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daughter won't take steroid tablets, ideas please

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Hello,

My 10 year old has just been given 4 days of steroid tables today for her asthma, after being on the nebuliser (sp) at the doctors today. She has had them before, but is refusing to take them. I've disolved them in a little water, given her chocolate to eat with it even mixed some up with nesquick to make it taste better, cooked sausages to eat with it. She refuses.

Please could someone give me ideas I could try, i've been nice, i've tried to bribe, i've tried to scare a little, even telling her the ambulance people or doctors will tell her off.

I cannot physically make her take it. Any ideas please.

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14 Replies

Hi

My son has just started a 3 day course this morning, he was urging against it, so it must taste vile.

I guess you could just tell her it is going to make her better, maybe buy her something yummy like a doughnut as a treat. If it doesn't work, you might have to threaten her with a punishment. Taking the playstation away for a week works for my son.

Hope she is better soon

Hi

The soluble tablets taste really bitter and I'm sure no amount of mixing it with things will help (I was given them in a&e once). As your daughter is 10 culd she not manage the enteric coated tablets that you swallow whole? They are very small and she shouldn't have problems with them.

Another thought.......Are you sure it's the taste of the steroids that is making her refuse to take them? I've looked after kids of a similar age who are scared to take steroids because of the bad publicity they get, they are unaware that they are different to anabolic steroids abused in sports.

Pm me if I can be of any more help - Good luck

Sarah

Hiya, dont really have much else to add to the advice already given, although i do know that the dissolvable tabs taste awful! The only thing that makes them ever so slightly better is dissolving them in as little water as possible (1teaspoon) and then add pure orange juice and lots of it!!

Hiya

I had the same problem only last week with my 10yr old daughter, it took laot of hard work and persuasion but in the end she did take the 5 day course. She has had the misfortune of seeing me during very severe attacks so i think in the end that did scare her a little but as well as shock tacric i also did a few other things.

I asked her to list 3 reasons why she should take them and 3 why not to take them, her reasons for not were- they are revolting, they make her fat and so far most other meds havent helped so y should these. I amanged to reason with her on all areas, and then finally we agreed that she could have a treat of her choice after each dose(not always edible and within reason, the option if she didnt take them was for me to takew her back to the gp and explain y shes not taking them herself and loss of privileges such as time on the computer/a friend over.

The couse was finshed even with a few strops and they helped a little.

I hope this may have helped a bit if u want to talk me please feel free to pm me.

Thank you for replying.

She did eventually take them. It was purly the taste. I have to admit I stuck a finger in the mixture (i only disolved them in a tiny amount) and the taste was totally vile, and took all evening until I ate anything to get rid of the taste, yuk!

When she had to have them before she was very poorly in hospital, so was scared and took them. This time I caught it in time, and they put her on a nebuliser at the doctors, and she couldn't remember how scary it was last time, so she didn't have the insentive.

Someone gave me a tip on another messageboard to pinch her nose, she drinks it quickly, then drinks coke (with her nose still pinched, so she can't taste is so much.

This evening she took them straight away, which was such a releif.

I hope you and your children get and stay well.

Thanks again for you help. xx

yaf_user681_28534 profile image
yaf_user681_28534

Quick question - I thought pred was best taken in the morning? Someone correct me if i'm wrong please!

When my son was about 5 we had huge problems to getting him to take soluable ones he brought most of it back up several times so was not doing him any good. Gp suggested trying the tablets which we hid in everything imaginable, ice cream jelly etc

In the end I said look its only tiny can you please take it and down it went with no trouble at all. Every since he has always had tablets.

Some times the straight up approach can help plus he was use to seeing me take tablets so felt he was very grown up.

Pinch the nose, drink it quickly, then down a glass of milk or eat chocolate to neutralise the tastebuds. I havent been on pred tablets, but i remember when i was younger I had to take very ill-tasting disolvable medications which I absolutly hated and eating chocolate would make the taste go away.

My Daughter Sarah has had to take the pred that is disolved and she hated it so I asked the Doctor if she could have tablets that are swallowed and he gave them to her and i have not had a problem when she has neeeded them since. Just an idea as i tried all the bribes with the dissolvable ones. She also felt really grown up that she was having tablets to swallow like me and her dad.

Kendavis359 profile image
Kendavis359

Help needed. coming down of the steroids is frightening to me at moment. feelings of anxiety and shaking cover my body. is this normal and what can i take to help relax. feel like -i am going crazy at times.

Hi Storm

Well I'm 17 and still have soluble tablets because i cannot take 12 of the awful (in my opinion worst than soluble tablets) but still detest the taste only worsened by sando-k IMO.

Soo... I have to take soluble everyday and have done for 5 years and I don't know if you allow your daughter to drink coke but that is what works for me. My mum used to say they were like shots when i was 11 (made me feel very grown up of course i wasnt drinking at the time) anyway i take my steroids followed by either coke or a homemade smoothie. IMO tea, squash and lemonade dont help, but they do. Always have a diet coke for meds in hospital nurses by it for me specially hehe.

When i was younger the nurses used to put it in neat squash normally blackcurrant and i often barely tasted it. My mum says she also used to crush them into my jam on toast.

I don't know if this helps but if all else fails my mum would use punishment, i now take it without question which is good, my mum was very tough on taking steroids so now i never forget/don't take them.

yaf_user681_25820 profile image
yaf_user681_25820

hi

you can just suck them as a sweet I at the age of 54 cannot take ordinary ones as it dont absorb i some times dissolve them or suck or just swallow them whole.maybe this will work

Hi there

Both my daughters have had these. My youngest we used to disolve in her milk that she had on her cereal so that she had no idea she was taking them. My other daughter has been on them twice a day now since August and she always has a buiscuit but hospital got her to have yougurts with her medicine and that worked wonders. Hope this helps.

My daughter starting taking the hard tablets last year aged 6 as the dissolvable ones made her sick and she couldnt bear the taste. They are much easier to take - she just puts them right to the back of her tongue and drinks juice until theyve gone. We found putting all the tablets in at once worked the best as at least some go down every time. It usually takes 2 or 3 big drinks to get them down. She much prefers them as she doesnt get a horrid taste and she thinks they are more grown up. I hope you have worked out something that works for your daughter.

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