Infantreflux.org | Zantac causing vomiting????? Please help!

This topic has 8 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 20 years, 6 months ago by hellbennt.

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April 16, 2006 at 2:06 am #6163

Anonymous
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Hi!

If anyone can offer some guidance, I would be MOST appreciative.

My 8 week old daughter was diagnosed with reflux a month ago. After attempting all the preventative measures that the pediatrician recommended (inclined feeding/sleeping/feeding slowly/thickened feeds), we did not see much improvement in her attacks.

Basically what happens is an hour or two after eating, she will start to whimper (she is usually completely asleep), then start to rub her face, let out a wail, then bam…she stiffens and spews out her nose and her mouth.

Anyhow…the Ped prescribed Zantac to her on Thursday. The bottle says Zantac 15 mg/ml. The directions for use are .8 ml every 12 hours. She weighs 9 lbs at the moment.

My issue is this. Outside of the regular “spitting up” because of overeating, moving too much too close to eating, etc, and the attacks I describe above, she doesn’t normally vomit. The first time I gave her the dose, she took it fine. No problems, and she kept it down (she certainly didn’t like the taste but she dealt with it).

The second time, she just kept spitting it out after I put it in her mouth. I called the pharmacy to see if I could mix it with her formula. The pharmacist said that would be fine, providing it was a small amount that she was sure to finish. So, the third dose, I put it in her formula. She drank the one ounce that I had mixed it in, and promptly threw the entire ounce up.

I didn’t redose either of the times that she kept either spitting it up, or throwing up the entire feed.

The 3 feeds between the dosing have gone well. Tonight I tried to mix it with her formula again, and again she vomited the entire feed up in two seperate sessions a few moments apart (enough time to clean up the first one! LOL)

So my questions are…

1. Is it possible she is allergic to the Zantac? Outside of the vomiting, the only other thing I notice is she tends to be more agitated after I give it to her.

2. Is the dose too strong maybe? Should I try cutting it in half to see if she will tolerate it better?

If anyone has gone through something similar, I would love to hear about it! The Ped’s office is closed until Tuesday, and I am unsure about whether to even continue trying to give her the Zantac now.

April 16, 2006 at 12:02 pm #6170

Anonymous
Inactive

HELLO MOMTOEMMY,

WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU FEEL. MY DAUGHTER WHO HAS JUST TURNED 1 REACTED IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY TO HER MEDICATION, SHE SEEMED TO SPIT UP MORE AFTER SHE HAD TAKEN IT. I AM ALSO A “NEWBIE” AND THEREFORE AM NO EXPERT ON THESE SUBJECTS BUT SOME OF THE OTHER MOMS FROM THIS SITE HAVE RECOMMENDED A SITE TO ME SO HERE IS THE LINK:

http://www.marci-kids.com

IT HAS REALLY USEFUL INFORMATION FOR MOMS LIKE US WHO ARE BATTLING WITH THIS FRUSTRATING CONDITION. IT ALSO HAS A SECTION FOR DOCTORS WHICH YOU MAY LIKE TO SHOW YOUR PED.

I JUST HAD A LOOK AT IT FOR YOU AS I NOTICED THAT YOU SAID THAT YOUR DAUGHTER HAD BEEN PRESCRIBED “ZANTAC” WHICH IS A “H2 BLOCKER” AND I HAVE NOTICED THAT ALOT OF THE MOMS HERE HAVE THEIR BABIES ON “PREVACID” WHICH IS A “PPI” , WHICH BELONGS TO A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DRUG GROUP. THE WEBSITE AT MARCI-KIDS HAS ALOT OF VERY HELPFUL INFORMATION SUCH AS THIS (WHICH I HAVE CUT AND PASTED DIRECTLY FROM THEIR WEBSITE).

…………………………………………………… ………………………………………………..

3. H-2 blockers

These are drugs such as Zantac® (ranitidine) and Pepcid® (famotidine) also older agents such as Tagamet® (cimetidine) and finally, Axid® (nizatidine). These drugs all work the same way. They block acid production by blocking the receptor primarily responsible for stimulating the acid-secreting cells known as parietal cells. The problem with these drugs in children is that children develop tolerance very rapidly to the effects of all H-2 blockers. This can happen in as little as one week. You will know it is happening because your child will no longer feel good. So in other words, they start feeling good when you start the Zantac or Pepcid at the beginning, and then a week or so later they are back to square one. A special note—never use H-2 blockers along with PPI drugs. This is because the H-2 blocker will prevent the PPI drug from working. It is ok to give a PPI drug at breakfast and supper and then four hours or more later at bedtime give an H-2 blocker. But this is not together.

Generic and Trade Names for H-2 Blockers:

Ranitidine (Zantac®)
Famotidine (Pepcid®)
Cimetidine (Tagamet®)
Nizatidine (Axid®)

4. PPIs

PPIs are the drugs of choice for treating acid-related disorders in children. They are highly effective with a very wide safety margin. The main problem is that they are underdosed in kids (See PPI Dosing Information). Children metabolize PPI drugs 2-3 times faster than middle-age adults and as such they require the drug to be given 2-3 times per day to make up for the rapid elimination. Prilosec® (omeprazole), Nexium® (esomeprazole) and Prevacid® (lansoprazole) are enteric-coated, tiny granules that require a longer period of time to be effective. A new liquid product, Zegerid™, is available which contains omeprazole in a true suspension. [Prevacid® delayed-release suspension contains enteric-coated granules and does not go into a true suspension]. Zegerid™ is the first true suspension of PPI drug. It is suitable for use in children. ChocoBase™ and CaraCream™ have been used to convert Prevacid® and Prilosec® into true suspensions in the past.

Generic and Trade Names for PPIs:

Lansoprazole (Prevacid®)
Omeprazole (Prilosec®)
Esomeprazole (Nexium®)
Pantoprazole (Protonix®)
Rabeprazole (Aciphex®)
Omeprazole + buffer (Zegerid™)

…………………………………………………… …………………………….

ANYWAY I TOTALLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU CHECK OUT THEIR SITE AS THEY HAVE ENLIGHTENED ME WITH ALOT OF INFORMATION THAT I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT.

I WAS TOLD BY ALOT OF THE MOMS ON THIS SITE THAT THEY HAD TO GET THEIR PED’S TO LOOK AT THE WEBSITE TO CHANGE THE DOSE FOR THEIR BABIES AND I AM GOING TO DO THE VERY SAME THING ON TUESDAY TO SEE IF I CAN GET MY DAUGHTER’S PED TO CHANGE HER DOSE. THE OTHER MOM’S SAY THAT THEY HAVE HAD SO MUCH SUCCESS ONCE THEY HAD THEIR DOSAGE CHANGED, SO MAYBE YOU SHOULD SEE THE PED AS SOON AS YOU CAN AND SEE WHAT THEY THINK.

I DONT KNOW IF YOUR DAUGHTER MAY BE ALLERGIC TO THE ZANTAC AND I AM NO EXPERT BUT MAYBE IT JUST ISNT THE RIGHT TYPE OF DRUG FOR HER??? I DONT THINK I AM IN THE POSITION TO RECOMMEND CUTTING THE DOSAGE OR STOPPING THE ZANTAC UNTIL TUESDAY, I GUESS ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO YOUR HEART AND RELY ON MOTHER’S INTUITION IN THIS CASE…… YOU KNOW WHAT’S BEST FOR YOUR BABY.

ANYWAY I JUST WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT I AM GOING THROUGH THE SAME ORDEAL AS YOU AND KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU FEEL (IT IS SO DAMN FRUSTRATING ISNT IT!!!!!) IT IS JUST SO HARD WHEN YOUR BABY NEEDS YOU AND YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP HER.

HAVE A LOOK AT THAT WEBSITE ANYWAY AND SEE WHAT YOU THINK. GOOD LUCK TO YOU AND I HOPE THINGS IMPROVE VERY SOON. I KNOW YOU WILL WORK THROUGH THIS AND WE WILL PROBABLY LAUGH ABOUT IT LATER. HANG IN THERE GIRL AND I AM SENDING LOTS OF HUGS YOUR WAY….

LET ME KNOW HOW YOU GO OKAY??

bakakarasu2006-4-16 12:6:51

April 16, 2006 at 12:59 pm #6173

Anonymous
Inactive

Welcome, are you giving the zantac 30 mins. before a meal?
Also, feeding her smaller meals can help- but you probably heard that one. Some moms don’t have much success with zantac. What you described happened to my dd. It was worse after an hour or 2 when the milk came up after mixing with the acid. We switched to a ppi-prevacid because it turns off the pumps. It will take 14 days to fully get into her system and you can use zantac in between space 2-4 hours or they will cancel each other out. In the mean time…. Go to marci-kids to see if she is on the right dose and we love mylanta cherry supreme. I think I used .5 ml before bottles. If you give to much- you will just notice runny stools, bit refluxers are poor poopers anyways.

Guess the docs are working off of info that is 10 years old. They seem to follow the same routine, starting with mylanta , then zantac which doesn’t work half the time because it is so weight sensitive and babies plateau on it. Then they will prescribe a ppi once they know it is not going away any time soon. Good luck, lots of info on this board, and lots of mommy knowledge.

April 16, 2006 at 1:59 pm #6177

Anonymous
Inactive

I don’t know if the Zantac is making her vomit, but I can tell you that my daughter did not get any relief from Zantac. I didn’t know any better when she was a baby so I stuck with it and she was miserable until she grew out of her reflux at 8 months old.

My son also has reflux and I was fortunate to find this site and the marci-kids.com site. My son is on Prevacid and is doing very well. I had to show my doctor the information from marci-kids in order to get her to prescribe the right dose for him. I printed the information and sent it to her.

Does your daughter have trouble with feedings? Does she fight the bottle or seem uncomfortable after she eats? How does she sleep?

If I was you I would study the information at marci.kids, print it for the doctor, send it or fax it to him/her, and then ask to put your daughter on a PPI like Prevacid or Zegerid. Not necessarily because the Zantac is making her throw up (it may be), but because PPI’s are definitely much better at treating the acid problem that babies with Reflux have. (The fact that she does throw up her Zantac may help convice your doc to give her a PPI if he’s not usually inclined to do so).

**Make sure you figure out the PPI dose she should get before you talk to your doctor so you can be ready with the information if he prescribes a dose which is too low. Doctors generally prescribe doses which are too low for infants because they are not aware of the research that shows infants metabolize and eliminate these drugs three times faster than adults.

Here’s the link: http://www.marci-kids.com/

I’m glad you found this site! It’s been a saving grace for me and I hope it will help you as much as it has helped me.

April 16, 2006 at 9:13 pm #6197

Anonymous
Inactive

Most of these other ladies have more experience that I do but I thought I’d offer another viewpoint anyway. I’m wondering if the mint taste is what’s causing her to vomit. I only say this because my first DD has extremely sensitive taste. She will not take any medication. Seriously. Even the stuff that is flavored like cherry or berry or grape – you know the stuff that most kids think is candy? When she was an infant and we tried to give her tylenol or motrin she would puke it back up because of the taste. You could try mixing the Zantac with more than an ounce of formula. We give it to our DD in a 3-5 ounce bottle, always making sure that she’s hungry enough to finish it. The few times DD#1 really had to take medicine that was the only way we could get it into her, too.

Of course it may just be that your DD isn’t going to respond favorably to the Zantac no matter what you try but I thought I’d post this while you wait to talk to the pediatrician on Tuesday.

Karen

April 16, 2006 at 9:43 pm #6200

Anonymous
Inactive

I agree with Karen. I responded to your other thread. Hailey had the same reaction, and I truly believe it was the taste.

April 16, 2006 at 10:22 pm #6205

Anonymous
Inactive

I knew I had found the right place to get some answers!

Thank you so much for all your input!

I do think the taste has something to do with it…she makes quite the nasty face when I try to feed it to her.

I will try mixing with a larger dose tonight and see if that helps…poor kid, I am trying to keep her FROM vomiting so much, and here I am giving her something else to vomit up! LOL

April 17, 2006 at 6:37 am #6212

Anonymous
Inactive

I agree too. Marisa REFUSED to take the Zantac and would puke it back
up – it has a really nasty taste and an alcohol base too – not a
helpful thing for an irritated esophagus. Can you ask a compounding
pharmacy to prepare it without the alcohol? Or even better can you get
a prescription for Pepcid instead? Works the same way but tastes good
actually and more concentrated so you need to give less.

April 17, 2006 at 5:20 pm #6261

hellbennt
Keymaster

hi & welcome!

here’s my welcome/intro that I post for all newcomers & from there, there’s a link about mylanta & zantac- helps with the taste! https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=853&am p;PN=1&TPN=1

~laura
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