E numbers in medicines - reluctant to give ds his medicine :(

[KaySamuels]

DS has been given some antibiotics for a infection in his excema. Couldn't get an appointment so was just ggiven a prescription withou ds being seen. DS has asthma too and has just been given steroid inhaler medcine.

Anyway went to pick up his medicine - it is flourescent red, and tastes foul. It says to take on an empty stomach or an hour before food - ds is a 3yr old boy. According to the label it says it contains E127 which explains the colour, and gives a whole list of side effects, namely breathing and skin problems.

Despite my reservations I gave him some at four thirty and he has been absolutely hyper since. Don't know whether to try and get him something different but he needs something now, his leg is yellow and crusty and scabby and he scratches it til it's all bloody. Aaargh! Don't know to do for best.

Oh no, how horrible. I read something similar about Calpol once, that the active ingredient (paracetamol) is the least likely of all the ingredients to provoke a reaction in a child

Would you be able to get 'adult' antibiotics but obv give a child's dose iyswim?

Have not heard of it in a medication tbh. And tbh am really taken aback that he was prescribed it without being seen by a doctor. How did that happen btw?

I don't know but can't get to docs again, had to go today for prescription with 10 yr old mindee in tow on bus as couldn't get an appointment in school time and prescript wasn't ready til after 3!

Why do they put this shit awful stuff in kiddies medicines? I mean does it really matter what colour it is?! Looking on the net kids medicines are terrible for enumbers that are banned from food!

Mercy - Receptionist said would ask doc to do me a prescription as there were no appointments available at all (rang at 9am). I said doesn't he neeed to see him? She said no just describe it to me and I will pass it on.

Ds is also highly sensetive to additives in foods and there is a huge list of medicines i have found over the years to act like rocket fuel in a 7 year old.

give him the medicine as he needs it for teh infection but make an appointment tomorrow and get something else.

Think I will have to but don't see how.
I have mindees from 6:30am to 5:30pm, playgroup in morning and ds has his afternoon taster session at nursery in the afternoon which he is really excited about!

I think I will ring my health visitor up, she usually is quite helpful. Don't want to give him this stuff four times a day for a week! It is totally unsuitable!

ERYTHROSINE (E127)

A synthetic food dye derived from coal tar. Also the active ingredient in a pesticide used by farmers to kill maggot larvae and flies. Present in ice cream wafers, glace cherries and some canned foods.

Erythrosin is an iodine-containing dye linked with sensitivity to light and learning difficulties; it can increase thyroid hormone levels and lead to hyperthyroidism, and was shown to cause thyroid cancer in rats.

HEALTH EFFECTS
Can provoke asthma, rashes and hyperactivity. In experimental animals, it has produced thyroid tumours in rats. It can also cause light sensitivity in humans and provoke mood swings.

Origin:
Synthetic iodine-containing red dye.
Function&characteristics:
Red food colour. Very soluble in water.

Why Why Why??????

I am really upset he has been given this when he is already prone to asthma and excema. The Enumber is not even necessary!

How can I get him some more medicine pronto?Don't want to ring mergency docs but need a plan of action for in the morning. Surely there is an antibiotic for a child of 3 without this in it?

cat64 don't suppose you can remember more from the leaflet can you? Is it an organisation of some sort?

Get an appt with your GP asap and ask why the medication was prescribed without your ds being seen.

Tell him/her the side effects.

The mindees will have to come 2nd in these circumstances imo.

It's really difficult getting kids' medicine without loads of crap in it. I bought some baby paracetemol suppositories in Germany. They are brilliant and nothing like I had anticipated. They're not disgusting and sticky, the baby can't spit them out, they're not full of rubbish, and they're amazingly easy to use! It may be possible to get other medicines as suppositories?

Very bad practice for a child to be prescribed medication without being seen. It is unacceptable for the GP surgery to say they cannot offer an appt to a 3 yr old boy on the same day, I would complain but thats just my opinion.

My son is currently on some hefty medication (thankfully just for another month) but before starting it I scared myself senseless reading up about all the side effects. However on balance statistically the medicing is much more likely to do good than harm.

The adding of E-numbers is patently ridiculous, I hate to say it but I suspect it is a cheap and cheerful preparation of whatever antibiotic your son is on. The vast majority of medications have multiple manufacturers some will be better/ have better values than others. Instead of ringing the gp who is unlikely to know about specific medications (additives etc) your best bet is to ring your local pharmacy, explain the problem and then ask them to source an additive free alternative. You will probably need another prescription but as the receptionist at GP seems only too happy to organise this maybe this will be the easiest option.

In the meantime I would definately give your child the medication, a few doses (of the additives) won't do any lasting harm but not giving the antibiotics might allow a more serious infection to set in.

Good luck.

whilst I agree that the colour isn't necessary, a lot of the other additives are. Dd had some erythromycin powder, which we were supposed to dilute with water, and gagged every time we tried to give it to her. I looked it up as discovered that it should be mixed with SYRUP. Asked the pharmacist why we hadn't been given syrup, and she said some parents had complained about the sugar! I would rather my daughter had sugar than aspartame, and a filthy taste!

I'm sorry your son has reacted badly to a prescribed antibiotic. It is obviously essential that he takes it for his infection, for my DS' infected eczema we usually use a topical one.

I realise you are a childminder and have to work, but you say you couldn't get an appt in school time (and then next post)say you couldn't get one at all. Surely getting your DS seen by a GP to get the correct an suitable meds is much more important? Do you need to go to playgroup in the morning?

I'm sorry if I sound unsympathetic, but if you are so desperate to get the right meds it seems sensible to actually go in and speak with the GP.

On the Monday I could have seen the doctor in school time wthout taking any mindees with me but they were booked up, I went in after to school to be handed a prescription, not for an appointment. Tuesday to Friday I have 3 under 5 plus schoolies.

I now have my hv trying to get me an appointment for him. She is shocked too that he wasn't even seen, and also suggested a topical cream would have been better.

We've had the same problem recently. DS became violent (hitting, pinching, head-butting, biting) distressed and very hyper. GP refused to give us a different prescription because the computer only allowed them to dispense colouring/ benzoate chemical cocktail because it would cost a few pennies more to give a branded drug (without the nasties) instead. I was fuming - after several tries to get the GPs to see sense and just hand-write a prescription, we had to go to A&E in the end just to get an antibiotic DS could take.

I'd also rather give DS sugar then dodgy sweetners.