Prevacid?

giggler25

{Sorry if this has been discussed already; I tried searching and didn't see anything...}

Is anyone's LO taking prevacid for reflux?  DD is 9.5 weeks old.  She's been on Zantac for 1 week but it doesn't appear to be working as well as I'd hoped.  She still is eating less, having forceful puke, and is gagging/choking on puke coming up into her throat but not coming out.  The pedi advised us to give it 24 more hours and then switch to Prevacid.  Prevacid is stronger though and from what I've quickly read online, doesn't appear to have been studied as long in infants.  Anyone's LO taking Prevacid?  Did it help more than Zantac?  Any side effects?

I really really really wish DD didn't have reflux.  

SecondTimeinMSU

Thankfully our newest baby has been fine but my older son had terrible reflux and was on prevaid until he was 1. It made a huge difference, he went from barely gaining weight and trying to avoid the label of failure to thrive to slowly and steady working his way up the charts. It was a slow improvement as he healed but comparing his first weeks to that of DS2 I really see how miserable he was. We tried to wean him off it sooner but every time before 1 he would just get miserable again even with a slow withdrawal to avoid rebound reflux. DS1 is an awesome eater and has no stomach problems at age 3 so for us it was a good decision

giggler25

Thanks ladies for your input. The odd thing about my LO is that she has been gaining weight like a champ - she's in the 70th percentile for weight. But over the past couple weeks I notice her eating less, spitting up more and choking/gagging on her puke. Despit her reflux she is still managing to eat, but I think its very uncomfortable for her. She also is very smiley and happy during parts of the day, but miserable after eating. That's what makes it hard BC I know she is such a happy baby at heart!! I guess we will try the prevacid and see what happens...

Meg&Austin

DD is on prevacid. We tried zantac first but she was still gagging all the time and i could see the nastiest look on her face. The prevacid was much better.

Although now i had to stop giving it to her because she refuses to take it. She will let it pool in her throat until she gags on it so much she throws up every where. Little turd!

chillypenguin

Mine is, although we are switching to Nexium due to insurance issues. She became a new baby on the Prevacid, it's her great. Technically you are supposed to give it to them 15-30 minutes before they eat, but I got the ok from the pharmacist to mix it with a tiny bit of formula and then wait to feed the rest, that's the only way I have been able to get her to take it without spitting it up.

dogsombrero

Jules is on Prilosec/Omezaprole but we started in Zantac. He's in the 95th for weight but has forceful spit up (through the nose) and projectile vomiting plus lots of screaming, back arching etc during feeds. He's still spitting a little on the new meds but he's not in pain. As far as gaining weight I read that reflux babies can gain a lot if weight due to excessive eating trying to coat their throat, I have definitely seen a decrease in lengthy feeds where he sucks once every thirty seconds for an hour and screams when you try to take the bottle.

Reflux peaks between 2-4 months and the bulk of babies are off meds between 6m-1yr. Zantac works differently than Prevacid/Prilosec/Nexium which I believe reduce acid production vs keep acid from burning the throat. For us the Zantac worked about 3 weeks before we needed something stronger. I'm really glad he's on it though because he is so happy. He can finally do tummy time without vomiting and he's not getting curdled milk in his sinuses every day.

giggler25

Sorry you and LO are having such a hard time @anniemore‌. Good luck - i hope it works for you!! We started the Prevacid today too, though ours is a liquid. I can't say yet whether I notice a difference, but it was a LOT easier to give it to her, as opposed to the Zantac.

giggler25

@anniemore‌ - Oh no!! Sorry to hear your LO is having issues with diarrhea!! Good luck with the water change - I hope it works for you!!

Today is Emily's 4th day on Prevacid; but we are using the liquid one. He gets 1ml a day in he am. The pedi said it should take 3-4 days to work. The good news is it apparently tastes MUCH better than the Zantac BC she doesn't fight us when we give it to her. She seems to be doing a bit better but still had a period of a LOT of spit up yesterday evening (my shirt got drenched), and a smaller episode today where she choked a bit on it even though she was upright. It is so hard to judge but it seems like it may be working so I'm going to give it some more time.

giggler25

Thanks @anniemore‌ ! Good luck with the Zantac!!