PPIs and fractures?

[Anonymous]

Did anyone hear this on the news? I heard about it on the radio on the way in to work yesterday. (sigh). I know that you can’t believe everything you read in the news, but I certainly hope that our little ones don’t have the same problems due to calcium malabsorption after being on their PPIs.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/12/26/burn.bones.ap/index .html

s&h’s mum2006-12-29 22:41:8

[Anonymous]

yeah my FIL was telling me about this.
so is this going to mean that they are going to start recommending calcium supplements to people on PPI’s?

[Anonymous]

well, this gives me one more reason to keep thinking about opting for surgery—besides the fact that prevacid is so expensive!! i have been having alot of reflux trouble today—even on my prevacid. i have taken gaviscon a couple of times. i need to take my pills for the night, but i am afraid they will just aggravate my reflux more. i hate this reflux!!!!

[Anonymous]

Yet one more thing for us parents to worry about, isn’t it? Hopefully non of these babies will have to be on PPIs long enough that this will affect them.

Christine – I hope you can find a solution to your reflux. Miserable stuff.

[Anonymous]

Yes Christine, I hope that you can get some relief soon. I’ve started having reflux recently as well and it isn’t pleasant.

Unfortunately, I think that many of us will fall into this group where it’s a problem. They said the biggest risk was in adults who took high doses for over a year.

As for calcium supplements, I don’t know if it would help since they also are absorbed through the stomach, but I’m going to talk to our GI about it. Anyhow, after some of the other effects listed in the product monograph, which I just read this morning, it’s just one of several potential effects.

[Anonymous]

But Mylanta has calcium in it, and I give Aidan mylanta all the time plus flinstones vitamins so shouldn’t the fact that the mylanta has calcium in it, plus the calcium they get from bf’ing or formula or table foods and viatimns take care of any problems? eh oh well I tend not to listen to statistics because I just think that sometimes the results of studies can be skewed one way or the other somehow. My mom has taken ppi’s forever (for reflux and a hiatal hernia and barrett’s esophogus), and I mean FOREVER, maybe 10ish years, and has never had any calcium issues, or fractured anything despite a few really bad falls!

[Anonymous]

Lori,

That’s interesting and a little scary. I did see that on the news and sighed with relief that Myles is off meds now. I hope all of our babies are getting enough calcium. The study didn’t include children, but surely it must effect them the same way.

I’ve been having terrible reflux the last few weeks. I hope it’s temporary. When did your’s start, Lori? I wake up at night with such horrible pain. Are you taking anything? I’ve taken some Prevacid a few times that I had left over from Myles and it really works well, but dh will flip out if we have to start buying it for me. Maybe I’ll have to try some OTC meds.

[Anonymous]

That’s interesting… I’ve been having some reflux too the past few months. It hasn’t really been painful, just really uncomfortable, so I haven’t taken anything but TUMS. It’s really weird because I have never had anything like this -or any digestion problems for that matter- in my life until now.

[Anonymous]

Heather,

Oh, no! Not you too!

I never had heartburn issues, except very briefly during my last pregnancy. In fact I used to tell people I had an iron stomach because nothing bothered me. It’s weird, isn’t it? I hope it’s only temporary for all of us. For me I think it might be that I’ve gained a lot of weight since Myles was born (all the stress maybe?). So, maybe losing some weight will help. If not then I’m at a loss as to why this would happen all of a sudden.

I hope your’s continues to be mild and tums is all you need.

[Anonymous]

I have always wondered about the long term side effects of ppi’s but what else can we do?!

[Anonymous]

We can’t do anything, Sarah. I look at it, like the long-term effects of uncontrolled reflux are not good either.

Christine, I think my reflux is also from a recent weight gain. I lost almost 30 pounds after Hailey was born, and have recently gained it all back and then some. I’m hoping to try to lose some again after the holiday binging stops.

Jill, I agree that you can’t trust everything you read, and you can’t worry about everything that you hear. The article did not say that everyone on PPIs will sustain fractures or osteoporis, just that there was a 40 percent increase in OP in adults over 50 who were on PPIs, especially over a year and on high doses. I take it with a grain of salt, as well. I was just putting the info out there. But I do know from human biochemistry that there are certain vitamins and minerals that are absorbed into the blood from the GI tract requiring the presence of acid. So it makes sense that if there isn’t stomach acid, these vitamins and minerals wouldn’t be absorbed well, even if you gave more. That’s just my thoughts though, not fact. But like I said, we don’t necessarily have a choice.

[Anonymous]

Lori,

That’s what I’m hoping….that losing some weight will stop the reflux for me. I guess that’s some added incentive anyway.

As for the calcium absorption problem, I agree that there’s nothing we can really do. We can’t let out babies be in pain and possibly develop feeding aversions. Hopefully most of our babies aren’t on PPI’s long enough to cause any issues.

[Anonymous]

you just have to decide what is the lesser of two evils, i guess. older people are already at a greater risk for osteoporosis—–it is probably not much of a problem to worry about in an infant.

the ped surgeon that did sylvia’s fundo told us that he didn’t think it was good to change the natural ph of the stomach for a long period of time. i take alot of different medications and i sometimes wonder if i am getting the full benefit of them because of the prevacid.

[Anonymous]

s&h’s mum wrote:

We can’t do anything, Sarah. I look at it, like the long-term effects of uncontrolled reflux are not good either.

You are exactly right! It took me a long time to get to this realization but that is what it comes down to.

[Author]

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