Sorry for all of the posts....you guys are probably going to get sick of me before I learn all I can about this! :)

I just started Karsen on his first dose of Prevacid today. Anybody know how long is takes for this medicine to start working?

Also, anybody have an easy way of dosing? He is on the 15mg capsules that I have to open and give half of that to Karsen. The doc told me to put applesauce on the end of my finger and then sprinkle the granules on the applesauce and put it in his mouth. Arghh...Those little granules go everywhere. And, Karsen doesn't try to swallow them because he's not used to solids in his mouth. And, I don't want to wash it down with a bottle because he'll just throw it up....all with the meds.

TIA for the advice!
Mindy

Post as much as you want! That's what we are all here for!

I can't really help with the Prevacid, Shae's goes in her tube. What about asking the pharmacy to mix a suspension of it?

With Trent the Prevacid took about a week to work really well.
It was very hard giving it to Trent at first. I would mix it with a tsp of baby food, and he would keep spitting out the little white granules and I would just put them on my finger and poke them back in. He got better with age. I asked the pharmacy for a wide opening syringe and mixed it with about 5cc of water and gave it that way for a while. Also, the pharmacy can't do a suspension, because it loses its potency. But, there is this stuff called Chocobase that it can be mixed with. You can order it online. I haven't used it, but a friend of mine did and she said it worked great. Here is the website: www.chocobase.com

Amy

If the pharmacy mixes the prevacid right it will be fine...Shae's been on a suspension of prevacid for over a year and just had a scope that showed everything was fine in there so we know it's doing it's job.

Great tip on the chocobase!

We'll if you can find a suspension I would, or use the chocobase. I don't know how it is in Canada.
I went to every Pharmacy here and in Atlanta, and could not find a Pharmacist to put the Prevacid in a suspension. They are told me they were unable to. But one Pharmacist did mention the chocobase and said if I would order it and bring it in he would fix it for me. Trent finally got better at eating solids about a week later, so I never ordered it.

Amy

My pediatrician also told me that the pharmacy wouldn't be able to mix it. He didn't tell me why though. Thanks for the chocobase web site. I'm going to print out the info and take it to my pharmacist to see what he says. It sure would be easier than chasing around the little granules every morning. Well, off to do some more chasing for now...

Thanks
Mindy

No one seems to be able to agree as to whether these types of meds are effective when mixed into a suspension. In the beginning they told me they couldn't, then they told me they could and now they say they can mix it but there is no way to tell for sure if it's altering the effectiveness :roll: .

I think the best judge is the child themselves, if you have a suspension mixed (it's only sodium bicarbonate and water added to the granules) and they get worse then it's not working. Shae's been fine on the suspension and as I said her scope came back fine as well so I am perfectly happy to continue with it.

The suspension probably wouldn't be much easier to administer anyway since it tastes so terrible...the chocobase sounds like a great option!

Hi, my boy is on Prevacid for about 3 weeks now and it seems to be doing the right thing for him. He was sick during the first week on it so I'm not sure how well it worked that first week - he had reflux symptoms and didnt want to eat but thats how it always is when he's sick anyway!

I really like the idea of the wide-opening syringe. Even if you mix the prevacid in with choco-base, it will be easy to give in a syringe. I found a nuk that you can put meds into and it has a plunger on it so you can either let the little one suck out the contents or plunger it in. The opening isnt wide enough for the little granules though. But if you still have troubles, you may want to try something like that and cut the opening a bit.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

Seth was on the Prevacid granules for 2 weeks and it was working great until he had a complete meltdown and refused to eat anything for almost 2 days. Although I got him to start eating a little after that, I could never get the beads in him again. So, we went on liquid suspension Prilosec and it is working MUCH better. If you don't see an improvement within 1-2 weeks with the Prevacid, maybe you could try Prilosec. I know that doctors say they are pretty much the same, but for some reason Prevacid quit working for Seth--and then I couldn't even give it to him.

Maeve takes many medications that are compounded (suspension) both for her heart and for reflux. Although she doesn't take Prevacid yet (I'm hoping to try it) I know that the pharmacy at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia does make it and will fax the recipe to any pharmacy that is willing to make it. (They do that for Maeve's others) Most of the chain pharmacies won't make compounds around here, so we go to an independently owned pharmacy and they are great about it.
I would try your nearest children's hospital pharmacy or even Philly-
(main # 215-590-1000) if you want to try getting it compounded.
Good Luck