Ranitidine dosage???

[BelleBoyd]

My DS has been prescribed Ranitidine.
It's an oral suspension of 5mg/5ml.
His dose is 0.2ml twice daily...
Have looked it up on bnf and they say the dosage is 1mg/kg 3 times daily so for him-12lbs should be 5ml times daily? Is that right?
Can't work out how the doctor got it so wrong...
Am waiting for a call from them.

It does seem a ridiculously low amount - how do you give 0.2ml?
My DS was on Rinitidine and our Consultant wrote out a ridiculously high dosage that was only rectified once I did what you are doing and checked.
Obviously I cannot comment on what your DS should have but your sums are right.

It's a couple of drops-have a very small syringe!
Might be ok if the concentration was stronger I suppose..
Really worrying that the docs can't work out correct dosages for young babies!

Didn't you post this before?

0.2ml can be correct if giving the 150mg/10ml suspension. I've never seen any other strength.

5ml is a massive massive dose, that's a calpol syringe worth. Our ranitidine syringes were 1ml and the dose was gradients of 1ml.

It depends on the strength / suspension you have been prescribed.

0.3 would work out with a 1mg/kg dose on a 12lb baby which is about 5.4 kg. But that's with the 150mg/10ml strength. If is 5mg/5ml then you should be giving about 5 mls.

So yes in the 5mg strength 0.2ml is peanuts and makes no sense. But as I said before I've never seen the 5mg strength.

Did you hear back?

Doc didn't call back and the surgery closed at lunchtime so I called NHS direct and managed to get a sympathetic doctor to re prescribe the correct dosage. He couldn't understand why I was prescribed the original dose-I guess it was just a mistake.