Tylenol vs Motrin

[ashton2005]

Good afternoon everyone once again we are getting a cold we have the cough runny nose and a fever of about 101.4 degrees.. i have been doing tylenol every 4 hours due to the fact that the GI doctor told me when we first went to her that she prefered it over motrin for his liver.. Well the tylenol alone isnt cracking his fever it might bring it down by like .2 or something but that is it.. Im wondering if i should give her a call and see if i can altrenate or just let the fever hang around 101.4 even though its a little higher than i like it!! Thank you for your responses..

 

[JennifersHope]

Normally in the Peds ER if tylenol doesn't cut it we have the parents rotate Motrin with the tylenol. Tylenol is processed by the kidneys, motrin by the liver that is why you can take both at the same time in a normal healthy child....If your childs LFTs are elevated I wouldn't add any more stress to the liver.

I would do whatever the doctor said as far as meds go.. but other things you can do to bring down the fever, increase fluids, a lot of kids get higher fevers when they are dehydrated. Also, you can give tepid baths. Not to cold.... Make sure you child is only lightly dressed, only one light blanket, take off socks etc... Cool cloth on the head, Ice pops etc..

Hope he feels better and again I wouldn't give any meds without your doctors permission..

Jennifer

 

[ashton2005]

yea i wouldnt... its still hoovering around 101.0 or so.. i think i will watch it for today to see if it goes higher

 

[anonymous]

I'd call the clinic. DS once had an ear infection and his fever went up that night after we'd given him tylenol and he'd had two doses that day of antibiotic. Called ask a nurse -- turns out I was shorting him on the tylenol. I was giving him less than was he was allowed to have. I prefer motrin 'cuz it lasts longer than tylenol. Liza aka ratatosk

 

[reillybug]

Reilly's ped always told us to alternate.Tylenol then Motrin every 4 hrs. That always seemed to bring a fever right down. Check with the Dr. first, though.

 

[ashton2005]

they dont want motrin due to elevated liver functions in ashton

 

[Ratatosk]

Have you verified he's getting the right dosage of Tylenol? Found this chart online... Just realized last month when DS had an upper respiratory bug, that I AGAIN shorted him on dosage. Bottle only says to give two dropperfuls, nothing about above the age of two or more than 30 pounds.

When I called ask a nurse, she explained that a lot of times parents aren't giving their child enough tylenol. Also, I didn't realize that motrin caused problems with liver function -- I'd heard so much in the news lately about tylenol causing problems. My bad.

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[ashton2005]

Ye he is getting 2 dropper fulls of it.. His GI said that motrin in absorbed in the liver and tylenol in the kidneys which is why they like tylenol When i talked to the nurse she was going to ask again... Right now its only 100.4 under his arm and he got tylenol about 1 hr ago!!

 

[anonymous]

Hi Guys-
I was under the impression that tylenol was NEVER to be given to someone with elevated liver enzymes. It strips the glutathione from the liver and exposes it to damage. That is why Tylenol says on its label to never take it after having 2 or more alcoholic drinks...the combination can lead to liver failure because alcohol and tylenol BOTH strip glutathione levels.

When someone is in liver failure from tylenol first line of defense is Mucomist which increases glutathione production....although new thinking is that iv glutathione is better.

I don't mean to make you worry...I just have had some experience with this.

mandy

 

[anonymous]

Hi!!!
me again!!! I would be calling my doc immediately about the tylenol comment. Tylenol is metabolized mainly in the liver......found this on google

Metabolism
Paracetamol is metabolized primarily in the liver, where most of it is converted to inactive compounds by conjugation with sulfate and glucuronide, and then excreted by the kidneys. Only a small portion is metabolized via the hepatic cytochrome P450 enzyme system (specifically CYP2E1); the toxic effects of paracetamol are due to a minor alkylating metabolite (N-acetyl-p-benzo-quinone imine) that is produced through this enzyme, not paracetamol itself or any of the major metabolites. This toxic metabolite reacts with sulfhydryl groups. At usual doses, it is quickly detoxified by combining irreversibly with the sulfhydryl group of glutathione to produce a non-toxic conjugate that is eventually excreted by the kidneys.

Paracetamol is another name for acetaminophen or tylenol. When my husband had high liver levels, his MD made him stop all tylenol. Read the tylenol label.....

Also, years ago it was suggested that people with cf take high dose motrin to combat inflammation....until they started having KIDNEY problems.

I would also suggest reading about the usefulness of glutathione supplementation with liver disfunction...it can really help with this problem.

if you would like more info on it, I'll gladly post some links.
mandy

 

[mistylavon]

We always use Motrin or Advil for our girls. My husband is a nurse and he thinks Tylenol is bad for you, he thinks it's been banned in most other countries. When Morgan was sick not long ago with an ear infection and high fevers our doc said the recommendation is NOT to give Tylenol, only Motrin/Advil and that's it's VERY BAD to rotate the two of them. He also said fevers are not being treated as they use to and not to treat the fever unless it's over 102.