Acid rebound from omeprazole?

[charlotte444]

Hey, our baby boy has been on omeprazole for 6 months (he's 10 months now) He's got a CMPA allergy and perhaps other intolerances which we're not sure about. He's on very little foods so we're not sure what it could be.

We're so keen to get him off the medication and have reduced his 6ml by 1ml every 2 weeks. He's now only on 1ml but seems more unhappy than ever, arching his back, fussing, crying throughout the night etc. Is this normal?
Does anyone know how long the aid rebound takes to go when coming off the omeprazole? Thanks

No idea but he sounds truly miserable. I have non-Ige CMPA and hate it if I ever have a reaction.

Thanks for coming back.

I do think he's in a lot of pain. We've seen so many doctors about his health (some unrelated issues and I feel like all I do is spend my days and nights trawling mumsnet and the internet for answers to make him feel better)

We basically know he has:

Reflux - but other than dairy we don't know what's causing it
CMPA - he's combi-fed on Neocate now and I've given up dairy

really really don't want him on the omeprazole for any longer as it's not recommended for long periods of time.

The strange thing is he seemed to improve when we moved him from SMA Althera (which unknown to us) contained lactose but in the last couple of weeks his symptoms have got bad again. Not sure whether it's another intolerance or it's the reduction in omeprazole and an acid rebound

He's been under the care of the hospital for his breath holding and tensing and now think it's pain related due to reflux :(

Have you tried cutting out Soya as well? Around half of people with CMPA also react to Soya?

Have they referred him to a Paediatric Dietician as well?

With a good taper (which you've done), there should be little to no acid rebound. Does he possibly still need the omeprazole, even if his reflux is now 'silent'? I absolutely sympathise, we've had many failed attempts to taper off it for DD2, but if they still need it, the damage and pain from the reflux is much worse than continued use of omeprazole.

Thanks for coming back @RappersNeedChapstick and @skkyelark

@RappersNeedChapstick I did give up soy for 3.5 months when I initially gave up dairy. He still had bad reflux at that point and the dietician said to re introduce soy. That was when we were on the SMA Althera which could have been the main cause and soy a secondary

We are at a bit of a loss as to what to do

@skkyelark how old is your DD and how long has she been on meds if you don't mind me asking? Maybe we will have to increase it back up again. We are desparate to find the root cause of it. I'm currently reading the reflux guide book looking for answers

My DD is almost 2.5 and has been on omeprazole since she was 6 or 7 weeks old, but she's a fairly extreme case. She was referred to the paediatrician for it at about 15 months, because the vast majority have outgrown it by that point. She's had a wide range of allergy tests, all negative. Apparently she still has a pretty good chance of outgrowing it, though, and it's virtually always 'silent' now, unless she's ill.

Is the neocate quite thin? I know some of the special formulas are. Has adding a thickener like carobel been considered with the new formula?

I'm sorry to hear that @skkyelark, bless her. Is the omeprazole helping? Is she in pain with it? Have the doctors said when you can start weaning off the meds r not for now?

Our son isn't sick at all anymore so it's all silent. The main symptoms are:

• crying
• grissling all of the time especially eating
• tensing & holding his breath - this really worries me
• waking frequently
• crying for hours at a time in the night

So far we've tried

• restricted diet + dairy free
• osteopath (9 sessions so far)
• baby massage
• holding 30 mins upright after a feed
• probiotics
• Tongue tie cut at 3-4 weeks (wondering if we should get this checked)
• carobel in milk

Is there anything you've tried that helps? Do the doctors know what might be causing it? Thanks

Sorry for the very slow reply. How is your wee one getting on?

As long as her omeprazole dose is right, DD isn't in any pain with it. The main issue now is that even a minor virus can send her into a bad flare-up, making sleep a real problem and when it's bad, dehydration as well. For her, it seems to largely be physiological – the sphincter at the top of her stomach still just isn't quite tight enough. To be honest, the paediatrician isn't particularly bothered about keeping her on the omeprazole. We might try another taper once her last molars finally finish coming through. The first sign for her is pain at night, though, and I don't want to be trying to pick apart how much is teeth and how much is reflux.

To be honest, the only things that really helped her were omeprazole and time. We tried carobel, baby gaviscon, held upright, tilting the cot, infant feeding specialist at the hospital, tongue checked by a tongue-tie surgeon (she does have a posterior tie, but he felt it was best left alone), and all the rest of it. I guess keeping her upright/steeply inclined reduced it a bit, and that still helps when she's in a flare up, but it didn't help enough to avoid needing medication. Changing her on her side helped reduce sickness at nappy changes – lifting her legs in the classic way basically squeezed the milk out of her – so if your son seems uncomfortable at nappy changes, you could try that.

Have you tried carobel in the neocate, specifically, if it's thinner than what he was on before. And it sounds like he's not a huge fan of solids just yet?