Medication from a previous illness?

Would you give your child medication for a previous illness when you know they have it again? Zander gets croup every year & every year he is prescribed with the same dose of Redipred. He woke up yesterday with the usual barking cough & this morning has woken with it again, so I'm pretty sure he has croup yet again. I can't get in to see our Dr until Friday but I've checked & we have some Redipred left over from last year that is still in date. I'm certain he'll be prescribed the same thing all over again.

The question is, would you just give him the Redipred & be done with it knowing it works in three days & he'd be fine by Friday. Or would you wait essentially three days to see the Dr......

Hi Sarah
Unofficially I would say give him the redipred if you are sure that he has croup.

Eternal ongoing debate with my DF too Sarah!

I would do it, it's another thing that is parental instincts. You know Zander, you know that he is not well and what his body is doing. If you believe it is Croup then I don't see a problem... well Ok self diagnosis is bad, but you have presented a case.

Anth is always getting sinus infections and we had a lot of anti-b from last time and he refuses to take them... so he suffers because he can't get to a doctor during the week.

Oh I am rambling today :doh:

I would. but still take him to the dr when you can & tell them you already started the meds

Thanks guys :)

Alan I am certain. He has the barking cough for about an hour in the morning and in the evening. He gets stressed when it hurts his throat & as he breathes in he has that noise (can't remember the name!). Otherwise during the day he is just fine.

That does sound like croup. Give him the redipred providing that he is not on any other medication at the moment. Redipred is contraindicated with a number of other medications. You should give it after food as it is known to cause ulcers.

He isn't on anything else at the moment. Last time I gave him the Redipred with afternoon tea so it had enough time to start working before bedtime. I'm pretty sure he had to have a drink of water after it as well?

Yes drinking water after is a good idea

I would give it if you are sure it is croup.

hope he is well soon