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asthma also posted in toddler

hi i know i haven't been on here in ages so sorry for just posting straight away rather than replying to posts. Erin has been unwell today she had acute respiratory episode again, she had a nebuliser in GP's and has been started on prednisalone (although so far has been sick after having it). But it was lucky that the asthma specialist nurse was there and Erin is being followed up in a week by asthma team.

She has been put on steriod inhalers permanantly to take twice a day, which i'm hoping will prevent this. The astmha seems to only be triggered by her having a cold type virus. Anyway i'm starting to waffle but the point in the post. Is the way Paul is. He always seems so laid back like 'no she's not that bad'. The GP told us this morning to have a low threshold to take her to a&e and this afternoon she was uncontrollably crying and couldn't catch her breath and was sick and had really high temp and her little body trying to get her breath made me cry. I said we are taking her to hosp now but he was like 'no lets give her the inhalers and see how she goes' he convinced me i was over reacting and i agreed to it. Tbh after her being forced by us to have her inhalers she improved loads and then ate more than she has in ages and was playing still very short of breath but a massive improvement.

So my point is was i overreacting? Paul's argument is whenever we have taken her to hosp they just give her inhalers or nebs hourly and we can give inhalers at home. My argument is babies compensate so well that she will just keeping going and going and going until she collapses where as in hosp they can monitor this b4 it happens (by recording sats resps etc not to mention if she collapses and she was already in hosp would be miles better than collapsing at home). Anyway he was right earlier on she obviously didn't require hosp treatment because although she is obviously wheezing still and short of breath she seems ok in herself. I'm so confused. Next time when i think she needs to be seen should i just take her? or wait and see (as Paul's philosphy seems to be!!!)? It doesn't help that I have some medical koweldge, because i have a tendancy to over dramatise the slightest illnesses for e.g when Erin was a new born and didn't poo for 5 days I had diagnosed her as having a bowel obstruction and thought she was going to have a mini stoma bag but she was just a normal bf baby !!) so as you can see my reputation for being over dramatic does not help matters !!

Sorry for my lengthy post any opinons or advice greatly appreciated.

P.s Paul is a great dad i think he just has the abilty to stayed calmer than me, altho last time he stay calm and told me i was neurotic Erin ended up in resus for 2 hours trying to stabilise her breathing !!!
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Replies

  • Hiya

    I know I have posted on this before with you but thought I would add something since you are asking something different!

    Firstly, really sorry to hear that Erin is ill again. Poor lamb. I really hope she gets well soon.

    Secondly, NOOOOOOOO you are NOT overeacting at all! My OH is the same with our kids. It drives me nuts. Sometimes he is right and I do get a bit carried away but, when it comes to a chronic disease like asthma then you have to err on the side of caution.

    As you know Chris is and has been a chronic asthmatic since he was a baby. He even got tested for Cystic Fibrosis when he was about 3. He too had an attack whenever he caught a cold. It went to his chest and next thing ..bang...an attack. He had something called Brittle Asthma which came on really quickly. His consultant said he was the sublime to the ridiculous in 60 seconds. We had an open bed policy on the kids ward which meant we did not have to go to the Drs first. They trusted me enough to bring Chris into the Day Assesment Unit. This always ended with an admission to the Childrens Ward and sometimes the PICU when he needed to go on a ventilator (only happened twice). I don't want to frighten you and I hope I am not! He was on flixotide (orange one) for 2 puffs twice a day, flixonase for his nose and ventolin as and when. We had combivent at home to use in a nebuliser too. However, I think the policy has changed now and they say if they are ill enough to need a Nebuliser then they should be in hospital. I have to say I totally agree with this. The heart rate increases when you use too much ventolin and its good to be in hosp where the sats are been monitored. Also, at home the nebuliser draws air from the room whereas in hosp it is pure oxygen that delivers the nebules. Much better.

    I think your OH needs to realise how serious this condition can be .I had a friend request for facebook the other week. It was the sister of a boy I used to go to school with. We got chatting and I asked how Martin was. She said he was fine considering. I asked considering what? She replied that he had a serious asthma attack when he was in his 20's and this left him blind and deaf. I felt sick to my stomach reading this . I dont think people realise how serious asthma can be. I have been at home with Chris waiting for an ambulance when he actually stopped breathing. His lips went blue, he wet himself and just flopped in my arms. I thought he had died. He was about 8 at the time. When the crew arrived they had to bag him and blue light him to hosp. He had lumbar punctures (they suspected meningitis) and ended up on a ventilator for days. It was horrendous.

    I must add though that todays medicine has improved a lot and he is now on a purple one ( cant remember its name) and carries a ventolin inhaler in his bag/pocket,. car, my bag, sports bag, school nurse etc..... he has some attacks (had one in the summer) but is much much better now. He went on a tablet once ( again I cannot remember its name) that really helped.

    Push for a consultant appnt at the asthma clinic as they really do help.

    big hugs to Erin and I hope she is well soon..
    d xx
  • I'm so sorry to hear about Erin's condition. Sounds very scary and as a Mum, I'd def be as worried as you are.

    I don't think you're overeacting at all. I don't want to frighten you with a really awful story, as this is really rare, but my brother's girlfriend died from a massive asthma attack two and a half years ago. She was 26. It was about a week after she'd had a course of anti-biotics and steroids for a nasty chest infection and her breathing was bad at the time. She and my brother and sister had stayed up drinking and smoking (I know....) and the attack happened a couple of hours after they went to bed. It sounds horrendous - my bro and sis trying to give her m2m while waiting for the ambulance, which fortunately arrived very quickly, but her brain had gone without oxygen for too long. They switched her life support machine off the next day.

    I know stories like this are very rare, and I hope I haven't worried you even more, but it's just not worth taking any chances in my mind, which is why I think you're doing the right thing by wanting to take her to A&E.

    On a separate matter, my friend's daughter (she turned 2 in August) has just been diganosed with asthma after a constant stream of chest infections. She is also allergic to cats and dogs. Have you had allergy testing done on Erin? My friend's daughter improved loads after they said godbye to their dog who lives with her parents now. Maybe house dust or something simple is aggrevating her condition.

    Sorry I can't be of more help - I haven't had much experience of asthma except for this tragc story. Really hope I'm not making matters worse by mentioning this - I would just hate anyone else to go through this if it could be prevented.

  • Thanks, for replies. Makka Pakka your story hasn't made things worst at all, its really awful, I think i was one of those ignorant people who thought asthma was one of those common diseases that is only serious once in a while, now Erin has it, i am fully aware of the severity of the disease for anyone who has it.It is so scary to see your lo suffering with it, as Dee dee knows - thnks for all your advice and support with everything since erin has had these episodes you've been great.

    Thanks again Mez xx
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