Monday, October 27, 2008

My public service announcement

Ok so, Sophie has got a nasty cold kickin right now. Stuffy nose, icky hoarse cough. Well,2 days ago I go to walgreens. I ask the pharmacist what, if anything I can give her for her cough. She says to give her mucinex for kids. 1/2tsp every 4 hours. sure, ok, sounds good to me. So I buy it. I give it to her, on the second attempt bc she spit it at me on my first try. We go on about our day blah blah. Ok so when Sophie gets sick, Bc of her sensory integration she gets EXTREMELY out of hand. She gets very elated and hyper,almost drunk. She doesnt 'look' sick when she is sick. she looks like a maniac monkey child running around just really hyper. Anywho, towards the end of the say she starts getting VERY VERY sassy. Im talking straight out violent. Slapped me in the face twice,threw a remote at Bills head(Although I admit I secretly laughed at this)and tormented the cats more than usual. So this continues and only gets worse.

It was so bad this afternoon that I called the pediatrician BC she was completely and utterly out of hand. Im talking to the nurse and explaining to her what was going on and I nonchalantly mention that she has been taking mucinex. the nurse stops me saying "WHAT!? Well, how long has she been coughing!?!?" Uh, 3 days, constantly for 3 days.

So, the nurse is all, "OMG who told you to give her THAT?" Uh, the pharmacist did....the bottle says its for ages 2-6. Sophie is almost 3. So she continues to tell me that the AAP has not approved any cold or cough medicines for kiddos under 6 (Which I knew,but I thought they took all the disapproved stuff off the shelf!)

Apparently the active ingredient in cough meds can cause violence and erratic behavior in small children. FRICKING LOVELY. Explains EVERYTHING.

So,folks, moral of this story is: If your child is under the age of 6, Dont listen to your local pharmacist if they say it's ok to give him/her cough medicine. you will not like the outcome!

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6 comments:

Yasmine said...

Did you mention how old Sophie was to the pharmasist? You should go back to walgreens and have a chat with that pharmasist.
I wonder what active ingredient causes that behaivor? Thanks for the head up! Thats why they pulled the infant/toddler tynenol for cough off the shelves. I hate giving my kids any type of medication, unless they have a fever or is perscribed by a dr.
I hope shes feelig better and is back to normal.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the heads up! I wont be giving them anything unless a dr tells me it's ok to do so.

Andrea said...

Yeah, some children are sensitive and can have quite a reaction to anything with a decongestant in it. It is like an upper and gets them all irritate and edgey. That happens to me too sometimes, makes me not able to sleep and anxious. Poor Sophie.

Anonymous said...

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Buckwheat Honey is considered safe for children 1 and older, so it is the perfect choice for conscientious parents and doctors. Currently, “Honey Don’t Cough” is the only company packaging 100% pure Buckwheat Honey in ready-to-use packets for children. A growing number of pharmacies are providing “Honey don’t Cough,” it will be available on Amazon.com in the end of November. To learn more you can visit Check out http://www.honeydontcough.com/

-Daddydoctor

~Michelle~ said...

OMG, what a scary story! I'd be pissed at that pharmacist!! At least you figured it out! On a side note, I guess I didn't realize sophie has Sensory Integration issues -- Peyton was just diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder; I'm not sure if you know anything about it?

Sarah said...

Holy crap!! And here I was thinking the Rhino would benefit from it this winter since he harbors chest congestion. Thank you for your PSA!! I would have lost it!