Losec suspension ineffective?

[LoveKnowsNoBounds]

Hi,

I am still trying to work out how to help my LO. I'm becoming more and more tired with each night and it seems to be getting worse rather than getting better.

We switched to suspension 2 weeks ago and while her days have improved the nights are off the charts. Last night she was awake from 11pm (Hubbie got her up for a dream feed) and she didn't go back to sleep until 3:30-4am. She thought it was play time. Thenn she woke up at 5:15am, feed and then didn't go back to sleep until 6:30am then she woke at 8am.

She is on Zantac at Midday 1.2 ml and 5 mg losec at 11am and 5 mg losec at 11pm. I'm sad and feeling useless that I don't know how to fix this. I get frustrated at her but of course I know its not her fault. It's been 3.5 months now and I can't see it improving anytime soon.

Sorry to be a downer but I'm just not having a good week

[LuluHB]

Hugs Jan.

When you say she was awake from 11pm until 4am was that just awake, or was it awake and distressed? If its awake, maybe she's just going through one of those awful stages where sleep seems far less of a necessity as it is to us. If she's distressed, maybe you need to go back to your paed - after 2 weeks I would have thought the losec would be starting to help, although its really good news that she is improving during the day.

DD2 wouldn't sleep at night at all (or any other time the little monster), unless she was lying on me. I could sometimes manage to get her to sleep on me in bed and then gradually roll her off onto the mattress next to me so that I had an ability to move. There were also many nights where DH got up to find me giving DD2 a bath at 2am - sometimes a deep bath where she could float was enough of a relaxation for her that she could settle down a little and then sometimes feed to sleep afterwards.

You're not useless. Its bloody hard work when you have a little one with reflux and/or sleeping issues (the two seem to go together in my experience). Sounds to me like you need a good sleep yourself. Only a temporary fix, but maybe this weekend your DH can look after the kids while you try and catch up on some sleep. Hugs again lovely. I hope she turns a corner for you soon - for both your sakes.

[MummaSue]

I found the losec suspension to be completely ineffective for us. Our paed gave us losec tablets which we dissolved in a tiny bit of water on a teaspoon and gave to her that way. Worked within a few days.

[LoveKnowsNoBounds]

Thanks Lulu. Now I'm crying! She is still crying and screaming when I feed her and most feeds only takes 70-90mls. I don't think that it is enough.

Last night you are right, she wasn't distressed. Just wouldn't sleep. I keep thinking that because of her reflux, she doesn't have enough milk then it affects her sleeping at night. It is the not knowing when she will improve that gets me. Though I know many of us mummies are in the same boat.

Sorry to hear DD2 was a non-sleeper. That sounded really tough. When did it improve? I have thought about bringing her in bed with me but then worry I am creating bad habits. Though at this point I think I need to do anything just to get some sleep.

Thanks so much for your post. I'm trying not to beat myself up about it but it is so hard not to. I hope you are feeling well with this pregnancy? You are amazing to have that experience with DD2 then give it another go. I don't think I could lol xoxox

[LoveKnowsNoBounds]

MummaSue, we used to use the losec tablets and used to ground them up on advice from our old pead. But we were told by the tresillian nurse who was here the other day that that wasn't how to do it either. I asked the new pead about suspension and said it should be fine. I don't know if I'm clutching at straws but do you thnk it is worth trying the tablets again to see if things would improve? Thanks so much for your post

[LuluHB]

Don't cry gorgeous. I'm waaaay too hormonal and will have to join in! I reckon give anything a try. If MummaSue had luck with tablets, you've got nothing to lose by trying them.

You don't want to know when DD2 grew out of it, but as for creating bad habits I don't think so. E is almost 4 now and is a fabulous sleeper. Both my girls have had various amounts of co-sleeping, but I couldn't tell you the last time I had to deal with one of them in some way during the night. They go to bed around 7.30pm and I don't hear from them until at least 7am the next day. I'm a firm believer in you need to do whatever it is you need to do to cope with the here and now - tomorrow, next month, next year is a problem for then.

[LoveKnowsNoBounds]

Thanks, I'll stop crying lol. Yikes, really...oh dear. It looks like it might be a long haul then. How did you get through it? Good to know that it doesn't affect her now. Yes I think I do need to cope with the here and now otherwise I might go nuts.

[MummaSue]

Hey, the losec isn't meant to be ground up. It's meant to be dissolved. The tiny little beads in the tablet need to stay in tact for it to work.

[Lolpigs]

Hey, the losec isn't meant to be ground up. It's meant to be dissolved. The tiny little beads in the tablet need to stay in tact for it to work.

Yeah this is what we were advised to disolve in a little water not ground up. I would defo give the tablets another go then, not grinding them. Can you try the Zantac liquid as well?

Just chucking suggestions out at ya

Dont cry darling your doing a fabulous job. So hard.

[Sagres]

I have not tried the suspension but when I was looking online I found lots of anecdotal evidence of it not seeming as effective, and I think the older the liquid is the least effective it is (so people reported it seemed to do very little by the end of the month). So not concrete evidence but food for thought.
Like you were saying, being awake and not distressed sounds like something else (especially if she was woken up by your DH), but if she is still screaming during feeds that is a very classic reflux sign and I would be wondering if you needed to be doing something different with either the dosage (which I think may need to increase as she gets bigger?) or the form it comes in, or a change of medication. Personally I would probably try the tablets again, but yeah definitely dissolve them and not crush them.....very annoying and hard to get in though grrrrr.
Not sure if you have tried it but some people have success with feeding their babies in a more upright position, so a kind of adapted football hold for BFers or a more 'sitting' position for bottle feeding.
I feel for you, reflux really sux. I didn,'t realise just how much it impacted a babies everyday life, sleep, happiness, ability to be calm enough to interact, just lay on the floor contented etc. until I had my refluxy no. 2, DD1 was NOTHING like this. Hang in there, you're doing a good job...x

[Taurean]

Hugs. Reflux is tough.

The tablets and suspension worked really well for DD1, the suspension was just a lot easier to administer so we used that.

You may need a higher dose before it really kicks in. One of my friends had two severe reflux babies and they both needed a really high dose of Losec before it helped.

I hope you get a break soon. It's so tiring for all involved

[LoveKnowsNoBounds]

Thanks so much for your replies. I am going to try the tablets again and see if it makes a difference. We see the paed again in a week so will see what he says. The thought of increasing meds makes me sad. Feel like it's too much already. Thanks for the support, was feeling really down yesterday. It's hard not knowing the answers.

[MummaSue]

Massive hugs

Definitely try the tablets again, this time, do NOT crush them, let them dissolve for a few minutes in a tiny amount of water then just pop that into bubby's mouth

Keep us posted.

[chody47]

Like MummaSue said, we used to dissolve the tablets (in our case in some breast milk) and then give them to DD off a teaspoon. We tried doing it with a syringe for ages and it always just got stuck in there. Sometimes we'd even just tip the small container that we had dissolved it in straight into her mouth (she got used to it and would just open up in the end).

Good luck! Reflux sucks. DD was such a bad night sleeper until we got the pain of the reflux under control.