When do they switch to the regular epipen? I'm at the pharmacy and they are giving me a epipen instead of the jr for my 6 yr old. The doctor didnt mention switching to me so I'm unsure about it. He is 50 pounds.
I believe 60 pounds is when they switch. My dd weighed just over that at her annual allergy appointment two weeks ago and he moved her up to the regular Epi.
This is from Food Allergies for Dummies:
Per Dr. Wood, "The jr. strength is a perfect dose for someone who weighs 33 lbs., but for every pound above that it underdoeses more and more. For this reason most experts, including me, recommend switching from junior to regular somewhere between 45 and 55 lbs."
I thought it was closer to 65 pounds
and when ds was 64 pounds he was prescribed the jr - we had to request the larger dose!
http://www.epipen.com/professionals/about-epipen/dosing (http://www.epipen.com/professionals/about-epipen/dosing)
this confirms what I thought..... ??
DD was just under 50 lbs when she was switched.
A lot depends on the risk of underdosing in a particular patient-- which depends upon reaction history and a host of other factors. This is one to talk over with the allergist. :)
Thanks!
I did end up taking the regular epipen and then talked to the dr office the next day. They did mean to prescribe him the regular epi instead of under dosing him since his weight falls directly in the middle of both injectors. I really wish his doctor would have told me he was doing that though.
Our allergist asked today which we would prefer. DS2 is 58lbs and DS1 is 52lbs. He was leaning towards Epipen for DS2 but wanted to know what I was thinking for DS1 (yes, DS1 is tiny whereas DS2 is average). I went with Epipen for both.
Also got free co-pay for Auvi but I doubt our insurance will cover. And the free co-pay on the Epi pen which will likely still cost us something but will hurt considerably less.
My dd was under 50 pounds when she moved up. I think around 46 pounds. We used to have a very conservative allergist from Boston Children's Hospital at that time.
DD was recently switched and weighs around 50 pounds.
ETA - this thread has some more info on switching over to regular epi ...
Bendaryl vs. Epi ... help! (http://foodallergysupport.olicentral.com/index.php/topic,5105.0.html)
The general recommendations are different than the top allergist recommendations. (mt Sinai). My pediatrician argued with me that he was still jr. until (was it eighty?) whereas Mt Sinai switched him at a much lighter weight.