have you thought of giving calpol AND nurofen says the SHO at the hospital

[Yorkiegirl]

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Poor little sausage. Ear pain is HORRIBLE. And grrr at the SHO although I suppose she wasn't to know that you have vast experience of pain relief - probably more than her.

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Sounds like an excellent idea to me. at SHO. How old is dd2? If she's coming up for school age you could argue it's important to treat it now so she doesn't have problems communicating.

One of my GP mates says he's perfectly happy to prescribe (mild and infrequent) anti-bs for small children with ear infections even when not strictly necessary on the grounds that the placebo effect for the poor exhausted and worried mother is bloody important!

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oh, that's a really poor show. My friend's boy in ds's class had his grommets op organised so he'd be fully recovered and hearing fine by the time he started reception. Shame your area is less helpful.

Sorry- am I being really dim?
When I have sinusitus I overlap paracetamol and ibuprofen... I was told this was okay by my GP.

It is OK. But Yorkiegirl is already doing it and her DD is still screaming in agony (at least, that's my understanding of her OP).

I also thought the same EachPeach then I realised they can be taken together. I think it's the amount of pain the OP's DD is in. Calpol and Nurofen wouldnt touch it.
She needs something a lot stronger prescribed by the hospital Poor DD, can they not treat it with gromits? or is she too young?

Ah! Sorry- you see... I was being dim!

These drugs should only be given as a last resort. Paracetamol clogs up the liver. Drugs always leave some side effects to the body...even if youi cant see them.

Yeah, just wave some magic leaves instead
FGS, use medication, it's helpful and no paracetamol does not 'clog up the liver'

Yorkie - would you consider trying cranial osteopathy? Consultant told me I was wasting my money when I asked his opinion but two months later when we went for a check up, DS's glue ear was 100% gone in one ear and 70% gone in the other!! No surgery, no grommets, no pain, no deafness. He goes to the osteopath once a month now, scaled down from twice a week. Check it out.

We've been known to 'layer' calpol & nurofen
Give dose calpol
2 hours later give dose nurofen
2 hours later give dose calpol etc
BUT if that's not touching it then SHO seriously should be giving you something more

(thinks beeper has been lucky that he DC hasn't been is sufficient pain to need to take anything and will be rather glad of them should the need ever arise)

My DS is 4.5 - always has the snuffles and watery eyes. Had his tonsils & adenoids out last year.

He's now started Reception and his teacher referred him for Speech & Language Therapy (SALT) within 2 weeks of meeting him.

He's now waiting to go to see the ENT as he has glue ear and it is really making his hearing bad which has a knock-on effect for his speech and, of course, reading and writing because everything is phonetically based and he can't hear it !!

Without wishing him any pain, I am kind of hopeful that he'll be referred for Grommets.

Strangely enough, he has no ear pain or, even worse, he's so used to ear pain that he doesn't ever mention it

Yorkie, can you go to GP, let them know not for grommits, and specifically ask for advice re analgesia. Make it clear it is mostly at night that its a big problem. If GP is unable to come up with anything on the spot ask them to contact the childrens hospital acute pain team for specific advice. Do you have a GP in the practice with a particular interest in paediatrics? They may be more on the ball than some others.

It is not ideal to prescribe stronger analgesia for children on a regular basis, as it may be some time before ears resolve, but it may be that for the worst nights a sedative, or sedative analgesic is warranted. The issue with stepping up the analgesic ladder is you are getting into opiates, and then you have opiate side effects, constipation, daytime drowsiness etc. which may require medication to treat too, e.g. a laxative.

Re paracetamol and brufen, the bottle doses are cautious, with good reason. You need to get your DD weighed and discuss with GP specific maximum doses allowable, and dosing intervals. If you only medicate at night, you can probably give a slightly more tailored regime.

It must be very difficult for you to hear successful stories of grommits, but the studies of populations, not individuals do seem to come down on the side of not doing this operation. Not comforting for you at the moment I know.

Best of luck.

K bear you would be wrong, my DS suffered from repeat ear infections and even got rushed to hospital in an ambulance for a convulsion. But even I only use calpol as a last resort after garlic and olive oil etc, and a heat pack for the pain.

beeper - what am I wrong about? don't understand...

My daughter had a problem like this a few years ago, luckily she grew out of it but I seem to remember my Dr then telling me about about some research that was new (then) that involved putting drops of ????lignocaine into the ear to help with pain. Now I may be making that name up, or the research may have come to nothing but I wonder if it is worth a Google?

A collegue at work has twin boys (age c.4 - Scotland, so only starting school this next August) and one of is boys had grommets put in a few weeks ago. He says that the the differecne was immediate: whereas before the TV had to be on loud and he didn't react quickly when spoken to, after the op, he would hear when whispered to and was much happier and responsive. 'cos he is a twin, the difference is even more marked - as previouslt he was lagging his twin.

beeper, a healthy liver will completely metabolise paracetamol

that is what it does, it is its function

I had to larf at garlic and olive oil for an ear infection.....