How guilty should I feel? :(

amother

Sat, Jul 20 2013, 9:26 pm

99% of the time I am a good, responsible mother. For some reason when it comes to giving my kids antibiotics, I forget to give the reccomended dosage and end up missing. A couple weeks ago one of my kids had strept. The medicine was horrible even when flavored. It was a fight trying to get him to take it. After a couple days, I got lazy and didn't finish the 10 days. Now, I am feeling SO SO SO guilty. He is acting fine now but I wonder if I did him long term damage. Isn't there something like Pandas disease or something from untreated strept?

cbsmommy

Sat, Jul 20 2013, 9:38 pm

DO NOT skimp on giving the full course of antibiotics. More worrisome than PANDAS is creating antibiotic resistant bacteria.

http://www.rxlist.com/script/m.....age=3

MaBelleVie

Sat, Jul 20 2013, 9:43 pm

Call the ped and ask what you should do now. Untreated strep can be very very dangerous chvs. Get over your guilt and make sure your child is healthy.

familyfirst

Sat, Jul 20 2013, 9:48 pm

I agree with the above parents, but I CLEARLY remember a time that the pediatrician told me that if the child looks like he/she is getting better, do NOT give the full ten days.

Of course, only the pediatrician can determine when to make that decision.

gold21

Sat, Jul 20 2013, 9:55 pm

I have sometimes given antibiotics for like only 8 or so days out of the 10, just cuz I forget about it as the days go on, and I do feel bad about it. But we all make mistakes. Its OK. Just call your pediatrician and explain. Mistakes are human, and your pediatrician works with humans, so it's all good.

morah

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 3:59 am

You don't have to worry that it caused him any harm, but not doing the full course leaves a risk that it could come back really soon. That's why you need to finish it, even when he seems to have gotten better.

miky72

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 4:11 am

Call the pediatrician and explain.
My son had strep last week and instead of a full course of antibiotics my ped gave him one shot of penicillin and we were done with it.

chanchy123

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 4:25 am

familyfirst wrote:

I've been told to give five days, no matter what, even if I discover the meds were not needed (I was told by my ped, I mean).

amother

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 8:41 am

MaBelleVie wrote:

Call the ped and ask what you should do now. Untreated strep can be very very dangerous chvs. Get over your guilt and make sure your child is healthy.

What if I took him to get a repeat test and it comes back negative? Then can I feel better about it?

amother

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 8:53 am

I have five kids ranging in age from 5 to 17. I don't remember EVER finishing a course of antibiotics as prescribed! Invariably, I start administering it religously, and as the days go on, forget a dose here or there, and eventually just give up.
B"H my kids are all fine.
Don't bother feeling guilty, it won't help anything. Just try to do better next time.

FranticFrummie

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 6:32 pm

Never, EVER stop giving the full dose! You're only killing off the weak germs in the first few days, and leaving the stronger ones to start up all over again.

DD and I kept passing strep back and forth for almost a year, until I came down with Scarlet Fever. It's only by the sheer grace of G-d that neither of us had permanent damage. Scarlet Fever can be deadly, and let me tell you it is sheer torture. It took me two months to completely recover. Thank G-d DD didn't get PANDAS. It's a miracle.

Even though we took the full course of antibiotics every time, even then it wasn't strong enough to completely knock it out. We only stopped the cycle when DD got her tonsils out, and we went on SUPER strength antibiotics.

amother

Mon, Jul 22 2013, 9:03 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

omg im freaking out!! so what should I do? tell the dr. that I just didn't finish it?

shanie5

Mon, Jul 22 2013, 3:34 pm

Many times they say to take medicine for longer than needed-knowing we tend to slack off near the end. So a 10 day regimen may be enough after 7 days. Sometimes.

greenfire

Mon, Jul 22 2013, 3:36 pm

you don't want any new bacterias to be stronger than the last one - then they are harder to treat

not sure how guilty you should feel though - it's part of being an exhausted mom