DD has asthma and bad chest infection

[kit]

MY DD (just turned 2) gets a lot of chest infections; various doctors have argued about if she has asthma or not but she has been using a Ventolin inhaler when her chest is bad.

She has had 3 lots of anti-biotics for a chest infection in the past month... she seemed to be getting better but took a turn for the worst on Monday.

Took her to the doctor who told us that if we hadnt had taken her in when we did, she would have ended up in hospital on a nebuliser (sp?) within 2 days :eek:

So she now has soluble steroids - 5mg for 3 days, Anti-biotics, Becotide and Ventolin inhalers plus she is having chesty cough medicine every 4 hours. Calpol and Calprofen too if her temp gets too high.

I ahve 3 questions:

1. Do anyone know of any good web sites that can explain all this to me? I dont understand what is going on in that little body of hers and I really want to.

2. Could I give her anything food or herbal to help? My friend has suggested natural yoghurt to replace the good bactria that the anti-bots have got rid of. Anything else?

3. She is still coughing - badly. No amount of cough medicine helps. Any non medical suggestions for helping this..... will a steamy room help?

I appreciate your help - I feel so sorry for her and feel a little helpless. :confused:

[bebee]

:grouphug: to you and your little one.
Sorry can't give a lot of advice apart from:
Do you have a Asthma nurse at your doctors if yes give her a call and ask for a appointment to explain the situation, my surgery has one and she has been a very good source of information ( i'm undergoing test to see if i have asthma at the moment)
For the chesty cough - when we were little mum use to make a old remendy up that use to help spoonful of syrup with a small knob of butter and a dash of vinegar. heated gently till all melted and when cool enough we use to drink it, she swore her granny use to give it her and that the syrup soothed the throat and the vinegar brook the catargh up. very sweet i know but may be worth a try. ( it seemed to work but who knows )

[Mandles]

My oldest son was extremely ill when he was about 4 like this. We were on holiday and had a fab Dr whos sister was an asthma nurse at our home clinic quite some miles away which was bizzare but he recognised him as having asthma immediately(sometimes it takes a while to diagnose when young).
he was on strong steroids as he was so bad like your DD . He had them again the next attack. As you go on you may recognise patterns like my DS. He gets asthma when he gets colds and the odd occassions. When i hear that cough start i make him take the brown inhaler which is essential and the blue to relieve it.
If she has asthma get an appointment with your local astma clinic as im sure your surgery will have one. They are fab and give you tonnes of info.
If its something other like my little boy had croup then that may not mean future astma. With this steamy rooms/vapouriser that you can plug in is very good too.
It gets better i promise. Its all just a bit scarey at first .But whatever it is they will help you manage it. Also if you don't get good information keep asking as it takes a while to sink in if you are like me! All the best

[angel]

What a worry for you. When I was diagnosed with asthma two years agi I found a lot of good and sensible advice at http://www.asthma.org.uk/ .

I've just finished atwo courses of antibiotics for a bad glandular infection and have just bought some probiotics but I've just checked the packet and they're not suitable for children under three. Maybe probiotic live yoghurt would be ok for under threes, I'm sure that it is.

When I'm coughing badly I find that the only thing that gets rid of it is a course of Ventolin. Then once it has cleared up, no more Ventolin but Budesonide which I take every day. I know that it's not directly related to little ones but I hope that this helps a bit.

My asthma is now under control totally thanks to a very good asthma nurse at my doctors surgery. Does your practice have a asthma clinic? Mine has been invaluable.

Good luck with it and I'm sure that others will be along soon to offer more advice!

[kit]

Thanks guys.
Not heard of asthma nurses- will phone my surgery tomorrow and see if we have one.

DD is so tired right now but she cant sleep due to the coughing - have given her ventolin twice so far..... poor little thing.

[Elljay]

Lots of hugs to you and your dd. I have had asthma since I was a child and pray that my ds doesn't get it. Luckily I seem to have grown out of mine.
I was reading this website the other day and found it very informative
http://www.allergy-clinic.co.uk/allergic_asthma.htm
Also my GP recommends using www.patient.co.uk. At night I would put a vaporiser in your daughterws room and prop her up to sleep if you can. Laying down makes me feel much worse. I f an allergy is starting off her asthma you may have to look at those things. Feather pillows/duvets, blankets, pets etc etc. All of these things set me off. She may not have an allergy asthma so it is best to speak to an asthma nurse for any tips.
Good Luck

[morganb]

My DS1 was like this when he was very little; born in April, he had countless chest infections and wheezes, was hospitalised for the first two Christmases, spent time in hospital on nebulisers, etc., and had a selection of various inhalers to use at different times. Seemed to be on antibiotics at least once every two months for the first 2 1/2 years.
He is 5 next month and, touch wood, has had only one cough in the last year and a half. It does get better. Their airways grow and this helps them breathe easier. I have switched him from cows milk to goats milk because of his eczema and this has made a HUGE difference.
Also, DS2 is quite chesty and he has also suffered from bouts of glue-ear; I found a reflexologist who comes to the house once a week and this has made a HUGE difference to him. I was really quite concerned about the number of antibiotics, steroid creams, etc., they were having to take so I explored natural remedies and, touch wood, they seem to be working very well. Both sons are on goats milk and both are thriving and doing very well indeed. HTH.
Also, I bought dehumidifying eggs for each of their bedrooms, which seem to clear the air and are supposed to be good for people with asthma (admittedly mine don't but a friend has done the same and said that her daughter is coughing less at night. I bought mine from www.nauticalia.com.)

[Mandles]

Lots of hugs to you and your dd. I have had asthma since I was a child and pray that my ds doesn't get it. Luckily I seem to have grown out of mine.
I was reading this website the other day and found it very informative
http://www.allergy-clinic.co.uk/allergic_asthma.htm
Also my GP recommends using www.patient.co.uk. At night I would put a vaporiser in your daughterws room and prop her up to sleep if you can. Laying down makes me feel much worse. I f an allergy is starting off her asthma you may have to look at those things. Feather pillows/duvets, blankets, pets etc etc. All of these things set me off. She may not have an allergy asthma so it is best to speak to an asthma nurse for any tips.
Good Luck

Thats another good point . When my little boy had croup i had him sat up all night on me while i watched teletubbies all night long. It really helped.
Also my oldest rarely gets it as bad as he did the first times so she may not always be this bad.
maybe also see about making sure she has hypo allergenic bedding which also helps. maybe keep a diary to see if anything in particular triggers it. pets? colds ?
Also soya milk is good instead of normal milk.

[kit]

WOW - thanks again for the excellent info. :T

Her bed has been on yellow pages for the past few nights but will higher it further to see if it helps.

I have a very uneasy feeling that this all started when we got our cat - are there any tests to tell if this is the case or do I just have to get rid of the cat?

[Mandles]

May be the cat. The cats that i had for years suddenly gave me asthma and i couldnt part with them so they live in my conservantory and don't come in the house but stroked and loved still. So this probably/possibly is the trigger.
Even if you get rid of the cat from the house give it a lot of time before deciding if this was the trigger as cat hairs and skin cells that cause it also stay for quite a while despite good hoovering.

[Elljay]

Cats are the worst thing for me!!
Even now, with my asthma under control, if I go somewhere with a cat it makes me wheezy. If I touch the cat I am in big trouble!
I had a skin test done to see what i was allergic to (everything except tree spores - doc said I should live in a forest!!!!) don't know what age they can do it from though. Good Luck!

[angel]

Amazingly I work with cats and they don't affect me in any way at all! Phew!!

[pink123]

Hi,

You may find that tea can help as it contains theophylline which is a natural chest relaxant and opens air passages in the lungs making it easier to breathe. Theophylline is also available on prescription for asthmatics

[trigger2]

hi, my ds age 4 has asthma (coughing not wheezing). I bought a room humidifier from argos which steams the room which helps. This winter I've been giving him 2 spoons a day of manuka honey (£5.50 from tesco) which has a high level of antibacterial things (technical huh !), & touch wood, this winter we've had no hospital admissions (which we normally do). I dunno if this is connected but i'm frightened to stop giving him the honey now ! I read lots of reviews on the web about it before i bought some, it's the Rowse Active 10 Manuka Honey i buy. Hope this helps, I know what it's like ! As someone's already said the asthma org is great, you can phone their helpline & speak to nurses to get advice too. Good luck x

[bobsa1]

Hi, my dd now 13 is an asthmatic and it started when she was a baby. The coughing is a sign that her asthma is not under control and she may need more ventolin. You can safely give a child up to ten puffs of ventolin- this is the same dose as a nebuliser, but if that is needed you should go to the doctors.

Are you using a face mask/spacer device to give ventolin as this is the only way that little ones get the proper dose?

Ideally you should strip bed, hoover it, boil wash bedding and remake it up, also get as much dust as possible out of the house (vac with filter is best)

If she has loads of soft toys these harbour dust and it might be worth putting them in plastic bags and then in the deep freeze (kills dust mites)

I found that filtering all drinking water helped (don't ask why!)
and that a drop of lavendar oil in a bath helped to relax her chest.Plug in vaporisers are a help too.

Pets can be a particular problem for kids with asthma so this may be the cause, but even if it is and you get rid of the cat a massive spring clean will be needed.

If you smoke or have a smoker in the house this can also be a major problem.

Good luck, but if in doubt seek medical help. My DD has been hospitalised a few times with asthma and it can be very serious in deed, even life threatening if left untreated.

Also one further piece of advice, open the windows and get some air in as much as you can, fresh air is great (appart from when pollen is high)

Best wishes.

[Justie]

Lots of good advice already given and I'd second the suggestions to get your LO to an asthma clinic and for the humidifier.

As well as thinking about allergies etc do you live in an urban environment? My friend's son had a persistent cough for years when they lived near a busy road, it was diagnosed as asthma - they moved house away from the constant background pollution and he's never had a problem since... If allergies are a risk then background pollution can make them worse too as the body is constantly in crisis state.

[kit]

Thanks all
Tried to see an asthma nurse today but couldnt without a doctors referal..... they booked us in the see the 'asthma doctor'. He said the asthma is as under control as it can be and she isnt bad enough to need hospital treatment yet. No referral to the nurse required :eek:

We have to continue as we are :confused:

She now has a vapor plug in thingy.
I asked the doctor about proping her bed up further but he said "all that will do is make her fall out" (can you tell he didnt take my concerns very seriously?).

She is in bed now coughing and coughing. He advised us to stop giving her cough medicine as 'it will stop her lungs getting a shaking'.

I have bought her soya milk to try tomorrow and a herbal thing from holland and barrett that they say will help.

I feel so helpless (and hopeless) :o

[redballoon]

have you tried putting her in a room with the bath full of very hot water? (obviously you in there at the same time)
the steam will help open her airways.

if she is coughing up phlem, its best for her to spit it out if you can.

[Mandles]

Hope shes got on a bit better since then. I am rereading this thread as my DS has got croup or asthma again and wanted to check how yours was doing.
My doctor said he sounds clear (hes 2) but gave me a aerochamber and mask that i can use with his big brothers subutamol inhaler to see if it helps.She said come back on monday if he has had to use it and been wheezing.She said then the asthma clinic will want to see him.
I know it will get better with age so hope and am pretty sure your daughetrs will too Kit.
All the best!

[blue_monkey]

Did the docs give you the spacer to gve her the ventolin? This holds the ventonlin rather than her trying to breathe in from the inhaler as she is very small.

I am asthmatic too and the constant coughing does sound to me like there is something in her room triggering the allergy. The Ventolin should stop this so if not then there has to be a reason why. I am the same with cats and now they don't come upstairs so if your cat is getting upstairs put a stop to it - even if your daughter is not in the room they leave their hair behind, likewise, if she is stroking the cat and then touching her nose and mouth this will cause it too.

It could be anything, perfume, washing powders - make sure that you are not wearing anything when you go near her to start trying to determine what it is. That means things like deodrant, hairsprays, gels, etc.. even bubble bath you put in her bath or soap to wash her in. It is hard work but you'll get there eventually and things will get better. Keep a diary of everything, however insignificant you may find it. They say children who get asthma before the age of 7 do grow out of it, regardless you learn to live with it - it is a condition that if you take your medicine then you can live it and be very well. The people I know who are ill with asthma do not take care of themselves, smoke or do not take their medication as they should. Sometime this means you changing your life and things you do as well. I cannot be anywhere where they are cooking with spices, the smell of garlic sets me off, people who have the smell of garlic, spices or alcohol on their breath - the tube used to be a nightmare in the mornings!! I started walking in the end.

I know she is little now but when she is feeling better get her walking just a little each day to get her lungs some exercise and I am guessing she is in her buggy a lot now, slow and small at first and build up, it will do her wonders but you have to find out why she is coughing as something is triggering it. You need to stress to people as well if they visit then they cannot wear these things either. It is hard but you need to sort it out for your little girl. It is hard for doctors as they rarely diagnose kids under 2 with asthma so I am sure that they are doing all they can. Just make sure you have that spacer if you don't already have one as you'll pump the ventolin into this and she can have as many deep breaths on it without worrying about getting it all in one puff.

Good luck, please feel free to PM if you want to chat more or want to ask advice as I am usually hopping from forum to forum poking my nose into wherever. I have had asthma for 27 years now - since the age of 9 - it's part of life but things will get better for her. Oh, and keep a food diary of what you have given her - I am allergic to a lot of weird things like apples, prawns, etc.. it is all about whittling down and finding out what it is. the only tests are 'skin p r i c k tests (I got !!!!! before, sorry)' where they put the substance on the skin and then break the skin to see what gets a reaction. My friends daughter has had this at age 2 so they do this - it might be worth speaking to your doctor - or, if you can afford it and they won't so it, get a private test at a private hospital which coss around £200. Don't forget if you have Medical Insurance to use this.

Oh, on more thing to add, being in a steamy room really does make me wheeze because of the heat so this is not always a good thng so please be aware if yu see a change if you are doing this - the same with a vapouriser, be aware of any changes you might see, if it makes no difference remove it as it might be the chemicals in it that are making her wheeze still.

Good luck.

[kit]

Hi everyone.

Just been to Florida for 2 weeks and DD is much better :T..... oh, apart from the fact she now has chickpox! 8 weeks worth of antibiotics and she still manages to catch chickenpox! :confused:

I am trying to keep the cat out of her room. All bedding is being washed at 60 and her mattress has been hoovered and turned.

I guess I will have to wait and see if she gets bad again now we are back. Am going to be keeping a close eye on what may trigger it this time..... after I've finished keeping a close eye on her scratching that is!

[Mandles]

Its funny. My son has a blocked nose aswell as asthma(hes the one i previously posted about) and in Florida he was like a different child. Not the slightest runny nose(which he usually has daily!) and no Asthma at all.
Lets all move there.Hope you had a nice time and hope she gets over chicken pox soon. I covered mine in honey (over the spots) as its a great healer and they don't have one scar.(might not be great in garden though as she might come in covered with ants also!)

[Tim Deegan]

Hi everyone.

Just been to Florida for 2 weeks and DD is much better :T..... oh, apart from the fact she now has chickpox! 8 weeks worth of antibiotics and she still manages to catch chickenpox! :confused:

I am trying to keep the cat out of her room. All bedding is being washed at 60 and her mattress has been hoovered and turned.

I guess I will have to wait and see if she gets bad again now we are back. Am going to be keeping a close eye on what may trigger it this time..... after I've finished keeping a close eye on her scratching that is!

You say you have a cat.......my wife has very mild asthma which is brought on by some animals. The strange thing is that we used to have a cat with very long hair, but she wasn't allergic to it, but she is allergic to both her mum's cat and dog that both have short hair.

What type of quilt, pillow and mattress does she have?
You might be better replacing them with those made from hypoallergenic materials. You can put a pillow in the feeezer, and possibly her quilt, but obviously you can't put the mattress in there. Be careful if you do replace the mattress as some retailers will play on your fears, and try to get you to spend a fortune. You shouldn't have to pay more than £100 (delivered) for a decent quality single mattress. If you don't have any luck, then contact me.

[blue_monkey]

Ah yes, about the mattress. When I was younger I used to have a plastic cover that went right over my mattress and zipped up as I was allergic to bed mites - it is very common. I am not sure if they still make them but maybe see if you can get a matress cover first as this would be much less expensive.

Hope you had a great holiday by the way. We went armed with all my asthma medication, hayfever tablets, drops, etc.. and did not need them at all. It really is very strange isn't it.

[Ted_Hutchinson]

Just been to Florida for 2 weeks and DD is much better The sunshine superstar: study reveals Vitamin D as 'wonder vitamin' (http://www.independent.co.uk//eceRedirect?articleId=2447662&pubId=55)shows it's effect on reducing incidence of colds/flu that was first reported Epidemic Influenza And Vitamin D (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=51913)
andthis (http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/content/full/128/6/3792)shows low vitamin d status is twice as bad as smoking for lung function. You wouldn't let you child smoke but as Most people in the UK have insufficient Vitamin d throughout the year (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/85/3/860) you daughter improvement while in Florida had something to do with the greater availability of sun and consequently higher vitamin d status.

[hollydays]

Havent read through the whole thread,but Manuka Honey helped me a lot when i was recovering from pneumonia(how did i get that-I have NO idea) though its pricey it worked for me.Obviously i used anti biotics too.Health food shops etc sell it.

www.manukahoney.co.uk

[kedj]

Through my teens I went for several years where my asthma was poorly controlled and I restricted my activities to what I felt able to do. I thought I had no alternative. This is completely the wrong thing to do. I now regularly take steroid inhalers and my asthma is well controlled. If you find that your daughter is taking the ventolin all the time, it will probably mean that she needs to take a preventative inhaler as well - not necessarily a steroid one and maybe not all the time either. But asthma should be controllable for the majority of the time, your daughter should not be constantly having difficulties. If your daughter's asthma is not well controlled, then make sure the doctor / nurse is aware - maybe keep a diary of symptons and try to see someone who is understanding of your concerns.

I believe there are blood tests to check for allergies, which you may not like the idea of if your daughter is only 2. Personally I would seriously consider getting rid of your cat, if you think this is a cause.

My son had symptons at around 2 - 3 years, but has grown out of them - he is now 7. My daughter is 5 and occasionally has asthma symtons too, but these have quickly cleared with the ventolin. Hopefully, she will outgrow it too. I hope things work out for you and your daughter.