Cold or Cough? Maybe Just Stick to the Chicken Soup
“Did you give him any cough medicine?” was the question the school nurse left on my voice mail. I was teaching when she called and hastily responded after packing up books and papers. Charlie’s teacher had noted that he had gotten off the bus congested and really, really tired, and rubbing his face over and over. No fever, no swelling, the nurse noted. In answer to her question, I quickly said that I try to avoid giving Charlie any over-the-counter cough medicine and sending him to school: I have never been able to figure out whether these make him hyper or drowsy, or rather, extra-drowsy. Once, a few summers ago, I gave Charlie Benadryl and, while he did not bounce off the walls, he ran up and down the hallways and the house, completely wide awake far past midnight—-Charlie generally has unusual, and unpredictable, reactions to cough syrup and cold medicines. Today’s New York Times reports on a call by safety experts from the FDA to ban the use of such medications in children under 6:
In the new safety review, the agency’s experts suggested that all “infant” cough and cold formulations be removed from the market, and that the droppers, cups and syringes included with products for children be standardized to reduce the risks of confusion and overdose.
The reviewers wrote that there is little evidence that these medicines are effective in young children, and there are increasing fears that they may be dangerous. From 1969 to 2006, at least 54 children died after taking decongestants, and 69 died after taking antihistamines, the report said. And it added that since adverse drug reactions are reported voluntarily and fitfully, the numbers were likely to significantly understate the medicines’ true toll.
It is further noted that “a growing number of studies suggest that cough and cold medicines work no better in children than placebos.”
When cold season comes, I guess we’ll have to cough and bear it.
Photo courtesy of Oi Jimmy! via Flickr.
13 opinions for Cold or Cough? Maybe Just Stick to the Chicken Soup
Niksmom
Sep 29, 2007 at 9:05 am
We’re right there with you on that one! I avoid giving Nik anything but Tylenol or Advil for fever or discomfort. For the other stuff, we try aromatherapy or the Pedicare Gentle Vapors plug-ins, Vick rub and the like. He already gets so many meds pumped into his little body as it is. Hope Charlie isn’t ill but maybe fighitn allergies?? (Well, I can hope, can’t I?)
Kristina Chew, PhD
Sep 29, 2007 at 10:50 am
I think it’s allergies. He woke up, laughed and played on his bed, just went back to sleep—he is a growing bot.
Judith Ursitti
Sep 29, 2007 at 11:18 am
I have an irrational fear of meds … don’t know why. I hesitate to give Jack (my child with autism) or Amy any sort of medication unless I just have to.
As I said … I don’t know why…
This report makes me feel a little better about my hesitation…
Kristina Chew, PhD
Sep 29, 2007 at 11:33 am
I got the sense that the school nurse is wary of parents who give a child something over-the-counter and hope they can make it through the day when the child should really be home. (And I don’t mean to “blame” any parents who do this—-I am a full-time working mother and there is no one to watch Charlie when he is sick; Jim and I have to rework our schedules and I have taken him to work with me on more than a few occasions.)
KimJ
Sep 29, 2007 at 2:21 pm
We have done tylenol with fevers and now he gets albuterol with severe wheezing. But that’s only at night. I learned really quickly never to tell my mom that he is sick. She’ll banter me to no end about “giving him something to make him more comfortable.”
Jennifer
Sep 29, 2007 at 2:39 pm
“I got the sense that the school nurse is wary of parents who give a child something over-the-counter and hope they can make it through the day when the child should really be home.”
That happens a lot, and it can really bother some of my staff. However, I know that some parents just can’t get off work, and I also know that it’s hard to find alternate child care.
So, I send a child home if necessary when I can, but I also have a small corner of the classroom with pillows and beanbags where I can have sick kids rest.
If Charlie was rubbing his face a lot, that does seem to me like allergies; he could possibly be itchy.
Vicki Forman
Sep 29, 2007 at 4:55 pm
I’ve been following this story about over the counter medicine for a while now, and I have to say that it simply confirms what I always felt to be true for my older daughter, which was that over the counter medications were ineffective for coughs, colds and even congestion. It was frustrating to administer those drops and watch as nothing happened. Thanks for covering this.
Daisy
Sep 29, 2007 at 8:59 pm
“I have never been able to figure out whether these make him hyper or drowsy, or rather, extra-drowsy.” I’ll always remember the day I took “nondrowsy” cold medicine and nearly fell asleep at my desk! Not a good thing for a 6th grade teacher….
Regan
Oct 1, 2007 at 12:20 am
Interesting.
When the girls were little, there was an article from Consumer Reports on the question of unknown mechanisms for some common OTC medicines, placebo effect and contradictory effects of combinations–i.e., combining an expectorant (which presumably loosens congestion which might shift with coughing) with a cough suppressant, results in a net result of nada–except for putting the medicine in your system.
Given that, and some annoying side effects of hyperactivity and irritability, our medicine cabinet has become considerably less cluttered, except for antihistimines which are helpful for the high pollen season. For anything significant we go to the Doctor.
I find it interesting that as we move forward that there is such a high reliance on medicine to take care of health problems that in the past were more effectively taken care of by bed rest at home, home nursing (an unheard of luxury in the era of managed care) and…chicken soup. Hmm.
Regan
Oct 12, 2007 at 9:03 am
Well, at least for the little guys, the recall on the OTC cold remedies has started:
http://www.chpa-info.org/ChpaPortal/PressRoom/NewsReleases/2007/10_11_07_CCMedicines.htm
Autism Vox
Oct 21, 2007 at 11:38 am
[…] a post last month, I noted how Charlie’s reactions to over-the-counter cough medications have been both […]
Regan
Oct 21, 2007 at 2:39 pm
To me that’s the moneymaker. Kids may not react to some medications as expected, if the clinical trials were done in adult or geriatric population. I doubt that the cold medicines will be the last examples.
I have given up on the soporifics–and Eleanor has grown out of most of the bedtime issues aided by some structural and behavioral interventions (See V. Mark Durand’s, “Sleep Well!). Benadryl made her irritable and jumpy, and on one notable occasion, chloral hydrate made her the preschooler equivalent of a combative drunk.
KimJ
Oct 21, 2007 at 3:07 pm
A trip to the doctor always yielded that codeine-laced syrup, back in the days when OTC cough medicine wasn’t in use (70’s). For sniffles we got Vick’s Vapo rub or even those loud vapor humidifiers overnight. Menthol is our friend here at the house these days.
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