Reflux/omeprazole

[Needsomehope]

Looking for advice!

Our 10 week old has reflux, started around week 4/5 Initially was on gaviscon which worked but got really bad constipation, her stools were like marbles. We switched to omeprazole around week 7, which has solved the constipation but taken us backwards with reflux. She also is colicy so she is getting infacol since week 2/3 which helps with bringing her wind up.

Around week 8 we hit a real wall, not settling at all at night, omeprazole didn’t seem to be working as well as the gaviscon had, and she just would not settle at night- screaming for hours and hours. GP Thought it sounded more colicy so told us to stop the infacol and use gripe water when we needed to after a feed to settle her. We tried this though she just spat most of it out.

We stopped the infacol for a couple of days though she then had trouble with some trapped wind so we started it again. In desperation and after reading about colic we bought some colief to try aswell. After a couple of days she was much more settled (we haven’t used gripe water since), so she is now on 3ml of omeprazole (10mg tablet dissolved in 10ml of water), infacol and colief. This seemed to be working until a few days ago when she started being very fussy again during the day, she’s pretty much crying or sleeping now, being sick small amounts with every meal, and now today being very unsettled and fussy pre feeding.

We are at a total loss now as what to do as feel she is on all the tonics- she can’t possibly need them all, but knowing which is working and which isn’t when she’s going backwards is a worry. Also not sure whether she’s on a high enough dose of omeprazole and whether that would help?

Basicly looking for any experience/help as I’m tearing my hair out dodging between health visitor and GP and telephone appointments because of corona virus and just want my happy baby back :-(

Should say too she is exclusively breast milk, expressed, using dr browns bottles.

[Ihaveoflate]

Who prescribed the omeprazole? If it was the GP, you should really be pushing for a referral to the paediatrician. Did GP actually check your baby over physically?

My baby was on Lansoprazole, which was prescribed by the paediatrician at the hospital outpatient clinic (pre Covid). We waited about 6 weeks for the appointment (referred by GP).

I know you don't want to hear this, but babies do grow out of it in time as their digestive system develops. You are also at the point of peak crying and it usually begins to subside by 12 weeks. Colic really isn't about wind - it's just another way of saying 'crying for no apparent reason'. Some people call it purple crying.

I don't know your baby, so any advice I give may be useless. If you're not happy with the treatment from your GP, request a paeds referral and go from there. Good luck - I know how stressful it is living with a crying unsettled baby

[Needsomehope]

Omeprazole was prescribed over the phone by GP after I had discussed it with HV- GP has never seen baby which is really unsettling. I literally phoned and said HV thinks try this and she prescribed it, even HV has only seen baby twice and socially distanced, it’s horrible not having confidence in anything :(

[Ihaveoflate]

I am very surprised the GP prescribed that without seeing the baby first, but I'm sure they wouldn't do it if it wasn't safe.

It does sound like you are trying a lot of things all at once, which will make it difficult to determine what works. If Gaviscon worked, you can treat the constipation alongside it. Maybe that is something you could discuss with the doctor - go back to step 1 and treat the side effect.

[SierraOscar]

We had omerprazole (I know I've spelt it wrong) for DD from 10 weeks on. We had it in a liquid form and we syringed it in to her mouth. I can't remember the dose though.

Other things we had was gaviscon in her milk, which did make her a bit constipated. She had the omeperazole along side the gaviscon. We also held her up right for 20 mins after each feed and tilted up the head end of her Moses basket/ crib.

It got better as she got older, it lessened as she started to sit up. However once we introduced cows milk to her diet we discovered she had an intolerance to milk and I often wonder if that was the cause.

She was medication free by the age of 1 and now at the age of nearly 3 has been weened out of milk allergy following dietician advice.

Also I want to offer you some words of support, I've been there - it's bloody tough when you think your baby is broken. You and baby will get through it, keep pushing for more help. I was lucky to have a supportive doctor keep on at yours.

[Ihaveoflate]

Interestingly, I also realised my baby has a mild lactose intolerance when we weaned (week long bout of awful diarrhoea). Looking back, she probably was always slightly intolerant.

Like pp said, it does resolve in time. We weaned early and baby was off Gaviscon and Lansoprazole by 6 months. She was much more settled from about 3 or 4 months. It sounds like an awful long time now, but you will get through it.

[Russell19]

Hi OP, my baby was exactly the same. I was told that infacol is not good for reflux as it has citrus in it.
I think you should focus on the reflux and not the colic. Babies grow out of colic by about 12 weeks as their systems develop and sometimes the crying is due to the 4th trimester as someone has said. (Although you could try baby massage for wind if you look on youtube)
Is there a reason you are expressing to feed rather than from the breast? I just ask as I was thinking about tongue tie.
If I was you I'd stick to the reflux medication, my baby had ranitidine (but I believe that has been recalled) and the dosage was very dependent on weight. As soon as he put on weight the dosage needed upping. The other thing you could do is go back to the gaviscon but try to treat the constipation. Not sure if anyone has any ideas for the constipation though as I never experienced that.
I would ditch the infacol and colief though.

[Yorkiee]

Aptamil comfort saved us. LO had everything you mentioned after starting aptamil comfort she was very happy.

[LikeTheOceansWeRise]

Do you think your LO might have a dairy intolerance, could that be contributing to the reflux and wind? My little one had similar symptoms until I cut out dairy, soya, caffine and citrus fruits from my diet. She is still refluxy but not unsettled with it, whereas before she'd cry constantly as if she was in pain. I'm sure you've already considered that but worth a go if not!

[IdrisElbow]

Hi OP, I don't normally post on these kinds of things but thought I would share my experience. Have you had your baby checked properly, by someone who really knows what they are doing, for tongue tie?

My son (now 6) was on gaviscon and all sorts as a small baby (same age as yours) and diagnosed with reflux. He was such a puker, he would projectile puke. He also wasnt a great sleeper and seemed to be permanently hungry. I now think that he was tongue tied and this was stopping him from being able to properly feed. He must have been taking in quite a lot of air and struggling to really get to the good milk. I can now see very clearly that he is tongue tied. When he sticks his tongue out it is a clear heart shape. But not one of the medical professionals I saw at the time suggested it, it was always put down to reflux.

Anyway, thought I would suggest it as something to explore if you haven't already.

[Bol87]

Both my babies have had reflux & been on omeprazole. In my personal experience, if it’s reflux that’s upsetting your baba then omeprazole will be really good! I’ve never seen a consultant, it’s always been prescribed by my GP.

With DD1, we initially tried gaviscon to not much affect & then omeprazole which transformed her into a much happier baby! We kept on the Gaviscon as well and all was well. We were advised to wean early to try get her off all meds ASAP & it worked for us. We were off everything by 8 months. And no issues since.

DD2 is 13 weeks. By week 4, I knew she had reflux just like big sister. Party as DD2 was also a projectile vomiter as well as screaming in pain on feeds and shortly after. GP put her straight on omeprazole & within 3 days she was a happy, good natured baby! The change was even more noticeable with DD2! Our GP suggested we use a milk thickener called Carobel instead of Gaviscon this time to try avoid constipation. It’s worked a treat & she no longer spits up at all let alone projectiling across the room!

You do need to keep increasing omeprazole as they grow. We are on 6ml at the mo which was prescribed when she was 12lbs. My GP reviews it every 4 weeks with us.

Go back to your GP & check the omeprazole dose. I bet you can increase it. My DD started to get fussy & upset again before the latest increase we had.

Consider Carobel as an alternative to gaviscon. You can buy it on Amazon.

Finally, if colief has helped, there’s a potential your baby has a slight lactose intolerance. Do they have any other signs? Rashes? Bad poos?

[123annie]

Have you experienced any side effects from omeprazole? Our 8 week old DD was prescribed this for mild reflux (lots spitting up, unsettled, struggling to nap but no pain) after Gaviscon left her too constipated. This was after a phone consultation with GP, no one had actually seen her. Since 3 days she is now constantly rooting and crying hysterically when not on the breast. So am constantly feeding her. Might be just a growth spurt but none of the previous ones have been so extreme, so thought it might be from the medication? Am tempted to stop it but was told it might need a week or so to work.

[alwaystiredalwaysgrumpy]

Have a read about acid battle. That could be the reason.

[Sweetpea1989]

I could have written this post myself! We are on day 3 of the omeprazole and she has thrown up twice today, not massive amounts but more than I expected, how long will the meds take to kick in? It didn’t feel right giving our 4 week old drugs :(

[123annie]

Thanks for the tip, had a look at the acid battle so will give it a full 2 weeks then.

[Donnamumof3boys]

I’m having such a similar experience with my son. Isn’t it awful for them. He’s been on gaviscon, didn’t work, switched mills as he had a cows milk allergy, been on colief, infacol, and omoperazole. The omeprazole worked for a while but has started being sick again. I’ve spoke to doctor and he has increased the dose because my son has gained weight. Maybe worth a try. I’m hoping this helps.

[Scottishnewmum]

I have had the same experience. Know this is an old post but wanted to contribute for any future Googlers. We tried Omeprazole and it was a nightmare. Our baby became so upset, crying and shrieking in pain and at other times really fussy and unsettled. At first I put it down to the reflux, but then I thought maybe the Aptimil thickener had done it. But everyone kept telling me our baby had developed colic.

One terrible night, I went to our local hospital as they offer a service for parents of crying babies. You can spend the night in the hospital with your baby and the nurses will take the baby for s bit to give you a break. So I did that. While I was there, the paediatrician looked at my baby and stopped the Omeprazole. He said it is linked to neurological development issues and shouldn't be taken except in extreme cases. The next day, I looked it up and saw that severe stomach cramps were also a side effect, which my baby had seemed to have. The next day, I had a different baby. No more pain or screaming. Reflux is still a problem, but it's better than Omeprazole.

[Pinkyxx]

I'm honestly surprised the GP prescribed Omeprazole without seeing your child. Reflux can be pretty complicated to treat.. and is generally best done under the care of a specialist. My daughter had severe reflux, vomited literally everything she took in and had violent diarrhea. She screamed in pain night and day, it was just awful. Was referred to a Pediatric gastroenterologist at 7 weeks who diagnosed gastro-esophageal reflux disease. We'd tired ranitadine, gaviscon etc all to no avail. She was put on a combination of a higher dose of ranitadine & lansoprazole which eventually helped but dose was quite high, along with hypoallergenic formula. We weaned her at 17 weeks under the guidance of a dietician as even with the acid better she was still vomiting. Took steroids' in the end to get the inflammation under control. PPI (like omeprazole & lansoprazole) don't immediately relieve symptoms, it can take weeks as they aim to control the acid which allows the inflammation to calm. Won't necessarily stop the vomiting.. as I learnt the hard way. As far as I understood from the gastroenterologist, PPI aren't drugs normally given at a very young age save in extreme circumstances and only then under close supervision. Omeprazole was prescribed for DD years later by the same gastroenterologist when she was 10 and had a relapse.

May be worth asking for a referral to a specialist who knows what they are talking about and can treat in the best way for your baby's symptoms.

One tip I'll give you that doesn't require a doctor is stick a couple of books under the legs at the head end of your baby's cot so they are sleeping on a slope. Helps at night to reduce the flow of acid when lay lay down :-)