Is Tamiflu worth it?

[Anonymous]

DS just tested positive for flu A. Are the benefits of Tamiflu worth all the potential side effects it comes with?? There is also a massive shortage of it in our area right now so not sure it is worth trying to track it down.

[Anonymous]

I did some reading and decided to skip it. I read it only reduces the period of illness by a small amount, like half a day or so. I also read a subreddit where some doctors were discussing it, none of them liked to prescribe it other than for those with serious co-morbidities.

[Anonymous]

What are the side effects that you are worried about?

DD just had the flu and with Tamiflu the fever was gone after a day. You can never compare to what would have happened without, but last year it dragged on for several days (tested too late to take Tamiflu).

[Anonymous]

If your kid can't swallow pills the liquid form tastes awful--I couldn't get my daughter to take it (after my nurse practitioner neighbor came over for a house call because there was a blizzard and the pediatrician's office was closed and one pharmacy was open and it was like $200).

[Anonymous]

Tamiflu made my DD incredibly nauseous. It took her by surprise after her first dose and she “surprise puked” in her bed. (She’s a teen so she’s normally capable of making it to the bathroom.) She really wanted to take it because she had an event coming up so she muscled through it by taking it with crackers and laying down, but I would not have insisted on it. She had a pretty mild case and wasn’t sick very long, but hard to say whether it was because of the Tamiflu. I don’t think it was worth it.

[Anonymous]

Get xofluza. More effective and just one pill. Anyone not yet infected can also take as prophylactic

[Anonymous]

Absolutely worth it. dh and ds took it a few years ago and were largely better in a day or two. I didn’t get it and was miserable for a week. They had no side effects.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely worth it. dh and ds took it a few years ago and were largely better in a day or two. I didn’t get it and was miserable for a week. They had no side effects.

[Anonymous]

For a tween-teen-older elementary, I would get xofluza. For me, too. Totally worth it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the side effects that you are worried about?

DD just had the flu and with Tamiflu the fever was gone after a day. You can never compare to what would have happened without, but last year it dragged on for several days (tested too late to take Tamiflu).

Your kid got flu two years in a row?

[Anonymous]

Another xofluza booster here. My daughter got the flu from a college roommate the first week back on campus, took the one pill and felt fine the next day. With the CVS coupon, it was about $150. Our insurance doesn't cover it.

[Anonymous]

When I got the flu last year I went from almost dead to what felt like a plain cold in 12 hours due to tamiflu.

[Anonymous]

I regret not giving my then-18-year-old son Tamiflu. He progressed to pneumonia.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely! Take it prophylactically, it works.

Paxlovid gave me I-cant-breathe rebound, but Tamiflu is great prophylactic. Taken after flu starts, however, I'm not sure if it worked for me at all.

[Anonymous]

My tween took it last week. The pediatrician said it only shortened the flu by a day, and could worsen nausea, so I left it up to my daughter. She was miserable and opted to take it, vomited up the first dose, but kept down the others and was markedly better in 24 hours, seemed 100% by 48 hours. Seems a coin flip whether to take it or not. Is your DS old enough to make the decision?