or children w/ poor weight gain, poor appetites. There is a RX drug called Periactin that is actually an antihistamine but one of its side effects is it increases the appetite. It has been used for years in children who are slow to gain etc. Some of the feeding clincs have recently begun usung it in g-tube fed children who have no remaining medical issues related to feeding but who have become gtube dependent. We started my DD on it last Saturday and the results are amazing. She has been tube-fed since she was 4 months old due to reflux, delayed emptying. Her reflux and DGE have been resolved for over a year but she refused to eat orally except for a few nibbles here and there (then she would sometimes spit it back out). On the Periactin she is asking for food all day! She is taking real bites and swallowing it. She will eat just about anything, cheese, crackers, pudding, soups, PB & Jelly sandwiches, scrambled eggs. The other day we bought her a MCD's hamburger and she ate half of it! Its truly amazing and all since we started the Periactin. So for others facing the same problem w/ their tube fed children, I would ask about the Periactin. The one side effect of it since it is an antihistamine is that they will be sleepy or sleep longer until their bodies adjust. For us it has been good because my DD was an early riser, 5 am most days, now she sleeps til 7 am. We have been able to reduce her bolus feedings also.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Becky
Mom to Andrew, Cheyenne and Rheanna 8/13/01

Becky
bgg 8/2001

We used Periactin for Rees with his j-tube. It worked great for us too! He had great results with the med and no side effects.

Denise
Proud mom to BBG 6/23/00

Denise
Proud mom to BBG 2000