Medication

My son just wanted some relief from his symptoms--he didn't care if it was allergies or a cold--he just needed some relief! He chose Benadryl--although it does specify that it is for allergies, it listed his symptoms--cold or allergy?--either way, this was suppose to bring some relief. Then I got to thinking about the risks of medication--just recently, there was a story about another allergy medication causing problems. And, of course, there are also issues regarding some cold medications as well. When I was growing up, when we were sick, we were always given medicine. No one discussed risks of the medicine--everyone said that you HAVE to take the medicine to get well. Now, the opposite is true. Since becoming a parent, I was VERY cautious about giving medication to my kids. First of all, they were terrible about TAKING the medicine---they hated it!! I hated for them to get sick--yes, I hated to see them feeling bad, but I also hated to deal with the "forcing of the medication" issue. Luckily, they were very healthy when they were younger and we didn't have to deal with medicine issues very often. For the most part, I believed what I was being told about viruses--there is no cure for a virus, and any medication that is taken simply treats the symptoms but does NOT cure the virus--therefore, don't force medicine on kids because it won't cure their viral illnesses. The only times they were prescribed antibiotics were the few times that they had bacterial infections--luckily, this was NOT very often. I have seen kids that are on antibiotics nearly year round--I think this is done much less now that research shows the futility of that practice. A decade or so ago, antibiotics were definitely overused--now we are paying the price--infections are becoming resistant and nothing is able to fight them. Not to mention the issue of the many medications that are recalled each year because they may cause problems for users. Because of all of this, I am often reluctant to take medication or give it to others. It CAN help at times, but many times it is unnecessary. This time, it SEEMED to be safe, and my son claims that it DID help to relieve his symptoms. I know that, if he had a cold, the medicine will not cure it. I also know that the ingredients in the medicine did seem to lessen his symptoms. Still, as far as I am concerned, medicine is something to be used very cautiously and as a last resort--no running to the medicine cabinet for every ache or pain here!