Asthma Parent

I was very pleased to have been asked to write a guest blog for asthma UK about the very real benefits of the Personal Asthma Action Plans as part of their 'Keeping Children out of Hospital' campaign. Please do consider donating to this very worthy charity, they make a whopping difference.

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by two lovely researchers the other week from the Health Experiences Research Group (HERG) at the University of Oxford. They are behind the Youth health talk and Health talk online websites which allow you to share the experiences of thousands of people through audio, video or written accounts of health related conditions and illnesses. Very worthwhile and well worth a look. As part of the interview they were interested in the things that we do when we feel A is at risk of an asthma attack, and, as we found ourselves in that position again last week I thought it might be useful to share those things, things that I realise we do quite automatically now, but which we've learned to do over time. It's very specific to A and her asthma triggers of course, but I thought it might illustrate how over a period of time you get quite used to the routine of what to do and when and although you never lose that feeling of worry and panic when carin...

So we've taken the plunge, fully supported by A's consultant, to stop the Clenil (brown) inhaler over the summer and just continue with the Montelukast. A is often a lot better during the summer and had a number of colds last year which didn't result in a flare up of her asthma symptoms. The idea is that a break from the steroids can only be a good thing and that the Montelukast with far less side effects and a good track record in treating asthma in children [ Knorr, Barbara, et al. "Montelukast, a leukotriene receptor antagonist, for the treatment of persistent asthma in children aged 2 to 5 years." Pediatrics 108.3 (2001): e48-e48 ] would keep any exacerbations at bay. Feeling a teensy bit concerned today though I must admit, as she has come down with a cold and who knows how effective the Clenil was in preventing any potential attacks during the summer last year. She's sleeping now and we've just been in and given her the blue inhaler as her breathin...