Fever and Tylenol - Page 2

[DevaMajka]

Sherra- that's the thread that got me wondering about it all in the first place
Ah, so much to learn, lol

dallaschildren- that explanation did help. I'm glad I already knew better (from reading here) than to give tylenol to reduce a low fever.

MT- Are you yelling at me? lol It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I really do have so much to learn about herbs and stuff. It just all takes so much brainpower! But I'll get there...

Thanks all

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Nope. Told you it was inane. Like me.

Eidtted to add, no... it doesn't take much brainpower. It's just that people who are forced to learn and think and decide have to use what they've got. Which came as a new experience to me too.

Once I was someone who looked at the most credible looking smiling face, and followed the leader. Which only requires avoiding the small errors while sweeping on to the grand fallacy.

[HeatherSanders]

The 'comfort' of Tylenol has nothing up on a shower with daddy, followed up by snuggling in bed between us. We recently watched my son go into febrile seizures following a quick rise in temperature and yet, even after seeing that (and yes, being scared), I still do not give Tylenol or Motrin for a fever reducer.

Kenny vomits meds just like I do though. Neither one of us stand them very well. He is growing out of his asthmatic symptoms (he's approaching 3 years of age) and we've been in and out of hospitals for that. I found that the less we gave him, in the way of meds, the stronger he became. Now, we set him free to run, run, run and when he starts wheezing, I pull him in for a water break and his favorite snack, a juicy orange. By the time he can drink and eat that his wheezing has stopped and he sets to running again.

[rareimer]

just a thought, and i'm sure this has been covered before somewhere...but what implications does this have when They tell you to give your baby acetaminophen before or after a vaccination? if it screws up the immune response that way, whether you are giving it for reducing the fever or the discomfort from the vax, it can't be good news.

[HeatherSanders]

Originally Posted by rareimer

just a thought, and i'm sure this has been covered before somewhere...but what implications does this have when They tell you to give your baby acetaminophen before or after a vaccination? if it screws up the immune response that way, whether you are giving it for reducing the fever or the discomfort from the vax, it can't be good news.

I don't know the implications, but I agree with the concern.

[Periwinkle]

Originally Posted by rareimer

just a thought, and i'm sure this has been covered before somewhere...but what implications does this have when They tell you to give your baby acetaminophen before or after a vaccination? if it screws up the immune response that way, whether you are giving it for reducing the fever or the discomfort from the vax, it can't be good news.

I think that giving Tylenol along with vaccinations is probably one of the worst uses of the drug. I have concerns about its impact on the immune response as well as its impact on the risk of adverse events associated with the vaccine. For example, giving Tylenol in conjunction with the varicella vaccine.

I have no qualms about giving Tylenol occasionally to help with pain, but not just "restlessness" of illness. And always as a last resort after other things have been tried.

For example, my 9 month old is experiencing some really bad teething discomfort (has been for several weeks) but I hadn't given him anything. In fact, he's never had any drugs (even herbals or homeopathics) of any kind. I'd just been treating with cold cloths, cool teething rings (and fruit) and lots of cuddling and BFing. But this past week it got really bad - the poor guy was miserable and his top gum was all inflamed - I tried homeopathics (Hylands and others), chamomile tea, etc. to no avail. and then he started refusing to BF b/c it hurt so bad. Not good. After a near 48 hour near nursing strike (veeery reluctant to nurse at all, even in sleep) I finally broke down and gave him a half-dose of Tylenol yesterday. He was nursing again in 3 hours. I kept up with a 1/2 dose (for him, 3/4 of a .8 mL dropper) every 6 hours instead of 4 and he is nursing happily again. It's all about the cost/benefit. In this case, the risks of a nursing strike and problems nursing down the road were outweighed by the risks of a little Tylenol in a baby with zero family history of any allergies. Tylenol isn't "evil", I just think it's grossly overused. My $.02.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Can this please be archived?

[Zuri's Papa]

Poisonings From a Popular Pain Reliever Are on the Rise - New York Times: "Despite more than a decade's worth of research showing that taking too much of a popular pain reliever can ruin the liver, the number of severe, unintentional poisonings from the drug is on the rise, a new study reports. The drug, acetaminophen, is best known under the brand name..."

Looks like the NYT has some catching up to do!

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

When you consider that the literature about this goes from at least 30 years ago, there is a whole generation of doctors that have some catching up to do.

But then, when companies like Pfizer and all, who make this compound, make so many gazillions selling it, its little wonder doctors either don't know, or don't care to know.

The two references to your article are:

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/c...61379/PDFSTART


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/29/he...rticle_popular

The drug, acetaminophen, is best known under the brand name Tylenol. But many consumers don't realize that it is also found in widely varying doses in several hundred common cold remedies and combination pain relievers.

These compounds include Excedrin, Midol Teen Formula, Theraflu, Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine, and NyQuil Cold and Flu, as well as other over-the-counter drugs and many prescription narcotics, like Vicodin and Percocet.

The authors of the study, which is appearing in the December issue of Hepatology, say the combination of acetaminophen's quiet ubiquity in over-the-counter remedies and its pairing with narcotics in potentially addictive drugs like Vicodin and Percocet can make it too easy for some patients to swallow much more than the maximum recommended dose inadvertently.

"It's extremely frustrating to see people come into the hospital who felt fine several days ago, but now need a new liver," said Dr. Tim Davern, one of the authors and a gastroenterologist with the liver transplant program of the University of California at San Francisco. "Most had no idea that what they were taking could have that sort of effect."

[mamabain]

what about ibuprfen for teething discomfort? or is that also anti=pyretic?

thanks!
rachael

[Gitti]

This is what helped my grandson when he was teething.

My dd used it pretty freely and she said it always helped. And he loved it.