Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Topamax question - help!

The neurologist added Topamax as of today to Peanut's med cocktail. He said it comes in sprinkles and pills, and that the sprinkles get clogged in g-tubes. We got the pills, but they are tiny and when we crush them, it's virtually impossible to get it all in a syringe to administer.

Does anyone know if the pill will dissolve? Can I put it in a syringe and pull up some water and let it sit, like I do her Prevacid solutab?

Does anyone use the sprinkles in a g-tube? Do they get stuck, or do they go through okay?

This drug makes me nervous in the first place, so I want to be sure that she gets the full dose every time, no questions.

Thanks in advance ladies, THIS is why I love the Blog World so much!

*** EDITING TO ADD THIS! I just got off the phone with our pharmacist and Topamax can be made into a compounded suspension. I have to get the neuro to call in the prescription and then the pharmacy sends him a message to get prior auth. The insurance company then approves the prior auth and we get it as a liquid. YAY, cross your fingers!

11 comments:

Ivey's Mom said...

Yes it dissolves. That's what we have done for two + years. Drop it in the syringe, put the plunger in and pull up the water.

tada!

Gwen

The VW's said...

Gavin was on this for awhile and it does dissolve in water. Hope the med does wonders for Peanut! Love, Hugs and Prayers!!!

Lacey said...

It would be great to get it in a liquid. We have to have the pill form, because he can't have glucose. DO NOT put the sprinkles through her g-tube, I learned that the wrong way. Our pill crushes just fine for us!

Junior said...

we used topomax for a short time and just added water and let it dissolve. Junior was on the keto diet at the time he started it and when we switched neuros they totally freaked and had us stop it immediately. Said that putting a kid on it who is on the diet is a disaster waiting to happen since it can cause kidney stones.
Good luck, I know it works great for some.

Lori Osero said...

Glad you were able to find a liquid. We used to crush Danny's Topamax. He is no longer on it as it gave him kidney stones, sigh. I've heard it can make people seem like they are going crazy and change moods drastically. So just what her and she how she does, I wasn't able to detect anything in Danny but I've heard from others it not so nice.

Elizabeth said...

My fingers are crossed! In the meantime, good news! You are the winner of my book giveaway! Just email me at elsophie at gmail dot com with your address and I'll pop it in the mail to you next week!

I hope your little munchkin gets relief soon!

Jenny said...

I'm glad you got your answer...my daughter (also micocephalic -- found you on FCM) uses Topamax for her seizures. Adding that is what finally helped control them. Good luck. Your daughter is beautiful.

jeneva22 said...

If you're ever in that situation again, and the med can't be compounded, you can always mix it in a teaspoon or two of applesauce, then add a small amount of water and draw the mixture up into a syringe. The applesauce gelatin creates a suspension. We do it with our son's drugs all the time.

Kristi said...

The sprinkles are terrible for the G-tube, as you know from all the other comments.

We had suspension initially because Gracie's dose was so small it would have been impossible to get it accurate by cutting/crushing. Now she takes half a tablet twice a day. We crush. It also dissolves beautifully. Easy as pie and way less hassle than having to go to another pharmacy for a compounded med.

Hope this addition to Peanut's cocktail does the trick. Gracie uses it for migraines.

Kristi said...

Oh... and... she's been on it for four years... no issues/side effects, etc. Hope that is encouraging :)

connie said...

I can't believe you thought to post on this - I had the same question, and we're making ourselves crazy crushing and trying to pour the tiny bit of powder into a syringe without losing any. One doctor told us the same thing about sprinkles clogging the g-tube, but since the others didn't, and actually said she'd be getting sprinkles, I was inclined to get the sprinkles. I actually only got a 2 wk supply of pills, and a script for sprinkles bec. the pharmacy waid they were out of it when we were ready to come home. So. Now I need to get a new script for tabs, and try the thing someone wrote about just letting it dissolve in the syringe.