Raniditine vs omeprazole

[rainbowgirl2016]

Hi. Sorry for long post. I'm wondering if anyone could help please. I'm 34 weeks pregnant and I've been really suffering with indigestion/acid reflux. I have been given gaviscon advance to take 4 times a day as well as ranitidine twice a day. It started off being 3 times a day but after a week or so this was brought down to twice a day. Ive been back to the doctors today and they have given me omeprazole to try. Im scared of trying it due to side effects. I haven't had any on ranitidine and I'm terrified of being poorly with stomach issues outside my house! The pain is so bad that I'm scared to eat anything. When I was last in hospital with it, they said it was because I'm not eating and drinking enough so trying to have a bit more during day but I'm now stuck about what to actually eat! I'm having very plain food.. teatime it's between pork, gammon and sausages. Pretty boring. I have a sweet tooth and have given up chocolate as believe that is pretty bad for acid reflux. Is there anything that you can recommend instead of this.. in terms of snacks and something sweet? I'm getting really miserable about it all as the food i am eating is so bland! Please can anyone help?! Thank you x

I've been on omeprazole for years due to gastric reflux, and I'm really glad it's safe to keep taking in pregnancy because it's the only thing that has ever really worked. I've never had any problems with side effects, and it's really been a godsend. I really do recommend you give it a try.

I had both

Thank you Arkardy. Do you know if you can take gaviscon straight after the tablets? Doc said it was fine to take both but since reading online it says not to have them together? X

Omeprazole is considered safe in pregnancy, but there’s not much data as no one can ethically trial it in pregnancy. The doctors give gaviscon and ranitidine First as there’s more data for them.

I had severe reflux in 3 pregnancies and like you, started with gaviscon, then ranitidine and then omeprazole. I stated the omeprazole earlier in the pregnancies than 34 weeks, I think it was at about 28 weeks in the last one. As far as I know, my babies were all unaffected. They were small due to my placenta not working that well. I asked my consultant (fetal medicine) during my 3rd pregnancy if she thought this was related to omeprazole and she thought not.

Thank you for your comment. Did you have any side effects?

You can't take gaviscon immediately after taking the tablets, as it'll interfere with the absorption of the omeprazole - but I find that when taking omeprazole I don't need gaviscon at all.

Oh really? That's good then, thank you. I'm just hoping it all stops once baby is here!

I was glugging gallons of Gaviscon when my GP prescribed omeprazole without bothering with ranitidine first: it was a total life saver. My DS was born hale and hearty at 10lbs 7oz so I don't think it did him any harm!

This pregnancy is exactly the same so far: GP offered omeprazole right away and I haven't needed Gaviscon since. I'm a huge fan.

Aw honestly thank you so much. Maybe there is hope for me then!!

Hope you're feeling better very soon: heartburn is horrendous. I always feel like an omeprazole evangelist on these threads!

I've been on omeprazole for a few days now and honestly can't recommend it enough. It was recommended to me by a doctor friend who has been taking it in her pregnancy so I thought if she is happy to take it, it must be fine. Honestly I haven't had any reflux at all whilst taking it, and it has improved things for me massively. They say that it takes about 5 days to start working, but I felt improvement from the first day - the reflux was making me vomit before, and night time was just awful with my mountain of pillows! If it works as well for you as it has for me you won't need the gaviscon as well .

I think that's what I'm worried about, the fact it could take a few days to start working whereas the ranitidine is already working... not as much as it was working but I'm scared I'll be in much more pain again before omeprazole starts to work!

You can take both omeprazole and gaviscon together as they are both different types of medication.
Omeprazole works by targeting the cells that produce stomach acid to reduce the amount produces and gaviscon works by the alginate portion gives a protective coating to throat and stomach and the antacid neutralises stomach acid.

In my experience I would say that omeprazole works whereas the raniditine and gaviscon don’t or don’t for very long.

Thank you. I feel that from what you are all saying then it's definitely worth trying! How many tablets do you take? Doc said 1 or 2 for me. Not sure whether to start on 2 or just the 1 a day x

Gaviscon and ranitidine did nothing for me. I had acid reflux to the point where I was being sick (once in a meeting with my boss ) and had a cough so bad that I was getting alarmed glances from colleagues on the other side of the office. Omeprazole was like magic. All symptoms vanished. I don't remember it taking time to work. I can't recommend it highly enough.

I think I only needed 1 tablet, I don't really remember, but I'd start with 1.

Aw thank you. X

I started with one but did need to increase up to two (one morning and one at night). You’ll know by the end of the week whether one is enough or if you need to go up.

Thank you. Do you find any sweet foods that you can eat?! I'm desperate for a bit of chocolate but I know the pain isn't worth it!

Omeprazole was my life saver in pregnancy. Completely safe for baby and I had zero side effects. But my god was it good at making me reflux free! Cannot reccomend it strongly enough!

Try one in morning and go up to one morning and night if needed. It's better than 2 together. Gives better cover. And yes no gaviscon for I think 2 hours better taking it. And in terms of getting to work shoukd be pretty quick. For me it was day after starting it.

Another vote for omeprazole. Had it for the last 5 weeks and haven't touched any gaviscon/ rennies etc since.
You'll be so glad!

With omeprazole I reckon you'll be able to enjoy chocolate as usual: certainly I'm back to eating pretty much whatever I fancy, even the odd curry!

MY 1 year old suffers bad reflux and under care of a children’s hospital and he mentioned omeprazole last time he was in and there is new studies to suggest it’s linked to problems down the line in adulthood so they trying not prescribe it moment till more information comes out.