Unflavoured infant paracetamol vs hens teeth.

[Lunafortheloveogod]

Posting for traffic, as I’ve already waited 5 days for an answer from gp/pharmacist.

DS 7months is allergic to strawberries/citrus fruits and advised to avoid any similar fruits. He’s fine with banana, apple, peach, pear, prune and apricot so far. He’s got a cold, which he’s generally ok with just snotty and combined with his teeth coming through he gets the odd fever. Calpol is strawberry causes a rash and screaming.. haven’t tried orange (citrus) or cherry flavour yet (he hasnt had a drop of cherry anything so after having a near miss with kiwi I’m not the keenest to go bung it into him)

Anyhoo we’ve tried sugar free same reaction.. is there an unflavoured infant paracetamol syrup in existence? Or a banana/apple/pear one? According to my gp there isn’t but alas they also told me they could only get an sma milk for cmpa but paediatrician got a different version in.. so my faith in them isn’t the highest.

I am a pharmacy technician in a busy community pharmacy. I have never come across unflavoured infant paracetamol. I have been looking it up and have found that Rosemont do one in Mango flavour which your pharmacy may be able to order in for you. A website I use which you can find lots of information on medicines is: medicines.org.uk

Paralink is colorless and flavour free. I am In ROI. Not sure if have it in the UK

Paralink but I think it’s an Irish brand. It’s vile and not any flavour I’ve ever recognised. Also dozol is caramel flavour. It’s paracetamol with antihistamine so may cause drowsiness (which may not be a bad thing)

Need to be age 6 for products containing antihistamines alongside paracetamol

I think Sainsbury’s junior paracetamol suspension doesn’t have strawberry flavour, DD turns her nose up at it as it just tastes sweet and not like calpol.

Might still contain something that disagrees with him but might be worth a look?

Sainsbury’s paracetamol

I think Disprol is banana flavour, though it's been a while since I've seen the infant suspension

I actually phoned the calpol helpline about this. In 2016 there was no actual strawberry in it.

Probably not helpful unless you are going on holiday soon but in Italy (and I guess Spain, Europe etc) they sell unflavoured liquid paracetamol drops for babies - you put it in milk or juice. DS is too big for it now though its only up to 2 year olds.

@Lunafortheloveogod I agree, but I'd add that I don't see why any medicines are loaded with crap! I'm sensitive to artificial colours (I break out in hives) and whenever I have to take medication it becomes a complete pain in the backside as prescribing doctors don't always have the full information available about the excipients. I'm currently having to take antibiotics as a precaution due to trickling waters (35 weeks) and after lots of messing about am now having to break a capsule and dissolve the powder into water to avoid the artificial colours. I got a full on rage when I discovered that another manufacturer of the same drug does not use artificial colours, thereby showing that they aren't necessary 🙄

Not looking forward to trying to avoid crap in medicines when this baby arrives...

tiny bit of soluble paracetamol mixed with something he likes?

I asked Our Boots pharmacist this question a few years ago. They couldn’t get / make unflavoured paracetamol suspension but we’re happy to make it up in banana flavour for us.

You can ask for suppositories. They will tell you they can't prescribe them- they most certainly can. I had to fight for it for my then toddler with CMPA, strawberry, citrus, vomit on will. They were life savers. I would get 5-10 a time. Really had to fight. You can also buy them but pricy

Wilko sell healthpoint infant paracetamol liquid.
Sugar and colour free and cherry flavoured. Cost £1.20 a bottle which a third of the price of calpol

Paralink suppositories available over the counter in ROI

I’ll give boots a call see if they can make something up since the locals seem to just order it in. We’re not near boots but we’re closer than Sainsbury’s or wilko by googling them.

I wouldn’t mind even paying for the suppositories, I can see why they aren’t the first option but I don’t see why it should be like pulling teeth to get them, the wouldn’t even tell me they stocked them.

I’ve got the gp for me tomorrow too, she’s a locum so I’ll pester her as well.. disprol seems to have vanished into a puff of banana smoke.

@Lunafortheloveogod

I had this problem when my LO was younger they would all tend to bring a rash out

I used these which are suitable from 3 months, I got them from home bargains but looking online it looks like they are quite hard to get hold of now, worth a try!!

www.myhealthshop.co.uk/disprol-soluble-paracetamol-tablets-16-tablets

Oops sorry just realised you mentioned them!!

Could you not get suppositories instead?

I know some cmpa babies have a problem with sorbitol which I think (but happy to be corrected) is in sugar free calpol but not the sugary stuff and also not in some own brand?

Doliprane isn't the suppository paracetamol. First got it for DD in France as it's the normal way to deliver drugs there.

My DD will not take medicine orally, so this is a great option

It can’t be the strawberry flavouring, there’s no way it’s been derived from a real strawberry.

@AllTheProsecco you might be onto something, the illusive strawberry flavour might be a red herring, was just the basic assumption of allergic to strawberries.. thus strawberry things, he is cmpa and lactose intolerant. I’ll probe the gp tomorrow.

I've just checked the sugar free and sugar versions of calpo. Both have sorbitol so maybe not the answer! Seems the only difference is Maltitol? Sorbitol is E420.

I was just about to mention sorbitol. I see that mentioned frequently on the Facebook cmpa page. I believe there is an own brand paracetamol that is sorbitol free but I can't remember which. If you add the page and search sorbitol there will be many posts on this although likely to be strawberry flavoured.

We’ve always used paralink and nurofen suppositories. I’m in Ireland so Just get them over the counter. Are you sure you can’t get them in boots ?

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