ibuprofen

[smartyjones]

we are working to get my son full-day at school by adding small increments of time. with each step, he very much resists at first b/c it is "different from what I usually do" but adjusts fairly well in a short period of time - 2-3 days.

 

he had that bad episode of cognitive inflexibility last week and a couple other things on the weekend, although not extreme. i do think he's still recovering from an exacerbation -- but improving, not downsliding.

 

this week, he was to start going to music on monday after lunch. we then decided that he should stay until that same time each day rather than starting over next monday. i gave him ibuprofen in the am b/c i thought i have seen good results with that in the past with an exacerbation. was thinking i'd kind of pull out everything i could in the arsenal to help this work.

 

monday was difficult as to be expected but he did okay. fought going in the am - upset in the car, yelling & kicking in the room but settled fairly quickly after i left. he didn't really participate in the class but was not fighting or troublesome. tuesday, he verbally resisted, I carried him into school but just put him down and he stayed w/o a fight - although this plan is not really his choice. he do participate in class, probably not to full but still involved, was very excited about the kid he sat next to at lunch and all their plans about a fort. today, went to school totally fine.

 

i don't know the role ibuprofen plays in this -- could be helpful, could be doing nothing.

 

those who use it, can you tell me if you do constantly, periodically or your schedule with it. how do you decide when/if/how?

 

thanks.

[thereishope]

The amount of times I have given him Ibuprofen thorughout the days varies. Sometimes I can get away with only giving it to him once a day and it helps the entire day. There are other times I have given it to him every 6 hours. It depends how bad his symptoms are. When I had to give it to him every 6 hours, it would take 1/2 hour to kick in and begin wearing off at the 5 hour mark. I could tell what time it was based on his behavior.

 

Even though he is doing well now and doesn't take Ibuprofen, if he seems to be having a irritable morning, I'll give him a dose before school "just in case". Granted everyone can have bad morning and it doesn't mean it's always PANDAS for him, but if I can give him something that might help, I will. Maybe I do it for my own peace of mind too.

 

As for when to stop, well, pick a day when you don't have to be anywhere and stop. That's the only way you'll see if he still needs it.

 

Finally if it doesn't work now it may still work at a different point in recovery. when I tried with my son during one of his exacerbations, it didn't work. He was also very bad off so there was probably a lot of inflammation. But when I use it now with viral triggers, it works. So if Ibuprofen doesn't work once, it's worth revisiting later.

[momto2pandas]

Ibuprofen helps my ds6 quite a bit when we've used it e.g. after dental work. I've been meaning to look up how long and at what dose a kid can stay on it, and whether the bottle dose is really the best dose. I know arthritis patients pop it like candy over long periods of time, but I don't know in what ways kids may be different. I'll be following here to see if anyone has anything good information.

 

we are working to get my son full-day at school by adding small increments of time. with each step, he very much resists at first b/c it is "different from what I usually do" but adjusts fairly well in a short period of time - 2-3 days.

 

he had that bad episode of cognitive inflexibility last week and a couple other things on the weekend, although not extreme. i do think he's still recovering from an exacerbation -- but improving, not downsliding.

 

this week, he was to start going to music on monday after lunch. we then decided that he should stay until that same time each day rather than starting over next monday. i gave him ibuprofen in the am b/c i thought i have seen good results with that in the past with an exacerbation. was thinking i'd kind of pull out everything i could in the arsenal to help this work.

 

monday was difficult as to be expected but he did okay. fought going in the am - upset in the car, yelling & kicking in the room but settled fairly quickly after i left. he didn't really participate in the class but was not fighting or troublesome. tuesday, he verbally resisted, I carried him into school but just put him down and he stayed w/o a fight - although this plan is not really his choice. he do participate in class, probably not to full but still involved, was very excited about the kid he sat next to at lunch and all their plans about a fort. today, went to school totally fine.

 

i don't know the role ibuprofen plays in this -- could be helpful, could be doing nothing.

 

those who use it, can you tell me if you do constantly, periodically or your schedule with it. how do you decide when/if/how?

 

thanks.

[thereishope]

How much does your 6 year old weigh? My son is 44 pounds and can take 200 mg per dose according to the dr.

 

I woldn't take that every 6 hours long term, but I would think every 6 hours for a week or so along with food should be okay. After that, maybe try once a day.

[momaine]

I discovered Advil helped my dd's symptoms quite by accident. I had given it to her for a headache. She had her best day in weeks. skipped a day. horrible day. added it the next day...great day. it would last about 22-23 hours for her then things would fall apart. Initially I gave only one a day until my doctor told us she could have up to 12. Then I realized that two wouldn't hurt her, likely, and she's miss that portion of time where she fell apart so badly if I gave her one in the morning and evening.

 

This is the first day in many weeks I did not give her one this morning and that is because we started a steroid burst this morning. Two steroid pills into her and she's had her best morning in a long time. I definitely think inflamation is her problem. Angela

 

we are working to get my son full-day at school by adding small increments of time. with each step, he very much resists at first b/c it is "different from what I usually do" but adjusts fairly well in a short period of time - 2-3 days.

 

he had that bad episode of cognitive inflexibility last week and a couple other things on the weekend, although not extreme. i do think he's still recovering from an exacerbation -- but improving, not downsliding.

 

this week, he was to start going to music on monday after lunch. we then decided that he should stay until that same time each day rather than starting over next monday. i gave him ibuprofen in the am b/c i thought i have seen good results with that in the past with an exacerbation. was thinking i'd kind of pull out everything i could in the arsenal to help this work.

 

monday was difficult as to be expected but he did okay. fought going in the am - upset in the car, yelling & kicking in the room but settled fairly quickly after i left. he didn't really participate in the class but was not fighting or troublesome. tuesday, he verbally resisted, I carried him into school but just put him down and he stayed w/o a fight - although this plan is not really his choice. he do participate in class, probably not to full but still involved, was very excited about the kid he sat next to at lunch and all their plans about a fort. today, went to school totally fine.

 

i don't know the role ibuprofen plays in this -- could be helpful, could be doing nothing.

 

those who use it, can you tell me if you do constantly, periodically or your schedule with it. how do you decide when/if/how?

 

thanks.

[momto2pandas]

He was 43 pounds last time he was weighed, so this is perfect, thanks!

 

I don't think we would need it for too long. We had a real problem after he had major dental work without sufficient pre-treatment, and I noticed we could keep him manageable just as long as the ibuprofen lasted. I felt funny about pumping him with ibuprofen a couple of times per day over a week because we had never done that before, and I wasn't sure how much was too much.

 

I was only giving him 150, good to know that I have some room. I have been wondering if Advil might help the hypersensory touch issues. This morning, one of his "comfortable" pants "suddenly" had a seam that "wasn't there before" and that "hurt." Another outfit bites the dust. No other OCD or anything going on, though.

 

How much does your 6 year old weigh? My son is 44 pounds and can take 200 mg per dose according to the dr.

 

I woldn't take that every 6 hours long term, but I would think every 6 hours for a week or so along with food should be okay. After that, maybe try once a day.

[thereishope]

I think the label says 150 for that weight, but the doctor said they dose conservatively on the bottle and 200 mg was fine.