Daughter Recenty Diagnosed!!

After over 12months of constant hospital admissions for breathing problems, chest infections etc my 23month old daughter has been diagnosed with Asthma. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I've still alot to learn, resp nurse has been fantastic but I still feel pretty clueless as I'm used to the whole 'my daughters unwell so go to gp, hospital etc' whereas I'm now told I must control it to stop her becoming unwell.......easier said that done but I'm hoping things get easier in time

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Children with asthma

Dear Allison

Do not worry, please do not let this worry you too much, as young children especially under three years old, pick up on parents worries. Please remain calm and be grateful, so that your calmness will make her calm as well, this is really important.

There are measurements that you can take to ensure that her breathing is well controlled, including: getting allergy free bedsheets, duvet covers, removing carpets if you can. Making healthy meals, avoiding diary products.

But the main thing is that you remain calm and send out loving positive thoughts to you baby girl, trust me it will make a positive difference to you and your child's health.

Take care

Gurmit

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Thank you for your reply. I try not to worry too much and carry on as normal and I'm sure it will get easier once I understand more about whats happening. Had a bad few days which can be stressful but seem to have it under control again for now with no admissions in the past month, just need this awful cough to clear now as she's struggling at night.

Thanks for all the advice, I had never thought or been told about the food thing although I am pretty strict with the dust/bedding etc as I suffer from severe allergies myself.

Hopefully I become more confident about it all soon.

Thanks again.

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Hello,

I know how you feel my son is 18 months and had numerous hospital admissions resulting in care in HDU and PICU, its all very scary with little information but this site has been a great help to me with some much information to look at. Plus the advice and support from other users.

Hope you feel like you have people to share and who understand your problems now.

x

[angievere]

Hi Allison, My teenage son was diagnosed with asthma at about a year. I'm a lifelong asthmatic but still had a lot to learn (and still learning via this excellent website/forum!) Part of the problem with asthma is that it's so variable and everyone is different.

Generally colds trigger my and my son's asthma and to strengthen our immune systems we take extra vit C. We also have multivitamin and my son has extra vit D. We've certainly had less colds over the last 2 years - it may be a coincidence but I think it's worth trying. I also encourage my son to wash his hands a lot and WHERE POSSIBLE we avoid people with colds (difficult I know).

The other thing is dont hesitate to go to the doctor if your daughter doesnt respond to medication or if she starts a cold and you think she may need antibiotics for a chest infection. We parents can 'manage' our children's asthma to a certain extent but we are not medically trained and it's always better to err on the side of caution.

Another thing I learned (and I'm sure I'm not alone in this!) is that colds starting on Thurs/Fri can sometimes develop into chest infections over the weekend. So I usually get my son checked out before the weekend. Out of hours service have always been very good but we have to go to the nearest hospital and I'd rather he was seen at the surgery - have also had difficulties getting antibiotics/steroids out of hours.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. Good luck and feel free to PM me.

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Thanks to everyone who replied, it feel's much better knowing there's so many people in the same situation. I've so much to learn but confident I'll get there