No Ranitidine! What's an alternative?!

[DontBiteTheBoobThatFeedsYou]

That's not Omeprazole?? That makes his reflux worse.

12 month old DS still suffers with reflux and Ranitadine is a life saver. He wakes every 10-15 mins otherwise. All night long. It's horrific.

Omeprazole massively made it worse.

Gaviscon did nothing.

Help!

@CatherineOfAragonsPrayerBook I had a total vagotomy when I had my stomach and duodenum removed. Pretty drastic!

Nexium is just another PPI, esomeprazole.

@Walnutwhipster, if you were meaning sucralfate that is also unavailable. I have a relative was on that after all others failed to work and it now cannot be sourced anywhere

@scousadelic yes. I don't need it now but wow, there must be a lot of suffering going on. Why has this all happened? I had it prescribed last year.

@Walnutwhipster, I was told that it is a combination of things. Changes to regulations in the chemical plants in China where many drugs and raw materials are made, EU legislation regarding fake medicines which required repackaging and new technology, some stockpiling and the things that can happen any time like the possible contaminant in ranitidine (other drugs are now being implicated in that too) and one of the HRT brands being withdrawn for reformulation which causes more pressure on the drugs that remain

Change in diet? Referral to a nutritionalist?
...Certain foods may be causing acid reflux, depending on your infant's age. For example, citrus fruits and tomato products increase acid production in the stomach. Foods like chocolate, peppermint, and high-fat foods can keep the LES open longer, causing the contents of the stomach to reflux.
From healthline.

Change of diet won't work. He had it when he was on breast milk alone.
Then for 3 months I lived in chicken and vegetables and bugger all else. Whilst it was excellent for losing all the baby weight, it unfortunately did bigger all in helping with his reflux. 😭
Weaning him made no difference.
The one thing that helped immeasurably was Ranitadine.

Have you tried other pharmacies? It's only certain dates/ batch numbers that have been recalled. Smaller independent pharmacies might be more likely to have some as they sometimes have different suppliers to the nig chains.

*Big chains, FFS

@Walnutwhipster

Thanks for replying. It does sound drastic, but I hope it resulted in things being better overall for you physically. You must have been very ill x

I hadn't even thought of trying any others. I will make some calls, thank you!

I also get on much better with Lanzoparazole than Omeprazole

It's always worth trying other pharmacies, often independent ones rather than Boots/Lloyds/supermarkets.

Whenever there is a mass shortage of something in my specialty you can guarantee that one local pharmacist will have gone the extra mile and sourced some when chains reliant on standard suppliers are just saying 'Computer says no'.

I was advised to use Gaviscon Advance rather than standard Gaviscon, and it's really good.

I found Omeprazole a bit iffy, but Rabeprazole suits me.

Go back to your GP and ask for another alternative. You might have to try a few, but there are lots to try.

Try without anything for a bit, kids change quick and can out grow the reflux, but until you try without the meds you don’t know that. Obviously if symptoms return then you will need a plan B. In which case I would ring around 10-15 pharmacies looking for ranitidine, use www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-pharmacy/ for phone numbers. Failing that I would ask the GP to prescribe lansoprazole instead.

The recall affects many manufacturers and relates to all stocks of many ranitidine products. Here are links to the two Zantac ones.

www.gov.uk/drug-device-alerts/class-2-medicines-recall-zantac-75-relief-tablets-zantac-75-tablets-galpharm-indigestion-relief-75mg-tablets-boots-heartburn-indigestion-relief-75mg-tablets-kirkland-indigestion-relief-75mg-tablets-morrisons-indigestion-heartburn-

www.gov.uk/drug-device-alerts/class-2-medicines-recall-zantac-injection-50mg-2ml-zantac-syrup-150mg-10ml-zantac-tablets-150mg-zantac-tablets-300mg-el-19-a-24

Whenever there is a mass shortage of something in my specialty you can guarantee that one local pharmacist will have gone the extra mile and sourced some when chains reliant on standard suppliers are just saying 'Computer says no'

True, but in this case it’s the MHRA who are saying no.

The pharmacy near me is a non chain independent and had plenty of Zantac a few days ago. There are around 4 independent pharmas where I live. Definitely try a non-chain.

As far as I am aware all ranitidine has been recalled. Pharmacies must not sell recalled stocks.

OP I'm sending you a PM

My 8 month old was on ranitidine until it was recalled so he's now been prescribed lansoprazole by our consultant. It's slightly more faffy (you have put a tablet in water to dissolve it and then draw up the right amount). I don't think it's quite as good as ranitidine but DS is definitely better on it, than off it.

Also, I should have said that we use the lansoprazole in conjunction with infant gaviscon.

I was under the impression that ranitidine was not available at all any more. My 14mo has been prescribed omeprazole now which is a bit of a faff but only need a to be taken once a day. I don't think it's as good as ranitidine though.
May I ask how long your son was on omeprazole for? I only ask because it took about a month for it to start working well with my child, I was close to giving up and begging the doctor for something different but it seems to be ok now. I hope you find something suitable. Seeing them in so much pain is just horrid.

There is still a surprising amount of non-recalled ranitidine in the supply chain, although less for the oral solution. It is definitely worth patients ringing around, but in truth it is over prescribed and lots of patients no longer need to be on it.

I'm sure you've tried these, but the over-the-counter options that I found good were Infacol and Colief. That said, DS2 ended up on Omeprazole.