Cold Medicine Pulled off Shelves

[planet]

They weren't pulled because of "rare misuse." They were pulled because a recent study showed that dextromethorphan (sp?) is not effective in infants and young kids so the cost of the rare misuse outweighs the uselessness of the meds. Tylenol works at least.

And btw, dh has said for years that the cough syrup doesn't work, but would you rather have to give codeine? PITA all around I guess, but the discussion of whether placebos should be allowed to be recommended is probably one for debates. As I understand it, codeine OD is much worse.

ETA: The issue is being taken up at the FDA right now so additional meds on the list strike me as red herring. I hate the media.

[Deebs]

Re: Cold Medicine Pulled off Shelves

I don't know how often it happens, but DH has seen it often enough that he absolutely forbids infant cold meds in our house - always has. He and his friends who are in Peds swear that there is no benefit (they don't know about mom needing to feel like she's actually doing something to help) and they can only cause harm. When this recall was announced, I got to listen to several rounds of "I told you so."

[fluffhead]

Re: Cold Medicine Pulled off Shelves

We had two horrible experiences with DD, and since then don't use any of this stuff for our kids.
First was DM - the first day on it, she would start sobbing for no reason, and I wasn't sure why. The second day, she hauled off and beat up on one of her friends in school (she'd never ever raised a hand against anybody in her whole life).
At that point, I realized (duh) that it was dextromethorphan toxicity.
Second was claritin - our idiot pediatrician at the time suggested it, and DD totally lost it after taking claritin - she actually seemed to be hallucinating. At this point I was more attuned to her hypersensitivity to medicines, so I caught on after the first dose.

I'm all for removing this stuff from the shelves.

[peggyfromwastate]

Re: Cold Medicine Pulled off Shelves

without decongestants Steven would be in serious trouble. He has been on Zyrtek since age 2...

But general cold meds? My pediatricians have generally told me not to give them, that they don't help, and that "decongestants" are bad for babies. But they do help for the older kids, in my experience (like 3 and 4 y.o.) Seriously, without the antihistimines we'd be in the ER hooked up to a neb for about 1/2 of the winter.

[v-girl]

Re: Cold Medicine Pulled off Shelves

First was DM - the first day on it, she would start sobbing for no reason, and I wasn't sure why. The second day, she hauled off and beat up on one of her friends in school (she'd never ever raised a hand against anybody in her whole life).
At that point, I realized (duh) that it was dextromethorphan toxicity.

My now 9-year-old had a bad reaction to it too. She was 4. It took a week and finally a call to poison control to figure out what happened. The final straw was such a bad tantrum at a mall (she did not throw tantrums when she was 4) and then it took both DH and I to get her strapped into her booster seat (with a 5 point harness). I drove home while DH sat in back to A) keep her in her seat and B) keep her from harming her little sister. I really thought the child was possessed. We called the pediatric hospital. They said to call poison control immediately. We went over any meds she had been on and any foods she had eaten. When we got to the cough meds they stopped us. I don't think I've ever felt so bad as a parent -- yes, I blamed myself. We have written of her allergy to that ingredient on every school form -- heck, she doesn't spend the night with a friend without me telling the mom of her allergy and please don't give her cough or cold medicine.

[peggyfromwastate]

Re: Cold Medicine Pulled off Shelves

How common is this allergy? And is it to an ingredient only in cough suppressants? Or is it in a general otc cold med?

Is it common to have a violent rxn to certain meds? Or is it just this one? I find this very interesting. I had no idea this was out there.

[fluffhead]

Re: Cold Medicine Pulled off Shelves

We also knew nothing about it, but once we experienced it, we asked some peds ER friends, and they said that DM toxicity is widely known, and that they've seen some crazed kids on claritin too. DW looked it up in pharmocopeia (sp?) and it was right there, in black and white. Too bad our pediatrician neglected to mention it. (btw, she is no longer our pediatrician)
My question is when can we risk giving it again? (DD gets these horrible coughs every fall/winter that keep her, and us, up at night, and scare all the other parents in her school - she really sounds like a TB patient)

[v-girl]

Re: Cold Medicine Pulled off Shelves

There is one kind of Robitussin that does not contain Dextromethophan (sp?). It contains Guaifensen (sp?) instead. Don't buy the generic -- it tastes so bad that I couldn't swallow it.

We luckily haven't had any reactions to Claritin. My 9 year old has been on that since she was 4 or 5. I don't know how she would survive without that -- allergy season in Dallas is year round!