Omeprazol experiences -concerned FTM :(

[Clairep1988]

Hi all,
FTM and worrier extrodinaire here!
My DS was born 30+2 after a spontaneous labour and stayed in NICU for 38 days.
Since discharge, he has continued to pile on the pounds - initially he was fed EBM, and then slowly mixing with Nutriprem 2 until it was eventually all formula due to dwindling supply. He's always been a bit of a 'sicky' baby but since introducing more formula his reflux has grown steadily worse. We have tried carobel and Gaviscon which sadly didn't work. Last Friday we were prescribed omeprazol (apparently there's an ingredients issue with ranitidine so this wasn't an option). He is 4kg and advised to take 3ml dissolved in water once a day. Having heard many positive reviews, I was really pinning my hopes on this sorting him out. Well he's been on the medication a few days and it seems to be making him
Worse!! He's vomited countless times today, varying in quantity from a dribble to a full on projectile, he squirms and cries out in pain. His poops have gone almost like a green tinge and has a foul smell. I have read that it can take a few weeks for omeprazol to work, but I wanted to know if any of you have had any experiences on these meds? Is it correct that it takes a few weeks to kick in? Does it get worse before it gets better ? i really don't know how I can cope with 2 weeks of this.
I'm also thinking he could potentially have some sort of allergy as well. Anyone had experience of reflux and then it turns out to be a cows milk allergy too?
I just want this all sorted for him as hate seeing him in such pain. It's really stopping me enjoying the time we have together as I'm just so worried it's something more serious, especially considering his start in life.
Thanks in advance x

I would contact GP/hospital & ask as it certainly doesn’t sound right to me. Good luck

My LO is 10 months now. Diagnosed severe reflux and cmpa.

We moved from zantac and nutramigen to omeprazole and alfamino at 6 months, which was what finally stopped the vomit. It took about 3 weeks to kick in, not sure it got worse though, just no better, until it kicked in. We were actually advised to stop the omeprazole last week to test whether he still needs it, and a few days later the tide of vomit was overwhelming. He's back on it now, but waiting for it to kick in again.

Green poop is normal on non dairy milks or when changing meds. But hey baby checked if you're worried.

I fully understand the crippling anxiety. I didnt enjoy my time with LO until we got his issues under control and he started willingly drinking at 8 months (he only drank asleep from 6 weeks-8 months due to the pain and anxiety and such). Good luck.

Sorry you've have had such a difficult start. Great regarding the good weight gain, is no mean feat so well done! We moved onto omeprazole at approx 6months after the ranitidine recall issues, with about a 2 week gap of no meds where we checked to see if the reflux had resolved ( it hadn't), I would say it then took 1.5-2weeks on omeprazole to get discomfort levels back to where it had been with the ranitidine. With both medications, for us the vomitting doesn't/didn't stop, although some days are better than others - it's more getting the discomfort manageable and so having a happier baby. We bf but have found a bottle of anti reflux formula in the evening helps as well, not sure if you are on regular formula now and could give that a try (although should be similar effect to the carobel I suppose).
However, you are describing the pain element getting worse on starting the treatment, we didn't have that, and we had no changes in poos that I noticed when switching either. May be worth checking with Dr. As you say it could be he also has an allergy like cmpa. Only way to tell is elimination of milk from diet for a few weeks but then you won't know if lack of cow's milk or introduction of omeprazole is helping...
It is all really tough going and agree it is hard to enjoy them whilst they are in pain and you're constantly worried about them (and we didn't have the added problems you faced with early arrival, so I can only imagine). Hoping you see something improvement shortly

@liland we need to try stopping in the new year to see if has resolved too, I know it will initially get worse regardless, not looking forward to that ☹️ Your situation sounds much worse than ours though with the feeding though, good luck to you as well.

Thanks so much for the replies - I really appreciate it!
@5tarlight / @Lilandnice it's nice to actually hear people who've been through it ( my partner thinks I'm way over the top, but I guess that comes with the teritory of having a preemie!)
From what it sounds like, I think we need to ride it out a few more days to see if his discomfort improves. I think yesterday was a particularly bad day, but has stablised since then - sure, he's still vomiting but not as much. I just need to remember there will always be good days and bad days with being a mum!
I really do hope this discomfort improves - I can literally set my watch at the exact moments he will vomit (2hours after feed). If he's lying down, He'll thrash for a while and then throw up, then settle again.
For his milk, he is supposed to be on nutriprem for the first 6months however I am definitely going to Persue the allergy tests and review milk options afterwards - probably after we've given the omeprazol a good go!
Really hope it improves for him. It's really frustrating that reflux is just passed off as 'one of those things' and health professionals aren't really interested if their gaining weight.. you wouldn't expect an adult to deal with similar so definitely not for a tiny baby! X

Woops, I meant to tag @Liland on the previous post to say it's nice to hear from people who've actually been through similar

@5tarlight Good luck with the withdrawal - it's got to be done every so often, but it's not fun (on my third load of washing this morning :( ) Ours didn't stop vomiting on the zantac but it took his pain away, which is why I think we stuck with it for so long.

@Clairep1988 definitely keep an eye on the pain levels, if it gets worse, that's not normal. With any luck the pain will reduce over the next 2 weeks, although I know the vomiting doens't for everyone. It feels like an age when they're that small and helpless. But it's important to change only 1 thing a time too - we're currently adding dairy back into LO's diet very very slowly, but had to pause while we did this omeprazole test business so we could tell what the problem was.

Most babies don't have allergy tests, they do it via elimination. You could start removing dairy from your diet, I think it takes a full 6 weeks to leave your system. But I'd give the omeprazole at least 7-10 days to see if it starts to kick in first.