Can an asthma attack be stopped on its tracks?

Question

My child's asthma starts gradually, usually when catching cold or drinking anything cold, first some coughing appears, after 1-2 days the coughing becomes more persistent until is non stop and if not taken to A&E asthma will settle. She is then prescribed steroids tablets and antibiotics. Howver doctors are reluctant to give her anything before the asthma or chest infection has started. I wonder if there is anything I can do to stop asthma and/or chest infection settled in.

Answer 1

I read somewhere that a cup of coffee upon onset will actually stop some athsma attacks. How old is your child? If your child is between the ages of 0 - 2 years, your child may have caught RSV and may suffer from athsma symptoms for the rest of his/her life. RSV can take WEEKS to get rid of, and the only thing they can do for a child with RSV is give the child breathing treatments.

Also, my son (he had RSV when he was about 2 months old, and he was a preemie) was given breathing treatments on the first sign of wheezing. Has your pediatrician given your daughter a prescription for a nubulizer? Might wanna check into all that.

If there is a lot of coughing, I have also read that if you run a hot shower with the door closed and allow the humidity to build up in the bathroom that it will also clear up the athsma.

Really, you should speak with your child's pediatrician (or get a second opinion) to find out if there is anything you can do to eliminate athsma-type symptoms without the use of steroids.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I have asthma! When I have an attack the only thing that helps if I don't have an inhaler is a paper bag(not plastic). But if you really think you had an attack and not just hyperventilating go to the doctor. He should send you to a pulminologist for testing to make sure whether you have asthma or not. Even though you may not have it on a daily basis you may still have it. Get checked out just in case. Asthma is nothing to mess around with.

Answer 4

I use ginger tea when I feel a cold coming on. It opens the air passages and usually keeps me from getting an asthma attack. If I'm having an attack, I try to drink black coffee (maybe with a little sugar) before I resort to my inhaler because I would rather have coffee jitters than inhaler jitters, which are worse. I don't know if coffee would work for your daughter. The caffeine in coffee is supposed to relax the lungs and stop an asthma attack. It works for me but my attacks are on the mild side. My friend says black tea works for her but I haven't read anything about the caffeine in tea helping asthma...only coffee because of the other things that are in it.

Here's how I make the ginger tea:
I clean off the ginger root and break it into little chunks. Then, I boil it in water until the water turns color (typically reddish-gold). Then, I add honey or sugar and lemon to taste, sometimes a little cinnamon. It tastes like a spicy lemonade and you can drink it hot or cold. With breathing problems, it would be better warm or hot (depending on her age). BTW...The tea won't stop an attack if it's happening. She'll still need an inhaler or whatever the doctor gave her. It will just ease the discomfort and help ward them off if they're caused by excess mucus.

Good luck.

Answer 5

Ask about maintenance medications such as advair (very successful for maintenance), singulair (allergies and asthma), spiriva, pulmicort and so on.

Ask about rescue inhalers like xopenex, pulmicort and albuterol.

Keep your daughter away from extreme cold, or EXTREME TEMPERATURE CHANGES, such as going from a very hot environment to a very cold one.

If cold drinks bother her, avoid them whenever possible.

Try using tea, it often calms down asthma. The person above me gave you a good recipe for ginger, you might also try special asthmatic tea, which is available in most supermarkets.


Hope this helps, and best of luck.

Answer 6

She doesn't have a maintenance drug ?