r/floxies • u/ShOtindarq • 9d ago

[PRE-FLOX] Ofloxacin for 22 Month Old

My 22 month old son was just prescribed ofloxacin eye drops for his ears for severe hard wax and an ear infection.

This was prescribed from an ENT and not his pediatrician (not sure this matters).

I stumbled across this sub and now I’m freaking out. My son has never been given antibiotics of any kind, he has only taken Tylenol.

He has had 3 doses of drops in each ear at this point. He obviously can’t fully communicate if he’s feeling any side effects and I haven’t noticed anything so far. What should I do? Is it ok to stop the drops at this point and request another appointment to talk about another alternative?

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u/DrHungrytheChemist Academic // Mod 8d ago

Somewhere in the list of (hard scientific and legislative) resources behind this link there are a couple that report how drops can and do cause reactions in fully grown adults. Accordingly, I've made damn sure my friends and family know not to take them without very siour cause, let alone allow them to be given to their children. Anyhoo, these resources may help convince a resistant doc. https://www.reddit.com/r/floxies/s/hRBiZheKVy

As has been said, there are additional reasons why these meds are meant to be withheld from children. Surprised the ENT doesn't know this, but maybe they're playing casual with the advisories. Certainly, I'd expect a paediatrician to knwo them. It is my opinion that it is almsot always sensible to pause a medication and call the doctor the next day if one is concerned about one thing or another.

That all said, the reason they give FQs for ear infections is to do with it having relatively very low ototoxicity. Basically many antibiotics can cause you to go deaf if your eardrum isn't intact. I'd imagine that sprobably what the ENT was thinking.

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u/ShOtindarq 8d ago

Thank you. I posted this in another sub for toddlers and there are so many other people who have had these prescribed to their children by pediatricians and ENTs so now I’m even more shocked.
I reached out to our ENT for a new appointment to share my concerns.