Headed to the Big House
By Glinda
I’m writing this knowing that at any moment, they could come and take me away. I tell you this story because I trust you not to rat me out, my friends.
You see, last week, my son began coughing.
And coughing, and coughing, and for good measure, coughing some more. Of course it got worse at night, as it always does, and no amount of vaporizer mist or propped pillows or cough drops would make it go away. Some nights it would take him almost two hours to fall asleep because he just couldn’t stop. Then he would wake up in the middle of the night, you guessed it, coughing and would take another hour to fall asleep.
When he first became ill, I wanted to reach for the cough medicine, especially for the horrible night-times. But wait a minute, the FDA had something to say about that. Mainly, don’t do it, Glinda.
I am nothing if not a law-abiding citizen who also votes in every election, so the medicine stayed in the cabinet.
For four nights we all suffered miserably, and I could only hope that it would go away on it’s own. Colds go away on their own, right? But seriously, on the fifth night my husband and I looked at each other in despair. It was 9:30pm, and still my son could not fall asleep.
Sleep deprived and desperate, we whispered about what we should do. And we came up with ignoring the FDA. People, don’t try this trick at home.
My husband came up with the idea, I just want to establish that.
We had two bottles of cough medicine just sitting there, calling our names. Both had been used before without any incident. I did some research on the FDA findings, and came away with the feeling that the unfortunate child deaths came from either overdosing or use in a child that was too young.
So, we took a deep breath and trying not to feel like scofflaws, we measured out a small dose and administered it.
Blessed sleep for all of us, finally.
And if you just so happen to be watching an episode of Cops, don’t be surprised to see them ordering a woman to “drop the wand, lady!”
That would be me.
November 8th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Glinda, I am a woman of a certain age and when I think of not only the meds that my sisters and I consumed (baby aspirin), but the activities we engaged in (running with scissors, staying out until after dark in the summer, drinking from the garden hose, etc.) and the things that were considered proper parenting when I was raising my 30 yr. old son (sleeping on his stomach, dosing him with cough medicine) it’s a miracle any of us lived to tell the tale. You know what your child needs and sometimes you just have to trust that inner voice. Just remember, the same government agency that told you Vioxx and PhenPhen were OK is now telling you cough medicine isn’t. There might be a pattern there.
November 8th, 2007 at 9:53 am
I’m one of those oddballs who totally tries to avoid OTC meds, and last year my son had the same kind of cough you describe. Normally the vaporizer and propping does the trick, but this was croupy and scary and not allowing him to sleep. I had the same trepidation about the cough medicine last year but I grabbed it anyway after several nights of no sleep for the little guy. Didn’t really do much.
I’ve heard cough meds don’t work on younger kids anyway, and I was wondering whether the ones that died had been given extra or large doses because the recommended dose wasn’t working. In the news clip I saw, the poor mother of the child who died was very vague in her response about whether she used the med as directed.
Either way, scary stuff.
And don’t buy Mr. P Aqua Dots for christmas!
November 8th, 2007 at 11:28 am
gemdiva, I too have a 30-year-old son, and while I didn’t run with scissors, I did ride in the back of a pick-up truck.
Back when gemdiva and I had infant sons, the prevailing wisdom was that fat cells were created in infancy; hence, fat babies became fat adults. My 100%-breast-fed baby sported three chins and all manner of lumpy-squishies (thank you, Francesca, for the most useful and descriptive term), and I got all kinds of bad-mama looks and comments. But I certainly wasn’t going to change his diet, so we rolled with it and now, 30 years later, he shops slim-cut and is frequently, to his chagrin, mistaken for a young twenty-something.
Glinda, it is clear that you care deeply for your son, and that you have done your homework. You also know your own child, better than any government wonk or prevailing-wisdom-pundit. And you know the difference between “not-recommended” and “illegal.” So listen to me, and gemdiva, and Obi-Wan, and trust your feelings.
And get some sleep.
November 8th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Your poor little guy! I hope he’s feeling better and I’m glad you all got some sleep. I, too, have given in to the cough syrup when my boy seems too miserable, and if it lets them get much needed rest, I say that cancels out any harm from the OTCs.
November 8th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Oh Gamma – very well said. You’re a woman after my own heart. BTW – I did run with scissors, but they were the plastic ones with the blunt ends – what can I say, I love living on the edge 🙂
November 8th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Yes, gemdiva, the plastic blunt-tipped edge 😉
And I had to sit flat-bottomed in the back of the pick-up truck. But don’t tell my kids.
November 8th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Sometimes a parent has to weigh the difference between two ills to decide which is the worst. The little guy had gone several nights with little or no sleep, you followed dosing directions properly, and something had to give. As much as I do my best to avoid all OTC medications, there are times when they are needed, and times when the recommended ones just aren’t getting the job done. That’s when a good parent looks beyond standard recommendations and decides which radical approach is best for the kid.
You got your son a decent night’s sleep, which he needed desperately for his body to heal. That’s worth taking a small, calculated risk.
November 8th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
gemdiva and gamma- Wise words from wise women! But I grew up in the seventies, and totally remember riding in the back of the station wagon without a seat belt and other things that are illegal today.
dgm- Good grief, I just read about the Aqua-Dots!
Eilish- The no sleep thing is what really pushed us to do it.
Twistie- The risk paid off! Maybe we should head to Vegas.
November 8th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Glinda – Just don’t get too cocky and start tearing all the tags off your pillows. They WILL come after you for that 🙂
November 8th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Yeah, I read about this too…they said the reasons for pulling them is that they’re not effective (they clearly ARE effective for your son) and many parents dose them wrong (ask me about the time I dosed myself with 4 tblsp instead of 4 tsp sometime…I was strung out, but fine). And with all of the stupid formulas they have (infant vs small child vs child) it’s easy to see how it can happen. I needed tylenol once when Maya was young and I was visiting family, and I couldn’t even send my dad to the store to buy them for me…there are so many options, I wanted to make sure I got the right one. All of that being said, if you get the right one, and you are careful with dosing, and it is effective, go for it. 🙂