Omeprazole or Ranitidine, thoughts?

[Newbiemumsy66]

My 7 week old had really awful reflux and we have been prescribed gaviscon. To be honest it has done sweet FA and if anything has given constipation too so he is in excruciating pain at both ends. We have the GP check up tomorrow and he is pretty easy going when prescribing meds so I know if we push for something else he will give it. I just wanted to know what people’s experiences were with both drugs as I don’t know what to go with.

Just to clarify the reflux is horrendous, I can’t put him down for 5 minutes and have tried every trick in the book! I’ve been consistent with all the things too but nothing sticks. The only thing that works temporarily is lightly bouncing in a Swiss ball whilst holding him, but my fitness isn’t up to doing that for hours on end and I can’t sleep at the same time

The ranitidine that has been withdrawn was by one manufacturer, all other brands are fine

We have not been able to get ranitidine at all, and the gp
and pharmacist said all ranitidine had been recalled IcaMorgan

Hi my baby has just started with omperazole because of the ranitidine recall. Any advice on how to make it up? We are crushing it down then mixing with water and putting in a syringe. But not working that well she doesn’t get all of it and such a faff
My daughters Omeprazole is made up into a syrup like Calpol with a raspberry flavour by a compounding pharmacy. The GP prescribes it on a normal NHS script, then the pharmacy sends it to a compounding pharmacy. It takes a few days to come back, but much much better than trying to dissolve the bloody stupid losec!!

She was on ranitidine as well, but I weaned her off because of the cancer scare. The GP sent the script anyway, message didn’t get through that we’d stopped & the chemist said they couldn’t get it.

You might have tried this already, but have you tried a wedgehog? It’s a wedge shaped cushion/mattress you put in the cot so the baby can sleep with an elevated head/upper body. wedgehog.co.uk/

We have never (in 9 years) been able to get liquid omeprazole or lansoprazole.

Thank you. I really wish we could get the syrup too she took ranitidine no problem as no faff. My paediatrician said it was very hard to come by someone waited a week for it and only the hospital pharmacy had it which isn’t local for me. I may go in an ask my local pharmacist on Monday. Thanks for your reply 🥰

Please don't crush the tablet! It effects how effective it is and thete are warnings saying not to crush. It's easy to do once you get the knack.

We had lansoprazole, but same principle. Get a Calpol syringe, pull the plunger out, snap the tablet in half and pop it in, then replace the plunger. Draw up a full syringe of water (very slightly warm is good). Then turn the syringe upside down so the tablets falls through the water to the bottom, dissolving as it goes. Repeat a few times until dissolved (you'll see little round beads).

Point the end where the liquid comes out of the syring up in the air so all the beads fall on top of the plunger. With a bit of kitchen roll over the end, slowly squeeze the plunger to get rid of the water/carrier tablet, but keep the beads in the syringe. You can then squirt the beads directly into the mouth or onto a spoonful of pureed fruit (we did this as my son was only very young) to give. Hope that helps

We had to fight for the right medication. They normally do gaviscon, then ranitdine and then omeprazole and if that doesn’t work they try special milk such as neocate for cows milk protein intolerance (CMPA). Our doctor refused to prescribe ranitdine so we went for omeprazole and after some back and forth we got it. We have to keep an eye on his weight to up the dosage when needed but he is nearly 4 months so will ask the paediatrician when we see them this week whether we should try him off it. As some babies will grow out of it if it is just an immature gut.

Ranitdine is also weight sensitive so again keep an eye on weight if little one goes on it. Ranitdine has been recalled though- well some types of it. It is also different. Omeprazole is a acid inhibitor.

As for the fact your little one is gaining weight. I would go back again. My DS has silent reflux so doesn’t be sick often. But he was in so much discomfort and would gag in his sleep which we very frightening. It took a few week to see the full benefit of it but he’s much better.

We also use aptimil anti reflux milk so if you bottle feed you could try that. The milk is thicker to keep it down. But don’t use gaviscon with it which does the same thing. If breast feeding try to cut out dairy and see if it helps.

Personally I wouldn’t jump straight to an allergy. Whilst reflux is a sign of intolerance or CMPA it could just be baby has an immature gut. I’m fairly sure my son does not have an allergy.

Lastly if you are on FB there is a support group called babies with reflux and silent reflux. Have found it very useful !

Sending hugs. It’s really hard to go through xx

Just saw about crushing tablets. There is a suspension version that’s liquid. I give it with a syringe and it’s very simple. Ask for that!!

Also have you checked little one for tongue tie? My son has one which has been cut. And it seems on the reflux support group I just mentioned a lot of babies with reflux have a tongue tie ! Xx

The way we do it now with lansoprazole is to dissolve the tablet in a tiny amount of water until it is soft. Then we mix it with chocolate spread...it is not ideal but it is the only way we can get ds to take it and his gastroenterologist said it is ok to do this.

DS was on the ranitidine for ages, it didn't really do much tbh and he hated taking it.

We ended up finally seeing a consultant paediatric gastroenterologist who proscribed lansoprazole which was amazing. The consultant pointed out that the ranitidine had 8% alcohol, tasted rancid and in his option the side effects were far worse.

The lansoprazole is a tablet, one half twice a day. I just mixed it with some breastmilk and gave it to him on a spoon. One other thing to consider is that it can cause insomnia, DS dropped one night feed after we stopped giving it to him.

Everyone with babies experiencing reflux should look up "nat phos" it is a completely natural tissue salt that app newborns can lack in their stomachs when they are born. Been giving it to my son who is 8 weeks for a week now and hes gone from being sick after every feed screaming all day to being sick about 3 times and it's not as harsh as medicines prescribed . Also a good probiotic.. cutting out dairy and too many carbohydrates. Not sure how much that has helped though as was doing that before I tried the nat phos and he was still being sick and screaming

DD was a preemie with awful reflux. Nothing really worked for her. She kept losing weight and was admitted several times. Thankfully when she got to around 8 months she found a love of food and we haven’t really looked back since. It’s tough, but in a few months it’ll all seem like something out of nothing (and they’ll have another medical issue you are hounding the GP about... I’m looking at you eczema!)

Record the baby crying with reflux so your go can hear it. There’s crying and then there’s crying.
Omeprazole every time ( if you can get it). It’s more effective . They start everyone out on ranitidine.

Did Gaviscon, followed by ranitidine, followed by omeprazole. Omeprazole was what worked. Go straight for that IMHO, as any delay only leads to further aggravation of the oesophagus.

Be prepared to ween early- 4 months rather than 6.

Both of my children have been through Ranitidine, Omeprazole & Lansaprazole but to limited effect. I understand that Ranitidine has an anti-histamine element whereas the others do not. Given the carcinogen scare I wouldn't go back to Ranitidine. I am also concerned by the 'zoles' prohibit some vitamin absorption - they are long-term users. Does your LO have eczema too? Do you are dp have gastero issues? Any other health issues? That may provide some clues as to why/how. Dairy, even through your milk, can be problematic for either the lactose or a specific protein and as pp stated this extends to soy too as the infant body can't differentiate. A sling was helpful for me, kept the baby in an upright position too. Really hope you get somewhere with this, I know it is horrendous.

Ranitidine worked brilliantly for my DD who had silent reflux. Still a Velcro baby who loved frequent feeds but much happier. I also used Boots own brand gripe mixture which was like magic.

Our GP was great although we also had a consultant briefly as she was borderline failure to thrive (breastfeeding issues after a stay in neonatal). We briefly tried gaviscon but it made her constipated and upset. Also domperidone which made her very gassy. I tried Fenugreek to help milk supply and that gave me (and I suspect DD) stomach pains.

I do wish I had ignored consultant who told me it definitely wasn’t cmpa and had tried cutting out dairy. I suspect she was intolerant, even if not truly allergic.

DD is nearly 5 now. We stopped all medication around 15 months as she had grown out the silent reflux.

Ive been on Ranitidine for over 20 years. My acid reflux makes me feel like my oesophagus is on fire. I was told it was my weight I lost 10 stone. Which obvs helped in other ways health wise (apart from gallstones which had to be sorted which ive documented on here a few times) Losing weight did NOTHING for the reflux though. My GP surgery stopped my Zantac with no warning last year. Not because of this new revelation. Its a habit VC seem to have with their prescriptions.

So i started buying it . But now cant get it anywhere. I understand why but this is a horrible thing to have to put up with. I cant face dealing with my surgery because they are a fucking shambles.

www.gov.uk/government/news/ranitidine-mhra-drug-alert-issued-for-teva-uk-recall

Sorry if this has been posted before. And even more sorry your LO is going through this. So did mine and nothing worked. The first 7 months of my baby's life were a nightmare- all he did was scream. I'm convinced it led to my PND. Hang in there OP, they do grow out of it.

Everyone with a reflux baby should try "nat phos" it's a homeopathic remedy that I have used to 2 of my children with severe reflux and it has changed my life. All completely safe. Research it is amazing xx