crushing up OTC prilosec to give to 7 month old?

[Anonymous]

we have a prescription plan where we have to pay 100% of prescriptions/medical costs up to $6000. yes, this means we pay 100% cost of prescriptions. i asked how much it would cost to fill my 7 month old’s prilosec prescription (5 mg in suspension 2 x’s a day), and the cost is outrageous! it would be much cheaper to crush up prilosec and buy it OTC. but the tablets say not to do this. (honestly it was a pharmacist who gave me the idea to do this though.) has anyone tried it? you could crush up a 20 mg tablet and get 4 doses out of it.

if you have tried doing this, how did it work?

or would anyone advise against it, other than the reason that it may lessen the overall effectiveness? but for the difference in cost it may be all we can afford to do at this point… any advice, tips, etc? thank you for your comments! sorry if this doesn’t make sense, my baby is waking up from a nap and i have to run

[hellbennt]

I wouldn’t bother w/ the suspension- maybe try zegerid? it’s a packet you make into your own, stable suspension & it has priolosec in it

http://www.marci-kids.com

[Anonymous]

You can’t crush the OTC tablets as they are enterically coated, and this would destroy the coating, rendering the drug ineffective by the time it reached where it needed to go. They do crush the tablets when they make a suspension, but then they add a buffer to protect the drug. You can buy the tablets and crush them, and then buy CaraCream from marci-kids and add it to that, and that would make a stable suspension. But FYI, those tablets taste TERRIBLE when they’re crushed. Honestly revolting and bitter. Can you ask your doc for the prevacid solutabs or can you try zegerid. I know that both are expensive relative to the OTC option you’re looking at.

[Anonymous]

Hi, I was going to suggest maybe telling your doc your situation and see if they will give you any samples. Also, I have seen on the Prevacid (PPI like Prilosec but Rx only) website that they have assistance for those needing the drug but who can’t afford it.

[Anonymous]

where do you buy the caracream on their site? I couldn’t find it? Thanks!

p.s. what is a feeding aversion? I saw it mentioned at the bottom of your post?

thecowgirl2008-02-01 15:55:55

[Anonymous]

You can contact marci-kids directly and ask about the caracream. You call reflux solutions at 573-884-0672. You’d still need to pay for the OTC prilosec, and each kit of caracream is 13.50 US$, and lasts about 7-10 days. And as I said, it tastes very bad with the prilosec, tastes better with prevacid.

As related to reflux, a feeding aversion is when the baby/toddler/child won’t eat. They learn that eating is unpleasant and it becomes very difficult to feed them or get them to eat. They typically need feeding therapy to overcome the aversion, and it’s often a long process. They sometimes need feeding tubes as they may not eat enough to sustain themself for normal growth/weight gain. My dd is now not averse to eating, but she does not eat normally- she is small and does not gain weight easily as she is a very picky and limited eater. HTH.

s&h’s mum2008-02-01 16:30:17

[Anonymous]

thx for the info. with feeding aversion, do you mean they won’t eat solid foods, or that they won’t even take formula/breastmilk? (sorry, this term is all new to me!)

[Anonymous]

My dd wouldn’t breastfeed, wouldn’t take formula, and wouldn’t eat solids. You can have just a bottle aversion, or a global feeding aversion which is to liquids and solids.

[hellbennt]

You can contact 1-800-830-1015 for the TAP Prevacid Patient Assistance Program. They GIVE prevacid (capsules only) away for free if you meet certain guidelines. You can even have partial prescription drug coverage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is a website for people
who cannot afford their meds. It’s at:

http://www.needymeds.com/indices/brandname.shtml

It has a listing of medications & the manufacturers that have
assistance programs, many times they provide the medicine for free if
you meet their criteria.

[Author]

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