Vocab post about coughs and colds hijacked by coughs and colds! Splutter.

I had planned to get a post written and scheduled for tomorrow about coughs and colds but – wouldn’t you know – this week has been hobbled by them! Not all week. I’ve been a little distracted from my French learning this week thanks to an exciting new venture in the form of my new business, Languedoc 121 Tech, which will offer personalised home and small-business computer services and training. Most spare moments have been dedicated to that. The site’s not quite done but it’s getting there. If you hop over to take a look, please let me know what you think – both of the site and the concept.

But back to the cold. Actually, it’s a cough. Knowing I was in for a busy week I planned to work on this new post at some point today and then this evening. That was before my gorgeous little DS was up for a good few hours coughing his little lungs up. It was a wet, sticky cough in the night that had turned into a dry hack by the morning. He was a bit wheezy too and obviously, feeling under the weather, a proper little cling-on. No free time for me then.

What I have discovered though – and this is definitely something of a cultural inauguration – is the power of the suppository. We just don’t do those in the UK, except as a last resort but here and in most other countries in mainland Europe they’re just another method of administering medicine, no big deal. At the chemist to source something for DS’s cough – wanting to avoid another disrupted night, if possible – the dispenser persuaded me to buy a suppository called Coquelusédal. That’s what we normally use, she said. I wasn’t 100% sure I’d use them but for 4 euros, why not? I bought them. Then at ludothèque shortly after a couple of the mums commented on DS’s chestiness, prompting a recommendation the very same stuff: Coquelusédal. Oh yes, they agreed, it worked very well. I was on about 90% persuaded now. If it worked, why not. Better than a trip to A&E at 1am, right?

DS was shattered after a busy morning after his restless night the night before, so fell asleep on the way home. An hour later he woke up in a pretty bad way. His chest sounded really bad and he couldn’t stop coughing. He kept saying “poorly poorly” in the saddest little voice you’ve ever heard. I was thinking we’d be off to the doctor shortly. Time to try the Coquelusédal? James wasn’t keen but I’d done research while DS was asleep and discovered a few things about this particular medicine and suppositories in general.

One, it is an old herbal remedy typically administered for bronchial problems and asthma. The two active ingredients are Grindelia and Gelsemium. I’m a big fan of “old” remedies like this: two of the most effective medicines we use are J Collis Brownes and Gees Linctus. Sadly the latter is becoming harder to come by, which is a shame because it’s incredibly effective. (If you do ask over the counter for them, expect a sideways gaze from the pharmacist before they are handed over.)

Two, the reason it’s given anally not orally is because the compounds are harsh on the digestive system, so it’s not safe to give it orally, especially not to a child.

Three, suppositories are an incredibly effective way to get medicine into the system at home. Especially with a small child who will often resist. They work quickly as they are designed to melt at body temperature and are then rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream. A mum online, whose child refuse oral medication, reckons a paracetamol suppository can bring a fever down in 15 minutes.

Armed with these factoids I informed James that I thought we should try it, despite his reservations (which concerned bodily autonomy, which I agreed with.) He agreed I could give one and if it made no difference, we’d bin the rest. So I administered my first ever suppository to a screaming, sobbing toddler. Following the instructions I’d read online, once I had some light on the situation it was pretty quick and easy (definitely not something to try and do in the dark!)

The result? Not 20 minutes later (and after one enormous poo) DS was transformed – an entirely different child. He was riding his bike again, talking, running around the room. And not coughing at all. Nothing. I was expecting it to work and was just happy that he was obviously feeling better again. James was surprised that it had worked so well – conceding that we would not be throwing them away after all.

And today, after giving him another before bed last night, he’s totally back to normal. There was some coughing in the night. We were awake for a while but today he’s got some colour again, no coughing, his breathing is fine. I’m sold.