happycc Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 my daughters have been placed on this medication to increase their appetite. They are twins and 11 yrs old and will turn 12 in March and weigh 56 and 51 lbs respectively. 531/2 " and 52" in height. Last month they lost weight-two lbs. NO signs of puberty whatsoever. Has anyone had experience with this medication? We have tried diet changes. Increase in protein etc. Very neurotic and picky with food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 I don't know anything about the medicine. FWIW, supplementing with zinc can increase appetite (and conversely, zinc deficiency can decrease appetite) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geodob Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Periactin is an anti-histamine, used to treat allergies. Allergies produce histamine, and this blocks the histamines. One possible side effect, is increased appetite and weight gain. But just as a possible side effect. Though other side effects are: Disturbances of the gut such as diarrhoea, constipation, nausea, vomiting or abdominal pain. It also causes drowsiness, dizziness and blurred vision, and it is recommended that children taking it, shouldn't ride a bicycle or do any climbing. As well as heart palpitations, along with breathing and sleep difficulties, and blood disorders and liver problems. So that while it might possibly increase appetite as a side effect? I would be more concerned about the other possible side effects? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 I wonder if anxiety medication might help? Or have you looked unto celiac and gluten intolerance? My tiny, picky eater cousin turned out to have celiac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deee Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 I took periactin as an antihistamine from aged 4 till I was 24. I stopped when I found out they gave it to little old ladies in nursing homes to fatten them up. I need an appetite stimulant like a hole in the head! As an antihistamine it was fantastic. Even now, if I have really bad allergies (rhinitis, eczema, and cough variant asthma), I long for the super relief of periactin. It was a life changer for me as a very young child. But it also saw me standing at the fridge in the wee small hours, half asleep, stuffing food into my mouth as a teenager. My weight was always normal, though. If I take one now, I can't stop eating for days. It's like I have a complete oral fixation, only soothed by buckets of chocolate! So yeah, it's a great appetite stimulant. But I can also attest to the heart palpitations and dizziness. It's also quite dehydrating, particularly the mouth and throat. Honestly, some days I just felt like a dried out chip, albeit a really hungry one! D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happycc Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 Well it has been several months since they have been taking the medication. They experience no side effects. For the first day, one of them was sleepy but that was it. No dizziness, no dry mouth or throat, no heart palpations. I don;t see them in front of the frigerator stuffing in their mouth. I don;t see a great big amount or frequency of food intake. But for some reason they are growing and gaining weight. In fact they are starting to have some breast buds! In fact one of my daughter is now taller than this boy who has been a long time friend and he has always been taller than her but he is the shortest child in his class. His mom was shocked to see my daughter taller than him. I had to buy new pants for them this winter. Definitely a bad side effect of this med :( Instead of wearing size 4-6 clothes for near 12 yrs old , they are closing the clothes size gap and wearing stuff closer to 9-10yrs old. They do have asthma and ezcema and funny this year we have not had to up any of their meds. Maybe because of their periactin. I am ready to give it to my other child whose allergies are driving her nuts. My girls were tested everything under the sun and they ruled out celiac and thyroid and genetics testing all came out normal. They were diagnosed with psychosocial dwarfism based on what happened to them and when they were younger when living with their bio mom. I think anxiety is definitely one of their issues. I am looking at other ways of dealing with this as well. Such as regular massages with essential oils and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 What a great update! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 My ds11 is taking this as well. So far he is growing more and fattening up. The only side effect I've noticed is he is sleeping more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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