Calpol (as in the branded one) also comes in different concentrations [i]just in the UK[/i]: 'infant' is 120mg/5mls and 6+ is 250mg/5mls. Theoretically it is quite possible to make your child very ill by being so used to infant calpol and switching to chugging in the same volume doses of 6+ version every four hours. ('staggered' overdoses as opposed to all in one go are also highly dangerous) With my professional nursie hat on, I think having 2 strengths of the [i]same bleddy brand[/i] is most foolish, particularly now you can get those little syringes with children's drugs that can do you a pretty accurate 1.25mls if you want to.
As an aside, the French are far more used to delivering paracetemol to their children by (waaaaay faster acting and somewhat less appealing to the toddler)suppository. 😯
I think the most worrying comment is ".. we taught ours to swallow tablets early on ...".
Why's that worrying? We didn't teach them to self administer only swallow 😉 . Saved a fortune in medication and really isn't that hard. Half a paracetamol caplet (250mg) is the same size as a tic tac. Have you ever swallowed a tic tac whole? Take a sip of water, hold in the mouth. Insert tablet and swallow. You only get one chance, because the tablets dissolve and the taste is not great. Ibuprofen is just dreadful. Hence the sugar coating.
Why's that worrying?
I was just imagining the training, hadn't realised it was with tic-tac's - excellent work 🙂
Paracetamol is serious stuff. I accidentally took a couple too many in a 24hr window a few months back (effectively a double dose took one lot when igot home from work, forgot i'd done it and took same again half hour later). called nhs direct and was slightly surprised how seriously they took it. Had to give them all the pill info and they went away to check toxicity etc.
Hope your boys on the mend. Our eldest is of similar age so hopefully our cap is screwed on tighter!
I accidentally took a couple too many in a 24hr window a few months back (effectively a double dose took one lot when igot home from work, forgot i'd done it and took same again half hour later). called nhs direct and was slightly surprised how seriously they took it.
So basically you took 4 tabs instead of 2 in maybe 30 mins? Hardly seems OD-ville to me. Did you feel ill?
Paracentmol can be combined with a chemical that makes it much safer in overdosage but the pharmaceutical companies will not do it as it would increase costs
bit harsh on the drug companies TJ - they did market it (Paradote) for quite a while but nobody bought it
(also some people had reservations about safety of methionine taken routinely by "everyone")
Link TJ?
It has to be compulsory or no one will buy it as its more expensive. the pahramacutical companies sucessfully lobbied to have it not made compulsory so we will continue to have people die of paracetomol overdosage regularly - and its a nasty way to die. The ethics of big pharma again.
It has to be compulsory or no one will buy it as its more expensive.
But people still buy branded painkillers at 10x the price...
Thats right - but to add the methionine to them would reduce the drug companies profits so they fought successfully to not have it made compulsory
unless you wanted them to give it away, that's a failure of health regulators you're describing isn't it ??
depending on who you listened to, reputedly a potential teratogen, carcinogen and shown to raise homocysteine levels so possibly inc risk of cardiovascular events
(nausea, headaches, taste, ...)
Yes - but they companies lobbied very hard to get the decision they wanted. I am very cynical about the pharmacy industry since the co promamol stuff decades ago and it still goes on - profits before people
Incidentally, abolition of resale price maintenance by the government (not sure which), much against the wishes of "big pharma" is what's allowed shops to sell paras for almost nothing. Granted, they can only sell 32 tabs at a go but that's plenty
addit:
what co promamol stuff - do you mean co-proxamol ?
what don't you like about that story ? (not having a go - seemed a pretty shit product though the biddies liked it. was then quite sensibly restricted IMO)
depending on who you listened to
It'll only have been one side.
by (not so) happy coincidence i was discussing paracetamol, napqi and glutathione just the other night. the following should just about cover the bases i think -
http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/95/9/609.full
hope the op's wee one is fine also
Scaredypants - when it first broke about the toxicity of co proxamol it was still under patent ( distalgesic) - the company with the patents ( liully) first move was to appoint a PR firm and go on a PR offensive while people were suffering sever side effects / dying. It took decades to be restricted.
Still at it now -the wiki page on Dsitalgesic controversies is blocked
Lilly are well known for their aggressive advertising and lobbying
OP hope all is ok. Our thoughts are with you and last night we moved his bottles ti a high cupboard.
(They were on his changing table ffs)
"Child proof" is not guaranteed. [url= http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/regsumpppa.pdf ]This [/url]is worth a read, quite an eye-opener really on the testing of child proof tops. In summary 20% of children aged 42-51 months may still be able to open a bottle within 10 min! 😯 So keep them well out of reach.
From Page 2:
[b]What is a child-resistant package?[/b]
A child-resistant package is one that is designed or
constructed to be significantly difficult for children
under five to open or obtain a harmful amount of the
contents within a reasonable time. The package must
also not be difficult for normal adults to use properly.
For a package to be child-resistant, a total of 80% of
the children tested according to the procedure
summarized below must not open the package during a
full 10 minutes of testing. Please check below for more
information about the level of child-resistance required
during the first five minutes of testing.
To make sure that adults are able to use a childresistant
package properly, 90% of adults tested have
up to five minutes, and then another minute in a second
test, to open and close the package so that it is childresistant
again.
