New to all this!

Hi,

My son who is 3.5 has always had a cough, and to be honest I just put it down to chest infections, colds etc as I have never had any dealings with asthma.

I was always told it was a 'virus' by the doctor and sent away with antibiotics (but was always aware it would do no good). He then spent a couple of trips to the hospital after getting worse. and it was only this year that I put my foot down and started demanding real answers.....and also digging around myself about asthma after he had spent time with his grandparents who had had a dog and when my son came home he was terrible.

Anyway, we saw the asthma nurse who did not diagnose, but gave me the brown preventer and the blue puffer for him........He then deteriorated about three weeks after that and ended up in the emergency hospital who then x-rayed him and said they could see the asthma bubbles (what does that mean? -was too worried to ask at the time).

We then came home and two weeks on I have had to take him again and he has been given some steroid tablets and some antibiotics

My problem this time was I could not understand the doctor and as my son was coughing could barely hear him either......so I basically want to know if my son's non stop / couldn't stop. coughing was an asthma attack?

He has been coughing for weeks now especially at night, and it suddenly escalated within an hour to the point where he was retching and could not get his breath.

Also how do I get him to take his inhalers properly when he does not want to (he is after all a stubborn little 3 year old when he wants to be and a fight just makes his coughing worse

sorry to go on and on, but I have read everywhere that an asthma attack is where the airway becomes tightened,,,but my son just seems to have a really nasty burst of non stop coughing that does not stop until he gets medication

thanks

me

[Hidden]

hi,

so sorry you are having to go through all of this with your toddler. My son is also 3 and started battling asthma last summer and so I am rather new to this. He has had a few scary attacks (one needing an ambulance and others we got under control ourselves but he was given steroids for a few days) He has had the rapid tummy breathing and not being able to get his breath but also he's just had the coughing non-stop and not able to get his breath adn starting to panic. These are also asthma symptoms and can be an attack when they just can't stop coughing. It really is scary and I know that when in the midst of an attack he hates taking his inhaler as I think he feels it suffocates him (he is fine at other times taking it). He also takes the brown one morning and evening and the blue one when he needs it.

I would go back to your doctor and asthma nurse and ask them to sit and explain it all to you. I did this. I have found you need to be pushy at times. Do you have a spacer for your little boy's inhaler? With a mask? I use one for my son. We decorated it with stickers and I have let him play with it and use it on his teddies. Anything to make him realise it's a GOOD thing. He takes it with him everywhere in his little Noddy bag. When he's having an attack sometimes my hubby holds him down so I can give the inhaler. ALSO, what I have found works well is during an attack of coughing is to give the inhaler in the bathroom with the shower on HOT to make the room steamy. The mist and inhaler work wonders together. This has worked amazingly well even when I have been to the point of calling 999.

My son has just (yesterday) started a new medication to help prevent as his brown inhaler wasn't doing the trick... he was still coughing ALL night every night. I went to the docs this week and said I wasn't happy with how he was doing so now they are trying something else. I also pushed for getting a pneumococcal vaccine which he just had this week as he had pneumonia in January.

I know there's so much to take in but I hope some of this helps. But do go back to your surgery and get some more advice. Hope things improve for your little one.