A scary situation and a warning.
Last week was one of those weeks, it just seemed like anything and everything was going wrong.
Within a seven day period, we dealt with the big one having a "severe" ear infection and spent half of fathers day at urgent care, me cutting my finger pretty badly, multiple work situations for David that had him not walking through the door till after 8pm every night this week, oh, and when the local news shows up at one of your stores about one of those situations and it makes the evening news....it's never a good thing.
It was one of those weeks we felt like we couldn't win no matter how hard we tried.
To round out the not-so-great week, Amelia came down with a stomach virus. The crazy part was she acted completely normal all week and besides some awful diapers (a nice way of putting it), I had no clue there was anything wrong with her. After two days of 8-10 nasty diaper changes each day, I drug her in for our second doctors visit of the week. The doctor quickly diagnosed her with a virus that is evidently going around. He said the good news was that she seemed to be over the worst of it and to give her a 1/2 teaspoon of Imodium AD when needed and to come back in a few days if it seemed her issues were not clearing up.
We left the doctors office and I ran into the nearest grocery store wanting to quickly get her some relief. I couldn't find actual Imodium AD, so I just grabbed a bottle of Pepto Bismal and headed out the door with both girls. It was lunch, they were both over it since we had been sitting at the doctors, and it was nearing nap time. Needless to say, I was in a hurry and didn't bother to ask someone. I assumed that Pepto Bismal was the same as Imodium AD.
I immediately gave her a dose and for a short time, things seemed to be getting better. The girls were staying that night at the in-laws since I had to help throw a baby shower the next day, and even though Amelia had been sick, she seemed well enough to stay the night still. Fast forward to the next day and I get that dreaded call. She seemed to take a turn in the night and wasn't doing so well. That morning, my brother in law (who just graduated from nursing school last month) asked why the heck I was giving her Pepto Bismal because ummm, "it can kill babies."
Cue freak out.
So yeah, Pepto Bismal and Imodium AD are not the same even though they both treat diarrhea. Pepto Bismal actually has aspirin in it. Babies can't have aspirin, especially when they are running fevers, which of course Amelia was running a low grade one. It can cause seizures, spike a high fever, and yes, death. The crazy part is that no where on the Pepto Bismal label does it mention aspirin till the very end of the ingredients list.
We talked to a pharmacist and after he calmed our fears, he said that this actually happens all the time. Not just with kids, but even adults. There are so many other medicines that counter act with aspirin and people don't realize that Pepto Bismal has it in it. Pepto Bismal is just as much of those everyday medicines as Tylenol and no one thinks twice. He said it's enough of an issue that he himself has actually been apart of a movement to have it put behind the counter. He said that's it's such a problem it needs that kind of restriction.
Of course, I felt horrible. I had no clue I was giving her something that could hurt her. Even my mother-in-law who's a nurse said she had no clue it contained aspirin.
So, please take this as a warning.
Thankfully, we had given Amelia such small doses and stopped them soon enough that she seems to be fine. About twelve hours after her last dose, she finally seemed to perk up. It's now been over twenty four hours and it should all be out of her system by now. Thankfully, she's had no signs of what they told us to watch for. She's still not completely over the virus, but things are getting better. Hopefully she'll be back to feeling 100 percent soon.
Hopefully this next week will be a little less eventful.
Within a seven day period, we dealt with the big one having a "severe" ear infection and spent half of fathers day at urgent care, me cutting my finger pretty badly, multiple work situations for David that had him not walking through the door till after 8pm every night this week, oh, and when the local news shows up at one of your stores about one of those situations and it makes the evening news....it's never a good thing.
It was one of those weeks we felt like we couldn't win no matter how hard we tried.
To round out the not-so-great week, Amelia came down with a stomach virus. The crazy part was she acted completely normal all week and besides some awful diapers (a nice way of putting it), I had no clue there was anything wrong with her. After two days of 8-10 nasty diaper changes each day, I drug her in for our second doctors visit of the week. The doctor quickly diagnosed her with a virus that is evidently going around. He said the good news was that she seemed to be over the worst of it and to give her a 1/2 teaspoon of Imodium AD when needed and to come back in a few days if it seemed her issues were not clearing up.
We left the doctors office and I ran into the nearest grocery store wanting to quickly get her some relief. I couldn't find actual Imodium AD, so I just grabbed a bottle of Pepto Bismal and headed out the door with both girls. It was lunch, they were both over it since we had been sitting at the doctors, and it was nearing nap time. Needless to say, I was in a hurry and didn't bother to ask someone. I assumed that Pepto Bismal was the same as Imodium AD.
I immediately gave her a dose and for a short time, things seemed to be getting better. The girls were staying that night at the in-laws since I had to help throw a baby shower the next day, and even though Amelia had been sick, she seemed well enough to stay the night still. Fast forward to the next day and I get that dreaded call. She seemed to take a turn in the night and wasn't doing so well. That morning, my brother in law (who just graduated from nursing school last month) asked why the heck I was giving her Pepto Bismal because ummm, "it can kill babies."
Cue freak out.
So yeah, Pepto Bismal and Imodium AD are not the same even though they both treat diarrhea. Pepto Bismal actually has aspirin in it. Babies can't have aspirin, especially when they are running fevers, which of course Amelia was running a low grade one. It can cause seizures, spike a high fever, and yes, death. The crazy part is that no where on the Pepto Bismal label does it mention aspirin till the very end of the ingredients list.
We talked to a pharmacist and after he calmed our fears, he said that this actually happens all the time. Not just with kids, but even adults. There are so many other medicines that counter act with aspirin and people don't realize that Pepto Bismal has it in it. Pepto Bismal is just as much of those everyday medicines as Tylenol and no one thinks twice. He said it's enough of an issue that he himself has actually been apart of a movement to have it put behind the counter. He said that's it's such a problem it needs that kind of restriction.
Of course, I felt horrible. I had no clue I was giving her something that could hurt her. Even my mother-in-law who's a nurse said she had no clue it contained aspirin.
So, please take this as a warning.
Thankfully, we had given Amelia such small doses and stopped them soon enough that she seems to be fine. About twelve hours after her last dose, she finally seemed to perk up. It's now been over twenty four hours and it should all be out of her system by now. Thankfully, she's had no signs of what they told us to watch for. She's still not completely over the virus, but things are getting better. Hopefully she'll be back to feeling 100 percent soon.
Hopefully this next week will be a little less eventful.
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