Questions!!

My 4 and a half year old son was diagnosed with Asthma yesterday after 3 hospital admissions since december 28th. He has never shown any signs of allergy or hay fever and has never wheezed before. He is on his second course of pred which he is being weaned off by 5 mg per day with a starting dose of 40 mg. He is taking salbutamol and flixotide.

We think his trigger is viral as the second episode started with the onset of a cough and cold. I am keen to know whether I am being hopeful in thinking that whilst he is free from colds he may stay asthma free, does anyone else have similar experience? Is it possible that this could be the result of a particularly bad virus that may not reoccur? Why hasn't my consultant offered Montelukast? Any help or encouragement would be massively appreciated

thanks

liz

[urjaaaryan2]

medication

Dear please you switch over to homeopathy treatment because we never give steroids to children untill and unless they are severly gasping for breath and very rarely.I have treated many patients who were on inhalers and steroids but now very rarely they gets attacks even without medicines.

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Hi Liz,

No personal experience of a child with asthma I'm afraid as I am asthmatic myself. Just wanted to say that your son may be symptom free except when ill with a virus, or he may not! No hard and fast answers with this one but as you and he become accustomed to his asthma you are likely to learn more about his patterns. As for medication, it's important to talk to your consultant about any medications and feel free to ask them about what he's on, and what you are considering/have heard about. Most medical people are only too happy to discuss treatment options and pro's/cons with you of any aspect of treatment.

As far as the steroids go - steroid treatment is and can be used in childhood and please do always speak with your doctor if you have any concerns about any treatments, the poster below is clearly not an advocate of steroids in children however NO medication should just be stopped as I'm sure you know

Good luck and feel free to post on here - people are friendly and helpful and usually someone has experience of issues people ask about.

Feejay

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Hi liz!

My lo is 5 and he has had what I call ""viral asthma"" since he was 2. He will only ever display asthma symptoms when he has a cold, cough or suchlike. My lo plays rugby non stop for 2 hours every Sunday completely symptom free so I would say there is a chance ypur little one might do the same.

Fingers x!

[yaf_user681_30355]

I really don't think it is useful to advocate no steroids in a child when none of us on here are medically trained or can judge how ill a child may be.

ejz, there are many parents on here with young children with asthma who can hopefully give you ideas that have helped or worked for them.

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Thank you all. This has been a shock and although he is still at home the nurses feel that a trip to the hospital may be imminent if he fails to make 4 hours between ventolin.

I am hoping that the horrible virus he had at the start of all this (dr's feel may have been pneumonia although this hasn't been confirmed) may have triggered his asthma and that as he gets stronger and through this miserable winter the symptoms will diminish and become more manageable for him - and me!

Thank you again for your support

Liz x

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It sounds like he has been through it and you! Things that can help from experine with dealing with my daughters asthma since she was 11 months and she is 4 and half now and o. The same medication as your son. Another thing that helps is a humidifier when she has a viral or bacteria infection. It is a could idea to have allergy tests and see if there are any triggers. Another thing is to get his adenoids looked at as recurring viral infections is often related to enlarged adenoids which peak between 3 & 6 years old. Fresia, my daughters trigger was a cold and is also allergic to dustmite allergy so we have anti allergy everything in the house bedding etc. Fresia is hacing her adenoids out as they are massive as are the tonsils so you could see a ent peaditrician and not wait yers like we have i wish i kbew about this years ago. Well worth an investigation best of luck and hope he is feeling better.sorry for the waffle but want to pass on any knowledge we have gained along the way of fresia's asthma journey.

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Hi Liz

My daughter was diagnosed age 4, she is now age 9 and her main trigger seems to be viral illness, she has been allergy tested and isn't allergic to any of the usual triggers thank goodness. I was appalled at the suggestion to stop steroids as a previous poster has said we are not qualified to do so. However, reducing the number of colds is something that can help. My daughter takes a lot of medication including inhaled steroids and courses of oral steroids when needed. What I chose to do was take her to a homeopath to build up her constitution this takes time and has reduced the number of things she picks up such as colds. It is by no means a quick fix or cheap and involves juggling remedies as the symptom picture changes. We have been going to see him for over 2 years and by combining it with traditional medication we finally seem to have a bit more control and the last couple of colds have been more manageable.

Good luck