Pedilayte Monthly Costs

I am not being paid by Pedialyte or Abbott Laboratories to make these statements nor am I endorsing their product. I am just explaining the cost factors and why they have become necessary for me in such massive quantities since I have been on TPN (Oct 2022). -SC

So……Over a year ago I started to have issues with my thirst. At first a few Pedialyte drinks or any electrolyte based drink, did the trick and put my thirst at ease. Then suddenly one bottle a day wasn’t enough. It became apparent that my attempts to curb with my extreme thirst 2 or 3 bottles from the grocery store no longer sufficed. My. insatiable thirst became so bad that I had to start buying the Pedilyte+, instead of just any generic Pedialyte. Now For the past 7-8 months I have been purchasing cases of Pedilyte+.

What had originally been consumed over the course of a week became consumed in a day. The fluid intake added to the pain but there seems to be no other no way to stem the spiraling thirst, even with TPN and multivitamins which were changed in the summer of 2023 from every other day injections to daily injections.

As far as I am aware there are two types of Pedialyte+ cases. One consists of 2 bottles and 2 powder packets. The other that consists of 3 bottles.

Each case can hold the same number of bottles, which is 18. For case #2, that only has 18 bottles, the bottles are grouped and sold into sets of 3. These cases have 6 sets of 3 for again, just a total of 18 bottles.

For the case where there are powder packets (Case 1), the case still holds the same 18 bottles but instead of 6 sets of 3, there are 9 sets of two with each set of 2 also containing 2 powder packets. 2 powder packets equals 1 Pedilayte+ bottle, so the grand total comes out to be 27 bottles when buying this type of case (Case 1).

The difference in the total number of bottles that a case can provided whether premixed only or premixed and in powder form, makes up a case is shown in the price. This was a bit confusing as to which was the better option but it came down to the fact that the two cases holds the same number of physical bottles, regardless of whether there are 2 or 3 in a set. The premixed bottles comes to 18 whether the powder packets are included or not. The 2 set with 2 powder packets comes out to 12.99 per unit, with 9 units in a case $12.99 * 9 = $116.91 for a total of 27 bottles, or $4.33 a bottle. The case containing 3 bottles in a set comes out to $13.99 per unit in case or $13.99*6 = $83.94 for 18 bottles or $4.66 a bottle .

Either way this was still expensive as I still average a full case of 26-28 bottles every 1.5-2 weeks, ergo 2.5 cases per month. At the cheapest rate, being the case with the packets, the monthly cost for Pedialyte+ is $116.91 * 3 = $350.73 (81 Bottles). If that is not available and only the premixed bottles are available then $83.94*5= $419.70 (90 Bottles). Estimating and rounding for the various differences of product availability I am spending about $400.00 a month, just in Pedilayte+. I have told both the doctors, the nutritionist and pharmacy for TPN that I am still have issues with extreme thirst. Nothing has changed in 2 months since my TPN volume was increased from 2400 ml to 3000 ml.

To address this absurd cost which could be a care payment, I have decided to switch from buying cases with premixed bottles to all packets, as seen in the photos below.

Someone who has still to claim the gracious gift ordered blender bottles, so I don’t have to worry about any settling and full mixture of the powder with water.

The 80 packets can be found on Amazon for $105.00 wind up making 40 bottles which is roughly a case and a half. The savings of switching to packets only, is well over 50%, compared to premixed solutions, with a monthly total of only $210. 40 Servings X 2 = 80 servings for $210.00 vs. an average $400.00/month.  However, this doesn't always work as some days 6 or 7 packets are used, others 10 or 11.  So still averaging about $300/month if not more.