Arbidol Suspension: Not Worth the Agony for Kids

I've been giving my older daughter Arbidol tablets for a while now, but when my youngest was too young to take tablets, I picked up the suspension version by chance, following my doctor's prescription.

It's approved for children aged 2 and up. My child was 2.5 years old at the time.

The cost is currently around 400 rubles, which is pretty reasonable considering the prices of medications these days.

It comes in a cardboard box with loads of information on all sides. Inside, there's a detailed instruction manual, but to be honest, there's so much info on the box that you might not even need to look at the manual.

The bottle is made of transparent light-brown glass, which is usually used to protect the contents from sunlight. And, as a side note, you should keep it out of direct sunlight.

No dosing cap on top, just a completely open mouth that's not exactly ideal for measuring out the suspension. A dosing spoon is included in the pack, though.

Ingredients

The manufacturer claims it's the optimal composition for children.

The indications for use are pretty self-explanatory, as you can see from the photo above – just the flu and common cold.

Physical properties and preparing the suspension

It comes in a dry powder form, which you need to mix with water according to the instructions on the packaging.

Mixing the suspension was a breeze – I did it quickly and made sure to shake it well to dissolve the powder properly.

Okay, at least the suspension can be stored at room temperature up to 25 degrees Celsius. No need to put it in the fridge and then give it to a sick kid at room temperature.

The suspension turned out to be of medium thickness, dense, and white in color.

And then things started to go downhill. I didn't try it myself at first, I just gave it to my daughter. The scream that echoed throughout the house was something else, and she started spitting it out and having a meltdown. I didn't realize it right away, and on that day, I kept giving it to her, thinking she was just being finicky. She's not a big fan of taking medicine in the first place.

It wasn't until the next day that I decided to try it myself and see what all the fuss was about.

And that was a nightmare. It's not just bitter, it's bitter and sour all at once, and it leaves a really unpleasant sensation in your mouth, like it's irritating the mucous membranes.

Nobody should be producing medicines like this for kids. It's basically impossible to get down even for an adult.

Administration and treatment results

Before we started treatment, my daughter had a high fever of 39 degrees Celsius, a red throat, a bad cold, and chills. The hospital diagnosed her with a viral infection.

The suspension needs to be taken 4 times a day, at equal intervals. That was the part that was really inconvenient – I had to wake my daughter up to give her the medicine, and then calm her down afterwards. I made sure to give her plenty of water or warm tea to help her swallow it.

It's supposed to be taken for 5 days, but we only managed to stick to it for 3 days. By that point, my daughter was already feeling much better, her fever had broken, and her throat wasn't as red. I knew I should have finished the course, but I just couldn't bear to give her that disgusting stuff anymore, so I decided to stop.

Despite everything, I think the medicine is effective – it definitely helped my daughter's condition improve significantly over the 3 days we took it. And after that, she recovered quickly without needing it.

But that's just cruel – it's impossible to take because of the taste and the burning sensation it leaves in your mouth.

The good thing about this product is pretty limited.

It does work pretty well, though.The downsides are a real problem:

The taste is absolutely awful.It's got this burning sensation that's not fun.You've got to take it every six hours, which is super inconvenient.

My kid didn't get any side effects, which is a plus. But overall, I'm not a fan of this kind of treatment.

I wouldn't recommend it for the flu.