Our start on mepron for two teenage boys is not going so well. My oldest just can't stand it even with a food chaser or peanut butter on roof of mouth.
My youngest threw up everything, which makes for an expensive vomit.
Any tricks to getting the yellow paint down?
Any options to mepron in a pill form?
I know they need to take it with fat. Can it be premixed in peanut butter?
Any help would be appreciated.
Posted by seibertneurolyme (Member # 6416) on :
Malarone is a tablet wich combines mepron and a 2nd antiparasite med -- not sure if it is ok for kids or not.
Bea Seibert
Posted by willbeatthis (Member # 31111) on :
Hi Kari - I found that using a syringe from the pharmacy - they mixed the mepron for me- and I was able to squirt the mepron in the back of my mouth. That helped a lot.
Also, I would try to chase it with ice cream or something to be a reward.
I am sorry that they are having so much trouble. I am on malerone now and it is easier by far.
Posted by t9im (Member # 25489) on :
Hi Kari:
We have the pharmacy flavor the mepron (we do bubble gum but they have choices) which adds $4 / month.
Then do what willbeatthis does with using the syringe and squirting it in the back of the mouth (our daughter then fills the syringe 4 or 5 times with water to make sure she takes the full dose). This works well from our stand point.
We have her eat first so the meds (mepron & zith) are taken after the meal.
One point is we have the pharmacy provide a "plug" to use on the Mepron bottle so we don't spill any as we draw the mepron out. We dropped the bottle once and lost half of it.
We are now in month 14 of mepron / zithromax. Yesterday (probably 85 on its way to 98 degree heat) our daughter took her first decent walk in almost 2 years (still a ways to go).
Mepron just went up in price from $780 to $835 (monthly) and the Zith dropped from 78 to $50 (for the 10 day supply).
Posted by sunflrs (Member # 10070) on :
Hi Kari, So sorry your boys are having trouble with this. The suggestion of having the pharmacy flavor it is a good one. I did not even know they could do that. I was on mepron once, I mainly did malarone. Many say the taste is bad but I did not find it that bad. Hope they can find a way to take it, that stuff is so expensive!
Posted by skigal (Member # 7443) on :
I second the malarone, my teen dd could not handle mepron either so we switched to malarone. Much easier to take than that yellow paint.
Also, if your sons have b. duncani supposedly malarone is the better choice.
Posted by ktkdommer (Member # 29020) on :
Thanks everyone. Trying the syringe idea today.
I tried a bit of mepron and didn't like it at all. I mixed it with peanut butter and that was worse.
I've also had to handle a 4th cracked PICC line today with youngest son. ARGH!
My question for doctor tomorrow is what kind of babesia do we have. I don't think I know. I don't think we ever tested for it. We are using the ECP test for babesia which is non specific to type.
Posted by nefferdun (Member # 20157) on :
I wonder if you could mix it in a milk shake or smoothie. It is really horrible stuff. I am taking malarone now and find it works just as well.
Posted by ktkdommer (Member # 29020) on :
Son threw up even a little bit tonight in dropper. I will have to call tomorrow.
I don't know if it can be masked in a milk shake. We are trying to cut dairy and sugar.
My son insists I could put it in like 6 empty capsules and he would be OK with that.
Insurance paid so much for this med and his ECP numbers are high so I want it to work so bad.
The funny thing is I think if he didn't have Lyme and bartonella he could take the mepron for babesia. His head would be clearer and lacking rages.
Posted by AZURE WISH (Member # 804) on :
one time a med made me vomit really bad. i couldnt even hold down water. I had to stop the med and
otc emetrol helped. I had to keep taking it but if he is only vomitting once maybe he wouldnt. I will worn you that it has sugar in it (i believe dextrose)
you could ask his dr if it is something that would be ok to take daily
Posted by ktkdommer (Member # 29020) on :
Doctor said he will call in coart.
Posted by nefferdun (Member # 20157) on :
One last suggestion. Usually goats milk does not bother you when you have a dairy problem. You could make a smoothie out of frozen berries, a little frozen banana and goats milk or goats yogurt. You can also make a smoothie out of frozen fruit and a small amount of juice (blueberry juice is very low in sugar). Just put it into a blender. It is really good.
Don't tell him it is goats milk and he will never know the difference except he might say it is the best milk he ever had.
Is the doctor calling in Coartem?
Posted by ktkdommer (Member # 29020) on :
Neff:
You are so good with suggestons. Yes, I could try that for sure.
My youngest is making the switch to coart. It is called in. Anything you know about that that I should know? I have to research old posts. His ECP levels are the highest so I want him taking what is best.
My oldest will stay on mepron and take the extra mepron next month. I will make him a shake every once in a while as he hates it too. I have almond milk I could use and can add stevia.
Thanks!
Posted by c3mom (Member # 16412) on :
Kari, sent you a pm. I haven't read your other posts, which doctor do you see?
Posted by c3mom (Member # 16412) on :
Kari, sent you a pm. I haven't read your other posts, which doctor do you see?
Posted by ktkdommer (Member # 29020) on :
We travel to the Chicago area.
Rite Aid had never heard of coartem so it is being drop shipped they said and will be in on Friday.
New question: Can you take CoQ10 with coartem? I know you can't with mepron.
Posted by nefferdun (Member # 20157) on :
The only thing about coartem is that it is a short round of three days. I have not heard of anyone taking it long term except one person - no follow up on how that went. It has never been studied for long term use and is not recommended for the prevention of malaria which is when they are taken long term.
So everyone that takes one round of coartem and then quits relapses. You should have a follow up treatment to do in between rounds. I would try malarone. Although there are no interactions listed between these two drugs, it is not recommended that you take them at the same time.
I don't know about CoQ10 but I would not take it as you don't want to risk lowering the levels. Let us know how your doctor prescribed it and how your son does.
Posted by beths (Member # 18864) on :
I threw up after taking mepron-it was aherx reaction-so I started on malarone first, then switched 2 months later to mepron
No more vomiting!
Posted by Splashi1 (Member # 28173) on :
I found that if I put the Mepron in my mouth and immediately chased it down with Kefir (the flavored variety) I had no bad after taste at all. I couldn't stand it mixed in with anything, I think that just prolongs the bad taste. Good luck!
Posted by sammy (Member # 13952) on :
You could have your son try pinching his nose closed while he swallows the medicine and follows up with a gulp of water. That should help decrease his sense of taste/smell and hopefully prevent the gagging.
Think about it, when you have a bad cold and you can't breath out of your nose, food just doesn't have much taste.
This trick won't completely prevent him from tasting the medicine but it will help some.
Posted by ktkdommer (Member # 29020) on :
Thanks everyone. He has finished 4 days of coartem and has been herxing. I don't know the dosage but it was 4 pills, twice a day for 4 days.
Hard to watch a kid slide backwards. He will take artemesia between monthly doses of coartem. I know it is not the same as mepron or malarone. I have many questions on the issue of babesia and treatment for our Monday appointment.
My oldest son on mepron isn't herxing. I wonder if that is a bad sign? He has been on it two weeks and started this month's 10 days of artemesia. In fact I think I might start a new post with that question.
Posted by mjbucuk (Member # 843) on :