Elecare vs. Neocate vs. Alimentum

NiniJ55

quick background: DD has tested positive for a dairy allergy.  She has had reactions to soy and fish through my diet (BM) and hives from peanut contact.

She was on Nutramigen for 2 weeks with little/ no change.  We switched to Alimentum and she has been on that for a month now.  I have def. noticed some change in her - but I feel like it's not enough.  She is still itchy and has eczema flareups almost every week.  She is still congested and seeminlgy still uncomfortable (but still much better than before).  I feel like we could possibly take this a step further and put her on Neocate or Elecare and see if that brings her to where I feel she should be -- a happy non tearing off her face baby.

 I sent an email to the pedi and I am waiting on a response back.  Please give me your opinion -- I'm inclined not to even wait on a response from pedi and just follow my gut and make the switch. 

If you have experience with Elecare of Neocate can you shed some insight on taste?  Also we have been using the ready to feed version of Alimentum - Necoate/ Elecare both come in powdered versions only.  I have no idea how long a can would last us (we go through 32oz of RTF each day).  Do you order online?  I don't think it's carried in stores.

TIA.

si_jennifer

My DS is on Alimentum now and doing fine on it, but the ped told me if I was not happy with the results to go ahead and switch to neocate. Couldn't hurt in my opinion.

Question for you: how do you know your baby is itchy? Does she try to scratch? My baby keeps his hands up by his face a lot and I'm wondering if he is itchy. 

NiniJ55

si_jennifer:

My DS is on Alimentum now and doing fine on it, but the ped told me if I was not happy with the results to go ahead and switch to neocate. Couldn't hurt in my opinion.

Question for you: how do you know your baby is itchy? Does she try to scratch? My baby keeps his hands up by his face a lot and I'm wondering if he is itchy. 

Not just her face but her neck and legs too.  She sometimes looks like she is literally trying to rip her skin off.  And sometimes she does get some skin and bleeds (she wears mittens but she knows how to remove them). It was much worse and the eczema looks better. but she is still uncomfortable and arches her back because she is uncomfortable from the itchiness.

We use Caladryl and benadryl....benadryl only when absolutely neccesary... and caladryl all the time

Samuel's mommy

My Ds is on neocate.  We get it thru med supply company.  U can order straight from website,too.  Cost is about $34 a can that makes 85 fl oz.  elecare is a bit cheaper and makes 95 fl. Oz.  u will go thru a can very quickly,  my Ds only eats 13-15 oz. a day and a Can lasts 4 days.  The website sells them by the case of 6 I think.  Hth.

 

Samuel's mommy

Also, as far as taste my Ds went to neocate from allemintum as well.  Didn't seem to dislike, however this is when his consumption dropped drastically. No t sure if related or is just due to his reflux issues 

browneyedgoil

we didn't do well on the alimentum. changed her to neocate & she would not drink it at first. it took about a week of gradully mixing it in to get her to take it & now she likes it & even will go back & forth between breast milk & neocate without a problem. 

 if you live in certain states, neocate can be covered through your insurance. they also have reimbursement specialists that can help you get it covered. i live in nj & i only pay $40 for a monthly supply but i have to order it through medco.  

Samuel's mommy

browneyedgoil:

we didn't do well on the alimentum. changed her to neocate & she would not drink it at first. it took about a week of gradully mixing it in to get her to take it & now she likes it & even will go back & forth between breast milk & neocate without a problem. 

 if you live in certain states, neocate can be covered through your insurance. they also have reimbursement specialists that can help you get it covered. i live in nj & i only pay $40 for a monthly supply but i have to order it through medco.  

we also went thru our ins co. and it ended up costing the exact same amount.  Not sure how that works.  We do file thru ins anyway b/c after we meet our cap they will pay in full.  That should be easy to do since it's so expensive.

NiniJ55

Samuel's mommy:

browneyedgoil:

we didn't do well on the alimentum. changed her to neocate & she would not drink it at first. it took about a week of gradully mixing it in to get her to take it & now she likes it & even will go back & forth between breast milk & neocate without a problem. 

 if you live in certain states, neocate can be covered through your insurance. they also have reimbursement specialists that can help you get it covered. i live in nj & i only pay $40 for a monthly supply but i have to order it through medco.  

we also went thru our ins co. and it ended up costing the exact same amount.  Not sure how that works.  We do file thru ins anyway b/c after we meet our cap they will pay in full.  That should be easy to do since it's so expensive.

Apparently my ins will pay 80% once we meet the cap also.  Pedi returned my call and suggested I stick it out with the Alimentum for now since there is no longer blood in her stool and she is getting better (albeit slowly).  She said the Neocate was disgusting... LOL.  We will see what happens. 

Thanks everyone.

LadyExtravaganza

First, I would recommend you see a pedi allergist or GI if you're not already (I only say this because you only mentioned a pedi).

Alimentum & Nutramigen are a different "class" (if you will) than Neocate & EleCare. The first two do contain milk products, but they are broken down enough that they don't cause problems for many babies with milk sensitivity. Neocate and Elecare are medical food and amino acid based, with no milk products at all.

If you LO isn't tolerating Alimentum, she should probably try Neocate or Elecare. DS improved on Nutramigen but still remained symptomatic for 2 months until a specialist switched him to an amino acid formula. (Again, this is why I would recommend someone who specializes in these kinds of problems with kids- it took us too long to do so!)

bhead81

LadyExtravaganza:

First, I would recommend you see a pedi allergist or GI if you're not already (I only say this because you only mentioned a pedi).

Alimentum & Nutramigen are a different "class" (if you will) than Neocate & EleCare. The first two do contain milk products, but they are broken down enough that they don't cause problems for many babies with milk sensitivity. Neocate and Elecare are medical food and amino acid based, with no milk products at all.

If you LO isn't tolerating Alimentum, she should probably try Neocate or Elecare. DS improved on Nutramigen but still remained symptomatic for 2 months until a specialist switched him to an amino acid formula. (Again, this is why I would recommend someone who specializes in these kinds of problems with kids- it took us too long to do so!)

This exactly.  We tried Nutramigen but still had reactions to the small amounts of milk in it so we had to do the Elecare.  He also HATED the taste of Nutramigen.  With Elecare we get it online and while I was not working and was on WIC I ordered it through my local pharmacy.  It did take about 4 weeks for his symptoms to totally go away as his GI tract was so irritated. 

NiniJ55

LadyExtravaganza:

First, I would recommend you see a pedi allergist or GI if you're not already (I only say this because you only mentioned a pedi).

Alimentum & Nutramigen are a different "class" (if you will) than Neocate & EleCare. The first two do contain milk products, but they are broken down enough that they don't cause problems for many babies with milk sensitivity. Neocate and Elecare are medical food and amino acid based, with no milk products at all.

If you LO isn't tolerating Alimentum, she should probably try Neocate or Elecare. DS improved on Nutramigen but still remained symptomatic for 2 months until a specialist switched him to an amino acid formula. (Again, this is why I would recommend someone who specializes in these kinds of problems with kids- it took us too long to do so!)

We have seen a pediatric allergist. DD tested positive for dairy. I mention pedi because we are working closely with her. She has been more helpful than the allergist. She knew right away just by looking at her flareup that it was milk related and sent us for testing. 

sweetMay119

We haven't resorted to formula yet, but our GI said in terms of taste, Neocate and Elecare are like coke and pepsi. He thinks Alimentum is by far the worse in terms of taste,

kaitylin

Nutramigen and Alimentum are similar. Like pp's have said - they still have dairy in them but it is broken down.

I]DD was on Nutramigen for awhile which did clear up her bloody stools but she still had horrible diarrhea and other issues and her GI doctor switched her to Neocate. We saw a drastic improvement and the taste never bothered DD. I think the Nutramigen smelled worse too.