LymeNet Flash: masking the taste of Mepron

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Posted by Lymepool (Member # 15827) on :

Is there a way to mask the taste of Mepron?
I know that it needs to be used with fatty food to help with absorption.

I thought of slathering it between two slices of bacon, but I think that would just taste like fat dipped in quinine.

For an adult, you just put up with it. For a kid with Babs this is adding insult to injury. Any tricks I should know about?

Thanks!

Posted by ESG (Member # 4816) on :

you can't truly escape the horror of Mepron, but here is what I did: I had a tablespoon of peanut butter ready, gulped down that awful disgusting goo called Mepron and then immediately started nibbling at the peanut butter.

Putting the Mepron on a spoon and trying to swallow it so it touches only the back of the tongue also helps.

I had a friend who emptied the packet onto (and all over) her tongue: that is a bad way to take it! Put it on a spoon!

ESG

Posted by Geneal (Member # 10375) on :

Mepron isn't that bad (according to my children and me).

However, they already did liquid zithromax.

Talk about nasty tasting.

Maybe add it to a little shake....say like banana or vanilla.

Make it with no sugar added ice-cream and whole milk and voila!

Get your fat and mepron at the same time.

Or....Just get down to business.

That is what I ended up doing after my children ran me through the mill with meds. [Roll Eyes]

No medicine. No desert.

Sounds really harsh I know.

However, this ended the daily fight over taking meds.

No meds. No TV.

It all worked. Plus I didn't have to rack my brain trying to come

Up with new, improved and exciting ways to "mask" the meds. [bonk]

They are super smart.

Now my 5 yr old and 6 yr old can swallow pills.

Thank you Lord Jesus! [Smile]

Hugs,

Geneal

Posted by AliG (Member # 9734) on :

The best I was able to come up with to get it down was:

1) Fill medicine cup to 1 tsp with water

2) Next pour Mepron directly into center of water, until 2 tsp mark.

3) Shoot it down the back of my throat (kinda like tequila [Wink]

)

4) Follow it with a little more water or some other drink

5) Eat some fatty food like 2 Tbsp peanut butter or salad with 2 Tbsp dressing (full-fat version, need 24 gms fat to help utilize the Mepron).

IMO, there really is no masking the taste. If you get it all over your taste buds, you're done.

The best way I found was to try to BYPASS the taste buds.

Good luck!
[group hug]

Ali

Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :

Plugging the nose is cliche, but it helps a LOT.

Have your daughter plug her nose with her fingers before the Mepron gets close enough that she can smell it. Then, spoon it into her mouth, have her swallow, then maybe she can take in a breath through her mouth, and immediately hand her some juice or water, and instruct her to swish and swallow that.

Then, she can unplug her nose. Then maybe take another sip of water.

If her nose is plugged during this entire process, she will be left with the taste of a little Mepron mixed with juice, or dulled by water.

This is the technique I use.

She can take in a breath through her mouth between swallowing the Mepron and taking a sip of water or juice, but she should leave the nose plugged between these two steps. It will help if you are there to hand her the water. I do it myself, and it's hard to do it all one-handed!

Good luck!

Posted by sometimesdilly (Member # 9982) on :

My 6 year old actually LIKES the taste of Mepron,

[Eek!]

the trick has been to mixed it with orange juice (3-4 ozs), which was his LLMD's suggestion.

good luck-- dill

[ 21. September 2008, 06:33 PM: Message edited by: sometimesdilly ]

Posted by Tracy9 (Member # 7521) on :

You can always try pouring a little Tabasco sauce in the bottle.....

[cussing]

Posted by Lymepool (Member # 15827) on :

Thanks for sharing all the techniques. We'll be giving them a try.

Posted by AliG (Member # 9734) on :

Tracy!!!!

I STILL can't believe you did that to your DH! [lol]

(still makes me laugh)

I definitely have to give you points for creativity in revenge. [Big Grin]

Posted by lymemommy (Member # 12495) on :

lymepool,

For my son, he gets a shot of chocolate milk immediately after the mepron, and we use one of those medicine syringes to shoot the mepron into his mouth.

He says the mepron makes liquid zith taste good, and he wasn't exactly a fan of zith before the mepron came along.

Best of luck with this. The good news is that mepron, at least for us, has really helped our son get over the hump symptom wise. It's like we got our kid back.

Take care.
kp

Posted by groovy2 (Member # 6304) on :

Mepron tastes Great compared to un coated
Fagyl- Nothing gets rid of that taste -

But Jolly Rancher hard candy works good
for most of the ABX taste

Posted by Tracy9 (Member # 7521) on :

AliG, so glad someone got my joke!!!!

[hi]

I thought Mepron tasted horrible until I had to swallow uncoated Ceftin; it tastes like rubbing alcohol in your mouth! Made the Mepron taste like candy!

[lick]

Posted by Kathy622 (Member # 14077) on :

Hi everyone!

My daughter is on mepron as well. She is at the 7 week mark.

Initially, she would take the mepron from a dosage cup and follow it with a piece of chocolate. She got tired of that. Then we mixed the mepron into yogurt. She got tired of that too.

Now, I squirt the mepron on her tongue and she drinks OJ to get rid of the taste.

The one thing that works like a charm is that I told her she could get something for herself at the end of each month of treatment. Last month she got a game for her DS. Now, as we're nearing the end of this month, she is trying to figure out what she wants.

So you all might just want to try this approach. Good luck and I hope all our kids return to good health.

Posted by IMHisda (Member # 6998) on :

Dr. J does say you can have it with ice cream

Posted by lymesux (Member # 6248) on :

My son says the same about the uncoated flagyl - I think he would take double the mepron (though he HATES it) over the flagyl!!

Our llmd gave my 13 year old malarone because I know I couldn't get her to take the flagyl.

I like the idea of mixing it in a shake, think I will try that one!

Posted by hshbmom (Member # 9478) on :

Option 478

Prepare:

dose of Mepron
heaping teaspoon of peanut butter

Take a big breath and hold your nose.

In one motion, take the Mepron, then put the peanut butter in your mouth & smash it all around to coat your tongue & mouth
Exhale then swallow the peanut butter

Now breathe.

generic FLAGYL:

dip in ketchup

Posted by jamescase20 (Member # 14124) on :

Would you rather have babsia?

JK...I dont know...I used to drink dissovled malarone pills in milk...never bothered me..

Do a chaser.

Posted by Lymepool (Member # 15827) on :

[Big Grin]

Ben & Jerry's cookie dough ice cream and peanut butter are doing the trick. This whole episode of taking the mepron is turning into our family's evening entertainment.

I have received a lot of encouraging messages about how well this treatment works for Babesia. Thanks to all!

Posted by Tracy9 (Member # 7521) on :

I should also add, you REALLY DO get used to the taste. The first two weeks were awful, but then it got better, and reached the point where I really didn't mind or notice the bad taste at all.

I tried mixing it with pudding but I felt it just prolonged the agony. Instead of getting it over in one shot, I had to eat ALL the mepron flavored pudding; yuck!

Getting it as far back in your mouth as possible is a HUGE help, like with a medicine dropper. Avoid as many of those darn little taste buds as possible!!!

[rant]

Posted by keltyl (Member # 14050) on :

I think Mepron tastes yummy!

Posted by MariaA (Member # 9128) on :

I seem to have less candida problems now than I did before, so I've started eating sugary fatty things right after the Mepron to covery the aftertaste. People with candida should probably avoid this.

The best one for me is to eat a spoonful of nutella= a chocolate/hazelnut/fatty spread. It chases the bad taste away immediately. The worst problem is having to resist eating the entire jar of nutella.

Peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, macademia nut butter, all taste really good without being sugary, and give you that extra fat that's supposed to help. If you haven't had almond butter or cashew butter before, it's like a low-carb dessert it's so 'sweet' without being sugary.