Our Daughter Emily is two & a half years of age & has recently been diagnosed with Asthma. Since the age of one she has had a number of colds & coughs as all toddlers do. However, on a recent visit to my Parents she developed a cough which soon moved to her chest. we took her to Hospital and she was given a Nebuliser & a blue inhaler including spacer.
Approximately three weeks later she developed another cough which again moved to her chest. We took her to our GP,She was prescribed a course of antibiotics to help with a chest infection, another blue inhaler including spacer & a course of steroid based tablets to help clear her airways.
We've been to see a Pediatrician who recommended putting her onto a brown inhaler (steroid based), two puffs morning & evening for a period of six months. I am very concerned about putting her on steroids at such a young age & would like to seek some advice or learn about other simual situations.
with inhaled steroids the majority of the steriods stays in your lungs, they may monitor her height and growth while she is on them but i think (but dont know) that problems with that are minor. It is much better to prevent her getting ill, than just treat it when she is, and if your keeping her well with the preventer inhaler then hopefully you'll be able to avoid hospital admisiona and pred etc. which will make her feel much better. i havent got any experience with young children myself, but there may be other info this site. hope your daughter is feeling better soon!
I just wanted to agree with what has already been said:
The doses given in seroid inhalers are generally very low and by inhaling them directly into the lungs this means that the medicine gets to where it is required at does not cause unwanted effects elsewear in the body. Your doctor should monitor your daughters hight to reasure you that there are no problems. Also please remember that these are not anabolic steroids! The type of steroids found in asthma inhalers are naturally produced by our bodies and have an anti-inflamatory effect.
I would really recomend that you try the inhaler, even though there is a very small posibility of side efffects, there is a much greated risk to your daughters health if she does not take it and does infact need it. Using the brown inhaler may prevent hospital visits and admitions which would result in your daughter taking much stronger and more dangerous medications.
If you are still woried about giving your daughter this inhaler please go back and talk to her doctor about it. He/She might have some infomation that may reasure you, or they may even be able to prescribe another treatment. You can also ring the AUK advice line and speak to an asthma nurse (the number is in the red box at the top)
Hope this helps and your daughter feels better soon
Lorna
hey there
my mum had the same concerns when i was young
i was put on a brown steroid preventer at about 2 and it helped me alot.
still on them today and my asthma generally isn't too bad.
you should try the preventer inhaler, and if you have any concerns about side effects, contact your gp
s
Thankyou for your advice...It is great to hear from people who know from experience, as i am new to Asthma.
I really appreciate you taking the time to reply.
As you say my daughters well being is my main concern, and i don't want her to suffer.
Its horrid when Dr's bombard you with all these meds isnt it. Very scary indeed.
My daughter has just turned 2 and has been on Asthma meds since she was 7 months.
She has Ventolin (blue inhaler) Seretide (which is similar to the brown inhaler prescribed for your daughter but has a long acting bronchiodilater in it too!). She takes Pred (steroid tablets), long term Antibiotices each day, and an Antihistamine too.
Ive been assured that the side effects to any of these meds, if any, are alot less than the side effects to poorly controlled Asthma.
Ive questioned lots and googled lots and sometimes it scares me silly. (such as Seretide not being ok for the under 4's) but I see my daughter not struggling and its a billion times better than seeing her struggle with breathing.
Try calling the Asthma uk helpline and they can advise you and answer your worries. They're brill!
PM me anytime you want. Ive tried Pm-ing you and I cant seem to for some reason.
Take care and good luck,
Emily.x
Snap! lol
Our daughter Emily is also two and a half, well, on the 28th anyway. But she has been on both blue and brown bog standard inhalers since she was 9 months old. She has had one course of pred due to a chest infection which didn't shift. On the whole at the moment she is well managed and we haven't had to giver her either inhaler for a while now. Advise of pead was to gradually cut down on the use of brown when her symptoms disappeared. However, with the onslaught of the colder months, her symptoms are starting to reappear so we're back in the process of twice daily steroid inhaler and hoping it gets no worse than this.
i've been on a number of different strength steriod inhalers over the years, have been since i was 4, the one they're most like to put her on first is the light brown, which is the weakest, after using it you have to rinse your mouth out, other than that all the medicine pretty much goes into your lungs, the only affect ti should have on her is stopping from getting ill again, ecspecially throughout winter, i think it's important that she does go on one if she's already starting to get infections, i have quite bad asthma and i was told only to use it when i'm ill, which is wrong as you need it to prevent you from getting ill, and because of that i had 5 bad attacks and 6 infections, in 2 months, over the winter period. i can understand why you would feel worried about it, but i think it's important that she does go on it, to help with her health
my dauaughter is 20 months, today was give steroids tablets pred... for the fourth in 7 months, 10 puffs of blue, 4 puffs of brown. but it better then watching her fight to breath. there only a small amount of steroids in a brown inhaler, and only some of that go's in to the lungs. dont worry to much xx
Hi,
My son is now 5 and has many many courses of steroids in his life. He is now on the highest level on inhaler he can be (purple) and also several other medications including slo phyllin. We have just been referred for a trial of yet another potential drug!
The hospital regulary check on his weight and height which are the main concerns with so many courses of steroids at a young age. He has been ok so far. I'm not sure what the long term damage will be though.
For now, I wouldn't worry. It doesn't sound as though she has been put on the highest dose and also they are keeping a firm eye on her. It is better that she is being kept well.
Having seen my son in intensive care, I am willing to try anything to keep him well
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