experience with omnicef

[keeptrying]

My dd was on zithromax for 2 weeks and we saw nothing good come of it. I have already posted about that and know I probably should have waited it out but I felt it was actually increasing her tics as the days went on. Our doc has given us the option of omnicef if we would like to try it. I have read some about it and know that it is a new drug and that worries me. My dd has a penicillin allergy so some of my options are limited. As I have said before - she has not been diagnosed with panda's yet.. this is a trial. We just did the cam k test yesterday so we have a wait ahead of us to get results and I am not sure I can go that long with out trying something since her tics are at an all time high and have been for a month.

 

I was hoping to hear how omnicef worked for some of you. Any bad side effects? Did omnicef help with tics and not just behaviors?

 

Thanks everybody, I need some help...again

[Priscilla]

When this whole thing started for my dd 8 in april, she was very severe. She had alot of motor tics, jerking, and panic attacks, ocd, rage, meltdowns... everything. Omnicef was the 1st abx we tried. EVERYTHING disappeared within 10 days. Unfortunately we tried to wean a couple times and I think we lost effectiveness by the end of June. My dd could not tolerate zith either, hurt her stomach too bad, and didn't really give any improvement. We have now had 2 ivig and are currently taken Augmentin 1000 XR. She has improved over the last week or so, but still not as perfect as our first trial with Omnicef. I am thinking about trying it again if we don't see more improvement over the next couple months. I think it is gentler on GI system too, she didn't have any diarrhea or anything while taking it. It can be a problem in liquid form because it only comes in a 10 day supply.

[airial95]

We just started 30 days of omnicef through Dr Murphy. I know it's her abx of choice and the one most of her research has been focused on. We had been on azith for 9 months and were somewhat successful, but he got strep 2x in 2 months on the azith so she wanted to change it up. We're not quite a week in..so I don't have a whole lot to report yet...

[LaraM]

My son had a wonderful experience with Omnicef (Cefdinir) back in December and again in February/March. It took a while to work, but we saw a slow, steady drop in symptoms over several weeks. We were in the Dr. Murphy study too, but had to stop when he had what we thought was an allergic reaction to the med. (rash all over his body), but it was ruled out. By the way, have you had an oral challenge to determine if your child is definitely allergic to penicillin? We have always thought he was allergic since he was six months old. In July, we finally did an oral challenge, and he wasn't really allergic after all. Turns out if kids are on abx and get certain viruses, they can get a rash that looks a lot like an allergic reaction, but it isn't. Bottom line, Omnicef was a great for my son, and honestly, it just dawned on me that maybe we need to recommend it to our doc as my son's tummy is eaten up with other antibiotics (Penn VK, Augmentin, Azithromycin.

 

Hi Airial95--met you at the PANDAS support group a while back--I brought my mom.

[peglem]

My daughter had a bad experience w/ omnicef 5 years ago (so its not that new!). That's one that really made her tummy hurt and did not help at all with PANDAS symptoms. She was on it for 21 days before her tonsillectomy. But she does great with zith...it varies so much from child to child.

[keeptrying]

When this whole thing started for my dd 8 in april, she was very severe. She had alot of motor tics, jerking, and panic attacks, ocd, rage, meltdowns... everything. Omnicef was the 1st abx we tried. EVERYTHING disappeared within 10 days. Unfortunately we tried to wean a couple times and I think we lost effectiveness by the end of June. My dd could not tolerate zith either, hurt her stomach too bad, and didn't really give any improvement. We have now had 2 ivig and are currently taken Augmentin 1000 XR. She has improved over the last week or so, but still not as perfect as our first trial with Omnicef. I am thinking about trying it again if we don't see more improvement over the next couple months. I think it is gentler on GI system too, she didn't have any diarrhea or anything while taking it. It can be a problem in liquid form because it only comes in a 10 day supply.

Did your rx have dye in it? I have called around and was told that it does not come in dye free. Is that a concern for you?

[Kay]

My daughter used Omnicef from March until June. She had good results on it steady improvement till then and at that point we felt she had gone as far as she was going to go with it because she began to feel a little backslide, we also had a tick bite, removed it right away but wondered about the stuff it injects so you don't feel them bite if that was responsible for her feeling a little off. We eventually switched in June to Augmentin xr which she is still on and has had good results.

 

The Omnicef was good, did not hurt her stomach as so many of the others do, it did we think cause a little stomach bloat but it was not a pain at least in the stomach. I just looked up to be sure it does say to check with your doctor if there is a penicillin allergy This is from a website "tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to cefdinir or any other cephalosporin antibiotic such as cefaclor (Ceclor) or cephalexin (Keflex), penicillin, or any other drugs" I don't think it means you can't use it and I am sure your doctor is aware of this.

 

Also it came in I think if I remember correctly like blue and purple capsules. We didn't want any added dyes so we asked the pharmacist if we could open and put in veg capsules and he said we could. So we did do that.

 

Hope it is the one for you!

[keeptrying]

My daughter used Omnicef from March until June. She had good results on it steady improvement till then and at that point we felt she had gone as far as she was going to go with it because she began to feel a little backslide, we also had a tick bite, removed it right away but wondered about the stuff it injects so you don't feel them bite if that was responsible for her feeling a little off. We eventually switched in June to Augmentin xr which she is still on and has had good results.

 

The Omnicef was good, did not hurt her stomach as so many of the others do, it did we think cause a little stomach bloat but it was not a pain at least in the stomach. I just looked up to be sure it does say to check with your doctor if there is a penicillin allergy This is from a website "tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to cefdinir or any other cephalosporin antibiotic such as cefaclor (Ceclor) or cephalexin (Keflex), penicillin, or any other drugs" I don't think it means you can't use it and I am sure your doctor is aware of this.

 

Also it came in I think if I remember correctly like blue and purple capsules. We didn't want any added dyes so we asked the pharmacist if we could open and put in veg capsules and he said we could. So we did do that.

 

Hope it is the one for you!

GREAT idea about the veg caps. I will do that. Thanks, I would not have thought of that. My doc does know of the pen. allergy but I am going to call anyway. Thanks.

[nevergiveup]

Omnicef always worked the best for my dd, give highest dose possible for weight. Murphy likes augmentin also, says both help with tics. Omnicef seems to make the kids a little crabby, according to Murphy. quote name='airial95' timestamp='1284595813' post='84425']

We just started 30 days of omnicef through Dr Murphy. I know it's her abx of choice and the one most of her research has been focused on. We had been on azith for 9 months and were somewhat successful, but he got strep 2x in 2 months on the azith so she wanted to change it up. We're not quite a week in..so I don't have a whole lot to report yet...

 

[Kayanne]

We used Omnicef for my daughter last spring when her PANDAS symptoms came back. She was previously on pen vk as a prophylaxis, so I wanted to just move away from the penicillins all together. By the end of 10 days, we did see improvement. She continued on that and had a steroid taper. In August we dropped her down to 150 mg once a day as a prophylaxis. We did start to see some VERY MINOR issues return -- but I am not overly concerned right now. So for us, yes, we had a good experience with it...I'll let you know if it keeps the strep away.

 

Did your rx have dye in it? I have called around and was told that it does not come in dye free. Is that a concern for you?

 

 

My daughter takes the liquid, there are no dyes in it.

 

This is from a website "tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to cefdinir or any other cephalosporin antibiotic such as cefaclor (Ceclor) or cephalexin (Keflex), penicillin, or any other drugs" I don't think it means you can't use it and I am sure your doctor is aware of this.

 

 

Cephalosporins are somehow related to penicillins. An allergist/immunologist told me that it is almost unheard of for 2nd and 3rd generation cephalosporins to cause allergic reactions in people who are allergic to penicillin. Omnicef is a 3rd generation. I was a little concerned because my daughter had a rash on amoxicillin 2 different times. Personally, I'm okay with labeling her with a penicillin allergy -- I don't trust pen or amox at all.

[Kayanne]

We just started 30 days of omnicef through Dr Murphy. I know it's her abx of choice and the one most of her research has been focused on. We had been on azith for 9 months and were somewhat successful, but he got strep 2x in 2 months on the azith so she wanted to change it up. We're not quite a week in..so I don't have a whole lot to report yet...

 

Do you have any idea if Dr. Murphy believes in antibiotic prophylaxis after a child has recovered from a PANDAS episode? If so do you know what her choice antibiotic is?