Home › Forums › Infant Reflux Information › Medicines › How to wean off Prilosec?
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March 31, 2013 at 8:54 pm #71911AnonymousInactive
I have lurked on this site for a little over a year, gleaning lots of info for my reflux boy, a preemie growth-restricted twin (29 weeks) born in July 2011 who developed reflux as soon as he started receiving extra fortifier in breast milk in the NICU. We worked our way through a lot of challenges, found a better pediatric GI doctor, increased his dosage of Prilosec, and finally in October started compounding his meds using Tummy Care which has been working wonderfully. Thankfully, I bought a bunch of it before I learned they were stopping production. About 8 months ago, our GI doctor suggested I continue with the Prilosec until about age two. I have heard that you need to wean off of Prilosec to prevent acid rebound. I was wondering if anyone has done this, and what were your methods? My little guy has about 3 1/2 months before he turns 2 and has not had any outward signs of reflux for many months, but he takes two daily doses of 3.6 ml of a 3mg omeprazole/ml solution. (He only weighs 17.8 lbs.) I want to have a plan in place to start weaning him off his meds this summer, which is why I’m starting to ask around now.
April 2, 2013 at 10:19 am #71922AnonymousInactiveI personally would recommend starting your little one on probiotics and digestive enzymes. I am short on time today so please read my blog (see signature) to learn more on how they helped my children so tremendously.
Also here is discussion that I came across when looking for the side effects of meds like Prevacid and Prilosec. http://www.inspire.com/groups/preemie/discussion/for-those-with-babies-taking-ppis-prevacid-zantac-etc/ These moms also tell how they found probiotics and/or digestive enzymes to help their children more than meds. Happy Mom2013-04-02 10:20:20
April 2, 2013 at 12:55 pm #71925AnonymousInactiveThanks for your reply. I actually already have him on probiotics and digestive enzymes, so that part is covered. I have also previously read that article and your blog – a lot of great information. His circumstance pretty much required meds for a long time, but I am hopeful with all I have been doing to help him have a healthy digestive system and with his physical maturity, he will be ready to be free of the meds in the next few months. So my main concern right now is the best way to transition him off his PPI medicine. I would love to hear if people go cold turkey or if they gradually wean a toddler off the proton pump inhibitors.
April 2, 2013 at 2:50 pm #71927AnonymousInactiveGOOD DEAL! 🙂 With my oldest we stopped Prevacid cold turkey. With my second son, I went real slow. He was taking 30mg a day and I would cut it down by 7.5 at a time. And I think I cut it down about once a week. I was very scared to take him off it.
I would not recommend cold turkey quitting. But I bet Laura (hellbent) will have good advice on how to slowly wean.
April 2, 2013 at 8:03 pm #71930hellbenntKeymasterthere’s a post around here somewhere, lol, about how to wean off the prevacid. you’re not supposed to quit cold turkey- cut out one of the daily doses & see how that goes- are you giving 2 or 3 times a day? if 3 times a day, try cutting out a dose.
if two times a day, try lowering the overall dose & keep the two doses
do it all slowly…
April 3, 2013 at 11:01 am #71948AnonymousInactiveThanks, Laura. He is on 2 doses a day, so I’ll try to reduce his overall amount slowly before completely cutting out a dose.
April 3, 2013 at 6:37 pm #71950hellbenntKeymasterI’d do that and then you have a choice:
cut out one of the doses (which is worse? day or night? I think if sleeping is an issue, then I’d cut out the a.m. dose first? or, if sleeping isn’t an issue, truy cutting that one out)
or continue lowering the overall dose
you can alway give zantac/pepcid/tagament/axid on an ‘as needed’ basis
and also tums and mylanta-
you just need to give the above mentioned meds spaced from the PPI dose
April 3, 2013 at 8:53 pm #71951AnonymousInactiveWhen you say slowly, do you mean take a month or two months or more? I could reduce the daily total dose by 2 mg per week and take 2 months to wean him off, or I could reduce the daily dose by about 5 mg per week and wean him off in one month. It seems to take about 3 – 4 weeks to see the results of no meds – at least that was our previous experience when we were giving him the wrong solution of meds (extremely concentrated so we had less than 3 ml of fluid per dose).
April 4, 2013 at 7:57 am #71954hellbenntKeymasterit’ll take as long as it takes- you’ll know when baby needs meds…
try the one month approach…
April 4, 2013 at 12:13 pm #71956AnonymousInactiveThanks!
April 4, 2013 at 6:34 pm #71960hellbenntKeymasterwhen people find this site they always say that they want to know what *happened* to all the babies…I respond by saying that once people find the board & find the information they need, then they don’t come back
but, posting everything helps others who find this board out of sheer desperation
who is your doctor? if you’d like to send me a PM (private message) that’s ok, too! but people should know who the good drs are and the ‘bad’ ones and the so-so ones, etc thanks!
June 4, 2013 at 11:43 am #72280AnonymousInactiveHi! For some reason I missed this reply to my last comment. Sorry! My son’s doctor is Dennis L. Christie, MD, a gastroenterologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital. He is a very efficient man – not the sit-down-and chat-your-ear-off type, but he knows his stuff and was very easy to work with. I had several recommendations from people I respect that led me to him.
I am just starting the PPI weaning process this week, so hoping it goes well. Thanks for all your help!
June 9, 2013 at 3:11 pm #72300hellbenntKeymasterany updates? how is the weaning going?
June 9, 2013 at 8:26 pm #72303AnonymousInactiveNot too bad. It’s only been a week, and I plan to take three more weeks to wean him off the Prilosec. He has started having what we call “wet burps,” but no forceful vomiting or eating aversion. He is not a huge eater, but his eating habits have not changed since I started weaning him off his meds. I expect to know for certain how well this worked in about a month after he has been completely weaned from the Prilosec. By then I hope his system is adjusted completely.
June 9, 2013 at 9:35 pm #72306hellbenntKeymastersounds like a plan!
and, thank you for your doctor info!
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