Omeprazole and Painful Wind

[FLI881]

Hi all,

My little girl is 7 weeks old tomorrow and has been on omeprazole for reflux since she was 2 weeks old. She can’t lie down for more than a few minutes without discomfort. She can settle after this but it’s only another few minutes before being uncomfortable again and after about 20 minutes she can’t manage with it anymore and gets really distressed. We have to hold her/have her in a sling all the time which is exhausting.

I really don’t think the omeprazole is working as she is still just as uncomfortable (maybe more so) and the dose has been increased once, but the biggest problem at the moment seems to be painful wind. She farts extremely frequently through the day and it is very sore for her (she lifts her legs up, squirms and cries). It’s really hard to see her uncomfortable and exhausting not being able to lay her down to sleep. I am wondering if the omeprazole is making the painful wind worse or if it’s the reflux.

I have cut dairy out of my diet and she has been prescribed aptimal pepti (combination fed so that I can get some sleep) and have been doing this for a week and a half. I know it takes longer to see if this helps but the paediatrician doesn’t think it’s a dairy intolerance (she told me to try it anyway).

I’m struggling to cope when my little one is in pain so often and it’s all very hard with little sleep. We’re thinking of stopping the omeprazole but worried that it may be helping a bit without me realising and it will make things even worse for her. Does anyone else have any experience of omeprazole making wind more painful? Did it get better when you stopped it?

Thanks.

I'm not sure I have much advice but it sounds like we have similar babies!
Mine has had painful wind pretty much since birth and been medicated for reflux since 5 weeks old (he's 10 weeks now) pediatrician also wasn't sure about CMPA as he has no rashes but I've cut it out anyway and I do think that helps him a bit. I think in his case the painful wind predated the omeprazole, but it hasn't helped it either.

It's very tough! The only thing keeping me sane at the moment is the knowledge that his older sister suffered a lot with wind as a baby and it resolved itself at around 12 weeks when her digestive system matured enough to deal with it. That and a bouncy chair that is keeping him tilted up a bit so he can be put down for periods, lifesaver.

Hang on in there!

Hi, I don't know if this is helpful but just posting for balance. One of my babies had moderate silent reflux and omeprazole helped him hugely without causing any wind. He was a bit older - 6 months - when he went on it but was very low weight.

Another of my children had terrible painful wind as a baby and as a child has some food allergies. He still gets terrible wind but as he is "thriving" (v healthy weight and height), we've never investigated further. I'm sorry your baby is in so much discomfort. Have you tried infacol? I think this can make the bubbles larger and so easier to pass.

(If you do stop the omeprazole as a trial, bear in mind it stays in the system, so working, for up to a week. When my ds had a 24 hr pH probe study, we had to stop omeprazole a week before the study.)

@SuperbOwls that’s great that your daughter’s wind got better at 12 weeks, hopefully it’s the same for your little boy. 12 weeks seems like a long way away for us at the moment but keeping everything crossed that things will be better by then.

@LatinforTelly so glad the omeprazole has worked for your little one. Hope the wind isn’t too uncomfortable for your boy. Yes we tried infacol before anything else but the GP said that could make reflux worse so stopped that quite early on.

Thanks for letting me know that it can take a week if we stop the omeprazole, I wasn’t aware. Did you stop the omeprazole completely straight away for the study or did you have to reduce it slowly?

Ds was OK on Omeperazole. Its a few years back but I do remember it seemed to take a lot of the pain away.

Go back to GP as it can take a long time to get the right balance for your child.

If you don't think its CMPI then it may be worth trying Carabel although I'm not sure how it works with Breastfeeding.

That was actually the game changer for my LO. The thicker milk (where I could control the thickness) really really helped him. You could try that with the Ompereazole as I think sometimes it's the thinness of the milk that a big problem.

Oh and like others have said, we weaned DS of the Omeperazole over a few weeks. Carobel allowed us to 1st stop Omerperazole and the we moved from Aptimil Pepti back on to normal formula.

But you do need to gradually reduce the doses.

@Wakeupin2022 I’ll mention Carobel to the GP, she’s going to call me the week after next. I spoke to a different GP the other day and they told me I didn’t need to reduce the omeprazole before stopping so we didn’t give a dose and my little girl was screaming in pain yesterday evening 😢. I quickly gave her the omeprazole after we realised it was the stomach acid and not the normal wind pains and she had some immediate relief so it must be working better than we thought. I now think we have two different problems and if the omeprazole is working and we can get the painful wind under control then we’ll be able to see more of our happy baby. I’m not sure if we should be giving her anything for wind alongside omeprazole though. It’s so tough not knowing how to help her.

My LG 7 weeks has reflux throws up after virtually every bottle. we kept her upright for 30mins pace fed etc you name it we tried it to no avail! She was in so much pain absolutely heartbreaking not knowing/ being able to help her. She was very windy too. Farts a lot! She’s currently taking 4oz a feed we put 1/2 scoop of carobel in her milk only been on it from today but my god what a difference she’s been sick twice! And only a small amount compared bringing what did seem like the whole bottle back up before. I’m hoping this carobel helps. She’s still fussy crying and a bit unsettled but nothing compared to usual. Very early days so I’m cautiously optimistic x

@Loucla that’s great news that carobel seems to be helping. Is she on any medication? Does she find the wind painful? We’ve started gripe water which does seem to help a bit, just can’t wait until she’s comfortable enough to sleep lying down and then I can maybe get some naps in during the day! X

@FLI881 nope no medication Carobel was first thing we tried and lucky so far seems to be really helping. Yes she does find the wind painful we know when she’s fussing that’s she’s got wind she’s not keen on being burped in any position really so bringing wind up is still a challenge and work in progress. We did try infacol which seemed to have some good effect in bringing the wind up. She also has colic unfortunately every evening around 7/8pm she getting particularly bad with the wind we call it the witching hour she’ll be really unsettled for a couple of hrs HV said this should settle by 12 weeks ish. Have you tried carobel? Maybe give it a try. My LG is a different baby she will now take day time naps in her Moses basket or sleepyhead and is currently sleeping from spring 10pm-3am wakes for a feed then back down up at around 6/6:30am which was nothing short of a miracle a few weeks ago! I hope your little one gets better soon. It really is horrendous! But it will get better. X

@Loucla that’s great news that your little one is sleeping so well. We haven’t tried carobel but she rarely has a bottle now, it’s mostly breastfeeding. She can sleep quite well over night but only on us still. Fingers crossed that things get better at 12 weeks!

This thread is really interesting. I'm taking omeprazole to protect my stomach from naproxen. Completely different end of the scale as I'm 50 (today!) and I've had horrendous wind since taking it but never made the connection before. Sorry that this doesn't help you OP but I sympathise with your LO. I hope things get better for the little mite soon.

Hi Op,

Just come across your post whilst looking for answers myself.

LB is 12 weeks old and we seem to be having the same problem as yourself.

He was diagnosed with silent reflux at 5 weeks. But since having the dosage upped he has been struggling with trapped wind and cries to pass it. Sometimes he screams for ages as he has so much excess wind. He wakes numerous times in the night crying.

We are now trialing milk for a potential CMPA as a couple weeks back he was crying in pain to poo, even though stools are loose. This has been going on since he had his first lots of jabs so I’m finding myself wondering wether it’s the rotavirus vaccine that’s causing it, but surely 3-4 weeks in, his belly should be ok?

He has always been unsettled but I’ve put it down to the reflux as feel he doesn’t have CMPA.

We are at the end of the second week trial of hypoallergenic formula and although initially it seemed it was working, he seems to be going back to being unsettled a lot. And the excess wind has never eased off along with the belly cramps everytime he needs a poo.

I will be speaking to GP on Monday to trial an amino acid formula. But my boy is barely drinking half of his feeds due to the hypoallergenic formula, so if there is any chance it’s the omeprazole causing this I would happily go back to normal formula.

Did you manage to get any answers? Like you I’m unsure on the effect omeprazole is having so worry how he will be if I take him off it.

Thanks for any advice.

@Runii I’m sorry your little one is having the same problem, it’s so difficult to see your baby uncomfortable.

I think you’re right, 3-4 weeks after the jabs I would expect symptoms to be better if linked to them. Hopefully your GP is helpful when you speak to them.

We tried to stop the omeprazole as we were convinced it was linked, but the pain from the stomach acid was far worse than the pain from the wind, so I was never sure if they were linked at all.

Has your boy been checked for tongue tie? My baby stopped putting on weight a little while after my post and they then found a posterior tongue tie. Since we had this divided her symptoms are so much better, she hardly gets any pains now. I’m really not sure if that’s due to the tongue tie division or whether she just grew out of it. She’s still on the omeprazole but we are going to try and wean her off soon. Since the painful wind subsided she is so much more settled at night and can now lie down for hours.

I’m sorry that I can’t offer any advice but she started to get much better at around 15 weeks so fingers crossed your little ones symptoms ease soon too. Hang in there, you’re doing so well getting through this and it will get better (coming from someone who felt like it never would).

Thank you for your reply. Yes honestly it feels like it never going to end. With him being on prescription formula I feel he isn’t gaining weight. Also wondering if I’m just imagining things and has it really improved any of his symptoms being on it. We trialed the formula same time he hit 12 weeks so wondering if it’s just that he’s grown a little so is more calmer.

Feel like I’m just going round in circles. He has been checked a few times for a tongue tie but not a posterior one. He struggles a lot on his bottles and chokes on his milk a lot so I will query that with HV next time so thank you.

I’m glad your little one is doing better. Really hope this will come to an end for us soon. Atm I feel like our baby will never be happy.