Losec Taking Effect??

[scarlet121]

My 11 week old daughter has silent reflux and is on 400mg of Losec per day. She has been on Losec since 2 weeks old.

You say the dose is 400mg? I think this isn't correct, as it would be 20 times an adult dose, can you recheck what dose is she on? A lot of the time if the losec is working but just not all the time, it is the dose of medicine and it may be time for an increase.

Otherwise how do you give it to her? Is it a tablet dissolved or a liquid?

[MummaSue]

The losec also isn't actually meant to dissolve completely, it is the tiny little beads that need to be in tact for it to work correctly which is why it should NOT be crushed and should be left to dissolve in water for a few minutes before giving it to bubby.

S X

[entreat]

Hello all - Jack is another baby on losec (and I am another mum crying & pulling her hair out at his pain). I just wanted to thank everyone for posting the time it took for their losec to kick in. Jack has been on it since Monday. Monday night he had an epic 8 hour sleep, followed by a 5 hour, followed by a 4 hour. I think the little guy was just so tired from reflux interrupting his sleep. But sadly, he's yet to repeat the effort. Today, he refused to be put down to sleep, so I spent much of the day cuddling him on the couch. It's not doing much for my housework, or size of my butt.

In a bid to improve him taking the stuff, I'm going to use EBM instead of water. Hopefully he won't scream so much.

What time of day do you guys give yours? Does it make a difference to either night sleeping, or day feeding/sleeping?

Thanks. It's good to know I'm not alone.

[MummaSue]

Hey babe,

Sorry to hear that your little man has reflux, it's nasty hey?

I have seen a massive difference in little miss since taking the losec in tablet form. We were given the awful suspension stuff first which was a nightmare as she just wouldn't swallow it and I don't blame her - it was nasty!

Anyway our prescription is 3/4 of a tablet twice a day so I do it when we get up before a feed and then give her the second dose a couple of hours before bed - so usually around 5pm. What I do when she takes it is mix it with a tiny bit of water on a soup spoon and then transfer that onto a teaspoon and she takes it really well. Usually only adds up to a couple of teaspoons and then I give her half a teaspoon of water to wash the beads down.

She wasn't bothered so much at night for some reason, so slept well anyway but I have noticed a HUGE difference to her naps in the day time, being that she now naps really well.

You're definitely not alone.

I've actually started chiro for the reflux with missy moo and it's hard to say if that is also helping but she is certainly sleeping better again in the day time. If you have a chiro who specialises in babies in your area, I'd totally recommend going.

Hugs and all the best
Sue x

[entreat]

interesting, Jack usually sleeps well at night too. 4-5 hour blocks. i'll change his tablet time to the mornings & see how his days go. for the moment, i'm using my HAB so we can actually do things during the day.

we saw the chiro twice, but i need to book more appointments. fingers crossed!

[MummaSue]

Let us know how you go!!

We've got a couple more sessions at the chiro left. But as the days go on, she is just so much more settled than ever. It's really lovely to see my baby so happy..... she was so sad for a long time

Sue xxx

[entreat]

It took Jack 11 days for the Losec to fully work. Of course there were subtle changes immediately, but now, he's having his first mid day sleep since he was 2 weeks old. The amount of smiles we've had in the last 3 days have been amazing. And instead of having to have a wicked tantrum before every sleep (day & night), he goes much more peacefully. Unless his farts are bothering him.

He's just shy of his 2 month birthday, and I feel like I have my baby back. I didn't know babies could be like this. I honestly thought he was 'normal', but now I know there's a better normal.

As for dissolving the tablets, I use expressed milk, and warm it up (put syringe in mug of warm water), and shake it lots. He still HATES the taste, but I find it goes down easier than water. And to give him mylanta, we measure the dose with the syringe, then squirt it into a teat (no bottle attached) & give it to him. It takes the flavour past his tongue & he sucks it all down before he know's what's hit him. Just be careful to take it out of baby's mouth before they suck too much air.

For anyone wondering when it will kick in - just hang in there. Until it does, treat the episodes with mylanta or gaviscon.

[MummaSue]

Aww, that is great that little Jack is doing better. It's amazing hey?

Sue xx

[entreat]

beyond words.

I was beginning to think all babies cried like he did & that I was just a bad mum for not handling it all that well (crying & trying to palm him off to mum & DH to settle because they coped better with it). Now I know we were (I was) doing a really good job. I'm so glad I never listened to anyone that told me to let him cry it out. I knew in my heart it's always the right thing to pick him up.

[MummaSue]

Yup, I feel exactly the same way. My parents visited at the peak of her symptoms before we got her diagnosed and my mum told my I was "spoiling " her and that she needed to just cry and not be picked up all the time. It saddens me.
Also, my parents smoke like chimneys (I made them go outside though) but I truly believe that their second hand smoke made her symptoms worse and that just makes me mad!

Anyway, Missy and little Jack are all good. And their mummies are fabulous too

S X

[puppies]

I have to admit I really dont think Losec is working for my 19 month old. The night before last we had to give him another 10mg at about midnight when we tried everything else.
Last night I had to give him 20mg before bed and after hours of crying and Panadol not working I gave him another 10mg at about 1am, then he finally went to sleep till 5.37am, I was able to re-settle him and he then slept till 7am.
The hospital gave us a script for 20mg tablets a day, we did that for about 2 weeks, but he kept spitting it out. I dissolved in water and even mixed with some honey, but I was not sure he was getting it all in.
Then 2 weeks later at the peadi he said to get a suspension made and reduced the dose to 10mg. Since then he has gotten worse, its only the last 2 nights that we have just been giving him more (without medical advice) I just can't stand seeing his suffer like this anymore. I am thinking I will have to go back to the peadi and tell them that he is getting worse.

What other medications do they offer?

[MummaSue]

Hey puppies,

It sounds like your little man hasn't been getting a consistent enough dose for it to work. And I found that the suspension just didn't work at all. We tried that first and then our paed said just to take the tablets and dissolve them in water. He doesn't rate the suspensions at all as they are mixed with things that sometimes take the effectiveness away from the losec.

Also, losec is an accumulative medication, not really for symptomatic relief - so giving it to help before bed won't do any good as it takes a few days (took a couple of weeks for us) to work. What you might want to try for on the spot symptomatic relief is infant gaviscon. That does help somewhat.

What I do is mix the tablet on a soup spoon in a teaspoons worth of water, give it a few minutes to properly dissolve and then just transfer it back onto the teaspoon and give it to missy that way. I put the spoon to the back of her tongue and she swallows it that way. It's important NOT to crush the tablet as when it dissolves there are tiny little beads that are what helps to neutralise the stomach acid.

How long has he been on it so far? Does he take medications ok? Losec is ok to mix with a little orange juice or milk too so maybe try it in a small amount of that if he doesn't take it in the water?
Huge hugs, it isn't nice to see our little people in pain.
Sue xxx

[entreat]

The suspensions need to crush the tiny beads that make up the tablets, but those beads need to make it do the stomach intact to be effective. Our Paed said the suspensions are no where near as effective.

And I agree 100% with Sue, Losec is accumulative & effects the acidity of the stomach over time. giving him extra will not help in the short term. I wouldn't ever mess with presciption meds doses. For acute relief, we use mylanta. But for what you describe (long & persistent crying), would a warm bath be helpful to relax him?

Call your Paed about it not working - they may be able to offer some advice, or different medication. Or additional meds to stop the vomitting.

[scarlet121]

Hi there, so sorry to hear your little one isn't doing so well. I have a few things to offer. First is like other posters have said, losec is cumulative that is it needs to be in their system a good 2 weeks before seeing an effect. Giving a high dose one night and none the next day doesn't work like say panadol, it has to be consistent.
At his age, 10mg is a very low dose, you would be looking at the 20mg, definately.

Losec is a really good med, but it can be finicky. I find that buying the generic probitor, which is the same medicine but comes in a capsule of beads, we halve it and put it on food and always get it in.

Compounds are great and are generally better for reflux because they are suspended in a neutralising agent so it gives double the benefit, but these go bad after about 2 weeks, most pharmacies say it lasts 4 weeks, it doesn't. So if you do go and get it new every 10 days you will see good difference otherwise it is a waste of time.

My son who is now 6 was on compound till 6 months ago, just because of how good it worked, we swapped to tablets cause now he can swallow them. My 10 month old is on the probitor.

With other medicines there are more of the same kind, that is they do the same thing and that is stop the acid pumps, you can also get things like zantac or mylanta which do help but make sure to space with the losec.

I would be suggesting that if your little one is 19 months old, to get him to a propper pediatrician who specialises in reflux or a paed Gastro dr, as there are tests that can be done to determine how bad it is, or if indeed it is reflux, some kids have other things going on that look like reflux and are often undiagnosed because of it.

Also if he has only just started treatment, you may find it can take up to 2 weeks to see an improvement, but if he is 19months and never been on treatment, it can take 3 months for any damage to heal, so it may be quite a while till you see full relief.

Right now, keep the dose at 20mg (see if you can get the probitor, you can get it with a losec script, honestly after 6 years of this, I wish I knew about it earlier), split it morning and night and get in to see someone who specialises in reflux. good luck

[puppies]

Scarlet121,
This is very appreciated advice. Just to confirm. He was diagnosed at 8 weeks old. We thought he had grown out of it until the ENT suggested an endoscopy and found severe swelling and burns with blisters all the way up to his vocal cords and throat. Reflux is a certaintly.
We called the Peadi yesterday telling him he is getting worse instead of better. He said to stop the Losec and see him again on Thursday morning first thing. We have an appointment with a Peadi Gastro Specialist but the earliest we can get in is December.
I am going to take your advice and give JD his tablet tonight dissolved in milk. I usually disolve in water and honey. All up he was on tablets 20mg a day for 2 weeks and then went to suspension for another 2 weeks. So all up he has been medicated on Losec for 4 weeks.
He was given Zantec and Mylanta since he was 8 weeks old. I will give him his tablet now and then Mylanta before he goes to bed and see what happens.

This is breaking my heart, he wheezes because his airways are swollen with the swelling. The damage they discovered in the endoscopy was very confronting and upsetting. No wonder I am always emotional. I am like a lioness and he is my cub and he is hurting and its breaking my heart. I just want to help him so he can be a happy, healthy little cub.

[entreat]

Aww - Puppies... we know how you feel. I was crying every day - I don't know how many times a day. And now that we have a diagnosis & treatment that's working, I want to kick my GP even more for saying, "you're a first time mother, aren't you?" - as though Jack's pain was in my head. man... it makes me feel sick to run those words through my head again.

You are doing the right thing by seeing the right doctors. Keep hugging JD... but save some hugs for yourself too - you are doing a great job. Xx

[puppies]

entreat,
thank you for your very kind words, they give me so much comfort, it actually felt like I was getting a hug from someone who knows exactly what I have been going through. So many people have said, 'babies cry, you did not prepare yourself for this'. I am so mad each time I think about this. MY INSTINCTS, although only new, were telling me something was wrong. I can not believe I even ended up on anti-depresents and diagnosed with PND before someone said, 'hey, there is something wrong with you baby, its not just you, your not depressed, your just upset to see your little bub suffer'.

Anyway, I just put him down and although I said I was going to give him his tablet, I decided not too (since the Peadi said to stop giving it to him). I just gave him some Mylanta and pray that we both get a full nights sleep.

I will let you all know what Dr Freelander says on Thursday...

[scarlet121]

You have certainly been through a rough time, I too know what it is like to hear from a dr that babies cry and that my child was highly strung.

I do say though, please don't stop the losec, you have confirmation that it is reflux, PLEASE don't stop it, the doctor in my opinion is not very good if they ever say (especially to a child who has reflux diagnosed through testing) to stop medication. For one, stopping a PPI like losec cold turkey will actually make acid procudtion increase and you get what is called a rebound effect. The reason your bub got better on 20mg even slightly and then so much worse on 10mg is that first off, you switched from tablet to suspension, a switch will still take a week or so to see a difference even if it is the same med.

The other is you switched to half the dose, this is when you actually get the rebound acid and thus, more pain.

I can understand a dr wondering why it is hurting more and why they thought it was the suspension or the losec not working, but in children it does take a couple of weeks at least.

In your case if there are ulcers, it will take 3 months to heal using a PPI.

And all of us have been told that they outgrow it at one and that it is unheard of to have longer than that, but in some kids it is there longer, some never outgrow it, so don't feel bad for not knowing, as they get older the reflux symptoms change and it is harder to tell than when they were babies.