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.

bebee_2

: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_2

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 https://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 https://www.nauticalia.com.)

Mandles

Elljay wrote: »

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 https://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_2

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!