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Original poster

Why don't the British like putting things up their bottoms?

118 replies

DuffyFluckling · 27/04/2009 17:34

I have paracetamol suppositories for my children. I think I prefer them to paracetamol suspension syrups. No sugar or sweetner or horrid pink colour. No stickiness. No throwing up and wondering whether to give another dose or wait 4 hours. No struggling children who don't like the taste and don't want to take it.

There seem to be many advantages, and suppositories are commonly used in many countries, but not in UK. Why is this?

OP posts:
Botbot · 27/04/2009 21:26

I've never managed to get Calpol into my dd (2.8), but, weirdly, she's absolutely fine with suppositories - we've been using them since she was about 16 months old. We get them on prescription so they're not too pricey. I was a bit perturbed about it at first, but I got over it.

foxytocin · 27/04/2009 21:26

The arsehole, custy, is better at absorbing medicine than the stomach. The stomach tries to digest them first.

It is the most efficient way to get drunk, I have been told.

BigBellasBeerBelly · 27/04/2009 21:27
BigBellasBeerBelly · 27/04/2009 21:29

excellenty apt name botbot!

alistair if you want to discuss things further I suggest you keep your eyes peeled for the next bumsex thread.

Blu · 27/04/2009 21:31

If, as Anna says, France is he spiritual home of the supository, then this country is the spiritual home of Carry On films.

Which answers the OP's question fully.

Tortington · 27/04/2009 21:37

efficient doesn't = right

usernamechanged345 · 27/04/2009 21:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Vaguely · 27/04/2009 21:41

i saw The Libertine the other night.
am having trouble with seeing brits as true prudes after that. suspect is all an elaborate cover up for deviant desires. ok, i suspected that anyway
bloody hell tho, Johnny Depp was hot in that. till his nose fell off, like.

TheMysticMasseuse · 27/04/2009 21:42

i think you need to try to put a suppository in a baby's bottom, to see for yourself just how easy, untraumatic, and straightforward it is. a million times less invasive than pinning down a screaming baby and shoving a syringe full of dubious pink gunk down their throat...

Vaguely · 27/04/2009 21:42

LOL mrspickles.

humptyNdumpy · 27/04/2009 21:43

I had a suppositry up the bum after my ecs. It was put in during my epidural but so I didnt feel a thing.

The nurse afterwards told me they are the best way to have painkillers.

foxytocin · 27/04/2009 21:44

Loosen up Custy. and I don't mean down there.

Apparently if you were to take peyote or mescaline this way it takes about 3 days to come down from the high.

Vaguely · 27/04/2009 21:45

i am not remotely bothered by food colouring or sugar in the minute quantities required to make calpol etc.
i do object to force feeding a deeply distressed, sick child who will only spew the lot back up at me IF i get much of it down them at all. and with wastage, theres the doubt about dosage and the right quantities etc.
bugger all that (pardon the pun), i'd pop a teeny thing up their butt while theyre not looking any day.

BalloonSlayer · 27/04/2009 21:48

"I had requested anal pain relief and it had been refused and given by mouth instead "

MNTowers - I recommend this as quote of the week!

humptyNdumpy · 27/04/2009 21:49

Oh and the supp. was amzing I was walking around the night I had my ECS with no pain, wondering what all the fuss was about re. CS recovery, I felt fine as a dandy.

The woman in the bed next to me told me to take it easy as she was sure it would start hurting soon .. it did, when the supp. wore off and I had to take oral painkillers

MmeLindt · 27/04/2009 21:58

Vaguely
That is a very good point. With a suppository you know that they have had the full dose. If the DC spits half of it out (or vomits within the hour) then you are left worrying if you can give them more or not.

Vaguely · 27/04/2009 22:09

yep. and wasting a dose or ten trying to 'hide' them in things they will accept also reduce the amount you have left to complete the course...
i find ab's for kids HELL tbh.

TheHedgeWitchIsNAK · 27/04/2009 22:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

happilyeverafter · 27/04/2009 23:51

I had to give DD one when she was severely constipated, don't think she noticed it go in.

Dr told me that that in countries that use them for most meds people don't have the stomach ulcers that arise from oral meds.

LissyGlitter · 28/04/2009 03:31

When I was in labour, i was throwing up all over the place and begging for pain relief. The midwife refused again and again, before finally admitting that the only thing she could offer me was something "up the bum" as she put it, i think she expected me to refuse. As if i would have refused ANY pain relief!

It's just your bum! Get over it! I hate taking tablets, I wish everything could be given rectally.

ninedragons · 28/04/2009 04:21

Back in the distant wilder reaches of my youth I used to know two (English) lads who were evangelical about taking their Es rectally.

You would always see them standing in the queue for the handbasin with their index fingers in the air, starting to gurn.

They never convinced me.

Original poster
DuffyFluckling · 28/04/2009 06:14

My ds doesn't even notice when I give him a sup.

He definitely notices when I pin him down screaming and choking to force a syringe of revolting syrup down his throat. Then he spits half of it back. Then he vomits the other half for good measure. And WHY do they make it pink? Seriously. "Hmm... we have a very sticky liquid that parents will be trying to administer to their children in their bedrooms. It will almost certainly be spilled and vomited in quantity. Let's make it bright pink!"

OP posts:
nooka · 28/04/2009 06:17

I can maybe see why with a baby it might be easier, but I certainly would not be happy about shoving things up the bum of an older child unless medially necessary. Once my two were old enough to understand why they needed medicine it's never been a battle, and the sugar and colourings are hardly a big deal. I would never use a rectal thermometer - why would you ever need to? We had the thermometer that went under the arm - no need for any trauma at all.

My nephew has to have suppositories when he has a major fit - it is needed because it is so much faster acting, and that matters a lot when his brain is under threat. I don't think it is the worst thing that my sister and her husband have to cope with, but it certainly isn't one of the pleasantest activities. If I was feeling rotten I really don't think I'd be wanting to put my head between my legs and stick my bum in the air, compared with swallowing a spoon or medicine.

But then my children have luckily been pretty healthy (I think maybe four or five courses of antibiotics between them). dd did go through a phase of spitting out calpol, but stressful though it was it was pretty fleeting really. Bribery has always done the job quite well in our household.

nooka · 28/04/2009 06:19

Ooops - should be "spoon of medicine" I don't think I've ever been keen on swallowing actual spoons!

wem · 28/04/2009 07:57

I'm not sure I have a fixed opinion one way or the other, haven't had to deal with giving medicine to a struggling child yet, but I was very shocked when the HV at our postnatal group said GPs wouldn't prescribe suppositories because of 'child protection'. She seemed to imply that abusers could use the fact that a child had had suppositories to cover any damage caused by abuse (I think. If that wasn't what she meant I have no idea what she was going on about). Which sounded absolutely crazy to me, and even more so after reading this thread.

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