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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think paracetamol won't turn my daughter into a crack addict at 16?

51 replies

BerylOfLaughs · 07/06/2011 17:22

My 5yo daughter has calpol whenever she cries and tells me she is in pain - not from a fall, but from things like leg pain which she gets from time to time. I also gave some to her last week when she had some mosquito bites which were massive (golf ball diameter) and she woke up in the night in pain/itchiness with them.
Basically, I have no problem with giving her Calpol as and when she says she needs it, but my husband thinks I should hold back and only give it to her if she's in a fair bit of pain or else she won't develop a tolerance for pain and will become dependent on drugs and will be on crack at 16.

OP posts:
Themumsnot · 07/06/2011 19:49

I would totally disagree with whoever told you that there are no such things as growing pains, OP. I suffered from them regularly as a child and so did my DD1 - and we both certainly had them from the age of five. I found though as well as the paracetamol, what really helps for some reason is just rubbing the legs. But the pain is real and I think your DH is being a bit of an arse for suggesting she shouldn't have pain relief.

belgo · 07/06/2011 19:53

I also had painful legs as a child - but I think it was muscular. I still get it now, and so does my dd1. I try and massage it before resorting to paracetamol, but for myself, as there is no-one to massage my leg, I take paracetamol straight away.

singwhenyourwinning · 07/06/2011 20:01

Just to clarify, there is no dose of paracetamol that is comparable with heroin (also known as diamorphine).

reikizen · 07/06/2011 20:11

as my GP recently said to me 'you can take paracetamol for ever and a day!' As far as I know there is no evidence to support the cirrhosis/heroin suggestions re: paracetamol! I'm sure the OP is sensible enough to try alternatives/delaying tactics but sometimes some analgesia is required I'm afraid. I too remember the bloody disprin stuff it was awful, but the fact that I remember it must mean I was in need of it sometimes!

springbokscantjump · 07/06/2011 20:14

Um can I just point out (and I'm sure I'm teaching grandma to suck eggs) but disprin is no longer recommended at all for kids.

manticlimactic · 07/06/2011 20:17

Don't worry about it OP. When she gets to 6 she can have Medinol 6 which I found much more effective. Grin

reikizen · 07/06/2011 20:17

of course not! Glad you pointed that out! Hey, it's a wonder I survived at all!

teraspawn · 07/06/2011 20:29

I once drank a whole bottle of calpol when I was little. It is seriously nice stuff.

teraspawn · 07/06/2011 20:30

Oh and I was fine. That may not mean anything.

AMumInScotland · 07/06/2011 20:36

Sorry yes when I mentioned Disprin I didn't mean as an alternative, just that it was what we had in the past.

Original poster
BerylOfLaughs · 07/06/2011 20:44

Well, my daughter had leg pain this evening which is why I posted again. First time she got upset about it was at dinner when I let her go and lie on the sofa and watch tv for a while till she felt better, took about 15 mins. Then she was crying before bed saying her leg hurt more. I (rightly or wrongly) gave a little gummy bear and told her that the sugar in it should help her leg. She sucked it while I read her a story. She calmed down but said her leg still hurt. I asked her if she wanted Calpol, having earlier told her that I wasn't giving her any because it was bad for her insides to have it too often, and she said no.
So, she's fallen asleep without medicine. I have tried this a couple of times before and both times she has woken in the night and I have cracked and given her medicine. Let's see what happens tonight.

OP posts:
ZombiePlan · 07/06/2011 21:36

Well, if she woke up in the night, presumably that was because she was in some degree of pain - I wouldn't class giving painkillers then as "cracking"

LittleMissFlustered · 07/06/2011 21:53

IF she wakes up maybe a hot water bottle for the leg pain. It can offer a quicker relief for muscular pain than paracetamol which has to work it's way though the system.

My son is just a drug addict. HE comes up with all sorts of reasons that he needs calpol for. I ignore them all though, as he has a habit of looking like death for thirty seconds, then cheesy grinning like a Cheshire cat when he produces the bottle from nowhere. Little shit should be in advertising. Also, into bankbreaking, as I have bugger all idea how he manages to find the damned stuff after I hide it. I suspect he's in league with the cats, his sister and possibly Artemis Fowl...

TruthSweet · 07/06/2011 21:55

If it is pain in the joint it might be worth getting it checked by a Dr (actually any on going pain in a child is worth getting checked out!). DD2 has recently been diagnosed with arthritis and had bad pains in her joints (hands/hips/knees/wrists/lower back/toes/ankles.....).

She is on ibuprofen syrup twice a day and ibuprofen gel for her knees and she has gastritis after only 2-3 months of daily dosing of ibuprofen (she was diagnosed recently but had been complaining of nausea after about 1 month of ibuprofen at 10ml a day).

I can interleave paracetamol with the ibuprofen but as the ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory (NSAID) it is miles more effective at dealing with joint inflammation I don't give the paracetamol unless really needed

LovelyDaffs · 07/06/2011 22:05

I suffered from growing pains as did my father and now my ds. If you've had them you wouldn't suggest that there was no need for pain relief, any more than you'd say it if it was tooth ache etc. I'd go so far as to say it would be cruel to have a policy of not giving calpol for growing pains. Obviously it's worth trying other methods ie, rubbing her legs, hot water bottle etc first but it hurts like mad. Oh and I didnt get them in my teens I was younger than 7 and my ds has had them since he was about three.

boysrock · 07/06/2011 22:13

Bollocks to your dh theory.
You dont want her growing up unable to self medicate either. I have had just had a day full of people telling me they're in pain but "no i haven't taken any painkillers because I dont do pills"
How the fuck they expect their strains and whiplash to improve without it is a mystery. paracetamol isnt usually cited as the high way to crack addiction afaic

so as long as she isn't being overdosed or taking it for more than 5 consecutive days then I dont see the problem. If she has persistent pain and you haven't already I would get the once over by the gp just to double check its not flat feet or joint pain

As an aside mosquito bites - piriton is better.

Venacava · 07/06/2011 22:36

Birdsgottafly- do you have any evidence to back up your statement r.e. Cirrhosis and paracetamol? I would disagree with you and say it is mostly alcohol related.

Birdsgottafly · 07/06/2011 22:46

Vena- the majority of cases of Cirrhosis is medication, perscribed and non perscription, alcohol make up a smaller figure, i will find links. I deal with these sort of matters in work and use 'credited' academic texts (UK) rather than web sites.

HauntedLittleLunatic · 07/06/2011 22:54

I think (correct me if I am wrong) that paracetamol - along with quite a few other drugs is contraindicated in patients with cirrhosis to prevent further damage (although respect that doesn't actually relate to teh questions asked here).

springbokscantjump · 07/06/2011 22:57

Birds would you mind posting that link? (genuinely). All my textbooks as well as reputable medical sites state alcohol or hep C as leading cause for cirrhosis but drugs for fulminant hepatic failure.

fishfingersandcustard · 07/06/2011 23:03

If she's getting growing pains in the middle of the night, I'd definitely suggest calpol. I agreed that it would be cruel to deny it. I used to suffer with growing pains between the ages of 5 to 10 and I can remember vividly waking up and sobbing in pain until my parents heard and got me calpol. I felt too bad to even get up and walk to their bedroom.

Birdsgottafly · 07/06/2011 23:41

Hep C is one of the leading causes, so none of your books mention drug (any), use? I started out in health care, 27 years ago and the leading cause of death in those on long term meds for health conditions was the damage done to liver and kidneys of those meds (meds have obviously improved now).

InTheNightKitchen · 07/06/2011 23:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
BerylOfLaughs · 08/06/2011 09:09

It's not joint pain - I have a keen eye out for that as one of DD's grandmothers had it from teenage years.

I did give her antihistamine cream with calamine for the bites but it wasn't enough.

She didn't wake up last night so we managed to get through without calpol where I usually would have given her some. Will proceed with the wait 10 minutes policy unless she is obviously unwell. I had leg pains as a child and remember them being a fairly bad ache but I don't think I took anything for it.

No idea what the biscuits mean InTheNightKitchen but I assume it's nothing constructive and you have nothing better to do.

OP posts:
cory · 08/06/2011 09:16

You can get psychologically addicted to painkillers, there is no doubt about that; I had a colleague who was and he really couldn't get through the day without large doses of them.

Dd has chronic joint pains, so we have had to think seriously about this; we could have massive amounts of painkillers on prescription but feel a bit wary.]

We used to work on a kind of two-step basis, so I would first see if I could soothe her by relaxation, cuddles, even lying down next to her- and if that didn't work we might then proceed to the painkillers. She is now trying to learn a way of distinguishing between unbearable and bearable pain, which she finds difficult.