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Zofran overkill for toddler?

Ya Never KnowYa Never Know member
in Toddlers: 24 Months+
DD has been sick since last Friday worth the flu. She was on the mend until yesterday when she started vomiting in the middle of the night. She was vomiting about every half hour, and not really keeping anything down. I wouldn't typically go to the ER for vomiting, especially when it seems pretty mild, but I ended up going in because there was blood in DD's stool and that freaked me out (which apparently isn't actually a big deal). Anyway, while I was there, I explained that DD had been ill, and vomiting every half hour to an hour for about 12 hours, and he ended up giving her Zofran.

I've only ever heard of Zofran being prescribed in extreme instances of vomiting, which this wasn't, and I wasn't aware that it was such a hard core drug until I got home and looked in to it.

I'm not really sure what my point in this post is other than to maybe see if anyone else thinks this is just overkill. Dr thinks DD has gastro virus because its going around, but she wasn't at a point where she was really dehydrated or anything. Other than the vomiting, she was totally fine. I guess I'm just really not comfortable with giving her a drug that is usually prescribed for anti nausea in cancer patients. Overkill? Or am I overreacting?

I think I'll stick to gravol if anything at all.
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Re: Zofran overkill for toddler?

  • Ya Never KnowYa Never Know member
    edited November 2014
    enigmaticdrscully said:

    Zofran isn't *usually* prescribed for cancer patients, although that is one potential use. I took it last winter for a stomach bug, as did my husband, my in-laws, my best friend, her husband, and her elementary-school-aged daughter. Some women take it while pregnant.


    Whether I would give it to my 2-year-old would depend on how sick she was, and for how long. Zofran is usually prescribed as a PRN (as needed) medication, so if you don't feel comfortable giving it to her, don't.
    The Dr said something similar, and that if we ended up getting DD's bug that DH and I could take it as well since gastro is so contagious. I guess what got my back up was that when we went to pick up the prescription, the pharmacist was telling us that it was a pretty intense drug, and if we knew what it was for, that it was an inhibitor, used for cancer patients and seemed surprised that they would prescribe it, especially for a child etc... It just freaked me out a little. It wasn't the family Dr that I saw today either, and this Dr just had a very different approach than what we're used to. I'm sure he wouldn't prescribe something dangerous, I'm likely overreacting. I'm the type of person that won't take Advil until my head is practically splitting open, but I don't want DD to suffer needlessly either if this is something safe that will help her, and so far it has.
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  • fancynewbeeslyfancynewbeesly member
    enigmaticdrscully said:
    Zofran isn't *usually* prescribed for cancer patients, although that is one potential use. I took it last winter for a stomach bug, as did my husband, my in-laws, my best friend, her husband, and her elementary-school-aged daughter. Some women take it while pregnant.

    Whether I would give it to my 2-year-old would depend on how sick she was, and for how long. Zofran is usually prescribed as a PRN (as needed) medication, so if you don't feel comfortable giving it to her, don't.
    I completely disagree. My 3 year old has leukemia, and zofran is the medicine her oncologists prescribed for her. We give it to her as needed. Only some of the chemos really affect her, and when we know that she will be getting them---she gets zofran about a half an hour before her chemo. Amazingly, she hasn't gotten sick from the chemo, which I think is in part due to the zofran.
      image
    My daughter is my hero.
    image
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  • BeevolBeevol member
    Just because they give it to cancer patients doesn't mean it's "hardcore" - they also give it to pregnant ladies. 

    I took zofran with both pregnancies. It's often given in conjunction with chemo, but there are all sorts of reasons to take it (Crohn's, migraines, etc). 
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  • emberlee3emberlee3 member
    Zofran was originally FDA approved for chemotherapy-associated nausea.

    It is now widely prescribed for nausea of many different causes.   I prescribe it to adults on a daily basis.  I've never given it to my kids, but then, they've never vomited enough for me to take them for evaluation.

    You could call your pediatrician and see what he/she recommends.
    DS born 8/8/09 and DD born 6/12/12.
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  • JWest07JWest07 member
    I was relieved to get zofran for DS after he spent 36 hours vomiting. I'd been in touch with the pediatrician the entire time he was sick.) I wished they hadn't waited so long. He got a zofran shot. (Additional info: despite that much vomiting, he was not yet showing signs of dehydration that would require IV fluids).
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