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Original poster

Omeprazole: advice and experiences?

24 replies

pleasantlyoutofdepth · 28/01/2011 09:33

Hi there,

My ds is on ranitidine for reflux. We just tried him on domperidone too but it really disagreed with him (anyone else found domperidone a bit rocky?)

We are thinking of persuing Omeprazole. A
My help or advice would be much appreciated. :)

OP posts:

Hk13 · 28/01/2011 10:09

Hi,
My ds had reflux as a baby and (if memory serves me correctly, it was 2 years ago!) we progressed to omeprazole which worked wonders. It's a bit fiddly to prepare (ours came
In tablet form which had to be dissolved in an exact amount of water and then a percentage of that solution had to be given, sounds worse than it is, honest!).
It allowed him to get some much needed rest and became a happier baby because of it. We were hesitant to go down the drug route initially but things got so bad that we had no choice.also, I know it's not recommended in normal circumstances, but we gave him a pillow quite early on and raised the head end of his cot which helped too. The consultant said this was fine.
I hope things get better soon and it will resolve itself eventually, it just takes time.

OvertiredAndShowingOff · 28/01/2011 10:44

Omeprazole did nothing for us after a couple of days I'm afraid, and getting her to take it was a nightmare. We had great success sticking with Ranitidine and also using Carobel. It's great, easy to use (although much easier if you FF), but beware the bright yellow squits!

SlightlyDoolally · 28/01/2011 13:18

My DS had reflux and was on ranitidine from about 5 months to about a year. We tried omeprazole first for about a week to establish it was reflux (no hassle taking it, was in liquid form so used a syringe), but then our GP suggested trying ranitidine instead. The reason for this was that omeprazole is a more serious drug than ranitidine (I'm no doctor, but I think it actually changes what acid the body produces rather than just helping the body to deal with the acid that is being produced).

All this is a roundabout way of saying that if you don't need to try Omeprazole (and you don't mention why you want to swap from Ranitidine), then you might want to stick with Ranitidine.

allbie · 28/01/2011 14:41

We used omeprazole for our son and it worked a treat.

OvertiredAndShowingOff · 29/01/2011 11:04

Doolally, you got Omeprazole in liquid form?!

After numerous trips to the GP and chemists we were repeatedly told it was only available in tablets that had to be crushed and then syringed in. It was always really gritty and DD hated it!

SlightlyDoolally · 29/01/2011 14:27

Overtired, yes, we did get it in liquid form but the pharmacist had to order it specially. I think it was very expensive, which is why we were quickly switched to ranitidine!

ready2pop · 30/01/2011 19:59

Omeprazole was a life-saver for us with DS1.

It doesn't work straight away - we were told by the consultant that it takes at least a month to really kick in but when it did our DS was so much happier and more settled.

We tried domperidone (adult's version of Motilium) and rantidine (child's version of zantac) but neither did anything apart from give him dreadful wind on top of everything else.

Motilium is supposed to work by stopping the vomiting whilst rantidine reduces stomach acid production so neither is guaranteed to work.

As it was explained to us, Omeprazole works by totally stopping stomach acid production which means that once it has become effective (which can take a month) the child can't possibly be caused pain by reflux anymore. It doesn't stop them being sick but it does stop it from burning which is what upsets them so much. In other words it always works.

We also got it in tablet form and dissolve it (you get the hang of it very quickly) but you can get it in suspension form although this is slightly less effective apparently.

Hope you get your DS sorted out soon. Reflux is miserable - for child and parent!

warthog · 30/01/2011 20:01

you CANNOT try omeprazole just for a couple of days. give it a couple of weeks at the bare minimum.

ready2pop · 30/01/2011 20:01

Oh - our consultant also said that she was so sure that Omeprazole was safe she'd happily let our son take it for the rest of his life. She promises us that there are no side effects at all.

This was a big concern for me as he was only 8 weeks old when he started on it.

twojumpingbeans · 30/01/2011 20:26

Hi there

We had what felt like loads and loads of medication for DD's reflux, we started with Gaviscon, moved to ranitidine, then domperidone, then finally to omeprazole. She is 3 now and completely cured and marvellous - it does get better!!

I remember though that once we started on a combination of Omeprazole, Domperidone and Infant Gaviscon life got sooooo much easier for all of us. We had it in a tablet form too which was a bit of a faff to start with but once we got used to it it worked wonders.

If it is any sort of comfort, believe me i know how stressful upsetting reflux can be, once DD was sitting, eating solids and getting the right medication she was completely settled and pain free. Nor was it too much hassle to gradually reduce her meds when the time was right.

I hope you get it sorted soon..

mumbar · 30/01/2011 20:49

As an adult who takes Omeprezole, IME this worked whereas Nizitidine and ranitidine don't for me.

IIRC Domperidone is a 'different' drug. It aids the digestive movement as oppossed to controlling the stomach acid.

angel1976 · 30/01/2011 20:52

Omeprazole does come in a liquid form but it has to be specially prepared and refrigerated, which is a real pain when it comes to going out and about! Didn't work for us too but Ranitidine did. I think it's one of those things, it's trial and error what works for your child.

angel1976 · 30/01/2011 20:53

And Omeprazole has a shelf life too. Two weeks in the fridge and it starts to get less effective so it was a pain all round!

OvertiredAndShowingOff · 31/01/2011 11:49

For us we had good results immediately but then that tailed off. We'd have persevered longer but administering it was such a hassle and made DD even more distressed.

I agree, it's trial and error. Do ask about Carobel, I know other people who've had good results with it.

fairimum · 31/01/2011 14:33

omeprazole is working great for us! :) DS is now 9 months and we just have the capsule and open them up and tip the little white grains into some apple puree! We were warned that the liquid comes out of suspension very easily and advised to only use as a last resort as the dose not guarenteed!

fairimum · 31/01/2011 14:34

also changing enfamil AR formula helped him alot too!

angel1976 · 31/01/2011 20:40

pleasantly Whereabouts are you? When DS2 was not well in France, they prescribed a small tin of Enfamil AR formula for him but we never opened it. If you want to pay for postage, I'm quite happy to send it to you to try out? It's a small tin (I think about 400 grammes). It's been sitting in my cupboard doing nothing!

Original poster

pleasantlyoutofdepth · 03/02/2011 14:35

Readytopop- my ds gets awful wind on ranitidine too (plus bad runs :( ) did Omeprazole not do the same? Would be great if not...

Angel: thank you so much for the kind offer :) we have a dr's appointment next week so will seek his council on the subject- will grab it off you if he thinks it'd be right for ds. Is it the thicker formula?

OP posts:

TejasGal · 03/04/2011 12:35

Could anyone who has successfully used the omeprazole tablet please advise me how to give it to my 10 week old baby? I tried dissolving it in cooled boiled water and administering via syringe but it just blocked the syringe and he vomited it back up quickly anyways. We also tried it in his formula but then he wouldn't take it. He is screaming in pain, and it makes me so sad that I can't seem to help him...

FanjoForTheMusic · 03/04/2011 12:48

Hi there,
I'm afraid it was unsuccessful for us because of the problems of administering it, DD wouldn't swallow it, too gritty.

How about trying a bigger syringe (still giving the same amount, but the bore of the syringe would be wider)?

Have you tried crushing the tablet first between two teaspoons? That gets rid of the biggest bits.

TejasGal · 03/04/2011 13:22

Thanks, Fanjo. We used a pestle & mortar to grind it down as fine as we could before dissolving it. I have not tried a bigger syringe yet - that is a good suggestion.

What did your DD move on to after omeprazole didn't work?

And what drug company thinks that pills for baby are a good idea?? Clearly they've never had a baby with reflux. :(

FanjoForTheMusic · 03/04/2011 14:32

Further up the thread someone did get a suspension version, but we weren't offered that.

Carobel worked for us, with Ranitidine. The amount of Ranitidine needed was a lot less than Omeprazole, and was liquid, so of course much easier to squirt in when DD was unawares! Carobel is a powder that you add to a feed immediately before the baby drinks it. A bit of a pain to carry out and about with you, but SO much easier than Omeprazole for us!

I'd think your GP would be open to the idea of Ranitidine, our HV said it's much cheaper than Omeprazole, and I think Carobel is cheaper still.

Best of luck, I remember how awful that time was.

hobnob57 · 04/04/2011 14:03

TejasGal we just cut the tablet, put in on a medicine spoon, added enough drops of water to dissolve it and then encouraged DD to take it off the spoon. She very soon got the hang of it (I'm amazed at how quickly babies accept new routine! However the previous ranitidine routine did not go down well becaue it tasted of mouthwash) and it was never a hassle. I think she had it from 12 weeks.

AdelaofBlois · 05/04/2011 14:12

Omeprazole was great for DS. GPS prescribe it as fiddly tablets, but ours was originally prescribed by a hospital paed in liquid form (DS admitted having stopped breathing), and this prescription was renewed by GPs. It is a 'special' order but once done once, you can get it again.

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