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I work in public health and I will say that Tamiflu saves lives. Side effects can be annoying but to me they would be totally worth it and I would not hesitate for a moment to take it or give it to my child. It doesn’t just reduce length of illness. but severity of symptoms too. Flu can become deadly very quickly and unexpectedly and to me that risk is not worth it. The flu shot is also important!

My kid has one more day of Tamiflu. He has no nausea or vomiting. He is acting totally normal. I say Yay! to this drug, since the flu can be pretty serious. I trust my pediatrician since she isn’t one to prescribe as a precaution and more holistic.

I think that the side effects have taken a front seat in the media this year, but realistically they actually have a low chance of occurrence. Also, it doesn't just shorten the time you are sick, it can lessen the symptoms while you are sick, making the whole flu experience less miserable. I gave Tamiflu to my 23 month old without any noticeable side effects.

Yes I have taken it and yes I have given it to my kids. My neighbor who is an infectious disease doctor gives it to his children as well if they have the flu. It also lessons the amount of virus being shed so it makes this virus less contagious in addition to shortening the length of the virus

My husband took tamiflu last year with no issue but my neither my pediatricians office nor my sisters (different states) will prescribe it to children.

@Twolittlemen: You’re right that it is not a perfect drug and doesn’t ensure that someone will recover. But to me, that’s not a reason not to take it. It is still worth a shot and is likely to help though not guaranteed, of course. My main point is that side effects would not be a reason not to take it given its potential to really help.

@twolittlemen: I second @Shantuck. I'm not suggesting my anecdote as end all, be all proof. That's what the scientific evidence is for. However, you did ask the question, would you use it and why. So I stated my reasons and personal experience.

You are right, it's not a "miracle drug" and it is certainly possible that it did not change the course of LO1's experience. He may have already turned the corner and the timing was coincidental. However, I am very confident that it absolutely changed the course of LO2's and my experiences. And I would use it again without reservation.

Both of my kids took it when DD got the flu. She still had a hard time, but it might have been worse without Tamiflu... no way to know that. DS was starting to look sick when she was diagnosed, and the Tamiflu kept him from getting a full-blown case of the flu. He was looking just fine the next day, but took it for several days just in case. No side effects.

@Twolittlemen: that’s why they’re studying it closely, though. So far it hasn’t been an issue, but if anything changes they could adjust. I’m not sure limiting potentially lifesaving medication for something that isn’t happening makes sense. Flu complications are not predictable and can happen to healthy people.

@Twolittlemen: Was the point of your post to try to convince everyone not to use Tamiflu? It seems that you are very set in your beliefs on this issue so I'm not sure why you posed the question to the group?

Both of my children have taken Tamiflu and both have been 100% back to themselves within 24 hours of starting the drug with zero to no side effects (my son had some loose stools but nothing worse than he has on antibiotics or that made him uncomfortable). That kind of recovery time is invaluable to me as their mother who doesn't want them to be uncomfortable any longer than necessary and also as a person who has a full time job where I can't easily take 4-5 days off without advanced planning. I am unfortunately very allergic to Tamiflu and have had to suffer through the flu for myself and I'm extremely happy that science has given me a way to relive some of that misery for my children who tolerate Tamiflu well.

@Twolittlemen: every physician I spoke to said an allergy to Tamiflu in a parent did not worry them about the child and in our case that proved true as my children did very well on it. For us, it didn’t lessen symptoms for a day. It literally makes them better 24 hours later. In three different cases of flu between 2 children. That’s well worth it to me.

@Twolittlemen: So, I don't really get the point of this thread. You seem to want to argue against everyone who is willing to use Tamiflu. If you don't want to take Tamiflu and don't want to give it to your kids that's fine, but why start a thread to essentially argue against people who think it works for them?

My kids got sick last week and we started Tamiflu even before we got the flu test results back because they had symptoms for a day before testing and you have to take Tamiflu within 48 hours of symptoms. They showed no signs of side effects at 3 and 1 years old respectively and we discontinued when the test came back negative. I would absolutely take it as well. The flu this year in particular seems terrible and I wasn't going to take any chances with my children. My youngest tends to hold illness in his chest and both my kids get raging ear infections from any illness, even with tubes, so anything that would help them feel better faster is fine with me.

DD2 tested positive for the flu last week and we opted to give her Tamiflu because of her age (8 months). She hated it and it did make her vomit. We ended up stopping it after a couple of days. Our doctor said that was fine because of the side effects she was having. Edited to add that I would have kept her on it despite the side effects if she were really struggling with the flu, but she started to bounce back pretty quickly.

I would take it (I have bad asthma) and I would give it to my LO. He is too young to get the flu shot, so this flu season scares the crap out of me. He had RSV and bronchiolitis last month and that was hard for him and for us to watch him go through. I'm truly counting down the days until he can get vaccinated (not til early March!).