Community Forum

My 9 yr old daughter was just diagnosed with IBS- most likely UC and

her Dr. started her on Pentasa. I want to know about your experiences with this drug- especially how you gave it.

My child does not swallow pills and the Dr said to open the capsules and dump that in yogurt and feed it to her. Does this method work? I am afraid that it will not go where it needs to go in her body!

I want to try to teach her to swallow pills so she can get the med correctly but Pentasa is a horse pill!

She had her first colonoscopy yesterday- do they get back to normal fairly quick after this procedure?

Thanks for all the help :)

 Reply posted for mygirlrj.

I am on pentasa and it works great for me. I hardly have any flares and when I do I can usually trace it to something I ate or hormones. I didn't have any problems with the colonoscopy (except drinking the prep liquid; I felt like I had to throw up all the time!). I take two pentasa four times a day and it's hard even for me to swallow them! I have always had problems swallowing large pills. I use lots of water, lots of mental focusing to relax the throat enough not to gag, and if that doesn't work, I do one at a time to make it easier.
I'm surprised the doctor told you to break the pills up, because on the pamphlet that I get with the medicine it specifically says not to do that.

 Reply posted for Terry5116.

Thanks Terry- I will look for it for the future!

 Reply posted for mygirlrj.

My kids have also had trouble swallowing pills.  My pediatrician recommended this cup that you can get at some pharmacies that helps with people that can't swallow pills. It is a small cup and it has a slot where you place the pill. When they start to drink the pill just slides down with the beverage. It can be hard to find. A lot of the specialty  pharmacies, ones that sale home health supplies,  will have them. I don't remember the name, but if you describe it to the pharmacist he will know what you are talking about.
Good luck.

 Reply posted for mygirlrj.

My daughter was 4 when she started meds, being she was so young and couldn't swallow pills, they put her on Sulfasalazine that the pharmacy mixes for her.

This past summer she was old enough (9) to experience Camp Oasis for the first time.   In case you are unfamiliar, Camp Oasis is a one-week camp during the summer for kids with CD/UC.   For the first time EVER, she slept away from home and LOVED it.   Can't wait for next summer.   Anyway, while @ camp, the nursing staff worked with her on swallowing pills.   They began with those paper-backed candies (tiny), then worked up to M&Ms, and finally giant sized candies Mike n Ites.   It really gave her the courage to learn the skill.

I hope this helps.

Good Luck

Lizzies Mom

 Reply posted for mygirlrj.

Hello,

My son started on pentasa and I sprinkled it initially on applesauce.  He was also taking vitamin D and prevacid.  So he asked to try to swallow the vitamin D so I would not have to crush it and he was able to do it.  After swallowing the smaller Vitamin D tablet he built up some confidence and was able to swallow the prevacid and pentasa as well.  Take care.

 Reply posted for mygirlrj.

Hi.  When my daughter was 6, she was in the hospital and they started her on Pentasa too.  She had never swallowed pills before prior to this.  We tried putting it in cottage cheese and pudding but she hated the grainy feeling in her mouth and would spit it out.  After a lot of determination and practice, we got her to swallow them while in the hospital and now she easily swallows 4 pills at a time at age 9.  I have heard of parents using M&M's if the capsules seem too big for her.  Once they swallow and are confident that they can swallow, it is very easy for them to do.  Goodluck!  

 Reply posted for mygirlrj.

Hi... I'm fairly new to the world of IBD so I don't really know the answers to your questions (my son was diagnosed with Crohn's in July).  His doctor also started him on Pentasa.  He takes three of those pills three times a day.  He already knew how to swallow pills so it was just a matter of getting used to taking so many for him (he now swallows three Pentasa and a half flagyl at one time!)    Pentasa hasn't helped Matt much if at all so we'll be trying something new soon.  But everyone is different.  If by "getting back to normal" after the colonoscopy you mean recovering from the procedure itself... Matt was fine and back to himself by the next day.

I mostly just wanted to say hi and tell you what a helpful forum I've found this to be.  I'll pray for your daughter and you.