New to this

Hello all,

I am writing on here because my daughter has been told by her doctor that she has asthma. Ever since September, after she had the flu she has been suffering from a tight chest and fatigue. She has had numerous days off school, she is 15 and Year 11 (an important year). She has been to the doctor on many occasions and has been prescribed a brown(morning and evening) and blue inhaler (when necessary). These done seem to work. Every time she has had to see the doctor she suffered from a tight chest (it feels like her chest is knotted) and she wants to sleep. The doctor has prescribed steroids for 3 days, 2 lots so far. This morning she could not go to school complaining of a tight chest and has slept all morning and wants to see the doctor again. At my doctors, you need to ring up and they will ring within 2 hours and listen to the symptoms and whether to see the doctor again. It is a worrying time for me. The next time I see the doctor I am going to ask to to take this further and have investigations but not sure how to go about this. Does anyone know what I should ask, either a blood test, x-ray or whatever it takes to help alleviate her problems. Many thanks.

Christine

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hi

WELCOME X

Your doc might send her to have tests done if you ask him.

Lung function tests ,Spirometry and allergy tests to find out if and how bad asthma is.

XXX

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Hi Christine,

My best personal first hand advice (after coming out of hospital today) is forget your GP & either call by phone or log on to NHS Direct. Either way your daughter will get the treatment, information and advice about her condition that she needs. It may take a day or so in hospital but rest assured that A&E takes asthma very seriously and will fully inform you & yours about the path to take to deal with everything.

Take Care.

[angievere]

Hi Christine, How long has she been on the inhalers? The preventer (brown) takes a while to kick in, but the blue one should give some relief more or less straightaway. Has the steroid course helped at all? Feeling tired and a painful chest are symptoms of asthma. Also, a bad bout of flu can take a long time to recover from and once the lungs are inflamed they can take a while to settle down. Is there a history of asthma in the family? I would definitely go back to GP and explain your concerns, and ask (tactfully!) if she could be referred to a specialist.

Re. school work. I can well understand your concern at this time. Is the school supportive with helping her catch up missed work? If not, I would go in to see Head of Year and explain what is happening, and ask how the school can best support her. Your daughter is probably anxious about school work and this can make asthma worse so it's important she gets all the help the school can give her.

I hope things improve and feel free to send me a private message.

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Thanks for your advice. We went to the doctor's last night and finally the doctor has sent her for blood tests and we will see what happens. My daughter is off school again today with chest pain, a friend suggested a hot water bottle but that does not work. I really feel for her. x