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KezT

Tamiflu

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OK, so we have swine flu in the house. ho hum. it's not the end of the world :rolleyes:

 

The kids are being prescribed tamiflu (so has husband as a prophylactic (sp?) measure), but I don't really see why....... Ok DD has a mild dose of flu. she has a slight tempreture, which comes down with parecetemol, and is resting a lot - but has managed to find enough energy to play computer games for a couple of hours! If it wasn't swine flu, and therefore probably punishable by the death penalty, I would have been tempted to send them allto school and see how it develops during the day :whistle:

 

reading up on tamiflu, there are questions about its use in chilren and neurological effects. Considering DS's volitile nature at the best of times, it seems an unecessary drug to give IMO. The NHS seem to just be handing it out to anyone who suggests they may be a bit under the weather - our was prescribed by a locum who certainly didn't bother to check any medical records, as we had to explain why we wanted the tamiflu for husband.

 

 

I'm wondering whether I should bother giving it? am I being a bad parent by not giving them drugs that could help them get better quicker, or am i being a bad parent by giving them drugs that might harm them?

 

any advice welcome

 

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We weren't offered and would have declined, but it's all down to personal preference. Our experience of SF was mild but I reserve the right to change my mind if we get to winter and I keel over.

 

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Also Tamiflu is a new drug that only reduces the symptoms of flu and does not stop it. Therefore if myself or my child just had to put up with temps and sore throat than I would put up with it.

 

As the number of prescriptions are increased than the true side effects of tamiflu will be uncovered and some of these may be worse than having flu!!!

 

I have severe lung damage and have already had three chest infections in less than five months but I would still think twice about taking it.

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thanks for the replies. Still deciding what to do with AS son. He is not showing any symptoms yet, and I am certainly not giving it to a physically healthy child as a prophylactic! DD is really not looking that ill at all tbh. However, I have given her the tamiflu - she's NT so unlikely to be high risk, although at only 5 years old, it's young to hand out drugs willy nilly!

 

DH has started his - that was the main reason I bothered to contact the doctor at all - he needs the tamiflu and I needed to have spoken to a doctor for work :rolleyes:

 

Assuming AS DS gets it, I will see how things go, but am edging towards the thought that he should just sweat it out unless he shows really awful symptoms.

Edited by KezT

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As I understand it Tamiflu has to be given right at the stare of the illness or it is a wast of time. No point in taking it once symptoms get bad.

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As I understand it Tamiflu has to be given right at the stare of the illness or it is a wast of time. No point in taking it once symptoms get bad.

Not quite. Yes, it has the best effect if taken early, but even if taken later it will still help to reduce the severity and length (in days) of symptoms and may help to prevent the development of secondary complications in 'at risk' patients.

 

As to getting it over the internet, that needs to not be mixed up with buying drugs without medical advise over the internet :shame:. The Dept. of Health is setting up a Swine Flu Advice line available both by phone and internet (yippee, someone realises we can't all use the phone :thumbs:) where people will be able to get a diagnosis and access to Tamiflu. This should take some of the pressure off GPs and NHS Direct. To prevent abuse of the system, every patient will only be allowed one dose, so if you try to get it early on and take it unnecessarily you won't be able to get it when you do need it.

 

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Interesting in that all my friends, in fact drinking buddies too believe they have had it, including me, for we have all had the same symptoms, which those with the piggy disease have been quarantined and treated for. We just carried on as normal, probably not a good idea, but the symptoms were not debilitating, life carried on as normal. I think I might have first contracted it from being in a dance class with someone who was taking the Tamiflu, and later a car, In that car, of five people, three went down with the bug whole, I had symptoms the same as what those that went down with it had, but I treated it as normal, the same as I do with any cold, just ignore it.

 

In fact, as a child, I was known for carrying on as normal when I got a cold or other childhood problem, even chickenpox and mumps I carried on as normal. I was quarantined for the chicken pox, but not the mumps, for no one knew I had it, and I was'nt complaining.

 

I thought maybe I have a high resiliance to bugs and things, or it is I ignore it. Can anyone tell me, if resilience, or ignoring bugs is common with ASD diagnosed people ?

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I was prescribed Tamiflu when I had piggy pox, & it reduced the horribleness by one day. It was no worse for me than regular flu, had I known that I wouldn't have bothered, but the trouble is you don't know that at the start of it. Oh, & I had absolutely no noticeable side effects from it. A man in our city with no underlying health problems died of swine flu a couple of weeks ago - he'd not bothered with tamiflu & his family was really upset about that.

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Interesting in that all my friends, in fact drinking buddies too believe they have had it, including me, for we have all had the same symptoms, which those with the piggy disease have been quarantined and treated for. We just carried on as normal, probably not a good idea, but the symptoms were not debilitating, life carried on as normal. I think I might have first contracted it from being in a dance class with someone who was taking the Tamiflu, and later a car, In that car, of five people, three went down with the bug whole, I had symptoms the same as what those that went down with it had, but I treated it as normal, the same as I do with any cold, just ignore it.

 

In fact, as a child, I was known for carrying on as normal when I got a cold or other childhood problem, even chickenpox and mumps I carried on as normal. I was quarantined for the chicken pox, but not the mumps, for no one knew I had it, and I was'nt complaining.

 

I thought maybe I have a high resiliance to bugs and things, or it is I ignore it. Can anyone tell me, if resilience, or ignoring bugs is common with ASD diagnosed people ?

 

You might have a different pain threshhold to NT people. I don't know exactly how the pain system works, but I know that my son can get very distraught over a scratch, and then not tell anyone he has a painful ear infection until half his face swells up! So I don't know if he was trying to ignore it. He definately did not tell anyone he was in pain. But when asked a direct question 'does your ear hurt', he said 'yes I can't get to sleep at night'.

He has had other painful injuries and responded in the same way ie. not saying anything. So we have to go on his behaviour to give us clues as to whether he feels ill or not. Even if he has a temperature and you ask him if he feels poorly he will say 'I don't know'.

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I had swine flu last year and was prescribed tamiflu. It made me feel really nauseous, I think I vomited at least once. I ended up not finishing the course because I felt so sick I couldnt swallow them. I dont really think it made any difference, but who knows. Either way, I felt terrible for a week, and husband had to have a couple of days off work to look after me and household.

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