body in those moments, doesn't it?

Has your doctor given you a spacer or nebulizer to help the medicine get into her lungs more deeply?

Another thought I have is that maybe she has some underlying inflammation that is causing low-grade asthma and then when she has a cold it tips her over the edge. You could do some preventive stuff around the house (forgive me if you've already done this and I'm being repetitive ) like:

1) looking for any mold or leaks that could be aggravating her lungs

2) buy a HEPA air purifier and run it frequently in different rooms around the house making sure to run it most in the areas where she spends most of her time

3) put an allergy cover on her mattress and frequently wash that + her stuffed animals (and anything else washable like her winter coat)

4) if you have a pet, she could be allergic to its fur--I'd talk to your doctor about this

5) if the heater in her room is really drying the air, consider running a humidifier a few times a week

6) use a HEPA vacuum several times a week (this has made a big difference for me)

Take good care and keep us posted on how she's doing.