Reflux -- I need your input

Hi Ladies,

My first born had reflux and we used medication until he was one to control the problem. Worked well!

My twin girls - no doubt they have reflux. We started on liquid Zantac on Monday - twice daily. So, they've had three doses each so far.

My question is this - when should I start seeing some results from the medication?

The reason I know they have reflux are the classic signs - horrible spitting up and hour or so after eating, acting pained and then soothed when drinking... reslessness. I hate it! Katie refluxes and it comes out of her nose and it scares me to death. This is why my girls haven't been sleeping in their cribs because even with an inclined sleep positioner, they still spit up.

I know spit-up happens --- it's seeing Katie's coming out of her nose and her looking so upset that is getting to me.

Ugh - when should I see results!?

 

Reflux is awful!! :hug99: I have no experience with Zantac other than what I have read on here. We use the Prevacid Solutab and it works within minutes. I hope your girls get some relief soon!

 

QUOTE(JediMom @ Jul 2 2008, 01:54 AM) [snapback]856149[/snapback]
Hi Ladies,

My first born had reflux and we used medication until he was one to control the problem. Worked well!

My twin girls - no doubt they have reflux. We started on liquid Zantac on Monday - twice daily. So, they've had three doses each so far.

My question is this - when should I start seeing some results from the medication?

The reason I know they have reflux are the classic signs - horrible spitting up and hour or so after eating, acting pained and then soothed when drinking... reslessness. I hate it! Katie refluxes and it comes out of her nose and it scares me to death. This is why my girls haven't been sleeping in their cribs because even with an inclined sleep positioner, they still spit up.

I know spit-up happens --- it's seeing Katie's coming out of her nose and her looking so upset that is getting to me.

Ugh - when should I see results!?


My Maia has really bad reflux, same thing it'll just pour out her nose and scared the crap out of me. It was tough for a few months I always sat her upright for 30-45mins after a feeding and put towels under the mattress to make it incline and rolled up a receiving blanket to put behind her so she was more on her side than on her back in case she did puke while she was sleeping.
She was on zantac which worked for a few months, 2x a day, we did a weight check every coupleof weeks to adjust the dosage. Then it stopped working, we tried prilosec which did nothing, went back to the zantac, started cereal (my girls didnt take bottles), and then finally prevacid at about 4mo old.
Occasionally she will still have milk pour out her nose but its once every few weeks or month. Aside from that she is a very happy baby now.

I say give the zantac a week to kick in. Good luck!!

 

I'm not sure how fast Zantac takes effect...but I would think within a few days for sure. Are they getting formula? If so, are you adding rice cereal to the bottles to help with the spitting up? From what I understand, Zantac will only help with the pain...not the vomiting / spitting.

Good luck! Reflux is horrible!
Cary

 

Mine were on Zantac and still spit up something horrible each time. We would keep them upright for 30 minutes after, it didn't help too much...but a little.

The pain from spitting up though lessened I would say after a week? They became what the dr. called "Happy Spitters", more of a pain for me and the laundry load. It didn't bother them to throw up at all.

Good luck!

 

Ana used to spit up out her nose and it scared me so much too! I carried the nasal bulb with me EVERYWHERE for months, because I had to suction her poor little nose after this happened. My girls were both on Zantac and I think after a week it was working really well for them. I hope you have the same experience as us. :hug99:

 

:hug99: I am sorry you have to deal with reflux, it's no fun. My babies were put on Zantac at first and it really didn't do anything for them. I would say if you do not notice a change within 5-7 days, I would call the ped again.

 

Mine had silent reflux no spitting up through the nose ... scary !! Mine slept in a rocker called a infant to toddler rocker from Walmart about 30.00 with red METAL legs on it. She slept in it until she was 6 months old. I also would take the toys off at night and put them on during the day. She often would play in it as well. She liked the swing when she was very young but the bouncer was the best. I also elevated their heads on all the change tables and fed them on an incline even if I was breast feeding or bottle.

 

We are doing a weight check tomorrow and I will chat with the doc to see what his opinion is on how long it should take with helping the pain. I guess I thought that it would actually help the reflux in addition to the pain

We are adding rice to their bottles (yes, FF here). I've added about as much as I can per bottle without constipating them. Right now per 3oz bottle (they eat 2-3oz per bottle) they get 1.5 tsp of fine rice. We get the gerber rice cereal and put it in the food processor to make it a fine powder so they can actually suck it through the nipples.

I know they are both pained by the reflux, they just show it in very different ways. Either way, it still breaks my heart for them!

Thanks for the input, ladies!!!

 

My doctor said a few days and we should see Zantac working. We never did- so we switched to Prevacid. Saw results within 24 hours.

 

Question - does the prevacid have a generic? Gosh, I hope so!

 

Reflux SUCKS!

Julia was on Zantac for about a month. We originally saw results after 3 days, then it came back horribly (I read at 4 months it peaks????). Anyway now we are on prilosec and I am not too convinced this works either. Its kinda hit or miss when she will show pain symptoms.

 

QUOTE(JediMom @ Jul 2 2008, 06:28 AM) [snapback]856430[/snapback]
Question - does the prevacid have a generic? Gosh, I hope so!

Unfortunately it doesn't and it is super expensive. I think its about $4 a pill, which is not cheap when you have 2 babies and you have to do it everyday. My insurance covers it though, so we pay $25 each per month. It is worth every penny though.

 

I HATE reflux!! We have been battling this as well. I was so hoping that Zantac would work but it never really did much. I switched them to Soy formula and it has helped a lot more. Good luck..hopefully it will work for you

 

QUOTE(JediMom @ Jul 2 2008, 08:28 AM) [snapback]856430[/snapback]
Question - does the prevacid have a generic? Gosh, I hope so!


I don't think so. It's $7 for a 15mg solutab at our Kroger pharmacy. It is covered under our insurance in the most expensive band (once we worked through our, yes, I have TWO children with the same birthdate who BOTH need the same medication issue). I think it is something like $30/baby/month for us. But the difference between nose spitting, refusing to eat, screamers, and nice, happy spitters is priceless.

 

Heck, I will do the Prevacid if it will work for them... I just hate that it is a solutab. I used it with TJ when he got older and tried to dissolve it and use a syringe and it would NOT work. I finally told him he had to learn to let is dissolve in his mouth. But he was 2+ when we had to use it, so that wasn't a problem.

I will give it a few more days. My biggest thing is that I can't put them in their cribs because of the amount of spitting up they do in the crib - I have the incline and it still doesnt' work. They are living in their bouncy seats and although I am doing a lot of time out of them - I don't want them to have plagiocephaly because of it.

 

QUOTE(JediMom @ Jul 2 2008, 12:11 PM) [snapback]857166[/snapback]
Heck, I will do the Prevacid if it will work for them... I just hate that it is a solutab. I used it with TJ when he got older and tried to dissolve it and use a syringe and it would NOT work. I finally told him he had to learn to let is dissolve in his mouth. But he was 2+ when we had to use it, so that wasn't a problem.

I will give it a few more days. My biggest thing is that I can't put them in their cribs because of the amount of spitting up they do in the crib - I have the incline and it still doesnt' work. They are living in their bouncy seats and although I am doing a lot of time out of them - I don't want them to have plagiocephaly because of it.

The syringe thing was a total PITA, so I just started breaking it up into small pieces in a tupperware jar and giving them finger fulls at a time and then having them wash it down with a bottle. My pedi said this was totally fine. It works great.

ETA: It has a fruity flavor, its like Candy and the girls Love it!