Reflux and omeprazole - unsure whether to continue

[user1473940075]

Hi there, my DD is 6 weeks old and has been on omeprazole for the past 5 days. She had had increasingly bad reflux, and it had got to the point where she was spitting up (sometimes a lot) multiple times a day, arching her back, often very upset during/after feeds, and just seemed quite uncomfortable. That said, it wasn’t consistently bad, she was generally a good sleeper at night, and she’s gaining weight well. I’m now second guessing whether her reflux was truly bad enough, having read about how difficult it is to wean them off (acid battle), how long she’d likely need to be on the medication, and certain (rare) side effects.. Would be interested to get people’s thoughts and experiences. It does sadden me that our little baby is on medication but maybe it’s worth it.. thanks so much for responses in advance x

Can't help with the medication sorry but have they said what's causing the reflux? Maybe CMPA?

My daughter is nearly 4 and has been on omperazole since she was about 8 weeks. I would give it a bit more time. My daughter has particularly stubborn reflux and no effect from the omperazole until she was on the 3mg/kg dose. Her reflux is now managed with 40mg omperazole (20mg twice a day), gaviscon and domperidone

She also has food allergies which make her reflux worse and to get on top of her reflux i had to remove a lot of foods from my diet.

@CadyEastman no we don’t know what’s causing it.. We haven’t had her checked for CMPA but I might look into it. If I needed to cut dairy out I’d rather do that over the medication if at all possible!

@Superscientist poor little bub - but sounds like it’s really helping you. I went to a feeding drop in today and they thought I should continue with it. Sounds like it’s a v safe medication - it must be if your daughter has been on it for such a long time x

@user1473940075 was the link of any use?

@CadyEastman oh sorry i hadn’t clocked that there was a link - yes that’s helpful, thank you. I’m seeing the health visitor next week so will ask about getting baby tested - though sounds like I may have to eliminate from my diet to really know, which I’m willing to do - sounds like it could take a while to see whether that works though. 6 weeks a long time! 🥴

Our DD (10 now) had severe reflux. She was on domperidone,ranitidine and cefalexin.
It turned out both my DH and I had had reflux as babies.
We switched to an anti reflux formula on the advice of our HV and pedi Doc.
It was an almost miraculous recovery.
She was hospitalised at one point because they thought she might have meningitis because she was failing to thrive and in so much discomfort.
It was through Mumsnet that I found out what it might be and pushed for the diagnosis.
After a spinal tap to check for meningitis ( 12 weeks old) she got the medication.
I really feel for you . It was so exhausting and upsetting to see our DD in so much distress.
I hope your DD recovers soon.

We saw a difference in my daughter with in a week of cutting out dairy and soya. She has 20 food allergies in total and she was 14 months by the time we identified all of them. It did take a few weeks to see a good improvement when removing a food but within a week we could see if we were going in a positive direction. She has delayed allergies and there could be 3 days between me eating a food and her having symptoms but often I could tell in 24-36h as her reflux would be bad and her feeding aversion would return. She was also harder to keep occupied when she was reacting. It is probably worth starting a food diary and detailing everything about their day to see if there are trends. If you do decide to stop dairy for the first few weeks don't use soya dairy or meat substitutes. Half of babies react to both so it can make it look that going dairy free isn't helping if you increase soya at the same time. At first you don't need to remove all soya just avoid things with high levels of soya. I did both as the food diary I was keeping before going dairy free showed a very strong correlation between her symptoms and me eating soya meat replacements

There are no tests for delayed allergies and tests for immediate allergies aren't reliable in small people. Delayed allergies give gut symptoms and immediate allergies symptoms you would more commonly associate with allergies

Are you BFing then @user1473940075?

Have you read this about food sensitivities from Kellymom?

Has LO been checked for Tongue Tie? This can cause babies to be unsettled and gassy.

Have you spoken to a BFC on one of the helplines?

Are you going to any BFing Groups? There is often support there

@ladymalfoy45 oh gosh poor you and your DD. That sounds so scary! So glad it got sorted in the end.

@Superscientist thats really helpful thank you. I might try eliminating dairy and see how we go, though it might be unclear whether it’s the omeprazole kicking in (I do feel it’s now really helping) or eliminating dairy from my diet.. can’t hurt though, and perhaps when we try to wean her off the meds it’ll be easier / a smoother transition if her problems are actually stemming from an allergy/ intolerance.

@CadyEastman yes BF - if I was formula feeding I guess it might be slightly easier because she could go on an anti reflux formula, but I do love BF and think she does too - ideally would continue. Thanks also for the kellymom link - v helpful. I’m increasingly thinking I might as well cut out dairy and it wouldn’t bother me anyway. Yes we actually went to a feeding support group yesterday - they said no obvious signs of tongue tie, but DD did tick enough criteria for them to refer her (dribbling while feeding, latches on and off sometimes, occasional clicking) so we’ll have an appointment (I think not for a few weeks) and see. If it turns out to be a dairy allergy and/or tongue tie that can be easily fixed, I’d rather that over months of medication..

Clicking is often a classic sign of TT. It might be worth having a Tongue Tie Practitioner look at her