My child has had an asthma attack

Find out more about other types of asthma medicines in inhalers, like long-acting bronchodilators (LABAs), combination inhalers, and Maintenance and Reliever Therapy (MART) inhalers. It is essential that your health professional has given you an asthma action plan. This explains your medicines, when to use them, and how to manage an acute episode of asthma.

• In clinical trials in adults, the addition of formoterol to beclometasone dipropionate improved asthma symptoms and lung function and reduced exacerbations.
• Asthma + Lung UK has videos explaining how to use the different types of inhaler.
• And according to a 2004 article in the Annals of Internal Medicine, regular use of beta-agonist drugs for asthma not only causes tolerance to the drugs themselves, but increases airway inflammation compared to placebo use.
• There are varying levels of support available
  ranging from simple advice through to pharmacological replacement

  and behavioural therapy.

• People taking high doses of Symbicort for a long time may also need to take extra steroid medicines during times of physical stress, for example illnesses, serious accidents or surgery.

Common triggers include colds, viruses, pets, cigarette smoke, cold weather and pollens. It’s helpful to know what they are and record this in your asthma plan. The best thing you can do for your own health and the health of your child is to stop smoking. As this may be a very difficult thing for you to do, the best way to stop smoking for life is to seek help and support from your GP’s smoking cessation service.

What if my child is sick (vomits)?

Eight weeks later Jessica attends a follow-up appointment where the GP asks about her use of asthma inhalers. Jessica says that she is using them regularly but is unaware her technique is poor as she has not been shown how to use them at either the surgery, pharmacy, or the hospital. This misunderstanding means that no further conversation about the correct use of the inhalers takes place. The hospital sent Jessica’s GP a brief summary of her attendance stating ‘shortness of breath’ and that she has been treated with oral steroids.

• It’s sometimes necessary for steroid tablets to be taken for longer periods.
• Consideration should be given to the need for increased treatment with corticosteroids, either inhaled or oral therapy, or antibiotic treatment if an infection is suspected.
• The cause of expiratory airflow limitation in COPD is
  narrowing of the small airways caused by chronic inflammation,
  hypertrophy of the airway smooth muscle and enlargement of the
  bronchial mucus glands..
• As your child begins to recover we can increase the time (interval) between when they are due more salbutamol (blue inhaler) normally from 1 to 4 hours.
• Adrenocortical function should be monitored regularly as the dose of systemic steroid is gradually reduced.

It is a common condition that affects people of all ages and often starts in childhood, although it can also develop in adults. In the UK, 5.4 million people receive asthma treatment with approximately 160,000 people diagnosed each year with work-based, or occupational asthma, which accounts for about 9-15% of adult-onset asthma. It is reportedly the most common industrial lung disease in the developed world. These children are at a higher risk of secondary adrenal suppression and therefore a longer recommended period of weaning may be necessary.

How to use my child’s aerochamber with mouthpiece

She is discharged, again with a course of oral steroids for seven days and with the advice to see her GP. It reduces inflammation in the lungs that can act as a trigger for an asthma attack, and so should reduce the number of attacks. It is important that your child takes it regularly to help prevent asthma attacks. In a 24 week pivotal trial the safety profile of Fostair 200/6 HFA, 2 puffs twice a day, was comparable to that of an approved fixed dose combination (fluticasone/salmeterol 500/50, 1 puff twice daily).

The size of the reduction should correspond to the maintenance dose of systemic steroid. For patients receiving maintenance doses of 10 mg daily or less of prednisolone (or equivalent) reductions in dose of not more than 1 mg are suitable. For higher maintenance doses, larger reductions in dose may be appropriate. These oral dosage reductions should be introduced at not less than weekly intervals.

Suboptimal: May, year 3 – Jessica’s symptoms continue uncontrolled

Plasma protein binding of formoterol is 61-64% with 34% bound to albumin. There was no saturation of binding in the concentration steroids buy online range attained with therapeutic doses. The elimination half-life determined after oral administration is 2-3 hours.

No clinically relevant effect was observed with Fostair 200/6 HFA on the HPA axis after 6 months of treatment. The study demonstrated the superiority of Fostair 200/6 HFA compared to BDP HFA in terms of change from baseline in the average pre-dose morning PEF (adjusted mean difference 18.53 L). Systemic absorption of unchanged beclometasone dipropionate (BDP) occurs through the lungs.

Budesonide is unlikely to cause any harm if your child accidentally has more puffs than your doctor has recommended, but if your child takes too much inhaler on several occasions, there may be side-effects. This leaflet is for parents and carers about how to use this medicine in children. Our information may differ from that provided by the manufacturers, because their information usually relates to adults. These side effects can greatly impact quality of life, but both treatments may be necessary to prevent the disease from worsening.

Do I have to use inhalers for the rest of my life?

This affects her work as she regularly has to take time off due to her asthma symptoms which has put additional financial pressure on the family. There is no alert at her GP surgery, either within secondary care or at her local pharmacy, indicating her over-reliance on the reliever inhalers which should signal the need for a medicines review. She is not given a full explanation of the difference between a preventer and reliever inhaler or detailed guidance on the correct inhaler technique.

Chinese herbs have a long tradition of use in asthma, but well-controlled clinical trials using herbs for the treatment of asthma are rare. The amount of medicine that passes into breast milk after using an inhaler is negligable and unlikely to have any harmful effects on a nursing infant. You should use continue to use Symbicort turbohaler as normal if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, though of course do make sure that your doctor knows.