Hello,
My son is 5 months old and has been on zantac since he is 5 weeks old. He seems to be worse now at 5 months then ever. My doctor decided to switch him from Zantac to Prevacid. I am hoping he is worse ONLY because it has been just 1 week and 1/2 and I was told it takes the Prevacid 2 weeks to kick in. My pediatrician also recommended that he take a product called primadophilus.....apparently it contains "good bacteria" that our GERD children do not produce on their own which equalizes the stomach acid and relieves the pain, gas etc...
1. Has anyone ever switched from Zantac to Prevacid and had their child seem worse in the 2 week transition?
2. Has anyone heard of or used a product like primadophilus or acidophilus?
3. Has anyone noticed their baby get worse before better?
4. Do you think Nicholas is just spoiled at 5 months (3 1/2 months adjusted) he is preemie .......and that is why he is crying so much or are these babies EXTRA sensitive to EVERYTHING???????
ANY HELP or ADVICE anyone can give me would be SO GREATLY APPRECIATED!!
Thank you

Acidophilus is found in yogurt, also, I think. Its never been recommended for Noah, but its worth a try! Noah did better within a few days of being switched to the PPI, but it can take up to 2 weeks. I'd give it the full two weeks, and then call the ped back if you still haven't seen an improvement. Maybe he just needs the dose adjusted. I don't think he's spoiled, but I might be the wrong person to ask because I don't think any baby can be spoiled. LOL. When Noah's reflux is at its worst, he becomes very clingy and needy also. Its exhausting, but carting him around keeps him settled which makes things much more tolerable for both of us. Let us know how he finishes out the 2 weeks!

It's funny that you posted this today. :smt047

Emma's GI advised us to put her on Babydophilus after our conversation on the phone about Em's increased gas and decrease in eating lately (he thinks it's from her daily antibiotic). She just started it today.

I'll have to see if it helps her gas and eating, but she is intolerant to milk/soy so being able to get it naturally through yogurt is out of the question.

Sorry...I forgot to answer your other questions...:oops:

#1 Yes. The two week transition was awful. Emma went off Axid (similar to Zantac) onto Prevacid and it took about a week to kick in.

#2 See my response above. I had never heard of using it for GERD, but that makes me feel better knowing that her Babydophilus may help with that, too!

#3 Yes. Roni uses the term "the reflux rollercoaster". Emma has bad days/weeks followed by good days/weeks. It varies, for some reason. Sometimes an increase in meds is needed...sometimes it's just the reflux rollercoaster!

#4 I do not think your baby is spoiled. In fact, I read somewhere that babies under a year cannot be spoiled. When these children are hurting, they want to be comforted and being close to you makes them feel better. Have you tried using a sling? Emma lived in her's during the first few months.

:hug: It does get better. I NEVER thought I would say that.

Even though Emma is still not where I pictured her at a year old - it truly is better. I thought one-year olds would be off the bottle, loving to eat, sleeping through the night, and not in pain. Emma is still on the bottle, hates to eat, doesn't sleep through the night, and still has reflux. But, it is better. It truly is. Compared to what it was like then, I feel like a new person - even on the little sleep I do get!

We switched from zantac to prevacid for about a week and a half and we had a very bad reaction and he was a lot worse. I am not sure i it is because we stopped the Zantac and gave the prevacid. In hindsight we should have stayed on the zantac and then after 2 weeks taken it off him. But it was bad. we are thinking of trying losec soon.
We have been taking probiotics for 1 1/2 months and he hasn't had an ear infection but I haven't seen a great improvement wiht the reflux. My older son takes it though and he has been infection free for quite a while. I have not ever noticed worse before better but maybe we should have tried the prevacid longer.

Finally if your baby has reflux there is no way that he is spoiled. It is the instance of them to play up and cry when they are sore. My son is very bad when he is sore, it is my biggest indicator now.

I'd like to thank ALL of you so much for your replies. I know you all understand how difficult it is and it does help to know that there are others out there that do understand. All I get from others that don't have reflux babies is, "HE IS SPOILED." It is SO frustrating.
I also (like Emma's mom) thought that by 1 year they should be better. I have heard the magic number to be about 9 months. What have you hear in terms of age and improvement. Also, How do you get your pictures on your posts?
Again............THANK YOU!

e-mail a picture to becky in nm and she will get the picture in for you. In terms of the magic number it is more likely that by the age of one reflux SHOULD be gone, but not in all cases.

My daughter went from Prevacid to Zantac and there was definitely a period of bad time during the switch of meds.

I have never heard of the use of 'dophilus for GER but who knows, see if it works... its not something that would hurt, just aide in digestion.

Reflux is definitely a roller coaster! Ups and Downs out of nowhere - but trust me when I say that it does get better... eventually the good days/weeks outweigh the bad. I, too, never thought that was going to happen but it does come in time.

I do not think your son is spoiled either. It's hard with our little ones being in pain... they need more comforting and holding and maybe a little more attention and spoiling. Thats the least of my worries, I'll deal with the spoiled thing later if my daughter is in fact spoiled. It's something that can be fixed later on... her pain and discomfort needs to be addressed now.

Now, your son is a preemie so he might be a little off on the ages, but usually around 4 months when a baby is starting to do more and move around more and work on sitting there is a time where they get a little worse but then better... then again at about 6 months or so when they start crawling and getting more active they get worse and then better. With your son being off by a month or so he might be going through this stuff now... keep that in mind.

With that said, I do hope he starts feeling better soon.

I hope that helped! :)

Hello,
My son is 5 months old and has been on zantac since he is 5 weeks old. He seems to be worse now at 5 months then ever. My doctor decided to switch him from Zantac to Prevacid. I am hoping he is worse ONLY because it has been just 1 week and 1/2 and I was told it takes the Prevacid 2 weeks to kick in. My pediatrician also recommended that he take a product called primadophilus.....apparently it contains "good bacteria" that our GERD children do not produce on their own which equalizes the stomach acid and relieves the pain, gas etc...
1. Has anyone ever switched from Zantac to Prevacid and had their child seem worse in the 2 week transition?
2. Has anyone heard of or used a product like primadophilus or acidophilus?
3. Has anyone noticed their baby get worse before better?
4. Do you think Nicholas is just spoiled at 5 months (3 1/2 months adjusted) he is preemie .......and that is why he is crying so much or are these babies EXTRA sensitive to EVERYTHING???????
ANY HELP or ADVICE anyone can give me would be SO GREATLY APPRECIATED!!
Thank you

1. We did not actually switch from zantac to prevacid, we are on both. Mind you, we have cut down on the zantac but still have it in our arsenal for both boys and can use what dose we feel is needed as our ped has given us a range right up to max.
2. We have used acidopholus here and it does help. Due to the amounts of antibiotics our GERDlings consume it causes an inbalance of the natural gut flora and this product helps to stabilize it again.
3. Oh, yes. As Amanda said, life on the reflux roller coaster keeps you hopping. In time you will notice that things are begining to be more up than down, though. It is a rough ride.
4. I have 3 kids and non were preemie. I know that preemies do have a predisposition to reflux and many things do need to be adjusted for age for them. However, the screaming and being "spoiled" sure applies to all our kids, preemie or not. It is just a reflux thing. All of these kids need extra comfort. A lot of us have heard about the "spoiling" comments and in time you just learn to ignore it. Pass them a pamphlet on GERD (they have ones you can download off of IRD) and that could shut them up. lol


Until you get the meds going it will be hard. I have heard all about the age to outgrow it and it all has passed us by, but then again my guys were diagnosed late to begin with. Keep heart as the vast majority ARE fine by age one and many again as the months go by before age 1.5 years. Go day by day and it makes it easier.

e-mail a picture to becky in nm and she will get the picture in for you..


That's me! :iconbigg: