Guest guest Posted December 20, 2006 Report Share Posted December 20, 2006 Gaylen, We used periactin with my daughter - a former micropreemie who was way, way, way too small for way, way, way too long no matter what we did (even tried a horrible g-tube). The periactin did work for her, but we had to periodically stop giving it to her for a week or two (I cannot remember exactly) because it would lose its effectiveness. On her 4th birthday she weighed in at a whopping 22 pounds - so yes, I KNOW what it's like to try to get your kid to eat enough. We had stopped the periactin sometime when she was 3. Interestingly, she started gaining weight - noticeably - when we took her bottles away on her 4th birthday (I know, way too long with it). We did not take them away before that because she still awakened in the night for one and napped after having one every afternoon, and she absolutely refused any kind of 'milk' from a cup. She still refused 'milk' even though she LOVED her Very Vanilla Soy in her bottles, so no more 'milk' whatsoever after her 4th birthday - and also gave up her afternoon nap ;-(, but that's when she really took off weight-wise. She's up to ~27 pounds now, 8 months later. By far her largest weight gain ever. Another side effect of periactin can be drowsiness. In some kids, it's better to give it 2-3 times a day rather than all at once. Was your son a picky eater before the periactin? My son (with ASD) has a good appetite, but he's VERY picky so between what he can and what he will eat, it's a challenge. Kristy Help for poor eaters For all those parents of autistic kids who practically beat their heads against the wall trying to get their kids to eat, I wanted to share our latest find -- Periactin. http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic2/cyprohept_ids.htm This is an antihistamine used by gastroenterologists that sometimes has the side effect of increasing appetite and weight gain. It's also listed for use in anorexia cases. After years of having to stand over my child to coax him into taking bites of food, I was thrilled that his appetite suddenly normalized the second day on this pill. He's been taking it for a few months now and we no longer have to even tell him to eat and he's consistently eating an 700-800 calories a day more than we could get in him when having to really hover and constantly push snacks. Only those parents of kids who won't eat can begin to imagine what a miracle this is. The endocrinologist who prescribed it said it doesn't work for every patient but when it does, it makes a huge difference. Gaylen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 21, 2006 Report Share Posted December 21, 2006 Thank you Gaylen! Does it help when these kids are also so picky that they refuse just about everything? Do you know if it makes them " like the taste " better? I wonder if the lack of appetite is part of the aversion to how everything tastes, especially when they stop liking even the majority of foods that they used to like. Has that been your experience? Thanks again - we were just talking about how skeletal my son was looking now after having been ill from a string of viruses and strep for a few weeks. --- Googahly@... wrote: > For all those parents of autistic kids who > practically beat their heads > against the wall trying to get their kids to eat, I > wanted to share our latest find > -- Periactin. > http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic2/cyprohept_ids.htm > > This is an antihistamine used by gastroenterologists > that sometimes has the > side effect of increasing appetite and weight gain. > It's also listed for use > in anorexia cases. After years of having to stand > over my child to coax him > into taking bites of food, I was thrilled that his > appetite suddenly normalized > the second day on this pill. He's been taking it > for a few months now and we > no longer have to even tell him to eat and he's > consistently eating an 700-800 > calories a day more than we could get in him when > having to really hover and > constantly push snacks. Only those parents of kids > who won't eat can begin to > imagine what a miracle this is. The endocrinologist > who prescribed it said > it doesn't work for every patient but when it does, > it makes a huge difference. > Gaylen > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been > removed] > > __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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