Medised everynight to get children to sleep is this healthy?

[Runnerbean]

A friend of mine told me she was concerned about a freind of hers who gives her two children (3 and 18 months) Medised or Nurofen every night to get them to sleep! This has been going on since the oldest was 12 months. She is concerned that it is unhealthy for the children, the are drug dependant aren't they? Does anyone else give medicines to help children get to sleep?
Is she creating problems for the future?
I was horrified personally but didn't want to alarm my friend. Wondered what anyone else thought.

I knew someone who used to do this with Phenergan [sp] This is so wrong!

EVERY night?! NO WAY! Thats child abuse surely?!

Ive been known to give jess nurofen or medised to help her sleep on a really unsettled night, but wouldnt do it often..... Jeez......

No way that is terrible. I was worried the other week about how much we give. But I didnt do it to put her to sleep.

What is medised? ive never heard of it, I havent live din uk for a couple of years, is it new?

Antihistamines are addictive so she will have to get them off it slowly or they won't be able to sleep as I found to my horror when doctor prescribed them for a severe itchy rash I had from a reaction to some tablets After 2 weeks i just stopped them and couldn't sleep properly for quite a few nights so they have been on it a lot longer than that.It is so cruel she needs to stop it now

Totally WRONG!

But Nurofen doesn't cause drowsiness anyway!! Its the antihistamine in the Medised that caused drowsiness.

The antihistamine won't be doing them any harm (I've taken AH's most days for 10yrs now)... but Medised has PARACETAMOL in it!!!!!

Noddyholder - They most certainly are NOT addictive! As my last post I've been taking prescription Antihistamines most days for nearly 10 yrs for various allergies (eg hay fever, food intolerance).

I'm glad it's not just me who thought it was wrong!
What do you suggest I tell my friend?
Can this sort of drug do long term damage to kidneys/liver?
This girl is expecting her third child at christmas!

every night...thats awful I give it if ds is full of cold or unwell and even then only as his nightime medicine and give calpol in the day. medised is paracetamol and its not recommended to be taken every day.

Fangache can you sleep without them?I know they are fairly harmless on the body but I found them really hard to stop

NH - Yes.... the antihistamines I take don't cause drowsiness anyway. But when I was pg I had to take the older sort that cause drowsiness. But it was never an issue to stop that sort and switch back to the newer non-drowsy type. You got me all worried there so I did a search on the Net and can assure you that antihistamines are NOT addictive.

Sorry... totally aside from the issue. I have no idea how you'd tackle this Runnerbean.... but its really not healthy.

My doctor eventually admitted to me that he had seen dependency on them in the past.It wasn't horrendous stopping them but I just couldn't sleep as well as normal for quite a few nights Maybe the ones I had were strong

NH - They will be just as strong as the prescription ones I get.... but if you are talking about starting to mentally rely on the to allow you to sleep then I suppose that is true.

They definitely relax you and there are several sites where people discuss dependency on them because I was really worried i would never sleep without them I think the children runnerbean is talking about will have trouble stopping these There is a website called Over Count about over the counter meds which has a lot of info which may help

NH - OMG What are they called???? And what strength are they???
I take Loratadine when I'm not pg and Chlorophenylamine when I am pg.

they are called hydroxizine 25mg or it says atarax on the box so not the same ones.

I had a really rough time recently when dd2 would only sleep 2 in 24 hrs and the doctor perscribed Valium. She was on this for 6 weeks and then gradually weaned off. Now I only get up to her 2 or 3 times to insert her dummy but she has around 10 hrs sleep now.

Noddy - Here's what I found out about Atarax. I think on the whole though the over the counter antihistamines are in no way addictive.

Atarax
Main Use Active Ingredient Manufacturer
Anxiety Hydroxyzine hydrochloride. Pfizer

How does it work?

Hydroxyzine belongs to a group of medicines called sedating antihistamines.

Hydroxyzine?s main use is to help in the treatment of anxiety. The way in which hydroxyzine works in this condition is not fully known. It is thought to decrease the activity of certain areas in the brain and thereby relieve anxiety.

Hydroxyzine is also used to relieve symptoms of certain allergic reactions.
Histamine is a chemical produced by the body. It is stored in cells (mast cells) in almost all tissues of the body. When the body reacts to a foreign substance (an allergen e.g. flower pollen), the mast cells release their stores of histamine.

Histamine may then bind to receptors (H-1 receptors) in many areas of the body causing an increase in blood flow to the area of the allergy and the release of other chemicals that add to the allergic response. This stimulates the symptoms of an allergic reaction such as inflammation of the skin, airways or tissues, rashes, itching of the skin, eyes or nose, nasal congestion or narrowing of the airways.

Hydroxyzine acts by blocking the binding of histamine to receptors in the body and so preventing or relieving the typical symptoms of an allergic reaction.

Histamine may be released from and act in a small (localised) area of the body e.g the nose. Alternatively, histamine can result in a serious or complete body reaction e.g. anaphylactic reaction. Hydroxyzine is only useful for the prevention or relief of localised or less serious allergies such as an itchy rash (rather than very serious allergic reactions).

Hydroxyzine is called a sedating anti-histamine as it enters the brain in significant quantities and is therefore more likely to cause drowsiness than the newer group of non-sedating anti-histamines.

What is it used for?

Anxiety

Itching (pruritis) due to allergy (atopic) or the nerves supplying the skin (cholinergic)

Warning!
This medicine may cause drowsiness. If affected do not drive or operate machinery. Alcohol should be avoided.

Thanks maybe it was just those ones v strong and v nice in a drugged out student kind of way which was probably the problem

Not it's not ok at all.

I have been in a position where my child was only sleeping 2 hours a night at 1yr old and she was perscribed phenergan, but I made sure she only had it every other night and only for a week. Didn't work anyway.

I use Medised alot when the kids have colds because it is the only thing that seems to stop them, spending the whole night awake and snotty, but have never given it more than 3 nights in a row if i can help it and only ever give the lower dosage.

i only give my son Medised at the lowest dose needed to help him sleep when he is sick (it decongests him and helps with sleep and pain).

but every night!! thats excessive!!!

i can't believe what this woman is doing. Your friend needs to tell her in no uncertain terms that this is harmful.

The woman who gives her kids Nurofen or Medised is wrong. That's a dreadful thing to do. These are medicines that should only be given if the children are ill. Nurofen won't help them to sleep anyway. Medised contains paracetamol and should NOT be given regularly. In the appropriate doses, used for a limited period, Medised will be fine. But long-term use is a no-no - paracetamol causes liver damage. She should be warned that she is damaging her kids. Nurofen is bad for asthmatics and I have a feeling (but can't recall whether I'm right or not) it may cause stomach irritation, like aspirin. Anyway, fundamentally you give medicines when people are ill, not for your own convenience. Any medicine has potential side effects - worth giving for the beneficial effects when someone is ill but NOT long-term.

I think this is a dreadful thing to do.

Get her to take her kids to the doctor - explain the prob - get them checked & off the medcine & to get some help for the mum.