Vent! DD Has Strep Throat and refuses to take her medicine!

[MoniqueU]

Ahhh this brings back the joy of holding down my daughter and giving her tylenol for a high fever a few times. NOT FUN. Now she will take medicene if you let her give it to her herself no problem because he knows she is taking it one way or another I guess LOL. I have a strong willed child too so I know how it goes. She is almost 9 now and most things can become a battle if she wants to make them that way.

 

[Disneyrsh]

Isabel (age 6) had 4 strep infections in one year, and also was having episodes where she'd stop breathing in the middle of the night and then gasp because the tonsils were so enlarged.

I would go to a good ENT (ear-nose-throat) doctor in your area (if you live in Atlanta I can recommend a fantastic one). Most pediatricians won't tell you to go to an ent, even if your kid's getting strep over and over again. But the ENT will tell you definitively if the tonsils and adenoids are enlarged, what percentage they are obstructing the airway (Isabel's airway was over 70% obstructed, gawd.) and what your options are.

Again, I'd *really* recommend a specialist for this. Everyone I know who's asked me about it has had their pediatrician blow it off.

Once she had her tonsils and adenoids out, she grew an inch and a half in the first month post surgery, and the issues she was having with her attention span disappeared.

The ENT felt that both issues were because she was not getting any sort of good deep sleep because of the trouble breathing, and when you don't get deep, uninterruped sleep you can't concentrate during the day, and you don't grow well.

Strep sucks. Oddly enough, my younger daughter has had it once in her entire five years (madly knocking wood here!).

 

[poohandwendy]

Here's the other thing: When I tell my kids to do something, they do it. None of this crap about refusing to do things or throwing pills away. I give them the medicine, they take it. No excuses, no fights, and no arguing. I'm the Mom, and I'm in charge.

It may suck to be them sometimes, but I'm flabbergasted you have to try and sit down in front of a computer to freakin' explain to your child why they don't want to get rheumatic fever and that they need to take their medicine, blah blah blah.

NO.

YOU are the PARENT.

YOU make the decisions.

They don't like it, tough noogies.

You sit that kid down on the chair, hand her the medicine, say "drink it" and stand there and watch her until she does. That's called being a parent. Your kid says no, she sits in that chair until she drinks/eats it, and I don't care if you have to stand there for hours, she doesn't move until she does what you say. That's how it works.

Go ahead and flame me, I don't care, because being a parent isn't about negotiation and placation, it's about raising a healthy kid who has respect for herself and others.

I completely agree, no flames here. And I also have experience raising a strong willed child. Fortunately, my will is stronger.

 

[Disneyrsh]

I completely agree, no flames here. And I also have experience raising a strong willed child. Fortunately, my will is stronger.

Yeah, it's a good thing it's a battle of wills with my kids (esp my younger), and not wits, because they'd win!

 

[disneymom3]

I can't help feeling that getting an injection is probably just the easiest short term solution, but at the end of the day I can't say I'd advocate that. Is it really the best thing in the longterm. Also, I think it harms the child-doctor relationship and the parent-doctor relationship not to mention the child-parent relationship. I'm seeing it from the other side of the desk and I wouldn't feel comfortable just injecting a child because mom couldn't get the child to take the medication. The child could construe the doctor as a form of punishment, which does nothing for when you (the dr) have to examine the child the next time they are unwell.

That is one thing I really like about our pediatrician. Some random lab tech always comes in and does the shots. When DS was little he had to have many blood test and this other test that I won't go into, but it wasn't a lot of fun. The Dr always made sure she was out of the room when any of the tests were done and DS adores her to this day. (Now there is one lab tech that he still--at 5.5 won't talk to!!)

 

[Michigan]

Let me tell you a very sad and scary story about a friend of mine. She had a sore throat and wouldn’t go to the doctor her husband finally put her in the car and took her to the emergency room . She has never been home since that night and it’s been over 2 years now. Her strep throat turned into toxic shock and she spent 2 weeks on life support. They had to remove part of her skull because of the pressure and part of her foot. She also suffered a stroke and is paralyzed on one side. Until recently she was unable to eat or feed herself. All of this happened before her daughters 6th birthday. Now 2 years later her husband is divorcing her and her children are never taken to the nursing home to see her. If not for her former co-workers that go see her regularly she would be sitting all alone in her early 40’s in a nursing home.

Strep is not something to play with and until my friend’s incident I didn’t know just how dangerous it could be.

I don’t care how I got the medicine down my kids it would go in after knowing what my friend has been through.

 

[kristen821]

Let me tell you a very sad and scary story about a friend of mine. She had a sore throat and wouldn’t go to the doctor her husband finally put her in the car and took her to the emergency room . She has never been home since that night and it’s been over 2 years now. Her strep throat turned into toxic shock and she spent 2 weeks on life support. They had to remove part of her skull because of the pressure and part of her foot. She also suffered a stroke and is paralyzed on one side. Until recently she was unable to eat or feed herself. All of this happened before her daughters 6th birthday. Now 2 years later her husband is divorcing her and her children are never taken to the nursing home to see her. If not for her former co-workers that go see her regularly she would be sitting all alone in her early 40’s in a nursing home.

Strep is not something to play with and until my friend’s incident I didn’t know just how dangerous it could be.

:

I don’t care how I got the medicine down my kids it would go in after knowing what my friend has been through.

How sad

 

[Puffy2]

Sometimes you can get the swallow kind and it goes down easier with yogurt or pudding.

If that doesn't work - take the kid in for a series of shots (usally three days in a row) and for a six year old (they are old enough to know better) ...I'd also take away a priviledge for being so difficult.

 

[WonderfulDreamer2]

Thanks for putting that in plain capitalised english. Perhaps we could look at the statistics for how common very, very serious complications of strep throat are before preaching to the converted; I'm a doctor.

Incidentally, over here, SIGN guidelines for removal of tonsils states 5 episodes of proven tonsillitis causing significant morbidity in 2 consecutive years. They will not normally remove tonsils in pre-school age children. I suppose the haemorrhagic complications of removing tonsils are considered very very serious therefore they don't whip the tonsils out without very good reason. Oh, believe me, I have seen someone bring up bucketfuls of blood post-tonsillectomy, when I was an ER doctor; not pretty.

Then as a doctor, you are well aware that left untreated, step can lead to Scarlett Fever (ie heart problems) and Kidney Disease. I've had children in my care, as a nurse, that ended up on dialysis treatment for a while due to the strep moving into the kidneys. Regardless of her displeasure in taking the medicine, it must be taken or the end result could...not saying it will, but could...lead to death. Our jobs as parents aren't always to coddle and stroke their egos, or to worry about if they will be mad at us for a while because of something we do or don't do. Our job is to look out for the best interest of our children, even when it's not a fun thing, and stay the course to make sure they make it into adulthood. I'm sorry, but stating your a doctor and then making a statement about strep not being a big deal is frightening to say the least.

 

[VSL]

robinb - glad you managed to get her to 'take' the medication eventually. Your DD is a complete cutie (but you can kind of see the fire inside her!)!

Disneyrsh - I do agree with your parenting methods. However, I think me and my BF are really going to have to toughen up before we have children so we can follow through with that kind of discipline (we're both complete softies - BF in particular)!

 

[#1MMFan]

WonderfulDreamer2, I am sad that you find this very worrying. I have not said that it isn't a big deal. You haven't quoted a percentage for the number of people who go on and develop scarlet fever. Incidentally according to literature I just read, doctors are often more relaxed with strep because the complication rate has been low particularly because a lot of sore throats were over-treated with penicillin. The thing is you need more than one ASO titre to diagnose accurately, and you can be false negative or positive. You can also carry the strep and have a positive ASO titre without being symptomatic. If we really think about it, we could all be taking penicillin daily at the thought of these complications and asymptomatic infection. Anyways, I have taken the following excerpt (without permission!!!) from the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Specialities. Incidentally the paragraph is well-referenced, but it's too much hassle to type the references in!...

"In the past, doctors readily gave antibiotics for sore throats in case the cause was a B-haemolytic streptococcal infection which may have resulted in rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever is now rare in the West. We know that rheumatic fever patients had often had their sore throats treated, so antibiotics had not prevented the illness. Doctors may not wish to give antibiotics for simple sore throats, as many are cuased by viruses - in any case the proportion of those with sore throats consulting may be as low as 1 in 18. Because sore throat is so common, treating everyone with penicillin is not only expensive but also risks more deaths from anaphylaxis than would be saved by any possible benefit. Throat swabs do not offer much help. Numerous antigen detection kits are available (specific, but not sensitive)."...

..With regard to Rheumatic Fever..
" This is a systemic febrile illness caused by a cross-sensitivity reaction to Group A B-haemolytic streptococcus, which, in the 2% of the population which is susceptible, may result in permanent damage to heart valves. It is common in the Third World, but is now rare in the West (incidence 5-10 people per one million children)."

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

This is why I like my doctor--if it isn't bacterial...she will not give an antibiotic!

Patients who accept antibiotics without a diagnosed infection (or justifiable preventative reason such as surgery as I did a month ago) are just silly.

I've had antibiotics 2-3 times in my life for sore throats caused by bacterial infection (funny they were NEVER strep) and have had more sore throats than I can count in which the docs didn't prescribe anything for them b/c they weren't bacterial.

While your stats are quite fascinating--more pertinent would be how many bacterial cases there are a year and if ever a bacterial case resolves itself without antibiotic. Overuse of antibiotics for viral infections--aren't really the topic of discussion here since the OP's child has a bacterial infection and requires an antibiotic for it. So as it stands--it would be seemingly evident that it is possible for the girl to get much more ill than she is had she not been properly medicated.

*not sure what this is: anaphylaxis

 

[#1MMFan]

Yeah, really what I'm saying here is that the complication rate is low, especially of serious complication (not saying that you want to take that chance, just trying to put it in perspective) and also, that, even if you do get antibiotics, you may not prevent some complications anyway. And we all know of bacterial infections that our own body's immune system deals with - eventually - altho' of course antibiotics will help significantly.

 

[VSL]

This is why I like my doctor--if it isn't bacterial...she will not give an antibiotic!

My doc is like this too!

Unfortunately, I've had to have five seperate courses of antibiotics over the bast three years (the last was six months ago so it was all within 2.5yrs) for various infections Two were from my dentist so I'll have to let my doctor know when I see them next!

 

[MrsPete]

I've had antibiotics 2-3 times in my life for sore throats caused by bacterial infection (funny they were NEVER strep) and have had more sore throats than I can count in which the docs didn't prescribe anything for them b/c they weren't bacterial.

I think some people are more suseptible than others to strep. Personally, I can pick it up if a strep-infected person drives by me in a car! Okay, you know that's not true, but I do get it 1-2 times every winter. (And I know I'm not wrong because my doctor does that oh-so-fun swab test every time.) I did have Scarlet Fever as a child; I don't remember whether it started out as strep.

Oddly enough, strep doesn't always feel the same: 2/3 of the time I'll be absolutley down-and-out miserable. Low fever, back and neck ache, headache that just won't quit, unable to get into a comfortable position especially for sleeping, pain in the throat unbearable . . . but 1/3 of the time it's just a sore throat and the other symptoms are there but much, much less severe; in such a case I often go to the doctor because it's Friday and I don't want the symptoms to escalate over the weekend.

After the swabbing, I always get the same anti-biotics: a Z-pack. I do worry about taking too many, but I can't let even a mild case of strep go.

 

[laurie31]

*not sure what this is: anaphylaxis

Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction. (the kind where you need epinephrine immediately or you'll die)

From Webster's dictionary:
an often severe and sometimes fatal systemic reaction in a susceptible individual upon exposure to a specific antigen (as wasp venom or penicillin) after previous sensitization that is characterized especially by respiratory symptoms, fainting, itching, and urticaria.

Laurie

ps - urticaria is a $50 dollar word for hives

 

[yodabest57]

I would be very careful about deciding on a shot. When I was a kid, I too was afraid to take pills. My parents immediately made me get a shot. It terrified me and hurt terribly. It plagues me my entire life. It made me scared all year 'round if I ever got sick. It created an anxiety issue that took me 30 years to overcome.

A better alternative would have been for my mom to slowly teach me how to take pills. The thought of swallowing a pill scared me. I couldn't imagine putting a hard object in my mouth and swallowing it. But they never took the time to teach me that it's okay.

Those memories are with me my entire life when the decidion was made to give me the shot.

Every kid is different so you can't assume that a simple painful shot is the answer. It can have long lasting affects through ones entire life.

If pills are available, I suggest trying to gain trust from your kid and teaching them that it's not so hard to swallow. But my parents never did that.

As a result it has affected me my entire life.

Just a thought....

Ken

 

[Liberty Belle]

Its very simple.... take her back to the doctor and make her get the shot. She will not egt better and she will and can spread it the rest of the family.



Also maybe I mean but I would just force it down or give a punishment for not taking it.


The shot woul dbe the quickest though and you would have to fight her 2x a day for liek 2 weeks. Call the doc and take her little butt back.

I was horrible at taking medicine when I was little. HORRIBLE. My mom would force me. She'd hold my nose and make me swallow. I threw it up every single time. I still remember. I don't know if a shot was an option given to my mom, but I would gladly have taken the shot rather than swallow all that awful medicine.

 

[Missy1961]

I would be very careful about deciding on a shot. When I was a kid, I too was afraid to take pills. My parents immediately made me get a shot. It terrified me and hurt terribly. It plagues me my entire life. It made me scared all year 'round if I ever got sick. It created an anxiety issue that took me 30 years to overcome.

A better alternative would have been for my mom to slowly teach me how to take pills. The thought of swallowing a pill scared me. I couldn't imagine putting a hard object in my mouth and swallowing it. But they never took the time to teach me that it's okay.

Those memories are with me my entire life when the decidion was made to give me the shot.

Every kid is different so you can't assume that a simple painful shot is the answer. It can have long lasting affects through ones entire life.

If pills are available, I suggest trying to gain trust from your kid and teaching them that it's not so hard to swallow. But my parents never did that.

As a result it has affected me my entire life.

Just a thought....

Ken

Well, no matter what happened--it happened in 2005. How did you find this thread? Did you google the topic? Interesting.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Well, no matter what happened--it happened in 2005. How did you find this thread? Did you google the topic? Interesting.

I didn't even notice that! Good catch!