weaning fron cimetidine/side effects

[Guest guest]

Hello,

My daughter is currently going off cimetidine. Her Doctor, Dr Feder

said it was time for her to stop stop the med and said she doesn't

need to be weaned off it. I am just curious as to how other have

handled this.

Also I've been worrying myself sick the past few days after reading

about possible side effects from cimetidine. I read in one source

that it can cause vitamin B12 depletion, and in another that it was

associated increased risk of mental decline in older people. My

daughter was on it for a year and a half; initially the med lessoned

the severity of her fevers and for the past 10 months she has been

fever free. I've been so grateful for this fever free period and had

always read that it was a safe med, and that liver enzymes had to be

checked. I never heard anything about vitamin deficiencies.

I spoke with a pharmacist today and he said that by reducing stomach

acid cimetidine can prevent the body from absorbing some vitamins. I

did give my daughter a multiple at times, yet not always and he said

vitamins would be helpful, because they tend to have a coating so they

get absorbed in the small/large intestine. How I wish i had learned

this when she was put on the med.

But I'm left asking...is it possible to accurately test my daughter

for vitamin deficiencies? I wonder if the dose she was taking would

be considered high enough to cause the problems referred to in these

reports? Would there have been noticeable symptoms? I had been

nervous putting her on a med, yet comforted all along by her improved

health, and reassurances from doctors that it wouldn't harm her. I

sure hope my worries are unwarranted.

Fran, if you have any comments about this I'd be grateful. I've

always valued all your posts.

Carmela

Mom to Carina- 5 on November 29 ?

[Guest guest]

Hi Carmela

Try not to worry too much about possible side effects that your dauighter may

eventually get with having taken cimetidine for 1.5 years. You have to make a

decision to trust your doctor and remember that with side effects it often only

affects a very low percentage. On the flipside without the medicine she probably

would have continued with the fevers and 3-hourly fever medication for 3-5 days

every month MUST have side effects as well. We try our best as parents and have

to have faith in our decisions. Our ped rheumatologist assures me again and

again that 1/2 teasp Prednisone every 3-4 weeks is NOT going to affect Emma (27

months) at all in the long-term.

However, we are not comfortable with any long-term use of medication and have

opted for a T & A instead. We had Emma on Singulair starting from her last episode

(30th Aug) and stopped it again 5 weeks later. Still no fever since 30th Aug! So

that's great news (although we've had a 12-week remission before so I'm not

expecting this to be a miraculous end to ). We are going to schedule the

T & A as soon as the next fever hits.

Take care

Inga