Omeprazole Advice

[ELW85]

DS has Solent reflux (7 weeks old) and we were prescribed Omeprazole after a few weeks of Gaviscon not working and a trip to A&E after he’d been screaming for hours.
We can hear him swallow and then cry in pain, and it’s awful. He’s not getting into a decent sleep because of it, so cat naps through the day.
My reservation is about how hard of a drug it is and if I really want to medicate him at this age.
No judgements for anyone who uses it, I’m just super nervous. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
I should point out he doesn’t cry all the time, but it definitely happens on a daily basis.
TIA

Hi, DS is 14 months and he was on omeprezole from maybe 2.5 months old after hell on earth trying to get his reflux sorted. It was a lifesaver. The way I look at it, if I’m in pain I medicate so why wouldn’t I do that for my baby. Plus DH is in omeprezole daily or his reflux so I was confident in its use.
It was a lifesaver and DS changed instantly.
We took him off it at Xmas on the advice of his paediatrician (he was prem so has a consultant) because we’d actually forgotten to give it to him a few times while on holiday, and he was fine. We probably could have stopped earlier once he’d started on solid food. So he was 9 months.

I would also add as per previous poster than I have seen the agony DH can be in with his reflux, it makes him vomit when he hasn’t taken his medication. It’s awful.

I find terminology such as “pumping him full of drugs” really unhelpful.

Of course it’s scary giving tiny babies medication but it’s not done without good reason and only where the benefits outweighs the risks. If he was diabetic you wouldn’t hesitate to give him insulin. If he had a heart condition you wouldn’t think twice giving him the medication he needed.

Try the omeprazole; it’s a game changer for most babies and very well tolerated with few, if any, side effects.

@copperoliver - thank you, that’s quite insightful.

@Sidge @Abouttimemum - of course I agree, if he needs it, it’s for the best. To be clear, my point was that DS appears to be on the milder side of symptoms, so gaining weight, not throwing up and only occasionally has a bad day in which he regurgitates something in his mouth that makes him cry.
On a daily basis, he coughs, and swallows reflux without crying. So on that basis, I was on the fence about medicating if he didn’t seem that bad regularly.
We ended up in A&E as he was swallowing and screaming; something of a rare occurrence.
Can you see why we’re conflicted?

I would suggest trying the medication. DS wasn't medicated until too late and he became very averse to feeding because of the pain. When we tried to wean he was the same with food - learnt behaviour - and even now doesn't like to eat and has trouble with his weight. I think there's a danger that your desire not to use well-known medicine could have unintended long term consequences.

I’ve been on Omeprazole since I was 18 and I’m 30 now, had no side effects what so ever. If he needs the medicine, which he does as medical professionals have told you he does, then he should be on it. Unless you’ve suffered from it yourself you have no idea how horrendous it is, constant vile taste in your mouth, constant sore throat, burning pain in your chest and throat, headaches, coughing because the acid is irritating your throat, feeling sick all the time, if acid reflux goes untreated it can lead to Barrett’s oesophagus and cancer. The acid destroyed my teeth and I had to have five fillings over the course of a few years until I was put on Omeprazole, Gaviscon didn’t work, neither did Lansoprazole. You’re concerned about side effects, but the side effects of untreated acid reflux can be cancer. If doctors are saying he needs the medicine then he should be on it.

@Upandsideways - thank you, that’s a good point. Were your LO’s symptoms sporadic too?

@Elsiebear - lets be clear, they offered it as a trial after a particularly bad episode. If every day was like that, he’d be on it in a heartbeat. My previous posts have been clear about the inconsistency of his symptoms which is why we aren’t leaping to medicate.
And a team of GPs that keep telling me he has mild reflux and will grow out of it by September.

OP Yes - that's what makes you feel like you're going crazy, because one minute it's terrible and the next minute you think you've imagined it. It really is worth trying it honestly. He's a baby and can't tell you how bad it is.

My DS also had varying symptoms. He gained weight just fine. Some days, he would projectile vomit across the room. Other days, it would be more silent reflux - similar symptoms to your DS but meant to be quite uncomfortable.

Also, my GP, a paedetrician, and two nurses all told me he would grow out of it by 3 months. Another paedetrician told me it would be gone by 8 months. But here we are at 15 months still waiting! They don't really know, just giving their best guesses, so just don't be disappointed if it's not gone by September.

He can’t tell you how bad he feels, reflux is inconsistent, without medication sometimes I’m not too bad, other times it’s horrendous, depends on how well I’ve slept, what I’ve eaten, how much I’ve eaten, if I’m stressed or ill etc. To everyone else I look fine (unless I’m coughing or being sick), but I feel so ill. It’s a very common medicine, serious side effects are extremely rare. You have post after post telling you you should try it and he’s clearly suffering from it, if he’s coughing and swallowing reflux every day, so I don’t really understand why you’re so conflicted? It doesn’t sound that mild to me at all, he’s coughing every day because acid is irritating his throat, meaning he probably has a sore throat as well. Why are you so reluctant to try it?

I would have him medicated judging by what you’ve said, one trip to A&E is one too many for something that is preventable.
But he’s your son and you know him so you can do what you think is best. It was so bad for us that I cried with relief when I actually was able to put him down and he slept for 2 hours. It was a miracle.
I don’t know how you feed your baby but using an anti reflux milk also helped our DS because it was thick and didn’t constipate him like Gaviscon.
His paediatrician said that most likely he had an underdeveloped little flap that’s supposed to prevent acid from rising from the stomach, quite common in prem babies, and that when that is the issue then they usually grow out of it.
Some reflux is an intolerance symptom, and for others it’s a long term condition. I thought this is what it was for DS given DH suffers so horrendously from reflux, also because of a dodgy stomach flap!

Thanks guys,
We’ve started him on the Omeprazole today, so fingers crossed it works for him.

For anyone whose LO swallowed their reflux after their feed; did you notice this stopping on Omeprazole or would we need to pair it with a comfort formula?

@abouttimemum - we were thinking of trying a comfort formula but docs said it’s not really for silent reflux; more for vomiting reflux? I was quite keen to try a hypoallergenic formula but docs keep telling me it’s not CMPA and it’s too complicated to get him out of if we start down that route?? Not IMO but we’ll see how this goes first.
DS sleeps at night but can be pretty restless. Something else that was making me doubt giving him the meds.

@PippinStar - thanks, we will keep an open mind on timings!

Good luck with it all ... it really does get easier!

Thanks @PippinStar

ELW ( sorry it won’t let me tag you!) We tried quite a few milks including a lactose free one and comfort ones (on HV advice) and DS was just the same on all of them, but we used an anti-reflux (HIPP organic) and he loved it and it definitely helped to settle him I have no doubt whatsoever. Whether it’s silent or vomiting it should work the same because it’s still acid coming up from the stomach.
We also had issues with his feeding though and this is the only milk he would properly drink so I guess if he’s feeding well you’d probably be reluctant to switch, understandably of course.
Hopefully the omeprezole will help. Once we had DS reflux under control he went from not being able to be put down at all to sleeping on his own in his crib for most of the night within a matter of weeks. I really hope it helps. PP is right though it really does get so much easier.

@abouttimemum - thanks for the advice, I do really appreciate it!
Again, DS isn’t bad for night sleeping but he does constantly clear his throat, cough etc and swallowing reflux so it’s definitely reflux, just wanted to make sure his symptoms were bad enough to medicate, if that makes sense?

@ELW85 - wondering how you got on with the omeprazole and your little one? I'm in a similar predicament as you originally described, I.e. have a prescription for the medicine for silent reflux but my lo's symptoms seem mild and inconsistent so I'm hesitant to give omeprazole...but then second guessing myself reading this thread.

@ELW85 I know this is an old post I just hope you are still around to help a Mum out who's going through what you were last year!
Your LOs symptoms sound identical to mine (she's 4 weeks) and I'm concerned her reflux isn't bad enough to medicate but also have noticed over time it just seems to be getting worse. Did you find the medication helped your LB in the end?

[quote Sth2g]@ELW85 - wondering how you got on with the omeprazole and your little one? I'm in a similar predicament as you originally described, I.e. have a prescription for the medicine for silent reflux but my lo's symptoms seem mild and inconsistent so I'm hesitant to give omeprazole...but then second guessing myself reading this thread.[/quote]
Did you give it a go in the end? Would love to know your experiences if you did :)

My 2 month old was started on Omeprazol 2 weeks ago. The dietician who discovered he is lactose intolerant also said she thinks he has reflux. I was surprised as his symptoms also seem mild and he's not a vomiting baby but she said because he seems in a little discomfort during and right after his feeds and he sneezes and hiccups a lot this is all symptoms of silent reflux ?? I had no idea...
He's on 2.5ml just once a day but I haven't seen a massive difference. He doesn't arch his back whilst feeding anymore and he sneezes a little less but he still gets frequent hiccups and I still sometimes see him cough and then pull a face as though something tastes nasty in his mouth (which I'm assuming is acid) she also put him on Carabel thickener she said to keep it down and prevent it from coming back up. Again.. I was in same predicament that I thought his symptoms were so mild and I was shocked it was reflux but either way I've gone ahead with the advice and I do give him the omeprazol and Carabel I just haven't seen a significant difference just yet.

@MrsW150917 how did you manage to get a referral to a dietician? It sounds like our LOs have similar symptoms, do you struggle to put your LO down at night after a feed? My gp won't prescribe omeparzole annoyingly but I'm going to keep pushing for it.

@happyface42 Hi, he had excessive diarreah like water, I was changing 13 diarreah nappies a day and when I gave him naked time he would fart and it would spurt out it was NON STOP! Because of this, the poo scalded the skin around his bottom severely i showed HV she said it's bad nappy rash and told me to switch from wipes to water and cotton which I did. I kept ringing GP but they would only do silly telephone consultations and they agreed with HV but suggested I try metanium but no improvement, called again for a video consultation and was prescribed a thrush steroid cream but , it just wasn't improving!! One day I changed his bum and when I gently patted with the cotton balls there was blood from the rash! He was in so much pain all the time. I called GP and demanded he was seen. I went up and dr said oh my goodness this is severe it's ulcerated and she didn't know what to do so she sent me to hospital ASAP to see a paediatrician. They thought it was cows milk allergy so trialled him on a CMPA formula.. still no improvement !! So they referred to dietician who finally sorted him out as he is lactose intolerant, not cows milk! It was her who also said she thinks he has silent reflux when she was assessing him for the intolerance. I'd never known this! 🤷🏼‍♀️ because he's not sick at all really but he sneezes, hiccups, arches his back and coughs up then pulls a face.
It looks like GPS don't like prescribing it from other posts...
He's been on it almost 2 weeks aswell as Carabel thickener. I've not seen significant difference just yet but like I said the sneezing and back arching has slowed down so far. And yes I used to struggle to get him to settle down on a night after a feed but I feed him in a sitting up position now, burp him half way through a feed (or try to at least if he will) then after a feed I keep him in a sitting up position for 30 mins or over my shoulder so he's vertical then when I put him down he's fine now. Hope this helps xx

Only you can decide but it was transformative for my son. He used to be in pain every single day, and now he is pain free and happy as anything. It made the world of difference to us.

Thanks @MrsW150917 she's ramped up the screaming in the last 12 hours and has become extremely difficult to settle so I'm going to call go again tomorrow and ask for them to prescribe omeparzole if they say no I will ask to be referred to a paediatrician. So glad your LO seems to be getting better that nappy rash sounds awful 😢 my LG gets a sore bum and has an awful lot of wet poos (although I know common in bf babies) but luckily nothing as bad as what your lb has been through.

Awww bless her I feel for you, it's tough on both of you because I know you'll be feeling helpless too 😢 I really hope they get her sorted soon.
Hope she's settled a bit now for you xx