Prevacid vs. Prilosec

Carson was on a higher dose of Prevacid but then became neutropenia, so we were switched to Prilosec. I get the generic – omeprazole. There are many different generics, but we request the one with 18 beads in the capsule (20mg). I put them in rice cereal and he gobbles them down. Our specialist said that it is very rare that a child will develop any problems when being on a higher dose of Prilosec but that it does happen more often when on Prevacid. Carson had been on Prevacid for about 8 months when he became neutropenia, then switched to Prilosec from then til now, so, about 15 months on Prilosec so far.

Neotropenia is:

Neutrophils serve as the major defense of the body against acute bacterial and certain fungal infections. Neutrophils usually constitute about 45 to 75% of all white blood cells in the bloodstream. When the neutrophil count falls below 1,000 cells per microliter of blood, the risk of infection increases somewhat; when it falls below 500 cells per microliter, the risk of infection increases greatly. Without the key defense provided by neutrophils, a person has problems controlling infections and is at risk of dying from an infection.

The biggest indicator of this with Carson was that his little bumps and scrapes that little boys get – didn’t heal well. Our specialist would always look him over well, but when he saw his scrape on his knee, ordered a blood test and it showed his neutrophils were 472. He immediately switched Carson from Prevacid to Prilosec and we had blood tests weekly until he was better (3weeks). Apparently, if he had gotten an ear infection or any type of infection, it could have been deadly.

For this reason, we have stayed with Prilosec generic and haven’t had any trouble.

i would not worry about that. the condition is extremely rare. Brenda, how does a PPI affect white blood cell count? i am just wondering how the two are related. but just a note, my grandmother is on prescription prilosec.

If you look at the side effects of pretty much all the drugs commonly used to treat GERD (including Prilosec), neutropenia is listed as a rare side effect. My son became neutropenic (ANC=80) on Pepcid and we were switched to Prevacid and have had no problems so far. I would not worry about neutropenia. It is an extremely rare side effect and as you can see from the posts here, different kids will have different reactions to drugs. Pepcid was a problem for us but Prevacid has been fine. I would not recommend not taking Pepcid just because of what happened to us. Again, it is very rare that this happens and most likely your child will have no problems with neutropenia taking any of the drugs commonly prescribed for GERD.