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Original poster

Tamiflu - should I give it to my 3 year old?

19 replies

Pennies · 30/09/2009 11:55

Been given an authorisation code to get it but i've heard it can make you feel worse. What are everyone's experiences of it, esp for younger children?

OP posts:
sparkle09 · 01/10/2009 00:21

i was under the impression that tamiflu was no longer being given to children?
sorry if im wrong, but i thought that because the side effects were worse that the benefits they decided children are better off without without it.

liahgen · 01/10/2009 09:15

I would be interested to know the answer to this too, as just been autorised to give it to my 4 yr old, but also heard that.

Might ring the helpline.

Original poster
Pennies · 01/10/2009 10:50

Well I rang the helpline and they authorised it so I'm really not sure.

Her temp is 40.3 today and hasn't been below 38 for three days now. I'm thinking that it can't go on for much longer can it? So is there any point in doing it. How long does SF last?

Poor little mite - feel so very sorry for her.

OP posts:
annoyingdevil · 01/10/2009 11:00

I didn't bother for my 4 year old. She was ill enough without adding to her symptoms.

The high temp lasted 3 - 4 days if I remember, so hopefully, you'll see an improvement tomorrow

seeker · 01/10/2009 11:04

My understanding is that tamiflu is only effective if it's taken less than 48 hours after the first symptoms - and in most cases, all it does is reduce the duration of the illness by 24 hours.

So, no, I wouldn't give it to my children. I would treat symptoms and wait, just like I would with any other flu.

I still don't really understand why tamiflu is being offered for swine flu and not for other flus.

crokky · 01/10/2009 11:07

I gave my 3yo DS tamiflu - 10 doses over 5 days. He vomited after dose 3 and dose 4 but the other doses were fine and he got better quickly.

I gave it to my DS because his temperature was totally out of control and I considered it dangerous. He was barely conscious.

fandango75 · 01/10/2009 13:15

My DH has swine flu and his temp was 102 took tamiflu this morn and gone down to 98.5. Clearly he is not 3 though but thought i would let you know. I found the helpline and nhs direct nurses very helpful. When i mentioned my ds aged 9 months she told me to look out for various symptoms which are also the same as bad teething and a cold (which he has been suffering with for about a week. She did also say there will be millions of kids with these symptons who don't have SF, just normal kiddie stuff - i reckon if i did the survey they would say he has SF but i dont think he has - off to baby clinic this pm to be sure. Good luck

Elibean · 01/10/2009 13:19

If its been 3 days already, I wouldn't bother - it needs to be taken within 48 hours, ideally less, to be effective. As I understand it.

That said, I personally would give it to my dds (unless they really didn't seem too ill) because they both have mild asthma. It can help prevent the more serious complications.

I know two little boys of 2 who took it (uncontrollable temps, which dropped within hours of taking Tamiflu) and neither was sick with it. Another family I know all took it (the LOs, that is) and two were fine with it, one threw up every dose.

seeker · 01/10/2009 13:33

Crokky - if one of mine was that ill - a soaring, uncontrollable temperature and barely conscious - I'd be at a and e or calling an out of hours doctor. I could understand why in those circumstances they would be given tamiflu.

But why with just ordinarily ill, flu-y children is this flu different enough for tmaiflu to be recommended when it isn't/hasn't been for other flu outbreaks?

Original poster
Pennies · 01/10/2009 19:42

seeker - good question and I've wondered that myself. In the end I've decided not to give it because when I got it said that it was best taken within 48 hours of the first symptoms and we were way past that already.

So it will sit in the cupboard until such time as it strikes again (if, indeed this is it).

OP posts:
whomovedmychocolate · 01/10/2009 19:52

The reason Tamiflu is being given to (apparent) swine flu victims and not normal flu victims is that swine flu seems to have a different modus operandi to regular flu. Basically it overwhelms the lungs and because we don't have the capacity to support lots of small children who can't breathe it's better if we can aid the body's defences by giving Tamiflu where appropriate if the person who is sick is young/sick.

Original poster
Pennies · 01/10/2009 20:01

wmmc - thanks, that's interesting. But it would seem from some of the accounts I've read on here and from people I've spoken to in RL that not all sufferers get a cough, so are you saying that no major cough does not equal swine flu?

OP posts:
whomovedmychocolate · 01/10/2009 20:08

Not necessarily. The problem is we don't know how many people are getting it subclinically (ie they are not sick enough to come to the attention of the medics) and we don't know that those people who take Tamiflu wouldn't have developed the cough later.

I do suspect that a lot of the cases of 'swine flu' are actually just bad colds. I always think 'the crushing compulsion to lie down' coupled with a high fever is more indicative than anything else. You know you've got flu, you might think you are going to die but you know it's not just some cold.

Original poster
Pennies · 01/10/2009 20:18

Well that is what I think. DD has been asking to go to bed which, if you saw the whirling dervish that she normally is, is unprecedented for me and had me calling the hotline.

Got to go - she's woken up crying again.

OP posts:
Morloth · 02/10/2009 09:31

We gave DS (5) Tamiflu on Wednesday night after a rough day of vomits, coughs, crazy fever and diarrhoea. Was frankly astonished at how quickly he got better, he has just taken his 4th dose and doesn't appear to be having any side effects. He isn't quite back to his usual bouncy self but isn't "sick" anymore either.

However this was within 12 hours of the symptoms first appearing so that might be why it has been so effective.

I am also pregnant so it made sense to get rid of it as soon as possible (though I was thrown up on a couple of times, so I figure if I am going to get it, I will).

tinateaspoon · 02/10/2009 13:33

This is all very interesting. My dd who has just turned 3 wasn't well yesterday, not herself with slight temp. Today it has gone up to 40.4. I went on NHS direct website and then pandemic website and it has given me a number to get tamiflu. She has a sore throat, dry cough and headache. She is not eating, but is drinking and just wants to lie down. She keeps drifting to sleep but wakes when I talk to her, and sits up when I ask her to. I have just dosed her with Calpol again so I hope her temp will come down a bit. What should i do?

Pennies - how is DD now?

tinateaspoon · 02/10/2009 13:58

Have started own thread as worried

dikkertjedap · 02/10/2009 14:40

We gave it preventatively to our dd (3 years and 4 months at the time) when dh was diagnosed with swine flu. So she got half the normal dose for her weight group (16kg) but for 10 days rather than 5 days. Hated the taste (mixed with petit filous size pot of M&S chocolate syrup) and gave pieces of breadsticks and sips of water whilst she took medicine. No side effects and she did not get ill.

hormonalmum · 02/10/2009 14:44

In my experience it made no difference to how the speed of recovery.
My dd (3) at the time hated having it.
It seemed to turn ds (1) into a crazy maniac and in hindsight, I would not have given it to him.

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