New to all this & worried!

Hi...thanks for taking the time to ready this.

I have 2 children, my son is 5 & my daughter is 4. We had a few scares @ a&e with my son when he was under 2 yrs, put on nebuliser etc, but he seems to be fit & strong now & overcomes common coughs & colds perfectly well. However my daughter Ebonie seems to be suffering & getting worse. From the age of about 18 months she has quite often developed common colds which have within a week ended at the docs with me being told she has 'nasty' chest infection. I am disappointed to admit that she has been on so many antibiotics in her little life. About 2 weeks a go, once again she was unwell. Wheezing, runny nose, stomach pains, lack of apetite. I took her to the gp who listened to her chest & alarmingly told me she had left sided Pneumonia as u can imagine I was mortified & rushed her straight to hospital. She was given a chest x-ray & I was told by the paediatrician that he was happy with her chest & that it was actually asthma. We were sent away being told to use her brown pump twice every morning & night for the next 6 months (until we see another doc) & use the blue one as & when I think! Anyway, I came straight home & made an appointment to see an asthma paediatrician (appointment 6th March) . I need to know exactly what I'm dealing with here. Since the last episode (at the hospital) she is still poorly. Missing pre school & generally feeling unwell. No apetite, crying with tummy pains. Also, the pumps seem to give her ulcers in her mouth, is this common? She coughs alot when being active & especially at night, more so as the heating kicks in early morning. I would really appreciate some advice to help her be more comfortable, she needs to get her apetite back & be the little healthy girl she once was. She starts infants school in Sep Will it improve, are different times of year better than other...what can I do to help? I've just arranged with our gp nurse to have some allergy tests done, as I've also heard that dairy can play a big part in some children, causing heavy mucus? Aslo I've looked in to herbal remedies??

I'd appreciate any advice, thanks in advance. Sam

[Clarefraser]

Hi Sam

I am not sure what advice I can offer but I just wanted to say hi and welcome, I have 3 children and my youngest has asthma, hence me writing this post at 5.30am as he isn't brilliant at the moment and we have been to the out of hours GP last night and he is now on another course of predisolone. My son was diagnosed 3yrs ago when he was 4 in very similar circumstances as I was told they thought he had pneumonia but after an X-ray asthma was confirmed, so frightening as you said!!

I am so pleased to hear you have an appointment with a specialist i am sure they will be able to offer your daughter new medications and allergy testing. With regards to the tummy ache sometimes young children say it's there tummy because they just don't know how to explain where they don't feel well and if course if you've been coughing lots your tummy will hurt. My son hasn't suffered with sores in his mouth but I have read on here of people having sores and then general advice seems to be have your inhaler through a chamber/spacer and rinse your mouth afterwards. I think with regards to triggers everyone is so different my son is cold/viral and allergy triggered but like you say things like the heating can make them cough. Sorry I can't offer more advice hopefully your appointment will be the start of your daughter turning the corner and things will become more settled. Please let us know how you get on. Good luck and a ((hug)) to you and what you are going through.

Clare x

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STRESSED & WORRIED!

Oh I'm so stressed! My little girl can't seem to stop coughing this morning. I feel useless. SHe is so pale, I'm considering taking her to a&e. Our first appointment with the asthma consultant isn't till 6th March. I have so much I want to know.....that I need to know. Since our last trip to a&e 2 weeks a go, she hasn't really got 'better' just maybe stabilised her symptoms. That's because I have kept her home & avoided contact with this icy weather! & been using pump. Sorry to rant but I hear her coughing all night long & I just want her to be well. Her nose is red & sore from where it's running constantly. Her diet is poor because she wont eat.

Thanks for listening, Sam x