any calpol experts out there please?

[DelGirl]

ok, dd has been very very poorly for about a week. It has got to the stage where nurofen and calpol together barely keeps on top of the high temps (we have been to a & e twice)

I've been giving calpol 5ml every 3 hours. Is there any benefit doing this or am I better off or no worse off giving 10ml every 6 hours?

she's 2.7 bt. I just always felt that every 3 hours maybe better or am I kidding myself?

tia

also calpol 3 hours then ibrufen 3 hourly. so alternate them 3 hourly

dd had ear infection all week

oh god, now i'm confused. Will put the fan a bit further away I think. It's not on now but was about 5/6 feet from her on oscilating (sp)

i'm very tired so can you spell it out for me............. How much you give, of what and at what times please, ta muchly.

because from what most of you say, if you dose brufen 3 hourly, she'd overdose and likewise with the calpol or am I missing something?

Ok for example I give 10 mils of paracetemol at 7am
then sachet of profen around 10 am
para 1pm
profen 4pm
para 7pm
profen 10pm
para 1am
profen 4am
para 7am

This covers 24 hours without going over recommended dosage at times her temp is still up so I do the bath or fan thing and strip her.

I would give 10mls of Calpol every 6 hours, alternating with 5ml ibuprofen every 6 hours. So Calpol at 9am 3pm, 9pm and 3pm and Ibupofen at 12pm 6pm 12am and 6am.

I didn't think you could calpol more often than every 4 hours.

Sorry to hear your daughter is suffering so much.

thanks, maybe its the age thing as the nurofen dose is no more than 15 mls in 24 hours. i.e 3 x 5ml

I believe they no longer recommend tepid baths because the person giving the bath might not make it tepid - if it is too cold it will increase the body temp. A fan can have the same effect as it is hard to ensure that you don't get a cold draught on the skin (a cold draught will have the same effect as cold water)

I think if you are used to making up milk feeds then you are pretty aware with what 'tepid' is.

With regards to her lips and fingertips going blue (especially when she is ill) do you think she could have raynauds syndrome? My two have it and it is worse when they are run down - this is what happens to them. It's not serious in 99.99% of cases and very,very common. My two have been looking like I have 'gothed' them up all weekend with their blue lips.

Hope you DD is better soon. Don't worry about being thought of as a panicky mum, most important thing is to put your mind a rest I think.

Same as Ledodgy but obviously depends on when you start. Make sure you write down what you have done though as it is very easy to forget where you have got to.

Don't sponge her down. Latest advice apparently says that sponging causes shivering which is uncomfortable and it doesn't work in reducing temps.

I went through this with DS2 in January - high temp for 10 days. You have my sympathy.

I would give 10mls Calpol then 3 hours later give 2.5mls Nurofen then 3 hours later give 10mls of Calpol and alternate like that over a 24hr period.

So,

7am 10mls Calpol
10am 2.5mls Nurofen
1pm 10mls Calpol
3pm 2.5mls Nurofen
7pm 10mls Calpol
10pm 2.5mls Nurofen
1am 10mls Calpol
4am 2.5mls Nurofen
7am Start again!

That gives her the max dose of both meds over the day and keeps her topped up so she doesn't have any long gaps between doses.

hmm, perhaps the fan isn't helping after all. will come back to this later, i must get some food, oh and my hair hasn;t seen a brush for sometime so food & bath me thinks.

Yes that's a good idea just having 2.5 mils of profen if she's only 2 so the whole 24 hours is covered my dd is 4.7 so can have the whole profen sachet.

I have a headache but I think i'll try that when I can work it out in my head when I can start olihan. Thanks for the that, seems ok and thanks for everyone elses suggestions, much appreciated.

My bottle of Calprofen says 3 or 4 doses a day for a 2 year old and older, no less than 4 hours apart. In the circumstances I think you can give her 4 doses.

But the does is 2.5ml not 5mls

still here having written it down on paper and there's 2 doses missing so I think i'll double up on night doses.

you wait, with any luck, she'll wake up tmorrow right as rain. right I must eat

oh blooody hell pmsl, ok i'll do it in the day maybe the 10am and 4pm doses

just re-read your post. my head hurts

just go and eat woman!!!!!

hope you have a peaceful night

Ledogy and Olihan...you both have 4 doses of Ibuprofen in 24hrs. You are only allowed 3. Although I acknowledge that Olihan has halved the amount of Ibuprofen/does so would still be OK in total. I don;t know how much is in a sachet - so Ledodgy may have done the same.

I wouldn't give half doses. The reason is that when you take a drug (any drug), a proportion of it gets inactivated/excreted (technically called clearance) before it gets to where it needs to be. The doses are calculated so that even when the clearance is taken into account there is enough in the system to be above the "Effective dose".
Halving the meds mean that you could end up not reaching the effective dose - so may as well not take any meds. Some drugs may be OK at half dose, others will not be. I don't know enough about the properties of paracetamol & ibruprofen to talk about these specifically.

Also - you ask how cold someone would go on Max meds - saying she measures 35.5ish. This is strange as I don't think that meds should allow body temp to go below normal (36.5ish). I could be wrong though.

Finally - I agree with others. Demand to get this checked out. No-one shoould have a persistent high temp for a week or more.

Finally, finally - wasn't a persistent high temp one of the symptoms that Esbees DS's Kawosaki syndorome (or whatever it was) had. It may be irrelevant - but worht checking the symptoms of that.

Yes it is normal for temp to rise int ehevening. Even in a healthy person temp is a fraction of a degree hihg in hte evening that in he morning.

Actually, tepid sponging is effective so long as it isn't cold water and is definately tepid.
The evapouration of water off the skin does cause the body to cool.
Calpol should definately be given at 10ml every 6 hours and ibuprofen 5ml every 8 hours. Do these alternately.

I don't understand why your dd is on permenant antibiotics for reflux? This is not standard treatment for this. Also, a temp lasting longer than 5 days should be properly investigated.
I would go to the GP and ask for the following:-
take a urine specimen to test for culture and sensitivity.
ask for some blood cultures to check for systemic infections
perhaps a chest x-ray to check for any obvious sign of infection/ fluid.
check ears for infection.
They should also check white blood cell count which will be raised if an infection is present.

Best of luck to your dd, it is awful when they are ill. Hope she gets better soon.

Tori you can give them closer (4hrs calpol & 6hrs ibuprofen) as has been said. BUT it means you do have a longer gap (usually thru the night) as you can't give enough doses over 24hrs at those intervals.

If you desperately want to reduce the dosage to allow overnight coverage don't halve it. Do 3.5-4ml ibuprofen 6hrly

4 doses in 24hr at 4ml each = 16ml in 24hrs
3 doses in 24hr at 5ml each = 15ml in 24hrs (as recommended)

So stealing Olihans scheme...I would do...

7am 10mls Calpol
10am 4mls Nurofen
1pm 10mls Calpol
3pm 3.5mls Nurofen
7pm 10mls Calpol
10pm 4mls Nurofen
1am 10mls Calpol
4am 3.5mls Nurofen
7am Start again!

SlightlyMad, my bottle of Calprofen says one 2.5 ml dose 3 to 4 times a day for 1 to 2 year olds so the schedule I gave is fine, according to the guidelines on the bottle.

Calprofen can be taken 3 or 4 times a day no more than 4 hours apart. It is a type of ibuprofen. The does is 2.5ml for a 2 year old. The schedule of ledodgy, olihan and I does work as you are allowed to use it 4 times a day. I was told about this by our GP as the best way to maintain a constant level of medication.