Prevacid Solution Refrigerate

[Anonymous]

I have read on this forum that recent studies show that Prevacid will become inactive after sitting in a solution for over a week. My ped wants to give me a months worth of this solution at one time. I asked the pharmacists about the drug becoming inactive after one week. The response was that the drug becomes inactive IF left at room temperature but remains active up to 4 wks if kept refrigerated. Does any one know if this is true?

[Anonymous]

We refridgerated our Prilosec compound and it was only good for 2-3 weeks. I say try it and see. It was obvious to us that Ally was rough the last week of the month on the compound, and it went from being a creamy color to kind of dark, so I knew it went bad. Our pharmacist confirmed this and when we brought it up with the doctor, she switched us to something else.

[Anonymous]

Someone once posted (maybe Joel, I can’t remember?) that IF prepared properly (and of course refrigerated) then a prevacid suspension can remain stable for 2 weeks, a prilosec suspension for up to a month.

[hellbennt]

after almost 3 yrs on this board, I do NOT trust anything more than the fact that suspensions are good for TWO WEEKS only. that’s what I would do. I’d just smile really big and use sweetness to ask for the doctor to please just write out the ‘script for 2 weeks

[Anonymous]

Hey, think it was me that posted about the prevacid, I was bugging Joel for info too. He said that the prevacid remains stable for up to 2 weeks. Honestly, our suspension worked once in a while. I would say no flavoring and asked them to put it in 16.5 % sodium bicarbonate only, but it really was just occasionally that we got a batch that worked consistantly. Now she is getting the beads poured into her applesauce. but, when she goes on feeding strike, i get it compounded. The trick is finding a COMPOUNDING PHARMACIST that will work with you, one that specializes in it. You can call around or ask a hospital pharamcy. Really, I found a great mom and pop shop, I printed off the post that Joel wrote me and took it right to him. He tried to help me out anyway he could. Hope this helps, let me know if i can answer any other questions. Sarah

[Anonymous]

Well, you are right…the trick is finding a compounding pharmacist…so I found one, but my insurance will not cover me there! In addition, 14 days is as long as it is good, but I found only one pharmacist (the one at the compounding pharmacy) that knew this information. I am wondering why my ped will not give me the packets to make myself. I am sick of playing phone tag. I am making an appt. today so I can actually speak with her in person. Once again, I wish I could get in with a GI ped sooner than May….this is insanity. Thank you everyone for your help!

[Anonymous]

Ask your doctor about Zegrid, or get them to prescribe the Prevacid powder packets. Make sure they prescribe you 2 packets per day because you’ll need to make sure you child takes it twice a day because their metabolisms are higher than adults and the medicines wear off quicker. Also, I think it is only recently that they discovered that the Compounds become unstable so quickly – maybe that’s why not a lot of doctors realize it.

http://www.marci-kids.com/dosing.html

A Note About Pharmacy Compounds of PPIs

If you are currently giving your child a compounded suspension of a PPI such as Prilosec or Prevacid made by a pharmacy, you should know that there is a good potential for the medication to become inactive (and therefore ineffective) in a much shorter time period than your pharmacist may be aware. The loss of activity is related to the effect of the flavorings added by the pharmacies. The flavorings cause the PPI to become unstable and break down so it can no longer inhibit acid secretion. Laboratory testing has shown that the majority of such compounded, flavored preparations become inactive within a week.

In addition, many pharmacies do not add enough buffer in their suspensions to protect the drug from degradation by stomach acid. This is particularly a problem if the child is receiving a very low-volume dose—less than 3 mL, for example—because the amount of buffer likely won’t be enough to protect the PPI from degradation by stomach acid.

For these reasons, we recommend the use of FDA-approved Zegerid® powder for oral suspension over the use of pharmacy-compounded suspensions, which are not FDA-approved.

[Anonymous]

So finally, my ped prescribed the granule 15mg packets. Kierra is to take only half of it once a day. However, since they metabolize so quickly should I split this into 2 doses? Kierra weighs 10.8 lbs. and is 7wks old. My ped does not think this is necessary. But then again she advises against taking Zantac while on Prevacid. I am continuing with the Zantac despite her advice. My GI Ped appt. is not until May 4th.

The script reads as follows: Dissolve 1/2 packet in 1 TBS of water and give by mouth once daily if no improvement within 1week the go to 1/2 packet in 1TBS of water twice daily. She did give me a script for 60 packets for the month.

She told be to “eyeball” dividing the packet in half and only mix with water right before giving her the dosage. I asked about it needing to be before eating and she said it was not necessary but I could if I wanted to. Any thoughts on this or things I should take into consideration?

[Anonymous]

This is a very low dosage for your daughter’s age, as well as a very difficult form of PPI to use for an infant. If you are going to go with some form of Prevacid, the Solutabs are much easier to use, since they can be broken in half. Yes, it is much better to give it in two doses, but I think at that dose it’s probably not going to help much either way. What is your daughter’s current weight? Have you been to our website yet (http://www.MARCI-Kids.com)? There is a lot of information there that I think would help you. If you have any questions for me, you can either post them here or email me: [email protected].

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