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can i ask a quick question about calpol without this turning into a massive troll inhabited thread do you think???

67 replies

Heathcliffscathy · 25/07/2005 20:23

as some of you may have noticed, i'm a bit hippy dippy, so along with antibiotics don't like using calpol/medised etc. i see a homeopath with ds and try to use alternative medicines as much as possible.

however, if I think that ds is really in pain, and homeopathic remedy doesn't seem to be doing it, I do use calpol. a fellow mner that i know irl told me she spoke to peadiatrician who told her that if we as adults experienced teething we would go mad with the pain of it, and having had toothache I can well believe this is true. so if i think that ds is in pain from teething, i want to relieve that.

however, i'm concerned by how often and for how long this is: for example, sometimes ds has a spoon of calpol (sometimes two) for 5 or 6 nights on the trot.

recently he has taken to pointing at his mouth and saying 'teeth, sore' (he understands what both of these words mean). he also sometimes asks for 'med' (medicine).

I"m getting paranoid that he just wants calpol (can he be addicted...don't laugh)...but can a 21 month old lie about stuff like that? would they? he may have some back molars coming though, but it's hard to tell, he doesn't have the red cheeks that he has sometimes (altho not always had). anyhow, tonight i tried ashton and parsons powders but he cried when i put him to bed and said 'teeth, sore' and pointed at the calpol (!) so i gave him a spoon.

any advice on this? am i right to be concerned? or just mad?

OP posts:
suedonim · 26/07/2005 12:23

Tinker, that thought was running through my mind, too. I've just read an article about pain relief in headache (not teething) where research has shown that taking paracetamol on more than 15 days a month can result in rebound headache.

happymerryberries · 26/07/2005 12:29

Ibuprofen can do it too btw

bundle · 26/07/2005 12:31

calpol/ibuprofen plus anbesol liquid does it for us re: teething

tiffini · 26/07/2005 12:31

You have all the advise you need already

BUt just wanted to say, I love the thread title.

nannyjo · 26/07/2005 19:27

sorry if i'm repeating but not read whole thred, does anyone have any advice/experience of medised?

Iuse it with DS (10 months) when i think he is teething and he sleeps like a log but as soon as i stop he wakes some nights.

i have a friend who uss it regularly to get her son to sleep anf thinks it'll be fine through the whole teething stage (mmmm ages)and swears it'll do no harm

I wouldn't go to that exent but it is sooooo easy to say i think he's teething and give him some

is that really bad? HV said useing every night is fine

what do you think?

expatkat · 26/07/2005 19:51

I've come to thread late, but my nearly 3-yr-old dd has been complaining of leg pain for the past couple of months. I eventually discovered (after a trip to the doctor) that she actually just likes the taste of calpol & is finegling ways to get it. Indeed, she complains of leg pain specifically when she spots some Calpol in a cupboard, or sees me giving Calpol to her brother. And the "pain" shifted, first to this leg then to the other. She deserved an oscar, frankly--in spite of the obvious signs that she was faking, she completely fooled me.

(Don't have any advice for you, nannyjo, sorry.)

Heathcliffscathy · 26/07/2005 20:28

MrsATeam I totally don't understand your question if it is that.

i try to use homeopathic remedies as much as possible and would rather use live yoghurt for eg for thrush rather than antibiotics. but i don't want to leave my son in pain if the homeopathic remedy doesn't have the required anaesthetic effect....is that a contradiction?

thanks everyone.

i think the in the middle of the night thing is a good guage, he is teething at the moment, i have started to be able to feel one coming through at the back. tonight he didn't ask for medicine and he was staring straight at it...so i'll err on the side of giving it to him if he seems really distressed, but not otherwise.

OP posts:
lunachic · 27/07/2005 09:38

nannyjo i think medised is awful

sophable im with you on homeopathic rems but i do use calpol also find its more effective and you need less if you give it alongside homeopathic rems like chamomila or pulsatilla

sometimes use ibruprophen as i find i need to give less of it

lunachic · 27/07/2005 09:39

sophable rescue remedy is also good for teething have you tried it ? rub it on gum if all else fails !

bundle · 27/07/2005 09:43

sophable surely thrush is treated with anti-fungals, not ab's?

basketcase · 27/07/2005 09:47

Sophable - my DDs love the taste of calpol (or "Barbie medicine" thanks to the colour) and DD1 really got into the habit of asking for it when bored/not allowed sweets/just thought about it and would say she had a "nasty bad sore throat" or "my finger is burning off" to get my attention...Like you , I am very anti drugs and will use alternatives wherever possible but resort to calpol when necessary. I now give mine swirled into a pot of yoghurt/fromage frais so that they get it without enjoying the sweet hit. DD2 has never had calpol any other way so doesn?t ask for it, DD1 is told the medicine is in there to help any placebo effects and calm her down, but she has stopped bothering to ask for it as she knows she wll get it in a yoghurt so not really taste it anyway. I use yoghurt because they both eat loads of the stuff and always finish those little small size tubs. It is also far less messy than the sticky calpol on a spoon.
HTH

MrsDoolittle · 27/07/2005 10:03

I believe that pain is subjective, meaning that pain is whatever the person experiencing it says it is. It's a personal phenomenon and I have no right to question an individual who says they are in pain.
The likliehood is your little chap is in pain, you are lucky he is old enough to tell you, so why deny him the relief?
You have tried everything else. 5 or 6 nights is not very often and nor is one dose.
Give him a break, believe him. Obviously he settles after the calpol. Ask yourself why he might need to lie?

Heathcliffscathy · 27/07/2005 19:36

of coures bundle...sorry but the point stands iyswim...

mrsdoolittle, you're right, as so often with mn, the act of posting and seeing the responses has clarified my thinking on this...of course i should believe him and of course i should give him medicine if he asks for it....he had nothing last night (or night before) and slept 8 until 8.30am!!!!!! whereas the night before that he cried asked for medicine woke in the night and woke for the day at 6.30...i think he is teething

OP posts:
Flossam · 27/07/2005 19:58

Has anyone suggested suppositories on here? have skimmed but can't see it. No nasty chemicals, one of the best ways of being abosrbed, meaning quicker pain relief and no sugar/sweetener to worry about. Not sure where you can get them from though.

nannyjo · 27/07/2005 22:10

lunachic, why do you think medised is awful?

moo2 · 27/07/2005 22:43

Medised is a dehydratant so if you have a really snotty miserable cold ridden babe it dries up the snot and knocks them out and lets them sleep, not a bad thing to me

MrsATeam · 27/07/2005 23:19

bobbybob thank you for your earlier post (alot earlier!!) will def rethink how I give calpol now....

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