The doctor who gave up drugs

It’s not just kids though is it? ‘Older’ people take a plethora of medication for this and that and I wonder just how easy it is to pop a pill rather than change lifestyle.

Before everyone starts jumping up and down shouting ‘you don’t know what you’re talking about’ or ‘I need my pills or I’ll keel over’ I’m not talking about essential medication but all those add-ons for side effects etc..

When I had my late MiL’s medication reassessed she was able to cut out 4 different types of tablets and reduce dosage on 2 more. Her GP (lazy man) had just kept adding this and that for every new complaint. It wasn’t until I took her myself and insisted on a (long overdue) review that the changes were made.

I work in a day nursery where parents do hand over Calpol on a very frequent basis . Children actually know what it is . I was dosing one child with it . A little boy nearby aged 20 months pointed to the bottle - Calpol - he said ....

We lived overseas when my children were small and had a long (12-13 hour) flight to get home to UK to see family. My GP suggested antihistamine as a sedative for the flight (it was usually an overnight one) but reminded me that I should try it out first as his own middle daughter was hyped up by it not calmed down so they had an 'interesting' trip! I only used it once for DD but not the two DS as they both had asthma/croup and it wasn't suitable.

My 2nd son was a really bad sleeper. I was up practically all night for the first 6-8 months. He was fine but thought night time was play time.
The doctor gave me something called Phenigan for him & I've often wondered what was in it. As I was practically a zombie at the time I was just grateful to get a couple of hours sleep & manage 2 boys during the day.
I think when you are in that state you try anything. DH did what he could but he was on double day shifts so often not there at night.
When DS complains his children wake them in the night I just say it's karma!!

The worst thing is my FinL (90) was addicted to Paracetamol and couldn't stop taking it as the headaches came back.. which they would - expect this is the same for these parents/children .. the more you give the more they "need". In my childhood we didn't have any medication thrown at us except Malt extract ( yuk) .. we just got on with it and survived and my 3 kids certainly didn't get over medicated! I get so angry about Big Pharma ..... grrr!

I also never gave my kids anything that wasn't prescribed .... talking about my daughter who has chronic asthma since she was three. My son was 38 last week ,and hasn't had a prescription in his life.!!! Incredible as that may sound. He doesn't even keep paracetamol in his flat, and last time he came to see me he had a raging toothache and accepted two paracetamols from me.... I tried to give him the packet to take home with him but he refused saying it would pass....it didn't and he had to have treatment for an abscess in his back molar!! He will not self medicate unless pressed. Cal pool I'm sure wasn't around anyway when mine were small. My daughter seems to give calpol at the drop of a hat and I think if it didn't taste as nice kids would fight back against it. I don't remember being given anything for colds or temperatures or stomach upsets as a child in the 50's and 60's. We just 'got over it' I'm sure it helped us to become more stoical than future generations.

Didn’t realise until recently, GPS are paid more for prescribing!

gillybob how do you mean over generalising?

On the programme some parents were using calpol where there was no fever or headache, they were using it to give to babies and toddlers as a night soother or if they were unsettled during the day.

This doesn't mean that all babies are being weaned on calpol but the amount that is sold and used is astonishing.

I also think there has been a shift in our children's physical activities both in school and at home. This doesn't mean that all children are inactive.

It was pointed out in the programme that Calpol is paracetamol. A pain killer. It doesn’t bring down fever or clear a stuffy nose. The worry is that its being given for any minor ailment. Most of the parents I know are careful about what and how often they give medicines but these programmes have to overgeneralise in order to shock and get the message across.

I really wish people wouldn’t over generalise .

My DGC take Calpol 6 plus( it’s sugar free btw) when they are feeling poorly . Usually a heavy cold or the occasional headache . They are very active children spend very little time staring at screens much preferring to take part in sporting activities.

Why are young parents berated for everything they do or don’t do ? We would probably take a paracetamol to relieve a headache so why should a child suffer unnecessarily?

I agree it is society that has changed children don't let off steam outdoors and instead are sitting at computer screens .Also additives in food have a lot to answer for where adhd is concerned in the past simple wholesome meals were all that was available .Today children who might in the past have been considered boisterous and a bit loud are now diagnosed as adhd and medicated I do think as well society is less tolerant and likes a quiet easier life now and for some medication is the answer.

I didn’t see the program. But I know my DD only gives my grandchildren Calpol when they have a fever.

I do agree that our society makes it hard for boisterous children to be themselves: no freedom to roam and run.

There is a huge push to get children into sport - the Sports Premium paid to schools is large - but the sort of children we are talking about here do not respond well to formal sport - too regimented.

The use of computer games is very problematical, both stimulating and addictive, and seems to have taken the place of normal running around and using imaginations.

And as for the school system - I despair when I see teachers fighting for real education in the face of uniformity, testing, regimentation, unreal expectations (try doing a primary SAT test and see how you do!).

I think he’s right. Calpol seems to have taken the place of Gripewater as a pacifier. I remember swigging that while pregnant as it subdued heartburn. It was banned because it contained alcohol, but was it really so much worse?

The meditation technique was very interesting, but I’d like to have seen more of the in between part, between the hyper kids rushing around and the calm children at the end. How on earth did she get them to sit still in the first place?

I too was shocked at how easy calpol was given to children, the mother who used a bottle a month I also thought most of the evidence was one sided and more opinion than fact.

eloethan I attended an interesting seminar on ADD at the centre for life. The professors opinion was that ADD has always existed but in the past children had outlets which they no longer have and it is society that has changed.

Examples he gave were that we could play out for hours, running, climbing trees, riding our bikes. Older boys could work on the docks or for the local store while still attending school etc. There were technology schools for practical subjects and PE was a regular curiculem activity.

He gave examples of marines, mine workers and a few people in history where being brave, fearless and functioning on little sleep was seen as an asset as opposed to reckless behaviour.

He opined that today our children are sat in a classroom for hours and forced to learn a restricted curriculum, fidgeting or lack of concentration is punished or seen as weakness that needs to be controlled. So much emphasis is on academia and most outlets such as PE or activity subjects are now restricted.

The child that runs around the park for hours is frowned upon and seen as out of control. Parents are afraid to allow their children to go out on all day adventures on their bikes or in the woods. Activities are more sedate and restricted and no one plays out when there is homework to be done.

And our food has far more additives, (including calpol) He believed that society had removed outlets and added conditions, but that ADD has always existed, (just as ASD has,) however we are more aware,

It was a very interesting theory.

Drug companies are very powerful.

I don't remember having any medicine as a child and antibiotics only as a teenager. The increasing use of Ritalin is I think very worrying.

Calpol can be very useful when a child is in distress and unable to sleep but if it is a fact that it is commonly being used on a regular basis that is also very concerning.

It had always been my understanding that it is imperative to bring down a high temperature to prevent seizures in young children. But the doctors on this programme said that whether Calpol/paracetamol was administered or not had no bearing on whether fits would occur. I found this part of the programme very confusing.

It seemed that the minfulness/meditation worked for some of the children, but certainly not all. The little girl who couldn't stop talking seemed to have calmed down a lot and the little boy too. There wasn't much coverage given re the other children though.

I felt so sorry for the parents of these children. It must be exhausting (and infuriating at times). Why is it that so many children now have ADHD anyway?

Also full of sugar I believe.

I thought it was a superb programme and very good to look at things from a different angle The drugs for ADHD aren’t a nice drug at all and I thought how poignant when that young chap said it took ‘all of him’ out of his personality he was left feeling nothing like himself
If there are ways to manage a child without drugs and teach them other ways that is the best way forward
About Calpol it’s almost become a baby sitter

As my daughter said when they were growing up they never wanted medicine as it tasted awful now it s made to taste of strawberries or oranges or something else lovelynand makes it quiet lip smacking

My DD has adult ADHD and has attended classes in meditation, but likewise said it was just hopeless because she couldn't focus for long enoug.

Funnily enough, before she was born (she's now 25) a friend advised me to make sure I didn't routinely give her Calpol as I/she would get 'addicted' to it.

Of course when I was a child having a cold meant curling up in bed for a couple days with a hot water bottle. Now with two working parents and any sort of school absence frowned on it means swallowing calpol and carrying on. It's on a par with the lemsip ads encouraging everyone to take their germs into work

Perhaps instead of calling it Calpol, it should be called Baby Paracetamol, which is what it is. Parents might then think twice about stuffing their children with it. The thing it is pink and pretty and tastes nice and it is easy to give and quietens the baby. A bit like all those children pacified with gin in previous centuries.

I thought the way they were all leaping around during the first meditation looked very familiar DD said they tried meditation with him way back before he was diagnosed and it made no difference at all. His medication just covers him for the six hours he's at school and his reading level has gone up to way above his age. it's actually improved his eating as well as he now concentrates long enough to eat his lunch instead of rushing off doing 10 other things.

I wish DS could break the Calpol habit with GS3 but they get into such a panic at the slightest sign of fever. The poor child is in and out of the surgery like a yo yo sometimes!

I couldn't see DGS doing meditation even in his quieter moments

Deedaa my DGS takes medication (I think it is the one Dr. Chris was talking about) for ADHD as well on the days he goes to school. As he has to take it before breakfast ,and it only lasts for 8 hours ,we never see the benefit ! The TA thinks he is calmer though.

45 years ago my eldest son had very bad eczema as a baby. He was prescribed Piriton to help with the itching and scratching.
I was surprised how many Mums were giving it to sleepless babies purely as a sedative even then.