The doctor who gave up drugs

I was reading a review of a book about that today, OldMeg.
Some study showing that cutting out some drugs for older people prolongued their life.
And don't get me started about Ritalin - when it was first introduced for children ( late '80s?) I was still working in Child Guidance and our psychiatrist said exactly the same things about it as Nanachat above.
But Calpol - I did give eldest son some for as short time when he was a lively baby. He's over 50 now, and still lively.

I read someone saying that if Paracetamol was developed now it would not be approved because so little is known about how it works.

They tell you to give Calpol just before the baby vaccinations now - at the first one, we didn't know so they gave us a sachet to take at the surgery. Having said that, I do think DGS has been given Calpol at times when it wasn't necessary but SIL is a doctor and both he and DD take paracetamol regularly themselves, whereas I try never to take painkillers. I noticed when DGS was ill that baby Nurofen reduced his temperature much more quickly but when I mentioned that to the nurse at the GP surgery, she said the NHS prefers paracetamol. I didn't see the programme but read an article about it and was very surprised to read that after all this time they don't actually know how paracetamol reduces fever, just that it does.

I just checked the insert of a bottle of Calpol (6 plus) and it most definitely says that “it works fast to reduce a fever......in 15 minutes” so either the doctor is talking rubbish (I didn’t see the program), his words have been misunderstood/misinterpreted , or the manufacturers are lying .

I think the doctor was saying that if a child was going to have convulsions lowering it's temperature with paracetamol wouldn't stop the convulsions.

Deedaa I had thought that Calpol would reduce fever until the doc said it. I’m glad you heard it too Eloethan.

Overall I thought it a good programme as it does highlight how easy it is to get into bad habits. A bottle of Calpol a month for Pete’s sake!!

Calpol was definitely around in the 1960s and 1970s. I had my first child in 1971 and nearly all my friends had it in the house. I refused to buy it or use it. I preferred junior aspirin because giving a child a tablet makes it very clear that you are medicating the child, so you think long and hard before you use it and do not just use it as a pacifier.

I agree with OldMeg. I have just fought off being prescibed statins. Following a comment in another thread, after I had been told my risk of a heart attack/stroke in the next ten years at my current blood cholesterol level I asked her the effect taking statins to reach the ideal cholesterol level would be. It turned out it would reduce the risk by less than 3%. I am within a few months of 75. In 10 years I will be nearly 85, ie approximately the life expectancy of British women. Even with statins the risk of a heart/attack or stroke is quite high for obvious reasons..

I will always take medication if necessary. But like Calpol, one should query its necessity. Of course doctors get paid extra the more patients they get on statins.

I would have given my DD phenegan if I had been prescribed it by my GP when she was a baby as she cried incessantly for her first year ! A truly awful ( poorly) baby . If I had been less patient or “closer to the edge”
I might have thrown her off a high building. It was that bad .

Because there was a program about it doesn’t mean that everyone ( young parents in this case) are overdosing their children Nanachat much the same as if there was a program about drug addicts or alcoholism it wouldn’t mean we all are.

I couldn’t sit back and see one of my DGC suffering the nasty effects of a streaming cold, headache etc. And not give them something to help the pain/symptoms Much as I might take a paracetamol myself. .

I knew a mum who regularly gave her children Tixylix to get them to sleep at night. They weren't ill just wide awake and noisy. Apparently it worked better than Calpol ! Yes, it may seem to be wrong, but her kids were happy, healthy and well balanced and she and her husband were more relaxed for getting a good night's sleep

This is so wrong on many different levels ?

I watched the end of the programme as I'd been out. What I saw was interesting but I think I probably should watch the rest on catch-up. I used calpol for my DC when they were young but only when they were ill. I probably only ever bought 2 bottles throughout their childhood. I can't believe anyone getting through a bottle a month!

I don't think the tone of the programme was to "criticise" parents but to inform them. The doctor presenting the programme pointed the finger at the marketing of Calpol which appeared to recommend using it when it was unnecessary or inappropriate. It was quite telling that the manufacturers dragged their feet in being interviewed and finally refused. I find it worrying that a company that manufactures medicines - particularly those given to children (and as the presenter pointed out, all drugs have side effects) - was unwilling to answer questions about Calpol and the way it has been marketed.

From what has been said here, paracetamol does bring down a fever and yet another specialist doctor on the programme implied it did not. All very confusing.

One of my DGD suffers from febrile convulsions ,so when she gets a temperature she is given Paracetamol and Nurofen to bring the temp down ,stripped off to cool her down . This was all advised by the hospital . DD doesn't buy Calpol though which is twice the price for the same thing Paracetamol !

NfkDumpling paracetamol does bring down fever. People with suppressed immune systems like DH are warned not to take it for fever because it will lower the temperature and they may become seriously ill before anyone realises.

Phenergan was a life saver in this house. I didn’t use it often but when we did, boy we got an early night

When my sons were young in the 70/80's I did keep Calpol in the medicine cupboard (it was recommended by the baby clinic!) but only ever used it if they were actually unwell. However, I knew a mum who regularly gave her children Tixylix to get them to sleep at night. They weren't ill just wide awake and noisy. Apparently it worked better than Calpol ! Yes, it may seem to be wrong, but her kids were happy, healthy and well balanced and she and her husband were more relaxed for getting a good night's sleep.

I am told that when I was a baby I was a very poor sleeper and cried constantly. My Mum didn't want the neighbours complaining so she gave me warm milk with a Disprin (Junior Asprin) dissolved in it, or if she didn't have Disprin it was a 'splash' of Brandy or Gin! Mum was a nurse and said it was often done in hospitals too. They didn't want one crying baby waking up the whole ward.

In the 70's, two of my DC's were prescribed valergan and phenargan syrups as sedatives, and for travel sickness. (not sure if these are correct spellings). This would be unheard of nowadays, I suspect. I do remember giving DS, aged seven, a spoonful of phenargan while staying with an older couple, as he tended to be a little 'hyper' at times. His winding down was very obvious.

Never used any medicine on my children unless it was really really necessary- which was rare indeed. Luckily both my children who now have families of their own seem to follow the same path. In fact when a GS became very seriously ill and was in hospital he recovered reasonably quickly because he was not used to medicines - so the ones he was given apparently worked quicker.

I don't remember giving either of my sons medicine when they were small - probably gripe water when they were young babies was the only thing. The eldest was a poor sleeper so had Calpol been around I'd have been tempted to give it a try.

When my son and DIL came over at Christmas for 6 weeks with our little grandsons they were ill a lot of the time with colds and fevers. She'd already brought antibiotics with them but when the youngest seemed particularly poorly one day they got some Calpol and within half an hour of taking it he was a different child - up and running around large as life. Bit of a wonder drug but if it's been used as widely as is suggested that's quite a worry - I thought it was just for when they were ill.

My husband finally saw a nurse practitioner yesterday for his sciatica and was given a prescription - when I picked it up I was amazed he'd been given 3 different lots of medication and 2 packets of two of them. One was for the reflux side effect of the anti-depressant - he was told these help the pain apparently - I'm hoping they make him happy as another side effect lol! Already being on BP meds he's going to be a walking medicine chest before long!

When my girls were children there was no Calpol, instead we were told to give Junior Aspirin, now banned I believe.
Never used it unless they were really poorly.
I think the reason Calpol is so popular is that it tastes nice to children so they gobble it up. A child on the orogramme actually said she liked it for the taste.
I've heard children saying they feel poorly and need Calpol.

I thought the programme was very interesting and another example of too much medication being given but I bet if you went to the GP and asked about your child having mindfulness training or meditation of any kind you would find there was no provision. I have always thought small children should get at least as much running around as a puppy! Completely agree with all the exercise we got in the past without trying, the walk to and from school for a start.

I did not see it last night, but assuming it's the same/similar saw one some time ago.

I think the change in diet and the air is not taken into account. In particular children are very susceptible to microwaves from mobile telephones and mobile telephone towers as well s the new smart metres in homes. The polution in the air, particularly crop-spraying, and the undisputed aeroplane chem-trails are changing children's development especially the brain. This really worries me.

It seems to me like babies being given gin-soaked dummies in Victorian times - anything to make them sleep.

Got the programme recorded but haven't watched yet. Always wondered why I developed a severe and long lasting headache following a course of Paracetamol for unrelated illnesses, until I realised that the problem was the preservative in the tablets (I'm a veggie so couldn't take gelatine capsules) - changed to soluble (on the rare occasions needed) and have not had a problem since. I dread to think what side effects some little ones suffer that their parents are not aware of.

We went to a seminar about drug abuse and they were adamant that if you want your children to say no to illicit drugs then a key way to ingrain that into them is to stop taking things like paracetamol at the drop of the hat and to go through the drug control sheets with them so they can see the dangers for themselves. The theory is that if they can see the dangers of over the counter medicines, they will be used to looking for the dangers when they are offered illicit drugs.
I have started to use heat pads and hydration for headaches, etc. It often means I don't have to take medication.