Alternatives to the pink flavored antibiotics?

[Shari]

Hey all.

Wee difficult child is sick. Has strep. Got him on antibiotics, and won't you know, he can not STAND the taste. This is only the second time he's been on antibiotics in his life, so...

He has tolerated today's doses, but I don't see getting 9 more days of this stuff down him.

Are there alternative "flavors"? Can they give pills we can crush like his risperdal instead? I've never had a kid who didn't love this kinda medicine. Should have known... He'll only take certain brands of inuprofen and acetametaphin, too - can't buy the generics because of the flavor/texture.

 

[GoingNorth]

Pharmacies such as Walgreen's, CVS, and Osco in major metropolitan areas all offer compounding services.

Contact your pharmacist' there should be no problem with having the medication made up on a different flavor base.

Do be aware that the base cost might be higher and that it is possible your insurance won't cover compounded medications at all.

 

[Marguerite]

Getting medications compounded is a handy alternative. I remember easy child being a real pain with medications for thrush when she was 7 months old. The medicine for babies was a cherry-flavoured YELLOW liquid. She was happy to take it, but unfortunately the colouring used - tartazine - was a problem for her, it triggered raging behaviour in her. She was raging constantly all day every day, so I made enquiries and found the only alternative at the time - lozenges for adults, spearmint-flavoured. They had a sort of plastic coating, I had to crush the lozenges and somehow deal with this coating. I then mixed the lozenges with her rice cereal and juice (I couldn't use milk, she was having problems there too). And she HATED the spearmint flavour, so she raged while I was trying to get it into her. But I figured raging for five minutes was better than raging 24 hours a day.

Other things we've used, for medications the kids hated the taste of - syringes. I got them from the pharmacy. For most antibiotics, a 5 ml plastic syringe was the right size. It's great for getting the dose just right and if you squirt it into the kids mouth it hits the back of the throat and they swallow, without much of it getting on the tongue. And I would have a shot of cordial concentrate as a chaser for them, providing they took their medicine without too much fuss.

It's interesting that a lot of medications now come with a syringe-like delivery system.

It may be a cheaper option to compounding.

Marg

 

[SRL]

I bet they could fix you up with the adult pills and have you use a pill splitter.

It he'd take Zithromax, it would really cut back the amount. It's twice a day the first day and then one time a day for the next three.

 

[smallworld]

Except our pediatrician has always said that Zithromax doesn't adequately treat strep unless you increase the dosing.

 

[tiredmommy]

Duckie has taken a chewable amoxi pill in the past.

 

[4sumrzn]

My difficult child won't take liquid or chewables. She does very well with regular pills in a spoonful of applesauce.....slides right down. She had to take amoxicillin a few weeks back, huge caps...no problem.

 

[susiestar]

thank you was able to swallow pills during his toddler years (about his 3rd birthday). We practiced with mini m&ms so that he could figure it out.

We also have used omnicef in the adult capsules. The doctor has us open the capsule and mix in it something. We use Hershey's syrup because it seems to mask the taste best.

This all started because the liquid kiddie antibiotics ALL have artificial sweetener or orange flavor. He is highly allergic to both, in any form or mixture. He has wild behavior, feels he is stupid because he can't control the behavior, gets rough red spots on his chest, and, usually, barfs. So you can see why we don't use the liquids.

Here Walgreens will flavor a scrip for about $3. Well worth it in many cases.

With our doctor's support, we usually have given adult formulated medications titrated for the child's dose. It is surprising, but with many medications the amount of active medication is very close for a child and adult. With Advil and tylenol, look at how many milligrams of medication are in a dose of medication. Then, on the box, it will say X mg/teaspoon or per dropper. It is simple to look at the adult medications, see how many mgs are in a tablet, cut as needed, and if it is hard to swallow, crush. I use 2 small spoons to crush the medication, then put less than a teaspoon of chocolate syrup in.

The trick is to stir the Hersheys into the medication with a toothpick. It has NEVER failed us. Or my friend with 4 Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)/seriously Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) kids.

I do caution that you need to read ALL the active and INACTIVE ingredients in the adult medications to be sure your child can tolerate them.

It goes with-o saying that you MUST talk to the doctor before doing this - even OTC medications can have serious side effects.

Susie

 

[nvts]

I was just saying in another post that my kids like chloraseptic spray (you know for sore throats?).

I spray their mouth, it numbs it so you don't taste the medications, then I give them another squirt to wash down the medications.

The doctor loved the idea and is recommending it to other parents who may be up against the wall!

Good luck!

Beth