Hi ladies

My dd is almost 9 mnths old and 23 pounds (yup, she's huge)
We tried every med when she was little and the compounded prilosec is the only thing that worked for her
It is such a pain to drive to the pharmacy (1/2hr away) every 2 weeks, plus our insurance changed and our co-pay increased
We have to pay a co-pay everytime we pick up her meds 2x per mnth..which runs $75 per mnths..PLUS another $35 for pepcid..let alone the cost of her alimentum

Sorry for the rambling...back to my question....how much prevacid should a 23 pounder get?
just wondering what is working for your little ones
The GI said we could start at 1, 15mg tab, then add another 7.5mg if necessary

I'm so scared to change her meds and rock the boat, but I am hoping things will be the same, or better!
We tried the tabs for 2 days when she was 2 mnths old and she didn't seem to tolerate them..my GI said we don't need to be concerned with the medical lactose in the tabs

Wish us luck
Kim

Hmmm...my dd is almost 14 months old and barely 20 lb. Before being switched to yet another med this week, she was taking 15mg. of Prevacid once a day. I would assume that your dd would be on the same dose. I believe it only comes in 15 and 30 mg. doses (30 mg being the adult dose).

Everyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I think she'd be on the 15 mg. dose...? Instead of having the Prevacid compounded, you could try the solutabs. She's old enough that you could just put in on her tongue and it would dissolve almost instantly.

Thanks for your input
I should have been more clear...my GI is rec the tabs and is rec either 1, 15mg tab per day or 1 1/2 15mg tabs (22.5mg total)
We tried the tabs when she was 2 mnths old mixing it with water and using a syringe and she screamed all day in pain
I guess I'll need to think about it!
It's very odd having such a big refluxer...my 24mnth old also has reflux and he only weighs 26 pounds (his baby sister at almost 9 mnths weighs 23!)
I'm grateful for now we don't need to worry about her weight..since I still worry about his!

Thanks again, Kim

Evan is 13 mos and 18# and has been on 15mg since about 2.5 mos and 11#.

Thanks for your input

It's very odd having such a big refluxer...my 24mnth old also has reflux and he only weighs 26 pounds (his baby sister at almost 9 mnths weighs 23!)
I'm grateful for now we don't need to worry about her weight..since I still worry about his!

Thanks again, Kim

I don't necessarily think it's that odd...Bethany was in the 99th percentiles for height and weight until about 8 months of age (now she's under the 25th for both, but this is due likely to other complications, too). She was always a big, happy, chubby baby who wouldn't eat and puked all the time! Some of our kids seem to do okay weight-wise despite their GERD issues--which is fabulous; however, it can make it tougher for outsiders to understand the severity of the disorder when the kids look as if they haven't missed any meals. :???:

Good luck with the *possible* medication switch!

Iain who is 23 months old and 25 pounds approx and Curran who is 4 years old and about 35 pounds are both on prevacid capsules 15 mg. We also give zantac as well.

Mary is right about the 15mg being for kids and the 30mg for adullts. I can not remember where the break in weight is for that, but all we were told was to increase by another 7.5 for Curran should he have outgrowing prevacid issues.

Cady was 22.5 lbs. at nine months and took 15 mg. of Prevacid. The GI wouldn't allow her any more, but the 15 mg. was a miracle for her. Hopefully, it helps your dd as much as it did mine.

Hi

Judy..if you check back in do you five your dd the full 15mg at one time or split am/pm..also do u need pepcid or zantac?
I should have added my 26mnth old is on 30mg and it seemed to work bedt giving it to him in the am...he doesn't need anything at night

Thanks again, Kim

Hi there,
I guess our peds. GI is agressive. Our 9 month old boys weigh 18.5 and 19 lbs. and we were told we could increase their prevacid to 30 mg. per day last month (they weighed a little less at that time). We also dealt with the compounded prilosec and needing to refill every 2 weeks when they were younger so I hope that the prevacid will work for you, it is much easier.
Good luck,
Kristina

I don't think it really goes by weight but rather the amount that works for your child. Maggie is 23# and is on 45mg a day.

Thanks again for the responses

I'm happy to hear maggie is doing well on 45mg and I wish other Dr would be more aggressive with meds
Our Gi is the most aggressive in the area but I asked if they would consider 45mg for my 2yr old, 26-27pounder and they said NO...they would increase him at some point, but they base the increase on his weight so he doesn't qualify yet
He didn't do well on 15/15 but is doing better on 30mg am and I think he night even do better if I could add in 15mg at night
Who really knows how much meds these kids need to feel better 9every child has a different level of reflux and diff pain tolerance)...I've been told on one hand you can't OD on these types of meds but on ther other hand so many Dr tend to be too conservative with their dosing and kids, and parents suffer!

Kim

Noah is 20 pounds and on 22.5 mg, and his old GI (the one who put him on that dose) said that he would like Noah to stick with that dose. I don't plan on requesting an increase, because I think the 22.5 mg has things under control in that department. I give 1 1/2 solutab per day.

Thanks again for the responses

I'm happy to hear maggie is doing well on 45mg and I wish other Dr would be more aggressive with meds
Our Gi is the most aggressive in the area but I asked if they would consider 45mg for my 2yr old, 26-27pounder and they said NO...they would increase him at some point, but they base the increase on his weight so he doesn't qualify yet
He didn't do well on 15/15 but is doing better on 30mg am and I think he night even do better if I could add in 15mg at night
Who really knows how much meds these kids need to feel better 9every child has a different level of reflux and diff pain tolerance)...I've been told on one hand you can't OD on these types of meds but on ther other hand so many Dr tend to be too conservative with their dosing and kids, and parents suffer!

Kim

Mag's on 30 in the AM and 15 in the PM. She was originally on 15&15 but after her scoping he upped it because of the damage that was still there.

Thanks so much for the post!
Can I ask did u see a change in maggie's behavior/mood with the increased dose of prevacid OR was she eating better?

I would love to try 30/15 with Zach, but it's seems pointless since I couldn't get an rx
I would hate to put him through testing first
Today he was fussy and not thrilled with eating, but he's been worse
He's been doing lots of face smashing and i wonder if this is related to reflux or could even be a side effect of the prevacid
i feel so clueless at this point :(

thanks again
Kim

After the increase she started eating constantly, sleeping through the night, happy, puking less... I could go on and on. It really was our lifesaver. We thought we had an improvement when we tried 30mg a day but 45 was a miracle.
She had stopped gaining weight, growing, and eating before the prevacid. She was diagnosed as failure to thrive. We kept trying "one more thing" before tube feeding and the prevacid increase was the last ditch effort.

We do the prevacid happy dance here, too. Iain was FTT and had a whole host of problems prior to being put on zantac (due to being a non-eater he did not take the first trial with prevacid as he could not swallow it). However, prevacid has been our champion as it got him to start to eat much more.

I am trying to figure out how I would fight with him to take more than one capsule. Ack. Suppository form is what we all need for our kids.:razz:

Thanks again ladies for responding
The thing with Zach is, he doesn't eat 'that' bad and at his last 2 check ups he (somehow) maintained the 25th percentile for weight (he was in the 8th percentile forever about 1 yr ago and they were pushing appetite stimulants)

Anyway, I think his weight is Ok, because I push the poor kid and try to get him to eat ALL day
We tried pepcid only a while back and that was a disaster....he was throwing up etc, so I know the prevacid is helping..i just think not enough
BUt he does sleep through the night on the 30mg in the am

UGHHHH
Maybe I should just be happy he is doing well enough
it's so hard when they are terrible 2's to determine what behavior is due to reflux or reflux pain and what might just be terribel 2 toddler behavior

Thanks again,. Kim