Tight Chest and OK peak flow??

Hi my daughter has been unwell with tonsillitis and then a cold which has affected her asthma. She had 2 days of awful constant coughing and 3 hourly ventolin and then the coughing settled down but she said she had a tight chest. As last time we left it a bit late and she ended up on 10 days pred I thought I would take her to the docs earlier rather than later but her chest was ok (weds)

She is still saying her chest is tight with no improvement in that or her peak flow ( still about 60% of normal) What do I do???? She says she is no worse and doesn't seem to be but she has already had lots of time of school and I know at the moment she is still not well enough to go back.

Does anyone else have experience of this?? She used to have predictable(ish) symptoms but now I never know where we are!! I DON'T have asthma and I am worried about over-riding what she says and making her go back to school. She is only 9.

Any help would be appreciated.Thanks.

Tina

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i dont think 60% of peak flow is ok! Id say go and see a doctor asap!

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Tina

i fully understand your concerns and feel you should take her to gp or hospital as pfs are not always a good indication of the asthma status. with my daughter she on occasion has a good pf for her yet her chest was tight i would recommend at 60% she may need to go in to emergency and dont be afraid to do so as a little oxygen and a few nebs may be what she needs to settle her chest they can also check her full medical status aswell. But i must stress i am not medically trained and am just going on what you have said and what i would do.

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Hi thank you for our replies. She had seen a doctor who said she looked ok (!!!!)... but her chest WAS clear and I do have a sats machine at home and her sats were ok. She seems improved this morning but I would take her to a & e if things get worse.

I know she is only 9 but it is just that she seems to find it difficult to say if she is bad and all I can go on is outside info (sats/peak flow etc) she says she doesn't feel bad even if her peak flow is low and doesn't seem to say she is bad until I know she is REALLY bad. I don't know how to overcome this. Do some asthmatics not realise how bad they get??? or is it her age??? How can I encourage her to say how she is? This does worry me. As I said before I don't have asthma and I do worry I'm going to get it wrong.

Thanks again

Tina

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I dont always realise how bad I am although my peak flow is really low. I always get yelled at by my consulant whenever he seens my peak flow diary thingy and says ""if your peak flow is ever below this and this, then you should immediately go to the a&e. Does your daughter have an asthma action plan? If not, maybe she should get one.

Take care

haagz