My 11 yr old son has just been diagnosed - worried sick

Hi, as you can probably tell I'm also new on this site but found it due to my 11 year old Son being diagnosed over the Xmas time.

The whole asthma thing worries me sick as I lost a friend to Asthma when I was young so for my Son to be diagnosed was terrifying.

We've had several visits to the GP and a visit to a nurse recently (only because I said I needed some advice but they were pretty reluctant)??? Now this confused me as nobody in my family has Asthma and due to my loss I really need to know how to control this and what to do and how to tell if he needs emergency medical treatment but the Nurse informed me to keep on with his medication (blue and brown inhalers) and he should be fine... should be??????? I asked if there was any sort of Asthma clinic in my area and nobody seemed to know - again slightly confusing....

I know if probably sounds OTT but I am really, really worried and due to my loss everytime he coughs (and he seems to constantly) I worry and wonder if I should be doing anything else other than running for his inhaler. He is due to go back to our GP in a few days so maybe I should write a list of questions to ask.

I have found some great info on this site, which has alleviated my worry slightly but if there is any other help anyone can give I will be extremely grateful.

Thanks, Sue

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Hi Sue,

My 9-year-old son was diagnosed in July, he spent the summer in hospital following three severe attacks. His attacks come on more violently than most children's so I too am very scared, particularly of the summer now - skin prick tests revealed his main problem to be grass pollen.

The best advice I can give to you is when an attack starts, give him the blue inhaler a few times, but act if the coughing becomes constant. I left my son too long in the summer, and as a result he had a bad time, five days in hospital each time. The last two occassion we got him too the hospital quickly amd the nebuliser sorted him out.

Also, always believe your son. My son suddenly says, 'I need the hospital now,' whilst looking and sounding fine, 10 minutes later he is very bad. Hopefully your son's asthma isn't so aggressive as my son's, however if he does ever tell you he needs the hospital, don't question him, its worth getting in the car and seeing what happens while you are on-route.

I am also giving my son magnesium supplements to he support his lungs - type magnesium miracle into Google and read the story. Since he has been on this, one month now, we have had two occassions when he would normally have used his blue inhaler and on both occassion a cuddle was all he needed for the tight chest to pass. I think the magnesium is helping already.

Its taken me 5 months to get over the shock of the summer, be gentle on yourself.

Helen

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Hi,

just a quick note to say hello and welcome to the message boards.

If I were you I would make a list of questions for your GP, also the nurses on the asthma uk helpline are really friendly and can give you good advice - it is sometimes nice to have someone to talk to rather than messages, although you are most welcome here.

Most people with asthma get it under control with inhalers or sometimes tablets - you just maybe haven't got it totally controlled yet. The folk that post lots on here tend to have the worst end of the spectrum of asthma (I guess we have more symptoms so think about it more) so don't worry about the scarier things you read!

One thing to say in contradiction to the other reply you have is that if you think your son needs hospital, you should call an ambulance rather than driving him there yourself- if he needs to be there he may get worse on the way and you wouldn't be able to concentrate on driving and on looking after him, and it is the safest way.

Hope you get on ok with your GP

Sarah

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Hi

Thanks to you both for replying and the more I browse this site the more knowledge I'm gaining regarding Asthma, as this is all new to us really, and therefore feel more equiped.

Thankfully since I've stopped panicing about it and asking my son every 5 mins if he needs his inhaler I believe he is also starting to take it in his stride a bit more.

We have an appt with a Nurse in a few weeks and I've made a list of questions to ask her so, again, hopefully this will alleviate my fear a bit more. Our GP also listened to his chest, as he's been really chesty, and he said it's def improving with the brown inahler and he takes it every day and every night when he's supposed to, which is fantastic. He says he's feeling much better than he was so I'm so much happier than I was when I first posted.

Thanks once again for your advice and support.

Su x

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glad he's on the mend! It is really a case of getting used to it and on the right treatment, and it sounds like you are heading the right way there. Lots of kids have asthma and cope with it with very few problems, often never needing hospital admission, so I hope that is the case for your wee one.

Sarah