... prescribe pill. help! can he get well without the medication?
My son refuses to take the liquid zithromax prescribed for strep throat. he is only 6 so doc didn't?
Question posted by catherine sunshine on 2 May 2012
Last updated on 29 January 2024
6 Answers
Mamamary_2017
21 Dec 2016
My 9 year-old daughter was prescribed azithromycin oral suspension 1200mg cherry flavor yesterday for a sinus infection. She took 7.5 mL yesterday and is supposed to take 3 mL for next 4 days. She cried and gagged but my husband and I were steadfast that she had to take it. We had Sprite and applesauce ready between sips to help clear the taste. She did get 6 mLs down but she vomited on the last 1 mL. She really did try to take it. While normally we feel that insisting our child take medicine that is prescribed to them is the right thing to do, we now feel that we were wrong to do so with Azithromycin. It has to be the foulest, most horrible, metallic, gritty medicine that was ever made!!! If you don't believe me, be sure to taste it yourself before you insist that your child do so. The aftertaste is oily metallic and lingers for a LONG time. Some meds should never have been made into liquid forms, and most especially never forced down the throat of a sick child! We are waiting for her doctor to issue a different prescription.
Geemama
7 May 2013
I just tried getting my sons to take the liquid Zithromax for their bronchitis. It has the most awful after taste that lingers. It has such a strong chemical taste I can completely understand a child not taking it. There are many other antibiotics around that won't leave a horrible taste in your child's mouth. I have called our pediatrician for a new antibiotic. It's not right to force a child to take this disgusting stuff. I wonder if it should've been formulated to liquid form for children. It is truly, truly awful. I have taken many different antibiotics over the years and this liquid Zithromax is disgusting. All of you who provided answers on this question might change your answers if you tasted it. Change to another antibiotic that can do the same job. Don't force your child to take liquid Zithromax.
danacherie
15 Sep 2016
My doctor told me that nothing else would work! Please tell me because this crap is awful and my baby cries!
stevespencer
29 Jan 2024
You are absolutely correct. We brought in our 8-year-old child to his pediatrician, and he was diagnosed with bronchitis and an ear infection. He was prescribed azithromycin in liquid form. We told this physician that the child could not tolerate liquid meds, but could handle tablets or pills, but he insisted saying that the liquid was better. Trying to give the child the liquid form of the drug made the child so upset he could not make it through his first dose. He projectile vomited the medcine along with the rest of his stomach contents, crying uncontrollably. This news about how bad this liquid form tastes should advise physicians to listen to the parents when they tell them the child does not tolerate liquid meds. Had it been prescribed in tablet form, then we would be on the road to recovery. Now we have to wait another day with a child with a painful earache to get an alternative prescription. We are very angry parents over this.
Inactive
8 May 2012
As a teacher, Pledge is right. First you don't play around with strep throat!! But you already heard that. Positive reinforcement is a much more effective way to deal with your son. Reward for good behavior, ignore the bad. He is only six now. Think about what will happen when he is 13 or even younger. He has to know that you are the boss regardless, but do it positively, because when given with love, respect grows. When given with threats, children start to hide truths so they don't get the punishments.
Rewards don't have to be candy, or toys, or anything monetary. In fact, it is better that children learn 'intrinsic' positive reinforcement, such as big hugs, twirls around, reading a special book with him, things such as that. rewarding with material things only produces monsters.
I'm only telling you this because I have been a teacher for many, many years, and that is how the best children grow up.
Good luck!! Remember you are the boss regardless.
Inactive
2 May 2012
Hello catherine sunshine. Promise him his favorite treat. That more often than not will usually do the job. Children enjoy rewards. And yes, he will need to take the Zithromax to cure the strep throat. Best wishes to you and family, pledge
kaismama
2 May 2012
Not if he truly has strep throat, he has to be treated with an antibiotic. Is the liquid flavored? If not most pharmacies have flavoring you can put in it. If he won't take it then you'll have to call the dr and get him to order something he will take.
Geemama
7 May 2013
My son's Zithromax is flavored but the chemical aftertaste after it is swallowed is the most gosh awful taste you could ever imagine. Liquid Zithromax is not your cherry flavored amoxicillin from your childhood. Everyone on this board needs to taste it to see if they still have the same opinion.
DzooBaby
2 May 2012
No. He will not get better. Strep throat is a precursor to scarlet fever. In the days before antibiotics, strep throat and scarlet fever were dread illnesses because children died from them. They used to quarentine kids for strep to prevent whole villages of kids from dying. You need to MAKE your son swallow the medicine. Mix it with sugar or whatever you have to do to get him to take it. I told my kids that if they didnt take their medications then they would have to get them with a needle. This was usually quite effective. Kids may hate medicine but they hate needles a lot worse, and it was no lie. Your child will continue to get sick and develop a high fever and a rash then he will have to be hospitalized for intravenous antibiotics. You are the parent! Make him take the medicine!! Scarlet fever is not seen so much anymore but many kids died from it in our grandparents days, before the 1930's, when the first antibiotics came out.
Now children get antibiotics before it reaches scarlet fever. Before antibiotics, children who didnt die could be left blind because the illness could attack the optic nerve or it could permanently weaken the lungs. It is nothing to fool around with.
kaismama
2 May 2012
We make a good team, 2 old fart nurses, lolol... I used to tell mine they had 2 choices, they took there med willing, or I dumped it down their throats, there was no option of not taking it. A syringe filled with the liquid, squirts it back in their mouths enough to make them swallow it.
Inactive
2 May 2012
I disagree and respect your opinion. Its not might that is always the solution. Sometimes, a bit of this or that but not the other works (often it might be said, wonders) Have a good evening ladies.
Related topics
zithromax, strep throat, throat, medication
Further information
- Zithromax uses and safety info
- Zithromax prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Zithromax (detailed)
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