Have you ever pretended to be sick because you liked the medicine?
By SKLC_PT
@SKLC_PT (1234)
April 13, 2012 1:36pm CST
Now this is bad, but when I did it I was too young to know any better.
Thing is when had a certain type of medicine in the house I'd pretend to be sick to have it.
I had a sweet sugary flavoured children paracetamol and a honey flavour cough medicine that I just loved.
I would sometimes sneak to get some extra if I could reach it and I would go as far as pretending I'm sick so my mother could get me the sweet paracetamol or the sweet cough medicine for me to take.
It kinda makes you think it's wrong in retrospect for companies to make medicine to taste better so that children will take it, cause just like me I'm sure other children must have at times pretended to be ill just so they could have the sweet flavours, children will do anything for free sweets after all.
So wondering if anyone here has similar experiences as me.
I was quite lucky to not have had any bad side effects but what about you or someone you know that would take medication because they liked the flavour and ended up in trouble?
1 person likes this
9 responses
@almond24 (1248)
• Hungary
14 Apr 12
I don't think I ever pretended to be ill just because of the medicine - I had cold too often when I was a kid, so I didn't miss anything like that. There was a pink sweet cough syrup though that I liked, I always asked for one more spoonsful, but I was never allowed 
We often played with the girl next door, and when I visited her we found some vitamin C. They were small yellow dragees with a sweet cover, so we took a couple of them, because she said her mom allowed us to. When her mom came in the room and we told her "we are taking medicine" she got a bit shocked 
There is a reason medicine should be kept away from kids, especially the sweet ones are hard to resist.
We often played with the girl next door, and when I visited her we found some vitamin C. They were small yellow dragees with a sweet cover, so we took a couple of them, because she said her mom allowed us to. When her mom came in the room and we told her "we are taking medicine" she got a bit shocked
There is a reason medicine should be kept away from kids, especially the sweet ones are hard to resist. @SKLC_PT (1234)
•
15 Apr 12
Ahhh, the vitamin C tablets, my mom used to let me have some every now and then, but she saw it more as a supplement and good for us, as these were vitamin supplements she thought it was good fo us to like it.
We would have the effervescent ones, but I'd rather like it and have it sizzle on my tongue. She's give us one a day, so she was sort of controlling it, can't remember why she stopped giving it to us, I rather miss those ones, and they were harmless.
@dazzledlady (1618)
• Philippines
14 Apr 12
No, I do not remember pretending to be sick because I like the medicine I am taking. In fact I do not remember a medicine that taste good. But I do remember pretending to be sick because I do not like going to school. Heheheh talking about how lazy I am when it comes to my studies before.
@SKLC_PT (1234)
•
15 Apr 12
I've been there and done that, lol, I've pretended to be sick not to go to school, but mind you I was bullied a lot at school so any excuse I could make sometimes was welcome, and I'd have the added bonus when younger and innocent to have yummy medicine, I think maybe parents should explain more about medicine and not just say it will make you better, as we don't know any better, it's one think to leave it out of our reach, it's another to have a child aware of what it does in full...
But I know about being lazy :)
@Madona1 (2096)
• Gibraltar
14 Apr 12
Luckily I am quite a healthy person that hardly get sick, perhaps only once a year having a bad cold. So I don't know what medicine that would taste better than the sweets and cakes. Even the children's medicines with lovely flavour like strawberry, banana and so on, I don't think it will taste the same as the real deserts or sweets. LOL
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
14 Apr 12
I was very asthmatic when I was younger and my mom used to give me this syrup with a candy-flavored taste to it which I really loved except for the palpitations it gave me minutes after the dose.
I would not say I pretended to be sick, but somehow I loved the idea of taking the syrup again. If it were juice, I would chug the entire contents of the bottle down.
@katie0 (5203)
• Japan
14 Apr 12
I don't think I would do that cause it can be DANGEROUS dear! lol, what if your body rejects it because it is healed?
I'm thinking about having a cough drop though, I don't think we'll have any flu in a long time (we were dying here recently, geez) and it could spoil.
I'm thinking about having a cough drop though, I don't think we'll have any flu in a long time (we were dying here recently, geez) and it could spoil.@SKLC_PT (1234)
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15 Apr 12
You have to remember I was a small child, I had no understanding of risks, overdoses and all that, I had no knowledge about all that, to a child medicine is supposed to make you feel better so to understand that something that helps you can hurt you was beyond me at the time.
@ryanong (9665)
• Vietnam
14 Apr 12
Lucky for me, i never pretend to be sick for "sweet" medicine.
I know some kids often pretend to be sick because after that they can take medicines that are covered by something sweet as sugar. It looks like candies, kids love sweet and they don't think it is medicine also. they pretend to be sick for "sweet" medicine not because they like medicine...lol
Actually producer just make medicine with a sweet cover to help kids drink medicine easily because most of kids scare medicine, when heard medicine words, they think of something bitter.
However, parents should know whenever kids pretend to be sick for 'sweet" medicine to protect their kids. It is not easy but we have to...:)
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
13 Apr 12
Reading this,I have to say that's one situation I've never been in..Any bottled medications I was given as a kid (And I speak as someone who recalls a lot of medication!) seemed to have been more intended that you wanted to make sure you got well quickly so that you never had to taste that vile stuff ever again!
I still get flashbacks to this particular sickly orangy flavoured stuff that made my stomach churn when I took it way back,when I encounter "some" Orange products nowadays..(And it wasn't an upset stomach that was the problem I had that time!)
@NailTech (6874)
• United States
13 Apr 12
Oh wow, no I can't say have. That would be bad. However, i do remember liking the Rolaids that dad used when we were kids and asking for one of those when I really didn't need one. I think so anyways, it's all a blur to me now. I can't recall if I actually did that or not. Seems as if did.
