a newbie needing advice

[emmabflea]

I have a 2 year who has been 'diagnosed' with asthma. I was led to believe that doctors wouldn't diagnose until a lot later, but this is the diagnosis which has been given in a letter to my daughter's GP.

A bit of history..... my husband is a sever asthmatic and I have eczema and we both have hayfever.... Rosie had Bronchiolitis at 9 months old and since then has had problems with her chest, resulting in doses of Prednisilone (sp?) and eventually a 5 day stay in hospital a few months ago, where she was on hourly nebulisers, antibiotics and prednisilone.

She has recently been diagnosed with hayfever as well and is now taking antihistamines daily.

She has 2 puffs of a brown inhaler in the morning and evening and the blue inhaler when she needs it. At the moment, every cold she gets goes to her chest and her last lot of prednisilone was at Easter.

Well today she had, what we would call, a proper asthma attack. all other incidents have built up through a cough, but today, she went into a coughing fit and couldn't breathe in properly. Hubby had to pull over on the hard shoulder to give the inhaler which thankfully sorted the problem.

She has never had that before (to that extreme) and her next review at the hospital isn't until November. Do you think it's worth seeing my GP to 'update' them or should I just accept this is a normal part of her condition?

Any advice would be fantastic. (she is fine now btw)

[Hidden]

hi emma

welcome to forum

sorry bout your troubles glad to hear she is fine now

normally yes from bout the age of 2 onward a diagnosis of asthma can be made but there are exceptions e.g. family history - genetics etc and number of admissions or frequency of wheezy episodes can lead doctors to assume diagnosis at an earlier age and consequently start treatment for such at an earlier age i.e. blue inh, steroid inh and possibly montelukast with odd courses as and when required.

if the follow up appt is not until november, i would definitely book an appt with you gp tomorrow or tuesday to update him on this weekends attack so they are aware of it and see if maybe meds need changing or maybe an action plan maybe needed to put in place and maybe ur november appt brought forward...

also, do you know the triggers for the attack or are you still learning as i know learning triggers can be an ongoing thing, still learning mine! lol.

they discussed skin testing? maybe that could be an option if you havent already had this done on your lil one, that will help.

before attending your appt, write a list of questions you want to ask, so if your mind suddenly goes blank at least its all written down

good luck and hope she continues to improve

feel free to pm me

x x x

[emmabflea]

thanks for the reply!

They've not mentioned skin testing.

So far, her only triggers - that we know - are pollen and an underlying cough. I will make an appointment, feel awful as it seems I'm always down the GP for her chest.

I know this is a totally random thing, but can attacks like that in very small children cause loss of bowel control (not that she really has any!) but she also managed to have a horrendous loss of bowel control at the same time. She was horrendously distressed.

[Hidden]

no worries

defo mention the skin testing then, in relation to pollen ,that seems to be a big trigger for many at the moment!

cough sounds more of a symptom not a trigger - unless part of a cold or infection....

if she has a productive cough- prodcuing weird colour phlegm, temp etc maybe she a chest infection, just a thought, again the GP would be able to clarify that for you

re: bowel control, not sure bout that, another question for GP, but i suppose it could be, same way as when we cough a lot etc.. some people may wee a little, if that makes sense?? not sure.

x

[yaf_user681_8101]

My son was diagnosed as asthmatic at a very young age. I also worried about bothering the GP but I think they would rather be kept up to date so they can monitor things, especially with young kids. Its better to be safe and they are paid to look after you and your family.

I hope she stays well!

[angievere]

Hi Emma, Sorry to hear about your little girl. My 14 yr old son has had asthma since babyhood so it's a worry I know. Would definitely go to the GP and let him know what's going on. Good luck and I hope things improve for your daughter.