Additive Free Kids Paracetomol & Ibruprofen?????

[rockinhippy]

I'm hoping someone might have some ideas or info on what I can do to help my DD, (8) who is currently ill with a viruse doing the rounds at her School, complete with a high temperature, so needs to take theabove to keep her comfy :(, but she is now suffering badly thanks to the rubbish they put in kids meds

She is very intolerant of food additives, colours, preservatives, fake sugars etc, something we first realised when she was tiny, due to her being diagnosed with Exzema by a GP & NOTHING the Drs gave us helped her at all thankfully I took advice from a friend who works in alternative medicine, & turned out her problem was actually "Urticaria" NOT Exzem at all

I've never been able to get our GP to update this, her notes still say Exzema, but the only time she EVER has skin flare ups is if she eats anything with certain chemical additives, but I know for CERTAIN this is wrong....is there anything I can do about this??, as I feel it would help the real issue be taken more seriously & be able to get special drugs mixed up for her.

Over the years, antibiotic & steroid treatments seem to have made her even more sensitive to additives, bringing in diareah & stomach pain too :(

So, she has insisted on going to School this last few days, due to School play & lots of kids already been off, & not wanting to let her Teachers down, this has meant me keeping her dosed up with Kids Paracetomol & Ibruprofen.

I now have her covered in sore skin patches, including her eyelids which are now swollen & cracking :( & up all night with diareah & stomach pain, on top of what is already a nasty virus :(


I am taking her to see a GP later, but not expecting much joy, as they always refer to her notes & then insist it is Excema & treat it as such

I have been told by a chemist in the past when we had problems with antibiotics, that special meds can be mixed, but need sending away & has to be on the GPs script....GP says it has to be on the advise of a specialist.....

we saw the gastro specialist a few months ago, but bar agreeing i was doing all the right things, & actually taking notes of what I told him, as it was stuff he'd never heard of, but agreed it was working, didn't really get any clear answers, he was lovely though & came highly recommended, diagnosed Hypermobilty syndrome too, which our GP hadn't previously took seriously, & told me her headaches where also linked to her stomach problems.....but I still didn't come away with any clear answers as to the exact cause, whether IBS or Chrohns as she wasn't in a flare up ...just told to keep doing as I'm doing, as it obviously works

It DOES work, bar times shes ill, then like now I end up feeling like crap mum from hell, as the stuff I give to help 1 thing, pretty much poisons her :(
Gastro Dr did offer a referral to a nutritionalist, saying perhaps they could answer my questions better, but thats not until next year & shes ill NOW

I Use Calprofen & Calpol, both have some additives, but less than others I've looked into, & having spoken with a chemist, its not safe to give cut up adult pills due to how they are made & possible overdose


Anyone else deal with this & found any answers/brands that are okay???

Thanks

[4nomore]

Are you sure that she isn't reacting to the ibuprofen itself? It's very common allergen (although I think it usually produces repiratory effects as well as rashes). I'm giving my eight year old son adult ibuprofen tablets at the moment btw as the dose is exactly the same as the max liquid dose for his age and you could do the same with paracetamol (if she's ok with swallowing tablets) - I've no idea what your pharmacist was on about

[rockinhippy]

Thanks, & yes I'm sure, as its been the same with anti B's only & Calpol only, so definitely the additives

& I've had 2 different pharmacists & a GP tell me the same thing our local 1 trying really hard to help as she has the same problems as DD

sadly our old chemist retired, he used to mix up stuff for her, but turns out its illegal for them t do that now

[bubbleymummy]

Try medinol rather than calpol - it doesn't have as many additives i it because it's clear rather than pink - fwiw carmoisine which is the additive that makes calpol pink is banned in the US, Japan, Norway and it's currently under review for use in the UK.

Also, I wouldn't medicate solely for the temp, only if she is uncomfortable so that could reduce your intake. Have you tried camomile tea? It's a natural antipyretic (fever reducer). You could sweeten/cool it down a bit with some juice if she doesn't like the flavour but it does help if it's the fever that is making her uncomfortable.

Hope she feels better soon.

[rockinhippy]

Thank you bubbleymummy ....& yes, theres quite a few additives banned elsewhere that they allow here....does my head in especially when even the USA have sense to ban them

temperature is high & keeps spiking so I'm having to alternate with paracetomol/Ibruprophen for that reason, strangely bar a mild sore throat & generally feeling tired & under the weather, the symptoms aren't too bad when I can keep her temp down

I didn't know about Chamomile tea for temperature control though, I have some in too, & shes pretty good at taking stuff to help, so I will give that a go & mot heard og medinol, so will try that too......THANKS :)


Just got back from the DRs & saw a different one to usual, who at least was very honest in that she didn't actually know what to write on a script for additive free medicine.....I've now to go back to the Chemist who can send off to have them specially mixed, & find out what to write & she will then sort it out for me, but I can't go til my DH gets home & can't remember name to ring them....but if I can at least I might have something soonish

I miss our old Chemist so much, he was brilliant & always mixed up stuff for her without a special script, sadly I didn't even realise you needed one until he retired :(

thanks again

[rockinhippy]

"NOT heard OF Medinol .....lack of sleep making me more brain dead than normal....lol

[bubbleymummy]

didn't realise you could get additive free ones made up at all! When j asked about it at the chemist they looked at me like I had two heads! Medinol was the next best thing I could get. Seriously though, the NICE guidelines don't recommend using paracetemol/ibuprofen solely to bring down a temp unless it is causing discomfort. If she is ok with the fever then just let it do its thing. The body knows what it needs to do to fight the illness so just let it get on with it :) manuka honey is good for sore throats too.

This might help reassure you about the fever :)

[rockinhippy]

We were lucky with getting them mixed up, in that we had a fantastic old style chemist who knew DDs problems, had it in his computer & just automatically mixed special stuff up for her, without even a reminder, so its been a bit of a shock when he retired to find out thats not the norm :(

But yes, had the same reaction as you from quite a few Chemists, & even GPs its taken me a while to get to the bottom of how the system works, but I've finally had it explained to me last night by the Chemist at the other side of town - who can have them sent away mixed, though doesn't do it himself & needs it written on a script - it takes 24 hrs to come back - something even the GPs have up until now been very confused about, but not owned up too.

It all comes down to having a License (sp) to do it, & they have to qualify & pay for the license, which is difficult & expensive, so very few have it, but there is a central place they can register with & send off to, & have it done for them, this was all explained to me by the chemist last night, he tells me his Dad & Grandad were also Chemists, so have passed on a lot of tips to him, but generally raining isn't as good as it used to be, & that good old "elf & safety" means they don't try any more.

He also tells me that 4nomore is right, as shes 8, she can have adult pills, but recommends the capsules, as I can split the dose safely on those if I want to - he tells me to mix it with Ribena, which interesting he tells me was developed by Glaxo to flavour Kids meds & will hide the tast of anything...it ended up as a drink as it was so popular........& thats working fine :)

& thanks, re the fever etc - I do know all that, but her temperature has been very high & causing headaches & full on shivering, so cold flannels etc just seem a too bit cruel :( , so have had to resort to using the drugs, which I normal would hold off on....good link though

[bubbleymummy]

Poor girl :( of course if she's miserable she should have something. That's very interesting about getting a mix made up. I must ask around a bit more. Hope your dd feels better soon.

[rockinhippy]

Thanks :) her sore skin is starting to settle already, fingers X'd the rest will follow soon :)

[CaptainNancy]

I have asked at my pharmacy and they couldn't make anything up for me- my DS reacts to calpol and calprofen- he has eczema, and it flares up after he's taken them, but also they seem to send him loopy and he can't sleep (too young to tell me what's up).

[rockinhippy]

:( bless him captainNancy its really not fair that they are not automatically catered for, I know too well the suffering it can cause from my own DD...& yes, some stuff used to turn her "loopy" too, but she has thankfully grown out of that part of it, but we still get the skin & stomach flare ups :(


I looked at the "medinol" bubbleymumm7* suggests, & it does look better, so if he's tiny it might be worth you trying ??, & keep asking around in chemist where you live, or maybe post on your mumsnet local board, maybe someone else there can tell you........there will be 1 at least, just a shame theres not some sort of central data base with the info, but after my asking a Doctor friend to find out for me a while back, even he couldn't ge any info, so I'm afraid it seems its trial & error,

Have you tried gmanuka honey mixed into a paste with ground oats on your DSs skin??.....that works well for my DD,

[rockinhippy]

sorry, late & I'm tired.....oats & Manuka honey in his bath would work too, & be easier....DDs eyelids were badly affected this time, & the paste has helped that heal quickly....that & finally stopping the damned poison of course

[CaptainNancy]

can't risk oats tbh- he reacts v badly to aveeno! (tried it as it helps DD's eczema)