Ali's doctor recently added Carafate to her regimen, which also consists of Prilosec and Pepcid. Right now, we give her Prilosec at 7am, Pepcid at noon, Prilosec at 5pm, and Pepcid at 10pm. When would be the best time to give the Carafate? I know it needs acid in order for it to work. We're only supposed to give it as needed, so we didn't get any other specific instructions.
Thanks!
Kelly

Hi Kelly,
Our GI had us give it an hour apart from other meds. One reason is that Carafate coats the lining of the stomache and esophagus, preventing other meds from absorbing.

I hope it helps, Kelly! :)

We were told to give carafate 30 min before meals and 2 hours before or after any other meds. Talk about a juggeling act hu?

Sue

Catherine was on Carafate for about 6 months. She demand fed so it was impossible time the Carafate dosing with feedings and all her other meds. We ended up dosing every 6 hours by the clock. No, this wasn't the most effective way to use the med, but we had no other option and she got enough of it to help her.

Thank you so much! Did you find that the Carafate helped? We're basically looking for something to pull her through those really bad days. She's already maxed on Prilosec and Pepcid, and I'm milk/soy free. Mylanta does little for her.

Yes,Carafate made a huge difference for Catherine. She went from screaming 24/7 to screaming somewhat less, lol. She's a high maintenance kiddo!

Thank you so much! Did you find that the Carafate helped? We're basically looking for something to pull her through those really bad days. She's already maxed on Prilosec and Pepcid, and I'm milk/soy free. Mylanta does little for her.

I don't think the Carafate will work as needed. It didn't work right away for us, it needed to build up some in the system. If those meds aren't helping enough, I'd cut your diet down more. You can see in my sig all of what Evan can't handle and until the last month of bfing, I was only dairy, soy, and egg free. This is why Evan's meds never worked, I was still consuming his allergies. The carafate worked great when we used it, but when we stopped, so did the good times which meant it wasn't actually healing which is it's main purpose.

Kelly, carifate is very similar to mylanta and for us it is intended for those "bad day". We do give it to our DD before meals when we know that she has been having a hard time of it. But we also us it if she says she threw up in her mouth. I personally don't use it long term because I have been told that mylanta, carefate and other drugs that are symilar have been linked to stones whitch can cause kidney failure in small children if it is used long term and many times a day (to much calcium). I was told that and never really researched it myself. I just did the next best thing and be safe with it. So something to talk with doc about anyway. Let me know if anyone rebutes what our doc said. All carefate really does is coat the area so the acid will not burn. I also think and someone correct me if I am wrong it nutrilized acid as well only while it is in that area.

Sue

Carafate is primarily an ulcer drug. It's used to heal ulcers and erosions in the stomach. It's 2ndary use is for reflux symptoms and to heal erosions in the esophagus etc. It's not reccomended for use for longer than 8 wks though, not sure why.

Peach is correct. Carafate is a drug primarily used to treat ulcers in adults. In children, it's generally limited to more "severe" cases. Of course, one GI's definition of "severe" is likely to be totally different from another's.