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Children's health

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Original poster

Trimethoprim 3yo UTI query

21 replies

flapsicle · 10/05/2018 18:50

Hi all,

DS is nearly 4, and had a UTI over Easter. Initially on amoxicillin which cleared it, then put on a prophylactic course of Trimethoprim until we can have his kidneys and bladder scanned (which apparently happens in all kids now aged 1-4 who get a UTI).

He’s been on 4ml of Trimethoprim every night (as per instructions on label) but today I took his repeat prescription in and the pharmacist didn’t want to issue it as he said the 4ml was too much for his weight, so he’d rung our GP surgery to check and unfortunately no one got back to him by the time we went to collect it. I’m a bit worried now that we’ve been giving him too much, I’m going to try speak to GP tomorrow but has anyone else had to give this to DC, and how much did they give?

OP posts:

Outnumbered1225 · 10/05/2018 18:58

Difficult to say if it's too much without knowing your child's weight. Sometimes pharmacists and GPs are extra cautious over children's prescriptions as its not a 'one size fits all' approach as with adult medicine. So if a hospital consultant has prescribed it if may not follow precise guidelines but would still be a safe amount.

Youaremysunshine2017 · 10/05/2018 19:09

You'll not be giving him too much. I presume this was prescribed at the hospital? My baby at 4 weeks old had a uti, amongst other problems. He's 9.5 months now and still on Trimethoprim. He's likely to be on it until after he's potty trained. When I first went to order another prescription from the GP and picked it up from the pharmacy I was questioned lots because they rarely see this dose in young children. My son is on 2ml every day. You know to give it at night don't you? I didn't know this straight away.

Youaremysunshine2017 · 10/05/2018 19:10

Sorry just read you're giving it at night!

Original poster

flapsicle · 10/05/2018 19:41

It was prescribed by the GP at our local surgery once the results from a second sample had come back clear (because amoxicillin must have shifted the initial infection). DH collecred the first prescription at a different chemist with no issue, sorry, should have made that clear.

He’s about 2 stone 10 lb I think, just over 17kg?

OP posts:

Youaremysunshine2017 · 10/05/2018 19:48

I'm getting my baby weighed next week so I'm not too sure weight wise. Although his 2ml was based on about 19lbs (I think...!) I usually ring his consultant's secretary and they get back to me with a new dose. Hope he's been ok since the infection.

Youaremysunshine2017 · 10/05/2018 19:49

That sounds about right if my son is on 2ml and he'll be about 9kg for that dose.

Youaremysunshine2017 · 10/05/2018 19:51

Just thought.... when I said I was questioned a bit by the pharmacist about doses it was when my son was on a high level of sodium as well and that's they were unsure about- not the Trimethoprim.

Original poster

flapsicle · 10/05/2018 20:00

Thanks for the replies! I’m not too worried as he seems absolutely fine but I’ve nearly run out of the bottle we’ve got and the pharmacist today said we would be best checking with the GP, so I’ll try speak to them tomorrow.

Sorry to hear your little one’s been on it for so long youaremysunshine, my DS had what we thought was a ‘normal’ tummy bug over Easter but he was so listless we took him to the GP. Horrible things, UTIs!

OP posts:

jigglepiggle · 10/05/2018 20:06

The dose for a 4 year old for prophylaxis of a uti is 2mg/kg. If your son is 17kg that’s 34mg which is 3.4ml at night - but you say he is a bit more than 17kg? I’m assuming here the trimethoprim you have been given is 50mg/5ml so you’ve been giving him 40mg at night? The pharmacist is probably just being overly cautious here, since the dose you’ve been prescribed is slightly higher than the recommended dose. Did the hospital weigh him?

Youaremysunshine2017 · 10/05/2018 20:08

They really are! It can be tough picking them up quickly in little ones too. My little fella is doing really well now although he's had kidney problems too, we're regularly having scans at the kids hospital and things are starting to improve. If you took one look at him you would never imagine he's been through half of the things he has. Tough little cookies, kids!

Original poster

flapsicle · 10/05/2018 20:15

jiggle he’s been having 4ml in a syringe at night, is that the same as 40mg? No, he wasn’t weighed - he’s only seen the GP so far. He likes jumping on the scales at home so I know roughly what he weighs. We’re waiting for his hospital appointment so he can have his bladder etc scanned

OP posts:

Youaremysunshine2017 · 10/05/2018 20:19

Did the GP ask you how much he weighed though? To calculate the dose? X

YouBoggleMyMind · 10/05/2018 20:30

My almost 5 month old is on prophylactic trimethoprim too. He is 5.86kg and is on 1.2ml every evening. Does that help?

jigglepiggle · 10/05/2018 20:54

Yeah 4ml is 40mg. I would have said a dose of 3.5mls would be more accurate if he’s exactly 17kg but I wouldn’t worry over half a ml. Hopefully you get a definite answer from the GP in the morning.

Original poster

flapsicle · 10/05/2018 21:24

Thanks again all of you!

youare no, no one asked what he weighed - and I didn’t realise until today that the dose was informed by weight. I’ll weigh him at home in the morning so I can give the GP an exact figure and go from there

OP posts:

shewolfmum · 10/05/2018 22:32

Why do they out kids on a dose of this if the infection is gone?

tempuser · 10/05/2018 22:34

Sounds about right to me. My 4 year old is on 4 ml too. It was changed from 2.5ml when she was 3

Youaremysunshine2017 · 11/05/2018 07:34

Shewolfmum, it's a preventative dose.

Original poster

flapsicle · 11/05/2018 11:52

shewolf yeah, the information sheet we were given when the UTI was first diagnosed just says that it’s ‘strongly recommended’ to keep him on a low dose of it until they’ve done the scan/checks. Hopefully everything will be ok and then he can come off them.

I rang the surgery today and gave the receptionist his exact weight from this morning - just awaiting a call back from the doc now...

OP posts:

Veryproudmumof2 · 17/05/2018 22:07

I’m probably abit late here but my daughter suffers from recurrent UTI’s and she was on 5mls of trimethoprim daily at the age of 6. Changed to nitrofurantoin this year as the infections started to break through. So 4 mls sounds about right to me for a 4 year old 👍🏻

Original poster

flapsicle · 18/05/2018 14:04

Thanks very, I managed to speak to the GP last Friday and she was happy enough with it and told me to just tell any pharmacist that queried that I had checked the dose with her and it was fine. DH took the prescription to a different chemist and they didn’t even question it anyway!

Hope your little girl get some relief from them soon

OP posts:

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