Prevacid

Hi again...sorry for yet another reflux post. But, I have been dealing with this for 4 weeks now. I went the first week with the doctor giving my babies Pepcid and changing the formula to Alimentum. It did help...some. My DD still was screaming/crying through 1 bottle a day. After about a week it got a little worse so I called to speak to my doctor about maybe changing the meds cuz they didn't seem to work. She didn't return my call so I waiting from Thursday-Monday with a miserable baby until I had to call again on Monday. I spoke with the nurse who said we need to up the meds by .05 so I did. Then another week went by still about the same...1 bottle still crying/screaming a day. I decided to change my peds. Then my DS seemed to get worse. I went to the new doc who looked at me like I had two heads. I was crying in the room explaining what symptoms they have. She told me it looked like "some" reflux and a little bit of colic too. SHE DOESN'T HAVE COLIC. And she wouldn't change my prescription, she said let's just up the pepcid to another .05 for her and .15 for him. I was so discouraged...I then decided to go back to my original doctor...at least she didn't look at me like I was a hypocondriac mom. So 2 days after upping the meds again, I called the nurse from my original doctor and talked to her about asking the doc if we could change to Prevacid since the Pepcid did not seem to work. She said "my grandson had to go on that and it worked like gold...he was a total different baby". I've heard that so many times from the TS board. She said she'd consult with doc and give me a call. About 10 minutes later I get a call from the doc who asked me the symptoms again. She said it was too soon yet to change meds BUT, let's just add another medicine...Regalan!!!! What the #$%& !!!!! I said if I can't get the Prevacid then I want to see a ped GI. She said absolutley so she put in the referall which I'm happy about. But, I wanted to ask (and forgot)...what is the big deal about them taking the Prevacid? Now I have to give my babies 2 medicines...one 2x a day and the other 3x a day. So, I'm administering medicine 10 times a day !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So sorry for the vent and this being so long. I just don't understand where some docs give the meds right away and I've been struggling for 4 weeks to get the right medicine to help them. What is the big deal ?? Anyone got a clue?

 

Our Dr wouldn't put the girls on Prevacid either. His reasoning was that Prevacid is not recommended for infants under 1 year of age. How true this is I do not know. He did however put Katie on zantac and it works like a charm. Pepcid did nothing for her.
Sorry they are still miserable.

 

Sorry this has been so frustrating for you. My ped put my DD on Prevacid and it really seemed to help. She even upped it to twice a day when it seemed to wear off by the afternoon. She also put her on Zantac. The combination of the two meds has made a world of difference. I don't know why your ped is giving you such a hard time about it. Watch for any strange symptoms with the Regalan. A friend of mine's baby was on it and he developed a tick. They changed him to something else and it went away. Good luck and I hope it gets better.

 

You poor thing. I have been in your shoes before. Our ped is in a very large practice(10 docs?) and I went through just about every single one of them before I got some relief and help for my babies with reflux. It was HORRIBLE! I even had a doc tell me that I "may need to get a little more sleep". D'oh! I wanted to strangle him, and probably would have if I had not had all 5 kids in the room with me! I do not understand why they don't "get" how bad the reflux is! I think I may have told one of them "umm, ok, well you feed them then!". It was like they didn't believe me that they were so TERRIBLY difficult to feed! Argh!

As far as the Prevacid, I had no problem getting it. My babies were also on Reglan and that was our miracle drug. I hope that the GI is able to help you. :love0028:

 

All my kids had reflux my oldest was the only one to not go on meds. My youngest two were on zantac and it worked wonderfully!!!!
I am so sorry you are going through this. It is so hard when they have reflux and nothing seems to help.

Tiffaney

 

Gosh, I am sorry you are dealing with all of that. I know adults are given prevacid but never heard infants should not. My boys were on it at 8 weeks. My Dr. was going to put them on Zantac and I asked if they could go on PRevacid instead (I heard so many people hear talking about it working so well) and he said no problem. I dont know what to say. I wonder if it is worth calling another Dr. I wish I had more advice. :hug99:

 

Sorry. FWIW my Ped did tell me the same thing that Prevacid was not really recommended for children under 1 year but that alot of Ped GI's are using it. She did give me a script for it and I did see a Ped GI who kept them on it. Keep fighting for what you think is right, you are there Mom!! You are doing a great job being their advocate. Keep it up!! :hug99:

 

Our doc rx prevacid for our little ones but did say that it isn't approved for babies under the age of 1. We had good luck with it.

RE: reglan- I'd read up on it. We declined it based on some of the potential side effects, like permanent nerve damage. Even knowing it was a slight chance, I couldn't do it.

 

There are very few reflux medications that are actually approved for babies under 1. My doc wouldn't prescribe it either (he basically only prescribes Zantac), but referred me to a GI specialist and she did prescribe it. It worked very well for my ds (he was in pain and would spit up blood). My ped felt it was not his field of expertise, and I think that's the correct way of looking at it.

BTW, the things I read about Reglan are far worse than what I've read about Prevacid ... I would never give Reglan to my child.

http://www.infantrefluxdisease.com/forums/...ead.php?t=16264

 

I just wanted to say good luck, and I'm so sorry for what you're going through. Our pedi GI was a godsend, and like many others our babies got on Prevacid and were better practically overnight after trying the other reflux meds to no avail. They only had to take it for 2-3 mos and weaned off it easily after the reflux resolved on its own.

 

My ped dr put dd on zantac and rice cereal in every bottle. She was screaming for 4-6 hours at a time and there was nothing we could do to soothe her. Now she is a lot less fussy. He also said after a week if she was not better to give her soy formula. The zantac seems to be working and the rice cereal. I hope you get some help soon b/c I know you are going through a lot.

 

QUOTE(moontwins @ Nov 23 2007, 08:16 PM) [snapback]506672[/snapback]
My ped dr put dd on zantac and rice cereal in every bottle.


This is what our doc does for formula fed babies, too. On our worst reflux days, I gave pumped milk with cereal.

As far as the reglan, I would also look into this further. My babies had some negative side effects and one had HORRIBLE withdrawal when we took her off. I also find it to be a very scary med and wish that I had been given more info before my doctor very casually put them on it.
Andie