On Sunday my daughter was diagnosed with scarlet fever and given a 10 day course of penicillin. The biggest problem we have been having is that her tongue is so sore she can't eat and drinks very little (and only water). The penicillin is 5ml 4 times a day and it's torture everytime. I'm having to hold her down and force it into her mouth (I'm using a fine point syringe to try to bypass her tongue and just put it in the back of her throat). But the moment it touches her tongue you can see the agony in her face. It's exactly the same when she tries to eat. She's hungry and she wants food but everything hurts her. Ice poles seem to be ok but there's nothing much to them when it comes to sustenance. I have tried things like; mashed potatoes, bread and butter, mashed banana, ice cream (she'll only eat a very little bit), ice poles, milk (she keeps asking for milk but doesn't really drink much-but it doesn't hurt her). She hasn't eaten anything for 3 days and it'll be another couple of days before we notice the penicillin kicking in.
Can any one recommend anything I can try - food-wise or a less traumatic way of getting this penicillin into her?
Is it normal for the tongue to be so sensitive with scarlet fever? I asked the pharmacist about it and he didn't seem to understand quite how bad it is.