Can kids get addicted to common pain meds?

[Eriza]

My daughter of 1 and a half years has swollen tonsills almost every 4-6 weeks for 6 months now. In between that she is teething aswell. Sometimes I think she is addicted to pain meds....It is asif she wouldn't sleep calmly if she doesn't get something. Because she gets throat infections often I am so warried that she has pain and I give her meds....
She wakes up at 9-10 or 11 at night screaming asif in real pain, she doesnt want me to touch her or even help her calm down...al that helps is if I give her pain meds...If I say screaming I realy mean screaming...I have 3 kids and not 1 of the others did this....so easy to think she has pain, but she cant always be in pain...am I missing something?????

[mpace6983]

mothers who use narcotics or cocaine while pregnant sometimes have babies who are born addicted. Anyone can get addicted. If you give your dog a narcotic for an extended length of time he will become addicted. Its a brain chemical that gets out of whack and wont function without the drug. short answer yes you child can become addicted.

[hellc@mst]

Funny you should mention this. My son, who is 20 months, was diagnosed with tonsilitis today coupled with painful eye teeth which have only just begun to come through. He had been terribly distressed this past week but we have managed to get on top of his pain by using ibuprofren every 8 hours along with paracetamol (acetaminophen) and amoxicillin for the infection.

He hates taking his medication and it takes patient coaxing to get him to comply so it does seem odd (compared with my own experience) that your daughter happily gulps her medicine down. That alone is not a definitive indicator of "addiction" and it may just be that she is genuinely sore and feels soothed by either the medicines you give her OR the accompanying attention.

It is impossible to become physically dependant to these medications (like those I mentioned earlier) and I can't imagine any doctor prescribing narcotics to an infant for a sore throat.  It is certainly worthwhile trying to investigate and resolve the cause of your childs discomfort (if any exists) by consulting an ENT Doctor rather than speculate as to the possibility of her apparent "dependancy".

                          All the best. Kind Regards Jeremy (recovered addict)
                               3 years 6 months drug and alcohol free.

[kajama]

I am not so sure of a baby getting addicted...She might just be in severe pain with all the issues  with her, or it could be another underlying condition that u don't know about that is causing the crying.  Pain meds are just sedating her...definitly need to see ur doctor if he is the one rx the pain meds.

[vicki595]

So how often exactly do you give her meds?? How much??  What is the med??