Constipation with Prevacid

[Anonymous]

Hi,
My 5 month old just started Prevacid 2 weeks ago (previously she had been on Zantac from 1 month to 5 months). She is getting very constipated. I assume this is a side effect of Prevacid. My doctor says to start prunes. We have never done any solids. Should I shoot them in a mouth in a syringe? Any ideas?

Also, the Prevacid does not seem to be helping any more than the Zantac was and we have been on it a full 2 weeks……….yet it is causing this constipation. Do you think I should switch back to Zantac?

Thanks!
Carol

[Anonymous]

Our PPI (zegerid) caused chronic constipation as well. I didn’t realize it until we started to wean Sarah from her meds and her poos all of a sudden became “normal”. Hmm, I’m not sure about administering prunes. I know you can buy prune juice and add a little of that to a bottle. That might be a better solution if you’re not ready to spoon feed.

Our experience with zegerid was that results came within the 14-17 day range. It wasn’t an all a sudden overnight miracle…little things slowly started improving until we were finally HAPPY. Her sleep wasn’t such a struggle, she didn’t scream AS long as before, she started smiling more. I would give it a few more days with the prevacid before you give up.

Oh, just thought of this…are you making sure to give the prevacid 30 minutes before a meal? I know the way you administer the med. can make all the difference. There are a few other tips and tricks that must be followed but I can’t think of all of them right now. Laura’s Groupie Intro has a link to “Prevacid 101”. That should help.

GOOD LUCK!

[Anonymous]

thanks, amy. it is hard for me to pump enough to ever give her a bottle (she is exclusively breastfed at this point) but maybe i can try. we give her the prevacid 20 minutes before a meal and i was under the impression that it was enough but maybe not.

if anyone has any other thoughts i would love to hear them!

carol

[Anonymous]

You could try to spoon feed her prunes, she probably would only need about a tablespoon/day and maybe not even that often. We started solids at 5months and Cooper has been doing great with them. He was showing the signs of being ready. We are on Nutramigen so bm’s have never been a problem for us, so of all the stage one fruits, prunes are not one we are going to try. I wish you luck. Give the prevacid a little longer and try to wait 30min before feedings to see if that helps.

[Anonymous]

Hi Beth,
Did your little refluxer actually have a lot of reflux that came out or just silent? Mine refluxes big volume and very frequently (60 or more times during a 24 hour period). I went out a while ago and got some prune juice and only gave her about 2 tablespoons full with her feeding. She has spit up what looks like to be the whole thing and, of course, everything in her wake is stained.

How did you decide to try Nutramigen? Could you tell for sure your baby was allergic to milk protein? I’ve eliminated dairy from my diet and don’t see much of a change (I’ve now been dairy free for months), but a naturopath I’ve been to says my daughter tests (according to her tests) as sensitive to the protein in cow’s milk.

Uggh…..I’m at my breaking point again today.

Thanks for any insight you can provide!
Carol

[Anonymous]

Lots of babies who are intolerant to milk are also intolerant to soy, so maybe try eliminating soy also. It’s tough because soy and dairy are in so many things. You will have to read labels very carefully and you’re diet will be much more restrictive, but it would be well worth it if avoiding soy and dairy turned things around for her.

My son was also very constipated from Prevacid and from DGE. I used a variety of rememdies to help him. Maybe you can try a few of them. Prunes or Prune Juice. Pears or Pear juice. Benefiber. Flax seed oil. I used all of these remedies every day because his constipation was so severe, but you may find just one or two that work. I would try the prunes again. Maybe a combination of prunes and pears would be easier for her to keep down. Benefiber worked wonders for him. You could probably dissolve it in a medicine cup with some water and then give it to her by syringe. I’d do it right before nursing her because it should be given with plenty of fluid.

What dose of Prevacid is she getting and how often? It’s possible that her dose is not high enough. Many docs under dose. Also it’s very important to give Prevacid on an empty stomach and then follow it up with a meal 30 minutes later.

Good luck. I hope she’s feeling better soon.

[Anonymous]

Isaac has problems with constipation too……..now we don’t know if it is due to the prevacid or the milk only diet

[Anonymous]

Hi Sarah,
I talked to my pediatrician and lots of people who have their kids on prevacid and constipation seems like a very common side effect with prevacid. So it very well could be that.

Carol

[Anonymous]

Abby also got consitpated from Prevacid. Her pedi GI put her on Lacutolse. You can mix it in a bottle or just administer it with a syringe. It is sugary and doesn’t tasted bad. She only needed 1tsp per day and that made all the difference. We were able to wean her from it just after her 1st birthday and now she is fine.

Andrea

[Anonymous]

My Paige is terribly constipated too, likely from combination of the Neocate formula and the Prevacid. Just to let you know, we tried Lactulose and while it helped with the constipation it just opened up another can of worms for us. Paige was MISERABLE the 3 days she was on lactulose, and would only sleep if we were holding her. Turns out the ped now thinks she is intolerant/sensitive to sugars as well as proteins.

Good luck, I hope you find something that helps your little one!

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