Sorry not OT but just need a quickish answer

Just wondering those of you with kids with asthma when do you normally take your child into the after hours to go on the nebulizer.

Ds is a mild asthmatic, went off his preventer over the summer and I probably should have started it before now, he has a respiratory virus that the whole family has had and has been getting progressively breathless over the course of the day, he has had ventolin frequently, which stops his coughing for a while, but now he is wheezing at rest and he is very pressured. I have never taken him in before and not sure when plus I am home alone this evening with 3 kids so don't want to go out unnecessarily but obviously don't want to compromise him.

TIA

If his breathing is getting worse I def would take him in!

If he's pressured - I'd take him now. Nip it in the bud before it gets worse & give him some relief. If he hasn't come right all day, he is unlikely to come right on his own tonight kwim and I remember drs saying that every (bad) asthma attack can do long term damage to the lungs.

Is there anyone you could call to give you a hand and look after the other two?

I third that, take him now. As a kid any asthma attack I had always got worse at night. Better to get all the kids to A&E early rather than having to go in the middle of the night.

Do you have a neighbour, relative or friend who can come and look after your other kids while you take him in?

Yep definitly take him in now, also have a look at his chest while he is breathing, see if you can see between his ribs when he draws in a a breath, a sure sign he is struggling to breathe

If you lift up his top is in indrawing around his ribs? If so then yep take him on in. Also how much ventolin have you been giving him today? When DS1's asthma gets like that we have been told to do 1 puff of ventolin into the spacer and 6 big breaths repeat 6x. Im pretty confident in dealing with DS1's asthma attacks because we have had them so often but if you dont feel confident right now then yep take him in.

thanks everyone, took him to Afterhours, did 6 puffs through spacer and started prednisone tonight, so am feeling much better about things and think he will be okay tonight.

Not that it is about the money but $60 later

DD's plan is for 6 puffs, 6 breaths each, every 20 minutes. And if it gets to this stage she is usually on Redipred too.

Totally agree about the confidence thing.

Sux about the $60 but the outcome could have been much worse if you hadn't have taken him to A&E.

Hope he is on the mend now...how is he today?

Thanks Lobby Loo for asking, he is still home from school today, 3 days later but slowly coming right on the redipred.

And I was not complaining about the $60 as in I didn't want to spend it on him more that I think it is SO wrong that we have to pay so much in our supposedly free health system, we are lucky we can afford it, I imagine for a lot of people atm with things so expensive that unexpected expenses are not so easy to absorb IYKWIM.

Oh yes, totally agree, so much for free public health care eh?!

Hope he is better by now.

Congrats on your new arrival I was wondering if he had arrived. I was pleased to have a free GP visit for my son due to his asthma last week, it normally cost $10 for under 5s in our practice but they have changed the charges I think that adults have had a $1 placed on their fee to make kids under 5 free.
We pay $28 for my 9 year old for a normal GP visit (6 yrs and older) and we pay $35 for adults, (I dont go for me unless I am very very unwell, I have not had a visit for my asthma for over a year just get repeats when in with kidz or phone). I feel that children uptil when they leave school should have free or reduced charges.

It's especially hard for families with kids with chronic/ongoing conditions like Asthma.

At our surgery it is $33 for an adult $28 for a child 6 to 16 years and free for under 6.

Thanks