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Original poster

Giving Calpol ALL the time!

91 replies

Earrrrr · 27/12/2021 16:13

Has anyone been through a stage like this? Where it feels like I'm using Calpol all the time?!

My son has had a really rough few months. He had bronch and was in hospital first, then when he came out he had about a week where he was okay then he caught a horrid virus (not Covid) where he needed Calpol /Ibuprofen every 4 hours for about a week and a half to control his temp and now he has a perforated ear drum for the same virus which he seems uncomfortable with and the GP says may take a few weeks to heal.

Oh and he's got two teeth coming too!

All in all he's had Calpol or ibuprofen every day for about the past 3 and a half weeks!

The GP has seen him for all of these things and they have been the ones to tell me to give him pain relief but I just feel like it's too much but of course in the same token I can't stop giving him pain relief if he needs it!

OP posts:
Ostryga · 27/12/2021 19:55

I doubt a dr would tell you a high temp would cause a seizure because it’s not the degree of temperature that causes a seizure it’s the speed in which it rises.

Overuse of calpol can cause horrific liver damage in later life. You DO NOT need to use calpol to treat a temperature, it is not even recommended anymore by most drs (although yours seem behind the time and not very knowledgeable).

Ostryga · 27/12/2021 19:56

@ThatsMySantaHisBeardIsSoFluffy were you still a baby at the time with your organs still growing?

It’s not mum shaming, it’s scientific fact and people need to be aware of what they are giving their children. Ignorance is not an excuse anymore with the ability to Google a research paper in 2 seconds

RickyZooom · 27/12/2021 19:57

The Dr’s I’ve seen have scolded me for not using ENOUGH Calpol!
We’re not talking about years of daily paracetamol abuse. We’re medicating our children when they are poorly.

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Hotyogahotchoc · 27/12/2021 19:57

I think calpol should be used when needed eg if they have a temp or on pain but not every day they are teething. You say bronch. Do you mean bronchiolitis? I'm not sure calpol will help with this much.

Did you tell the gp how much you'd been giving it?

I'm sure others do it but I'm a bit more conservative with it.

Whoknowsweknows · 27/12/2021 19:58

My dc have had periods of living on calpol.

Ignore cherrycola7 obviously the sort of parent to leave their child to suffer in pain, rather than actually try and help the child to be as comfortable as possible. Sometimes a kiss on the forehead doesn’t quite cut it.

ThatsMySantaHisBeardIsSoFluffy · 27/12/2021 19:58

[quote Ostryga]@ThatsMySantaHisBeardIsSoFluffy were you still a baby at the time with your organs still growing?

It’s not mum shaming, it’s scientific fact and people need to be aware of what they are giving their children. Ignorance is not an excuse anymore with the ability to Google a research paper in 2 seconds[/quote]
I've also had the GP tell me to use correct dosage Calpol over a few weeks when my kids were babies. So I don't really care about your shaming attempt either (and advocating Dr Google is just undermining your point).

Florencenotflo · 27/12/2021 19:59

I noticed the other day just how many syringes we had in the drawer. Dd1 had about 8-9 days of a really shitty cold with a temp (PCR negative) which meant calpol for a week of that. Then dd2 got it. Then dd2 had 2 big back teeth coming through which anbesol would only do so much for. Now dd1 has an ear infection and she's been in a fair bit of pain with it.

Before all of this I don't think I had to use it since maybe Feb/March? I seem to be chucking in a bottle with my weekly shop most weeks at the moment.

HalloHello · 27/12/2021 20:00

I always think about myself if I were ill none stop for weeks I wouldn't think twice about taking paracetamol. Of course it's not a harmless drug but only if you take over the recommended dose every day! So if you stick to the correct dose, there's no harm in it at all. Poor wee toot, hope he feels better soon!

Littlegoth · 27/12/2021 20:00

I feel your pain and right there with you. Tonsillitis, Covid and now yet another cold and ear infection.

@cherrycola7 no there really isn’t and if I thought you could work some strange magic that did this I would give you my address right now! X

Roselilly36 · 27/12/2021 20:00

I can remember those days, but better to give Calpol, than your child be in pain OP.

Original poster
Earrrrr · 27/12/2021 20:01

You DO NOT need to use calpol to treat a temperature

They literally use it in hospital to bring a temp down. He had it every day when he was in there with bronch and this virus specifically for bringing down his temp.

Are you a doctor, you didn't clarify?

OP posts:
ThatsMySantaHisBeardIsSoFluffy · 27/12/2021 20:04

Funny that the NHS website advocates its use for bringing a high temp down.

Oh, and calls it 'an everyday medicine'. Which is exactly how GPS tell you to use it when your kids are ill.

DS had a persistent ear infection which took about a month to resolve, with multiple courses of antibiotics over that time. We were told to use up to the full dose of paracetamol suspension for the duration. The scaremongering amongst us just look stupid, frankly.

Ostryga · 27/12/2021 20:06

Well carry on then. It’s not my kid that’s going to lose out at the end of the day 🤷🏻‍♀️

ThatsMySantaHisBeardIsSoFluffy · 27/12/2021 20:08

I don't need to carry on, they're well past the persistent Calpol stage now, and are rarely ill. Having to take (up to) full dosage for a comparatively short period really isn't going to have long term ill effects.

rainbowandglitter · 27/12/2021 20:09

I'm sure they now don't advise trying to bring a child's temperature down unless it goes over 40. A fever is how a child's body fights an infection so taking away the fever prolongs the infection. If you look at the NHS and calopl websites neither of then mention giving calpol, but instead to keep fluid levels in your child topped up. A fever is a child's body doing exactly what it's meant to do with an infection.

ThatsMySantaHisBeardIsSoFluffy · 27/12/2021 20:13

@rainbowandglitter, it's literally in the first paragraph on the NHS website.

Giving Calpol ALL the time!
crazycatlady7 · 27/12/2021 20:15

Oh yes! We had HFM in September and feel all I'm doing is giving him pain relief constantly. We've had colds, sickness and just when things were getting better we have HFM again! 😭 so yes more calpol

Mittenmob · 27/12/2021 20:17

My DD regularly had temps of 41. Hospital always used calpol. But agree a fever doesn't necessarily need calpol.

gogohm · 27/12/2021 20:19

I would be cautious and only give it if they seem in pain, it's never good to overuse pain relief. I probably used the equivalent of 2 bottles, one per child in their childhood.

BertieBotts · 27/12/2021 20:20

According to my doctor it's now recommended to try and bring their fever down again. He said that the body doesn't need the temperature to fight the infection, it's just a side effect and there's more benefit in bringing it down than not.

I was surprised too but apparently that was just a very short lived bit of advice.

rainbowandglitter · 27/12/2021 20:20

I did try and respond with a screenshot but it appears it didn't work. If the temp is over 40 or the child is very distressed it's not ideal to bring the temperature down artificially. You're stopping the bodies natural response to an infection and actually prolonging it. I got told this a few years ago at a walk in centre with ds and a few times since at the GP. A fever (below 40) does no harm.

gogohm · 27/12/2021 20:21

Use it for fevers over 39 obviously but not lower without trying other methods like less clothes, cool flannel etc. used well its excellent but overuse and it doesn't work as well

ThatsMySantaHisBeardIsSoFluffy · 27/12/2021 20:21

@gogohm

I would be cautious and only give it if they seem in pain, it's never good to overuse pain relief. I probably used the equivalent of 2 bottles, one per child in their childhood.
Going up to the allowed dosage isn't overuse. Overuse is going over the maximum dosage.
HSHorror · 27/12/2021 20:22

Op if the drum has perforated then the pain should have gone.
If it still hurts then maybe it's the other ear?

Mine used to have a lot of painrelief for teething.
But otherwise it's only really been if they had a bacterial infection which needed AB

DukkaTheHallsWithBoughsOfHolly · 27/12/2021 20:22

You don’t always need to treat a temperature if the child is happy playing or not unsettled, I wouldn’t give my DC calpol just because they were hot if otherwise they were ok. But having a temperature can make you feel miserable, so I would give it then.

One of mine refuses to take any form of calpol and prefers to ride it out. I also know that one of my other DC will happily carry on playing even with a temperature but when he stops playing is when I worry more so I will give some calpol as they obviously feel rubbish.

The height of the temperature doesn’t necessarily relate to how ill they are, and as a pp said, it’s not the height of the temperature that causes a febrile convulsion, it’s the speed it rises. I tend to look at what else is going on with my DC rather than just the number on the thermometer. It’s what we get taught in nursing.