Every caring mother in stock should have a medicine that has an antipyretic effect. After all, an increase in body temperature can happen at any time of the day. It’s not always possible to run to the pharmacy. To combat this most common symptom of the disease, pediatricians prescribe a "Panadol" for children, the instructions for which will be discussed in detail in this article.
How to help a sick child
Fighting the symptoms of fever in babies requires taking medications based on a drug like paracetamol. This medicine is considered the safest for children.
In the instructions for Panadol, the children's manufacturer indicates that the drug is intended for the category of patients under the age of 12 years. Consider in detail the indications for taking this medication, especially the dosage for infants, important additions that will be useful for caring parents.
In what forms is the drug produced
The instruction for the children's “Panadol” provides information that the second name of the drug is “Panadol Baby”. It is made in the forms:
- Suspensions Such a “Panadol” has a sweet taste, a syrupy liquid consistency, which allows us to call the medicine a syrup. You can choose a strawberry flavor or a pink tint. For packaging the solution, glass bottles are used, the volume of which can be 100 or 300 ml. The bottle is equipped with a syringe that helps with accurate measurement of the volume of this syrup.
- Suppositories that are administered rectally. They are packed in a box of five to twenty pieces or in ribbons of five to ten pieces. Such candles have a homogeneous structure, they have a conical shape and white color. In a normal candle that is removed from the packaging material, there is no surface damage.
The main component that is used for each of the forms of release is paracetamol. For suspension, the dosage according to the instructions of "Panadol" for children is 120 mg per 5 ml. One suppository contains 125 or 250 mg of paracetamol. Additionally, a suppository uses a component in the form of fat. Syrup "Panadol" is supplied with auxiliary substances in the form of:
- Maltitol.
- Sorbitol.
- Acidic acids.
- Azorubina.
The instruction for Panadolum for children indicates the absence of sugar and alcohol in the syrup-like preparation. This is very important for children with diabetes.
How does the drug work?
Instructions for the use of "Panadol" for children indicate that there is cyclooxygenase in this preparation. Due to the presence of this enzyme, prostaglandins are formed in the central nervous system cells. The reason for its inhibition prevents the synthesis of this substance. Thus, the effect of the drug on the centers where pain is formed or thermoregulation occurs is ensured. Therefore, the body temperature of a small patient is gradually normalizing, and the pain disappears. It becomes easier for the child.
The instructions for the Panadol syrup (for children) contain information that this remedy does not have the properties of relieving inflammation, which cannot be said for many such non-steroidal drugs. This medication does not tend to influence the synthesis of prostaglandins. It can also be noted that the medicine is not harmful to the digestive tract.
The absorption of paracetamol from the syrup is much faster than it will be provided with candles. After taking the “Panadol” baby syrup inside, the instruction with the dosage for which was given above, it starts to work after 15 minutes. If you use suppositories, you will have to expect relief at least one and a half hours, sometimes this time is extended to almost two hours.
The effect of taking both varieties of "Panadol", and syrup, and candles, will last at least four hours. When processed in the child’s liver, the medicine will leave the body with a portion of urine when the day has passed after taking the drug.
Who should take this medication
The indications for taking Panadol in suspension in children according to the instructions make it possible to establish that the child is given a remedy if he has an increase in body temperature. Also, additional indications for taking the drug are manifestations:
- Flu and rubella.
- Scarlet fever and SARS.
- If measles has appeared, as well as chicken pox.
- In the presence of infection in the intestines, with mumps.
- When the temperature appeared after a recent vaccination.
It makes no sense to use the drug if one of the organs hurts. The lack of analgesic properties is the reason why pain requires the use of other drugs.
The appointment of “Panadol” is also practiced in that difficult period of the baby’s development, when his teeth begin to appear. If your ears are sore due to otitis or bruising, and your throat is due to a sore throat, you can also remove the inflammation with the help of Panadol for children.
What is the age range for using this drug
Suspension is prescribed to bring down the heat or reduce pain. She is prescribed when the baby is already three months old. "Panadol" in the form of a syrup can be used up to the age of twelve years.
If the situation is difficult, it is practiced to prescribe this medication to children of one to three months to reduce the temperature and alleviate the condition. Do not get involved in such a medicine at an early age, up to three months. Only single use is allowed. About how to drink syrup to a child, if he was born prematurely, it is necessary to consult a pediatrician. If the children have already grown up and become older than 12 years old, they will be recommended to take the tablet “Panadol”. It is the concentration of this drug in 500 mg that will be optimal for adolescence and adulthood.
Features of the appointment of candles
The instruction for Panadol candles for children says that this drug can be administered to children who have already celebrated the first six months from birth. The appointment of such suppositories with a paracetamol content of 125 mg is practiced for the age range from six months to two and a half years. A large dosage of the drug is 250 mg, it is prescribed if the children are already three years old. Such candles are indicated for use until the age of six.
It is important to consider, using candles, that there are restrictions depending on the weight of the child. The purpose of the drug in a dosage of 125 mg is taken when the baby weighs eight to twelve and a half kilograms. Candles are prescribed if the baby's weight has reached thirteen to twenty kilograms.
When is the medicine contraindicated?
Instructions for use of the Panadol syrup for children indicate a number of contraindications that must be taken into account. After all, the further state of the baby depends on this:
- If the child does not tolerate paracetamol or other components of the drug.
- When there are impaired renal function.
- If, due to heredity, some trace elements are absent in the body.
- In severe liver diseases.
- When anemia and other diseases of the circulatory system are present.
Since the syrup contains sweet additives, taking the suspension will be contraindicated if the small patient does not tolerate fructose.
The use of suppositories is limited if the rectum becomes inflamed or bleeding is fixed.
Description of possible consequences
The instructions for use of the Panadol suspension for children contain information on the possible manifestation of a negative reaction of the body:
- When taking the drug, the number of blood cells may decrease. But this phenomenon, as a rule, is typical for people who have been using Panadol for a long time.
- In case of increased sensitivity to drugs NSAIDs “Panadol” can lead to spasm of the bronchi.
- In very rare cases, the liver may be disturbed by the medication, the appearance of negative symptoms associated with the gastrointestinal tract is characteristic.
Description of the drug overdose
"Panadol" can be taken no more than 7 days. Only a pediatrician can extend the appointment. In this case, you will need strict control of the blood condition in the form of tests.
In case of accidental, unintentional excess of the dosage, the child’s body will react on the same day with abdominal pain, sweating, and nausea. The baby's skin will turn pale, appetite will decrease. Vomiting may be recorded. In a couple of days, there will be signs that the liver is affected.
When the child received the medicine in a much larger portion than was necessary, a phenomenon of deterioration in carbohydrate metabolism and kidney function will be noted. Such careless behavior can lead to bleeding, then the brain swells, arrhythmia appears.
If you suspect that the drug was given to the child in a large dose, it is important not to lose time, but to immediately seek medical help. After that, during the day you need to be under the supervision of specialists. After all, well-being can dramatically worsen.
It is also recommended to empty the baby’s stomach by inducing vomiting and giving the child a sorbent.
How Panadol is Combined with Other Medicines
The combination of this medication with drugs that also help reduce heat is not recommended. You should not combine this medicine with groups of medicines in the form of Phenytoin, Zidovudine, Butadione, Carbamazemine, Metoclopramide and other drugs that are indicated in the instructions.
When prescribing other drugs by a pediatrician, it is important to consult how compatible they are with Panadol.
To summarize
It is best for the baby to be healthy and alert. All parents dream about it. But just in case, every mom should have drugs in her medicine cabinet that may be needed at any time. One of such medicines is Panadol, which, for use by children, the manufacturer produces in two versions - as candles and as syrup.
Such forms of drug release are suitable for children under 12 years of age. Teens will already be prescribed a tablet version of this antipyretic medicine.
It is important to consider that "Panadol" does not reduce the manifestation of pain. Also, it does not relieve inflammation. If there are such problems, it is better to choose another drug.
The choice of the option of suppositories or syrup depends on how the child responds to the drug. Some mothers claim that only candles help the baby. But they are more difficult to enter. Moreover, the intestines should be cleaned.
In case of an overdose of the drug, it is important to immediately rinse the stomach and consult a doctor. Let the "Panadol" available in your first-aid kit be needed as little as possible, and the child grows healthy and happy!