Mum of little happy wheezer

[mumofhappywheezer]

Hello,

I am new to this website.. a little bit about me and my son.. my son turned 2 last week. He was unofficially diagnosed with asthma around 1 year and his consultant officially diagnosed him with 'infantile asthma' when he was around 18 months. There is no family history of asthma. Today, his consultant informed us that he is very unlikely to grow out of his asthma, due to the severity of it over the past two years.

A bit of background.. he was first hospitalised with bronchiolitis at 4 weeks.. he got it again a few times and was hospitalised with nebulisers and antibiotics each time. He started on inhalers by about 10 months (I think, that time was just a blur!). He has had to have oral steroids (pred) over the past year (they refused to give him oral steroids before about 10 months due to side effects) well in excess of 20 times. Luckily only a handful of hospital admissions since then as I mainly manage his symptoms at home once I get antibitoics and/or steroids from his GP or out of hours. Many a night we have spent him sleeping on me while he coughs and wheezes away.

His triggers seem to be any viral infection (cough and cold) which is made worse by cold air. He is also very susceptible to ear infections.

I separated from my husband 9 months ago, largely part to the stresses of caring for our little one. As a result of frequent asthma attacks and such a frequent need for medication for chest infections our little one has never ever slept well. Now that I know he won't be growing out of it I am looking for other sources of support.

I am wondering if any other parents out there have little ones with asthma and how they cope??

Thanks! S xx

[johnsmith]

There are classes on baby massage. Attending one of those may or may not be helpful. If you knew how to relax tight muscles effectively then this would be a great help on relaxing the muscles which affect your sons breathing.

The massage class will be able to tell you more.

[angievere]

Sorry to hear about your little one. I sympathise as went through very similar with my son (now at university). its a shock when the consultant says he's unlikely to grow out of it, but from my experience they do get stronger as they get older and learn strategies to cope. Also big strides in treating asthma and hopefully this will continue. In the meantime, work on building up his immune system - extra vitamins, hat and scarf on when going out, etc. I avoided play groups at this age, as my son always caught what ever was goingmwhich resulted in asthma attacks.

My son still has severe asthma and is on full medication, including Xolair injections, but he copes well at university and has a positive attitude which helps. So it is possible for a good outcome even with bad asthma. Good luck and I hope things improve.

[Jokir007]

Poor you lovely but keep strong for you both, went through something similar 20 years ago with our son and yes my husband at time found it difficult to take on board, but that's was his loss as it is for yours. Massage classes seem interesting as this may help along with all medication. Traumatic as it is at times for you seeing your little one so poorly, take support from your Asthma nurse or GP.

Thankfully our son has controlled asthma now an no where near as bad as when he was 2 thankfully.

Take care