Visine and kids

[JenJohnson79]

Ok, so incase I'm not the only one who had no clue, I'm posting my story about my evening yesterday.

I took my kids 4 years old and 2 years old to my grandparent's house. They have a couple of tweens living with them. The older one walks into her bedroom to find my 2 year old with a now empty bottle of visine. So she brings the bottle to me and tells me "Savannah just drank this, and it was almost full." So I read on the back and it says to call poison control if ingested. So I call. Poison control talks to me for a minute then tells me take her to the ER now. Doesn't tell me why, but sounded serious. So I hang up call my husband and tell him I headed to the ER with her, and leaving the older one at my grandparent's house for him to pick her up after he gets off work. Five minutes into my trip to Texas Children's Hospital (about a 30 minute drive) she's still talking to me and such, then she tells me "Mommy." I ask what, and she replies "Mommy I'm. . . " AND NOTHING PASSES SMOOTH OUT ON ME. I should mention at that before she passed out on me, I called a girlfriend of mine who is a labor and delivery nurse. I told her what was going on and she was going to call me back and let me know what to be looking for. . . She calls back about this time, and I'm yelling at my daughter, reaching behind me shaking her foot, pulling on her foot, trying to get her to wake up and nothing. My girlfriend tells me "call 911, tell them where you are and where you're headed and the route you're taking. Ask them to send someone to escort you." So I call 911, talk to them for a minute until a ambulance pulls in front of me and starts to haul, with me in tow. The 911 operator connects me back with poison control. This guy was more helpful than the first, he tells me that Visine affects the blood pressure, the heart rate, breathing systems of a child. That the effects are worse on a girl than a boy. That it can even put them into a coma. Needless to say I'm freaking out at this point, he's trying to calm me down as he knows I'm driving. He lets me go, my nurse friend calls me back and wants to know where I'm at, and if I have an escort. We get to the ER, they immediately take us back, my daughter is starting to open her eyes, but is still pretty lethargic. They had to put in a NG tube and pump her little belly full of charcoal. Hooked her up to all sorts of machines, a blood pressure cuff, a ECG monitor, O2 sensor, and so forth. . . two and a half hours later she throws up the charcoal mess. An hour after that she starts coming too, and another hour she is actually sitting up and playing with various stuff around the room, turning vomit bags into boots, blowing latex gloves up into balloons and such. . . They monitored her for several hours, and we were able to come home late last night.

Anyway, scary as it was, I HAD NO CLUE that Visine could be so toxic. NONE. I've got all my medicine in the house out of reach and such, but never in a million years would have thought to include visine in that list. . .

[12stones]

Sorry to hear about this frightening event. Visine is and long has been a dangerous thing. I'm glad that your daughter is okay. Hard way to find something out though.

[Jenny Z]

Oh my God, I had no idea Visine could do that... I thought it was just saline solution :o I'm glad she's ok!!!

[DeannaD]

That is SO scary! I would have NEVER worried about Visine. Glad she's ok!!!

[Ahh!]

I am glad with you that she was able to go home so soon. Good job staying cool and getting assistance, even in transit! And, thanks for the reminder/news on Visine. I had no idea either.

[Rson]

I never know that it was so bad...

http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/visine.asp

[Howard Barlow]

Thank you for posting this, Jen. I have passed it on to my son.

[JenJohnson79]

While she's ok, it was definitely a VERY nerve racking experience. Hopefully by sharing I can prevent someone else from having to go through it.

[toverman]

So glad your daughter is OK. Thank you for posting this. Maybe there's somewhere LOUDER you can post it so everyone can learn.

[ggeen]

I had no idea! Sorry this had to happy to you and your child but thanks for passing along the information. I will let all my friends with young children know for sure. Yikes! -G

[SaSha]

Wow...glad she's okay and good job handling the situation.
Very scary situation for sure. I will be sure to pass this info along.

[Wes]

Wow! I mean it. Wow!! I work for an ophthalmic pharmaceutical company and forwarded your story to one of our product managers. I'm curious as to whether any of our over-the-counter eye drops would do the same thing.

[sparkyjr]

thank you for the info. I have a 3 yr. old. It's good to know this kind of stuff. You would think that Visine would be similar to saline solution or something rather benign. I am glad your dtr. is okay.

[groovyone]

WOW! That is terrifying! So glad she is okay, and thanks for sharing!

[janetg]

glad she is ok...