Gosh I had really hoped not to be back here, this time around... .

Anyway is it possible that Ranitidine is making things worse? - He screams after a dose is given and unsettled for a couple of hours? is it likely to be a coincidence or more than that? also is it possible itll make it worse in the short term and better in the long term? My boy is 3 weeks and his reflux issues are getting worse.. we are waiting for our paed appt.. but would like to survive

hes been on it since monday

Karysta,

It can take up to 3 weeks to have a full effect - burns to heal etc. so it may well not be helping yet.

The screaming after a dose could possibly because it tastes so foul - it was a battle of epic proportions to get T to take it in the few weeks he was on it, but we did see enough of an improvement to confirm the reflux dx.

When's the paed appt?

Maybe some infant gaviscon could help soothe things temporarily while you wait?
I don't know if you know but while paeds like to prescribe the omeprazole suspension for littlies there's clear evidence it doesn't work anywhere near as well as the granules so try and get that if you can. Info on all that on Crying Over Spilt Milk.

Huge hugs - the repeat reflux experience is so depressing but at least the learning curve isn't quite as steep! One thing I did learn is that not all kids respond the same way to the same drugs, pain levels - and they don't all have the same level of severity - Nicholas was probably my least severe of all the severe cases iykwim?

Thanks Eleanor, yep I get what ya mean re the severity, my dd was alot worse by this stage. We are just waiting to have our paed appt confirmed, which will be done today - At least I knew to get a referral to a paed straight away and be done with it this time . I think its just trying to get back into the swing of the 'reflux' thing.

*deep breath* thanks for the help

Hey Karysta - I didn't know it until Thomas but if you are under 6 weeks old then your LMC can refer you to a paed and it's free.
So at least initially you could poss see a paed privately and as they mostly work in the public system too you could then switch and see them publicly.

If you want to PM me our paed does both and is out your way.

It is incredibly horrible either doing the reflux dance a second time round or having it come back when you'd thought it was gone so I know exactly what you mean about getting back into the swing of it - brings back all the memories of the last time too etc.

This happened to us earlier this week! I have a 3 week old boy, Cameron, who was born 5 weeks early and has suddenly developed severe reflux. We were started on Ranitidine and within hours he started to react badly to it. All our reflux symptoms were all of a sudden magnified and we all got a total of 20 minutes sleep between the hours of midnight and 7am. He just screamed in agony. I couldn't bear it so we quickly went back to the doctor and were put on 10mg of Losec (granules and Dr Reddy's) and within 2 hours his symptoms started to ease. We're still not 100% better, I'm sure there is something else going on. He's so uncomfortable when he sleeps, it's like he's trying to pass wind but can't the way he grunts and carries on all night. He also randomly screams during the night.

We are currently trying to wean him onto formula (he was on Expressed Breast Milk) - Pepti Junior but I'm starting to think I might stop it later today as he's proving to be harder to settle while on it, he's violenting throwing his head back and arching while feeding which makes me think it's aggravating his reflux. But it's so hard to know whether I need to wait it out and see if it improves?

All the best.

Ange

karysta, I just realised our babies share their birthday! Cameron was born at 4.04am on the 22/12/09! Ironic that we're both going through the same thing on the exact same days. We were started on ranitidine on Monday too but have been on Losec on Tuesday. Seeing the Paed on Tuesday next week - can't wait.

angelabyrne, wow! re the birthday and other coincedences, my boy was only 4 days early and was born at 4.47pm.

Hi Angelabyrne, and Karysta
Sorry to hear that you are both having to cope with the dreaded reflux for a second time. I did this 2 and a half years ago with DS. He reacted ranitidine, his reflux symptoms got worse, and he got diarrhoea and a rash. After seeing the GP on a Saturday morning he was switched to Losec and things slowly improved.
Angelabyrne I note that your wee DS is on Losec (Dr Reddys) it might be useful to you to look at the previous posts on Dr Reddys on this forum if things don’t settle soon. I also note that you are weaning on to Pepti junior and he seems unsettled with this, if things don't get better you might want to ask to paed/ Doctor if you could try Neocate, this is a hypoallergenic formula where the proteins are broken down to amino acids /and or shorter chain proteins
Good luck and May your return visit to the reflux rollercoaster be short and sweat!!
Vicky Lee

It could also just be the alcohol that is used as a preservative in the Ranitidine burning and hence why things improve after a few hours. If there is no rash, it is worth persevering with. As the oesophagus heals it should stop burning.

Some babies have wind particularily at night with Omeprazole and particularily high doses. As Vicky Lee said, some seem to experience this worse with Dr Reddy's Omeprazole so it may be worth a trial of Losec which you will have to pay for.

Pepti Junior is broken down milk protieins so the body won't recognise it. It will have a few whole proteins in it. Neocate is entirely synthetic.