I have to admit, that even though the doctors had blood work done on J, my mind still wonders why he eats the way he does. He's like a bird most days and the saying, Wait it out, they'll eat when they're hungry, can only last so long. Right? He's almost 16 months old and I can see he's already trying to show he has a voice and can make decisions on what to eat, when to eat, and of course how to eat.
The doctor gave me a suggestion, if I wasn't opposed to it. We would try giving him Periactin for a while. What's a while? She gave me a prescription for 3 months. I was shocked at the possibility of how long I'd be giving J this medicine. But of course I felt I was at my wits end with J's eating habits and felt if there was anything I could do to help him improve his appetite, I would do it.
As I left the pediatrician's office, I began to wonder what Periactin was. So I did some research and found out the medication is prescribed for allergies and/or migraines. In elderly or children, it is used to increase and appetite. Side effects? Well, weight gain is part of the side effect when taking Periactin. Of course there is a list of side effects but the two that stuck out for me was, drowsiness and overactive.
I had not known how drowsy or overactive J would be, so I decided to give him the Periactin for a week. But I wanted to start him on it this past weekend, just in case, if for some reason he turned into the incredible hulk or something.
So an hour before dinner on Friday night, I gave J his 1/2 teaspoon of Peractin. He didn't seem to mind the taste. Almost an hour late J started to fuss a little. I asked him if he was hungry and in his usual response: YAH. So I put him in his high chair and was trying to buckle him in when he seemed to get very aggresive with me. He would start pulling on my arm and shook it while screaming. Hungry maybe? By the time I got him some food he was a lot calmer and happier. He did eat more than his usual portion. I was impressed at how much he ate.
The next morning he got his next dose, 1/2 teaspoon, and an hour later he was ready to chow down. I kept it simple and made him a bagel and cut up some grapes. Usually he eats maybe a quarter of the bagel, but this morning he had almost a half! Throughout the whole day I found his appetite was increased and I began to worry that he'd make himself sick because he wouldn't know when to stop eating. He did nap rather long in the morning (2.5 hours), and when I went to go get him he looked at me and said No when I tried to pick him up. The day progressed as usual and we even made a trip to the mall. We ate lunch at the mall and he had 4 chicken nuggest and a few (maybe 6) french fries. He's more of a 1 chicken nugget kind of kid. I was shocked but pleasantly surprised at his appetite the whole day.
Sunday was a little different. Even though his appetite was there, he seemed to be running around in overdrive. He was clearly tired in the morning for his nap but refused. It was like the medicine was keeping him awake. I don't mind if J is clearly not tired, I don't like forcing him to nap when he's not ready. But he was clearly tired. I started to worry that these side effects may be more important to me than his eating.
I gave this medicine at least a week, and we're only on day 2. My husband actually asked me if we really needed to wait a week. I told him he could have just been that way because it's been raining here for 2 days (still raining on day 3) and maybe he was just cooped up. Maybe it was because I'm 'Mum' and he was acting out on me. I still want to see how he does during the day today.
I warned daycare about the side effects and what they may see from him. They were shocked to hear the other side of him because they never see that from him. So who knows? Maybe he'll be fine today. But last night I woke up thinking about this medicine and wondering if I'm doing the right thing. I'm trying to listen to my gut and the more I listen the more I think I need to stop giving him the medicine.
He has eaten SO much better. In fact, he ate more than me during dinner last night. I will definitely give that much to the medicine. But the side effects, I just don't know. Is it possible that the side effects won't be as noticeable as the days go on? I don't know. If it were in my system, how would I react? Then I even thought about only giving him the dose once a day instead of twice. I'm torn and I think waking up last night still thinking about it is telling me something.
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