Community Forum Archive
The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.
How do you give Topamax to a 2 1/2 year old boy?
Tue, 02/01/2005 - 10:05Hi everyone, I've posted here a few times but I am still a newcomer to the board. Our 2 1/2 year old son was recently diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (Jan 7/2005). He is currently on Valproic Acid (liquid) 7ml/3 x day and Topamax 25mg in am and 50mg in pm, increasing to 50 and 50 this week. The pediatric neurologist wants to give these drugs about a month to work and if he's not happy with the results he will put Rylan on the Ketogenic Diet.
My question is how do you get a little boy to take the Topamax? I'm hoping some of the people with kids on Topamax will have some suggestions for both the pill and the sprinkle capsule. I would also appreciate hearing from anyone who has Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (either a parent or a child).
In the hospital they gave him the spinkle capsule in ice cream and now he gags at the sight of it. We have tried apple sauce, cheez whiz (I'm Canadian), pudding, yogurt, soft drinks, juice. I also have tried just giving him some things to try without medicine in hopes that he will start eating it and then I would add the medicine once he likes it (blueberry baby food, ketchup, chocolate syrup) none of which have passed his finger poke taste test. Our best luck was when we crushed the Topamax pill and put it in the syringe of Vaproic Acid and squirted it all down in one shot. Then he got the stomach flu and puked for 2 days, so he didn't have any Topamax for 3 doses. Also no one (doctors or pharmacists) have told us if it is okay to give him the meds in this manner. We were succesful tonight in using orange juice and sprinkle capusule granules in a syringe - NO GAGGING! Not sure how long this will work.
On a different thread someone mentioned that while taking Topamax with cetain foods her stomach would be more upset. What foods do you find do this?
The hardest part is not knowing if something Rylan is doing is a side effect, a symtom of the LGS, or the fact that he is a very active 2 year old.
TIA,
Jacqui
Comments
RE: RE: How do you give Topamax to a 2 1/2 year old boy?
Submitted by Ted_Jacqui on Mon, 2005-01-24 - 23:11
Hi AmyQ,
Thanks for all of your suggestions. We tried the valproic acid in milk and he didn't like it (and since then I've promised him we won't put any medicine in his milk). The valproic acid worked one time in diet coke, once in diet ginerale, once in...you get the picture. They are too smart for us.
I don't think the valproic acid hides the taste of the topamax very well. Topamax is very bitter. We quit crushing the topamax and putting it into the valproic acid because I couldn't get anyone to tell me if it was okay to do it or not.
Now we give the valproic acid by syringe and about 5-10 minutes later the topamax sprinkles in a syringeful of apple juice. This is working the best so far. When using the syringe and the sprinkles you have to be careful that you don't get to many sprinkles in the nozzle or it will jam up. Rylan is now on 50 mg of topamax so I use 2 syringes and put a a 25 mg sprinkle cap into each one. Only fill one up with apple juice so that the sprinkles don't start dissolving in the second syringe. Also keep a glass of juice nearby to reload the syringe. I think it is usually about 10 squirts to get 25 mg in and down the hatch.
Another suggestion a relative had that worked for her little girl is to have a medicine prize basket. Keep little gifts or goodies in it that are only for medicine time.
I think Rylan has finally realized that we're not going to quit giving him medicine and so he is getting much better about it (for the moment).
Take care,
Jacqui
Hi AmyQ,
Thanks for all of your suggestions. We tried the valproic acid in milk and he didn't like it (and since then I've promised him we won't put any medicine in his milk). The valproic acid worked one time in diet coke, once in diet ginerale, once in...you get the picture. They are too smart for us.
I don't think the valproic acid hides the taste of the topamax very well. Topamax is very bitter. We quit crushing the topamax and putting it into the valproic acid because I couldn't get anyone to tell me if it was okay to do it or not.
Now we give the valproic acid by syringe and about 5-10 minutes later the topamax sprinkles in a syringeful of apple juice. This is working the best so far. When using the syringe and the sprinkles you have to be careful that you don't get to many sprinkles in the nozzle or it will jam up. Rylan is now on 50 mg of topamax so I use 2 syringes and put a a 25 mg sprinkle cap into each one. Only fill one up with apple juice so that the sprinkles don't start dissolving in the second syringe. Also keep a glass of juice nearby to reload the syringe. I think it is usually about 10 squirts to get 25 mg in and down the hatch.
Another suggestion a relative had that worked for her little girl is to have a medicine prize basket. Keep little gifts or goodies in it that are only for medicine time.
I think Rylan has finally realized that we're not going to quit giving him medicine and so he is getting much better about it (for the moment).
Take care,
Jacqui
RE: How do you give Topamax to a 2 1/2 year old boy?
Submitted by AmyQ on Wed, 2005-01-19 - 10:39
Hi! We have shared your problems. Topomax must taste awful because our 21/2 year old rejected it, as well. He no longer takes Topomax (bad reaction); however, following the Topomax stint, getting drugs into him was awful. He was very "suspect" of all foods! If it works by using a syringe/medicine dropper, then I would say stick with it. Our son fights us that way. It is horrible.One other method... does your little one drink from a cup or bottle? Our son, who just turned three, uses a bottle before he goes to bed. I know that he should be past it, but it's the only way that we can get medicine into him. So - if Valproic acid hides the taste of the topomax, I'd say put them in the same drink (milk, juice, etc.). Just put a small amount of the milk/juice in the bottle or cup. Crush the pills, or sprinkle the pills in. Once she drinks the contents, add a little more to flush out the residue. One other method... if none of the above works, ask your neurologist to find a pharmacy for you that compounds the medicine. This means that they will put it in a liquid form and flavor it. We've also tried that. The only problem is that there are very few pharmacies that do that anymore.Keep me posted. I'm curious about how it all works out. - AmyQ