Bad wheeze at night

I am totally confused and fed up. my 3 year old son has had a cold since Saturday, But as far as I am aware had been settled at night. I thought it was a bit too good too be true. Sunday evening I could hear a slight wheeze so I decided to sleep in with him, I was glad I did as it did get louder and I was able to give him his inhaler through the night. He woke up fine as usual and played all day with very few symptoms, just a runny nose and a cough.

Monday night he fell asleep about 8pm and quickly became very wheezy/crackly, loud enough to hear him in the next room and I could see a lot of movement in his tummy as he was working harder to breath, at this point we decided to get him seen and it was 9.50 when I phoned the out of hours dr.s, they must have been busy as it took an hour for a dr to phone back and then another 10 minutes for some one to ring and tell be I could bring him down at 1am!!!! I was not happy and took him straight to A&E, probably what I should have done in the first place but last time I took him to A&E at night I waited over an hour to see a dr. Anyway I got to A&E about 11.30 and he was seen really quickly by a nurse and then a dr, by this point as usual he was breathing ok and a lot quieter, but I presume the dr must have noticed something as he said to give 10puffs of salbutermol and he would listen again. It was about an hour later and the poor kid had fell back asleep on the bench, you could here the crackling noise starting up again but not as bad and when he listened he said he sounded clear and the crackle noise was normal cold noises. I am so confused, every time he gets a cold he gets like this and I know it is not normal, his twin has had the same cold and had had some similar asthma symptoms with it but he has not given me any concern over night, he has slept very well and settled with only a very slight quiet wheeze.

This situation is becoming a regular thing, he had 3 colds in may and I had many sleepless nights, one in June and now this one, I dread to think what the autumn/winter will bring if he is this bad over the summer and he is on his max medication for his age. If only gp's came out to you, then they would see what he is really like asleep undisturbed and I wouldn't have to drag the poor kid out! I am going to go back to gp with him and hopefully get a referral this time. If anyone has any advice or support it would be gratefully received! I feel I am in a no win situation, I can't just leave him like that through the night, not knowing if it will get worse, but when I get him up he improves and it all feels like a waste of time dragging the poor thing out of bed and us both feeling exhausted.

Sorry it's so long and Thanks for reading.

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hi sorry you are having a hard time i find the nighttimes are worse for my daughter too i dont know if you have tried it but propping the pillows up so they are not led completely flat helps even tho it doesnt take the problem away completely i dont know what medication your child is on but there are plenty out there to try i know we have had many you said you have asked for a referral you really need to push for this as your local gp cant prescribe alot of things a consultant can.have you tried singulair tablets and daily antihistamines they work brilliantly for some and little effect on others but are worth a try. have you got a preventer inhaler and if so which one? the other thing is to talk over having a nebuliser with your doctor as the technique you are using may not be having the right effect my daughter seems to take her meds easier through a nebuliser and after months of trying to get a referral as soon as i mentioned looking into purchasing one my doctor gave me the referral i hope this info helps take care

marie

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Thanks Marie,

He is on 2puffs of 100 Clenil Modulite twice daily ( so 400mg a day) and one 4mg singulair tablet at night. His asthma is almost always viral educed, so not sure if antihistamine would work or not(?) but worth thinking about. Somebody also suggested asking about increasing his brown inhaler when he has a cold, again worth thinking about. I am taking him to our gp next week, I am sure he will refer this time, we have discussed it before and agreed to see how things go first but this is becoming a regular thing and I cant see it improving soon, especially in the winter months. One good thing is that since going on the preventers in December he has only needed steroids once and that was back in February, so they are doing some good, but not enough to stop the wheezing and pulling of tummy when he has a cold, as I said it disappears when he wakes up and is ofter only bad for one or two nights, but I worry that when he is like this he is not getting all the oxygen he needs when asleep. I do try to prop with pillows, think it helps a little, but not enough. Last few nights he has still had the wheeze/crackle but the breathing has been lovely and settled thank goodness. His brother has also had a bit of a wheeze. I have been sleeping inbetween the pair of them wheezing lol, this cold is really lingering! Anyway thanks again for your reply, it really does help to get other peoples views who understand.xx

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no worries glad to be of some help i know how frustrating it is and how many times i have and still do sleep in with her, and if shes been ill she realises that she is worse at night so if she isnt feeling well insists on her older sister sleeping in with her keep me posted and if you get any more tips from your doctor let me know as im forever running out of ideas of things to try.

take care

marie

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