Chicken Pox and Medication

I think sometimes we are so quick to make things easier that we mess up the body worse. I personally would not put any medicine in my child. When I thought my daughter had chicken pox I asked for ways to help her with the itching. One of the best ideas was taking her to the ocean and letting her swim. The salt water is very soothing and helps heals the spots. If you are not near the ocean, you can use epson salt in the tub. Good Luck and enjoy the time with her needing you it is not long before they don't want the attention. :)

If it were either one of my kids, I'd let them ride it out and give them benyadrl. I didn't even like them having to get vaccinated for it in the first place!!!

My niece was on those meds, and they made her horribly sick to her stomach so they quit giving them to her after a day. Letting it run its course was a better option for her.

Added: And she had the shot as well, but still got the pox.

Getting the chicken pox isn't fun... even when you have a mild version. THe itching is intense and a 5 year will not be able to control her need to scratch. Scabs become infected, the pox can even turn up ON the cornea of your eyes, inside your nose and throat and some have even had some inside the skull, on the brain.

Why anyone would choose to force or allow their child to get this illness is beyond my comprehension (both as a Nurse and Mother) and why would you withhold a medication that can minimize the severity of the illness's duration and discomfort?

I can't believe they would offer medication for Chicken Pox. And the funny thing is he "thinks" it is?????
NO WAY, NOW HOW!
My kids got over it just fine, the way nature intended it to be. Lifelong immunity!

I had chicken pox as a kid (3 yo) and they didn’t give medications back then. IMO this is a virus and it should run its course. I would get something for the itching like calamine lotion, but other than that this doesn’t need intervention unless your daughter has trouble fighting off any illnesses.

PLEASE do not stop your daughter's medication without talking to the doctor -- we are not doctors here on Mamapedia! If you have not even started giving the meds yet, call the dr.'s office immediately with questions, but you may have already missed the window when meds could help her!

The minimization of side effects could be aimed at reducing scarring of her skin as well as discomfort. The long lists of information that come with meds tell you tons of things that are relevant -- and tons that are not. Please, talk to the doctor right away. Remember -- chicken pox that isn't treated appropriately can lead to shingles (same virus, different form )and shingles is painful and can be extremely debilitating. You mention "the little research I've done" and are asking here, but did you ask the doctor why this particular med is being given? Ask!

If it was my daughter, then I would just let it run it's coarse. If it looked like it was getting bad around her face, then I would make sure to put something on it to help the itching, but would let it happen. My girls got the shots, but if I know someone who's kid got it, I'm going to let me kids play with them, so they can get it. I had it as a kid, and so did my husband. I've never hard of any kid having scars all over their body. If they get it as an adult, it's 10X worse, then the worse case in a kid. I hope she gets over them fast. :)

i would take the meds just to be safe. pumping her with meds is better than some of the other long lasting life changing affects it could have.

My cousin and I had them at the same time. Mine were not bad, better in a week... my cousin had them so bad! She had them in all openings. Her nose, mouth, ears, vagina. The dr's believe with as severe as she got them and being in her vagina that is what lead her to be sterile. They told her she only had 3% chance ever getting pregnant. She does have a 7yr old but she has never been able to have another one with many years of trying.

I guess for me the meds would be worth it.

When my son had it he was 2 (so this was 15 yrs. ago). He had such a bad case he had to be hospitalized. They hadn't yet come out with the immunization - we just missed it - and he was covered with so many bumps it looked more like measels.

They put him on Zovorax which they usually gave to people with herpes outbreaks and thank God they did. He cleared up far faster than it would have taken otherwise and we were out of the hospital in 4 days. So if it is something like that it really did help with our son and he had no side effects from the usage.

The only medication i would personally use for chicken pox is benedry. It helps with the itching and can make you sleepy. I hate to overmedicate and always cautious about doctors who want to make u take drugs.

I was about that age too with the pox and didnt use anything but that pink stuff you put on the skin. Both my parents were EMTs so if you werent bleeding, broken bones, or trouble breathing they didnt use drugs. Ice cream worked better.

Buy some Aveeno ( has oatmeal in it, great in baths and more) that will help with itches. Teach the kid to rub instead of scratching, put on some great movies, and wait it out. The whole itching thing doesnt last that long or is that dire. The trick is to not think about itching.

She may need the meds to help with the severity of the outbreak. There is nothing sadder than a teen age girl with pox scars all over her face, back, and shoulders.It is so sad because it is so preventable now days with vaccines. My daughter has them on her eyes and the rest of her torso shows pits too.

no I used no tylenol and gave baking soda baths and calamine lotion. lots and lots of baking soda bath like almost constantly.

I, personally would give my child almost any medication prescribed by a doctor I _trusted_ if I thought it would reduce or minimize the discomfort for my child. If I was able to reduce my child's suffering during an illness, I'd have to have a really really good reason not to.

Two caveats. 1) If I didn't trust my children's pediatrician, I'd find a new one. 2) If the pediatrician seemed to prescribe antibiotics willy nilly for no good reason, I wouldn't trust them (and we go back to caveat 1).

Hard to say. You don't know how sick she will get. Has she been immunized? If so, it will probably be mild anyway and she shouldn't need the meds. If not, maybe so.
I had them, as an adult, and was horribly ill and wished I'd gotten the medicine. But I was an adult, so that's different.
However, I've always been a little paranoid since I was a little girl when the little girl around the corner died from chicken pox.
Maybe you should call the dr and ask WHY he thinks she needs it?

Hi A.,

I agree to let it run it's course. If you want to minimize the effects you can with some digestive enzymes from the health food store. This is basically just adding more of what she already has...Viruses have a hard outer shell. If that is broken down by the digestive enzymes, then the immune system can actually GET to the virus and break it down and get rid of it naturally. I used them with both my girls and even my husband a few years ago. They definitely had a milder case than I had when I was a child.

Hope this helps!
M.
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