Gaviscon Infant/Mannitol/Silica

[Guest guest]

ARGH!!!!! has had two sachets of Gaviscon Infant powder in each bottle since he was about 4 months old. He now has up to 16 sachets a day. I have queried this with every person that I know, worried about the effects of what he is ingesting.

Today I phoned the Medical Info unit at Gaviscon to find out how much Mannitol and colloidal silica is in each sachet. To make a long story short, he is ingesting up to 5 GRAMS of mannitol a day and 800mgs of colloidal silica per day.

I knew that mannitol had a laxitve effect but I had always assumed that he was ingesting such small amounts because of the way it is listed on the ingredients in the sachet. I know from Wiki that 20gms in an adult has a laxative effect - so it stands to reason that 5 grams will have similar effect in a two year old. Mannitol is also used to open the blood brain barrier to help the effectiveness of other drugs (such as Alzheimer's drugs)...he's had so much of it each day for such a long time now. ARGH!!!! I can't help but hypothesise that it is increasing the opiate peptide effect from the dysbiosis.

What is irritating is that he has been hospitalised for diahrrea several times!!!

Does anyone know anything about colloidal silica? I can't find anything that is comprehensible to a non- chemist.

Just needed to rant about this. I've cut him down to one sachet per bottle and hoping to wean him off but I want to understand what's been going on and if he will need any remedial treatment as a result.

Darla