URGENT question for pharmacists (MDs also welcome to chime in)

[anchor31]

Hi!
Long story short: My 3-month-old had a UTI at 12 weeks and was hospitalized for a week, starting March 12th. He was on IV ampicilline for that time, then I gave it to him orally for 3 days. Then on March 23th, I had to start giving him another drug every day (Sulfamethoxazole-Trimethoprim, called Novo-Trimel in Canada) in case he has reflux between his kidneys and bladder, while we are waiting for a cystography test to be done and it''s subsequent results. It''s been a hard couple of weeks and now I''m convinced it''s giving him tummy aches (he never had colics but now he can scream for hours on end at night), so I''ve been doing a little research. I probably should have done it sooner, but it was prescribed by an attending pediatrician at the hospital and checked by a pharmacist... But I found this interesting and alarming information on drugs.com:

Sulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim has benzyl alcohol in it. Do not use it in NEWBORNS or INFANTS. It may cause serious and sometimes fatal nervous system problems and other side effects.

What do I do????

 

[y2kitty]

Not an MD or a pharmacist but I hope your baby recovers quickly.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Anchor, not a doc or pharm, but I would call your family pediatrician about it. Regardless of the info you read online, if it''s giving him painful side effects then it should be brought to the doctor''s attention. There might be other alternatives. Sulfa-based antibiotics, like Penicillin can cause serious allergic reactions that can come on with no warning. I''m not saying that''s what this is, but clearly it''s not agreeing with him and it should be brought to a doctor''s attention. In this case I''d go for a second opinion.

 

[anchor31]

Thanks y2kitty and HH. I called J''s pediatrician after posting this and I''m anxiously waiting for her to call me back.