Reflux.....me again

[Smellybears]

Sorry it’s me again with this damn reflux
Little one now on omeprazole tablets, losec mups, started Friday. He has 5mg in the morning and 5mg evening. Doctor said to either give full 10mg in the evening or split the dose. He had the liquid split which is why I thought to split the tablet dose as well? He was on the suspension but it was horrendous getting him to take it and ended up choking on Thursday night.
He’s been waking himself every half hour tonight since 8pm and I don’t know what to do flailing his arms, arching back and grunting. This is obviously keeping me awake too. I can’t remember the last time I had more than three hours sleep and I’m now struggling. He’s 12 weeks old and loads of people have said it should start getting easier soon.
Ranitidine and gaviscon don’t do anything for him. Although I’ve been told to carry on with the gaviscon so I am. He’s on neocate milk for cmpa.
Currently have him over my shoulder after a bottle.
Thank you in advance for any replies

Do you have private health insurance ? Can you go see a paediatrician ?

No I haven’t

Ok try to get a referral to one from the gp

A lot of babies that can't have diary also can't have soya

Also the liquid tastes awful so it might be a struggle getting it in.

Sorry, last point... omeprazole doesn't work for everyone. You might need to go onto domperidone.

The hospital refused to give domperidone as the negative side effects are greater than the positives.
He hated the taste of the liquid, tasted like seawaterthats why I’m trying to get it flavoured. Ran round a few pharmacies yesterday but they weren’t willing to phone the supplier to find out flavour until I had a script

I second considering cmpa and discuss with gp/dietician an alternative formula (and dairy free diet yourself if bf) x

He’s on neocate for cmpa. Feeding nurse yesterday said she doesn’t want to change his formula again as they are all quite similar and she doesn’t want to keep changing things with him. I’m seeing her next week anyway

I'm sorry you are stuck in reflux hell. I've been there twice, and did somehow survive. Persevere with the reflux meds. It takes time to find the right combo.

But if he is in pain, it's ok to give paracetamol. If you find he sleeps much better, then you have proof that the pain isn't being managed and you need another med review.

I'd stick with neocate - best option by the sounds of it.

One thing that also helped my 2nd was sleeping on her tummy. That way when she refluxed, it just drained out her mouth, rather than choking her. I washed a lot of sleeps, but did get more sleep. An under
mattress sensor give me peace of mind.

Hang in there.

If you're not on the Facebook group for reflux, join it - you'll get great advice there too. I used ranitidine and omeprazole together, I found ranitidine worked better though as long it was the top dose (I think 3mg/kg, it's been a while though). And dissolve the omeprazole tablet in 3ml of water in a calpol syringe and then give it, sucking up extra water a few times until all the balls are gone.

Acorncat he was on highest dose of ranitidine allowed and now his specialist won’t allow ranitidine and omeprazole together. I’ve found dissolving the tablet in water makes him sick so I can’t get a dose in him. He’s better with it as a paste.

Cartoons thank you for your advice! He went to sleep on my chest for an hour last night then I managed to put him back down.
To be honest maybe I’m being impatient and need to give time for the omeprazole tablets to work? The liquid worked immediately so I was expecting the same results!

Hi OP just starting my second lot of possible reflux. With my first they gave me lansoprazole and that worked brilliantly, it's more expensive than omeprazole but it has less side effects. If the omeprazole doesn't work after a week (ours took 4 days) perhaps try asking for the lansoprazole? I have to say that even once that got sorted we still didn't get much sleep til nearly a year - but I was BF.

Feel your pain, my newest addition is 2 weeks old and sleeping on my chest as putting her down just causes her pain

He was on the liquid for a week and been on the tablets for a week. Thank you for the lansoprszole suggestion, I’ll ask the gp if we can give that a try!!
Oh no way, such a shame about your new little one with reflux. Congratulations and hopefully you can get baby sorted ASAP!!

Two of my grandchildren (cousins) were reflux babies.one outgrew it at 9 months, he's now 7.
The little one is one year and is now well settled.
What sorted the issue was the parents not giving up. They tortured the gp so don't feel bad about keeping on at the doc.They saw a paediatrician. The gp wouldn't prescribe the non dairy milk, he said it wasn't necessary and was too expensive.

They didn't have private healthcare but bit the bullet and paid for a private appt with another paediatrician for a second opinion. This is what our other DIL did with success. They phoned him directly without a referral. The second opinion Dr prescribed the requested milk and instructed the gp on this, and also arranged for tests and scans to rule out other possibilities. These tests and scans were done on the NHS. Just the private appt was paid for.

All of these came back clear. The gaviscon caused more problems than it solved.also the omeprazole. When the milk was sorted the tummy meds weren't needed. It all went on for about 6 months until they got the private second opinion.

Ooops. Posted too soon.
The point I'm making is that you can probably self refer to be private board for second opinion (if you've already seen a paed) and pay for the one off appointment. I think it was about £250.

Also, I think initially the private board prescribed a special tummy med thatched to be made up in Scotland and worked wonders. When the second prescription was ordered via the gp , the go write the script for omeprazole!! DIL contacted the private board and he in turn spoke to the gp. Go then have the script for the special tummy med. I understand it was very expensive but DIL stood her ground.

Private board = private paediatrician
Go = gp
thatched = that had

Thank you!