Child Swallowed 20 Eltroxin 50mg Tablet. Any Complication?

Posted on Thu, 24 Jan 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 Answered on

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : my two and half year old son swallowed 20 eltroxin 50mg tablet before 6 hrs. when asked after seeing melted tablet he says i have not eaten any tablet. what will be the effects and what i have to do?

Answered by Dr. E Venkata Ramana (1 hour later)

Hi XXXXXXX,

Thank you for your query on Healthcare Magic,

Eltroxin overdosage leads to vomitings, agitation, confusion, coma, rapid heart rate(palpitations), loose motions, breathlessness and signs of cardiac failure. The severity of symptoms depend on the number of tablets(dose) actually ingested.

A child of 2.5 year old can't give a reliable history about the intake of tablets. So we cannot depend on a child's own history. It should be confirmed by counting the tablets that were present before and after the incident.

Consult Emergency as early as possible, so that they will assess for the toxic effects if present. They will do a gastric lavage if required and manage accordingly.

Hope I have answered your query. If you have any clarification, please let me know and hope your son will be in good health.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Mohammed Kappan