Does Anyone Take Prevacid?

[mart]

Hi. My son was better on his gluten-free diet after a few months. Then symptoms started again, despite being 100% gluten-free. Gastro was too busyt to see him so he called in a prescription for Prevacid. I didn't want to give it to him at first because he was complaining of stomachaches. I thought Prevacid was for acid reflux. Then I became desperate and thought I'd give it a try. Well, after 3 days on this med, he hasn't complained much, if at all. Of course, he also hasn't had a bowel movement for 3 days. ??

Is this just coincidence, or did the gastro actually do the right thing by putting him on this med?

[Chako]

I am not sure how it helps with Celiac but I am very GERD familiar as two of my sons are on prevacid and are GERDlings.

Prevacid is a PPI, a proton pump inhibitor and it helps to close the valve at the top of the stomach called the LES or lower esophageal sphincter and thus preventing a wash of acid reflux from flying up the esophagus and irritating it and possibly causing aspiration in some individuals. It is a harsh medication for some to take but if you ride it out for the 2 weeks it takes to become really effective it may be the best thing you ever did reflux-wise. My youngest son was a complete non eater until he was 14 months of age (started stage one purees then ) and when we finally were sure he had a swallow at the age of 20 months his intake skyrocketed with it.

Our first trial with it caused liquid green poops and intense abdominal pain but our second trial was absolutely fine and made the difference for my youngest son for sure.

From a GERD standpoint I do know that reflux is much worse when a child is sick or constipated so that could be why your GI prescribed it?

I know a fantastic board which is all about pediatric GERD should you need it.

Oh, and sometimes kiddos do get a bit constipated on it so you may need to use some OTC meds to get him going or just try first with some prune juice if possible.

[mart]

Thanks, Chako. But I'm kind of confused. I understand why Prevacid would help with GERD symptoms, but I don't think my son has a reflux or acid problem. He said his belly was hurting. I'm glad my son feels better, of course, but I don't know if it's the Prevacid or a coincidence and just don't want to get my hopes up high. I've been worried sick for months now trying to figure out what the cause of his stomach pain is, since I'm positive that he's 100% gluten free.

[Chako]

I am still getting a handle on celiac here but I wonder again if he is suffering from constipation or just some reflux issues anyway. It is much worse for some children who have GI issues to begin with so that may be why the GI did give it to him. One thing for certain, response to the med shows that he needed it. Your GI may chose to wean him off of it in 6 months or so if this is just to help him ride out a temporary problem. What dose is he on and how old is he? 15 mg is the start dose for it usually. Also, is he on capsules, solutabs, or suspension?

[TCA]

My daughter is on Prevacid for GERD. She has been on both the solutab and the oral suspension. The solutab is great, but it has lactose in it while the oral suspension and the capsule don't. This helps my daughter's pain associated with GERD so much. It's almost more important than her heart meds when it comes to daily comfort. Some people have a higher acid level in their stomachs than others. The prevacid may be helping to neutralize his stomach somewhat, if that makes sense. Glad he's doing better!

[Chako]

A medicine like zantac would help to neutralize or reduce the acid but prevacid is so much more effective as it actually aids in closing the LES and thus preventing the wash of acid reflux back into the esophagus. It is a step up from a med like zantac as it has a different function from it. I have two sons on prevacid but we often use zantac alongside of it for those extra refluxy times and can do this as they both are targeting different things.

[penguin]

My dr put me on prilosec (another ppi) because of chronic stomach inflamation that caused a lot of burning pain in my stomach. I don't have GERD, an endoscopy showed that, but I do have chronic inflammation. It helps so much! Some people just make too much acid, regardless of whether or not it is refluxed. If it helps, great!

[Guest cassidy]

I was born with reflux and had surgery when I was 10. I have had celiac symptoms my whole life and think the reflux was really a symptoms of that. My surgery reversed and I was scheduled to have a second one in February. My reflux was terrible. I found out about celiac in January and went gluten-free. By my surgery date, my reflux was gone. My doctors thought my self-imposed gluten-free diet was crazy and that I needed the surgery. I figured this all out on my own, like so many of us had.

I felt great for a month and then started getting horrible stomach aches, my heart was pounding and I got a rash. I found a doctor that deals with supplements. She orders a 3 day stool test with parasitology from www.doctorsdata.com. It turns out that since I was on the acid reducers, the first barrier your body has, stomach acid, was compromised. This allowed amoebas and a bad bacteria to make a home in my intestines. I took two very nasty antibiotics to get rid of them and I will never, never take an antacid again!!!!!

The test also showed that I have candida overgrowth. I'm on Nystatin and a low carb diet for that.

So, based on what happened to me, I wouldn't take acid reducers, especially if you don't think he has reflux.

[shai76]

Prevacid is a PPI, a proton pump inhibitor and it helps to close the valve at the top of the stomach called the LES or lower esophageal sphincter and thus preventing a wash of acid reflux from flying up the esophagus and irritating it and possibly causing aspiration in some individuals. It is a harsh medication for some to take but if you ride it out for the 2 weeks it takes to become really effective it may be the best thing you ever did reflux-wise.

Actually proton pump inhibitors, such as prevacid, do not close off the esophageal sphincter, they shut off some of the acid pumps (proton pumps) in the stomach there by reducing the amount of stomach acid. They are completely harmless and normally the most common side effect (if any) can be diarrhea, but I imagine constipation too because a lot of the other moms I talk to in my community with kids with reflux have constipation problems.

The drug you are referring to is reglan, and yep it's pretty nasty. My pediatric gastroenterologist does not reccomend it at all.

[MustLoveGoblins]

Anyone taking Prevacid/Prilosec might want to read Open Original Shared Link. Those drugs are far from harmless in the long run, and you might have equally good results with pepsin/HCL supplements, which are natural. At the very least, the book is an eye-opening read.

[jerseyangel]

I don't want to scare anyone, but recently I was put on Prevacid for reflux. It caused D, but it was manageable, so I stuck it out. After a week or so, I noticed my reflux was getting better, so I thought I'd gotten over the worst of the side effects. I was wrong--the D got worse, and the scary part was that I got something like vertigo. I couldn't walk a straight line, and was having to hold onto the walls and doorways in my house to get around. I didn't think it could be the Prevacid, but I stopped taking it to see if it would help. The vertigo went away the next day. So did the D. I have not taken anything else for the reflux--actually, I find it's getting much better now that I've removed all of the foods that I'm sensitive to. I'm sure that in my case, it was the additional food intolerances that caused the reflux in the first place--I never had reflux until after I went gluten-free.

[Lisa]

I take a generic prilosec in the morning and one at night, but recently, I have the need to take a zantec in the early afternoon to ward off stomach acid. I know that I have high stress, because of my daughter wedding in a week and ana a half Mylanta seems to good by me for the interum and hopes that after this is over the acid will subside.

I also have a large hiatal hernia, which is not a great help during this time, and most likely is the cause of my acid stomach and bloating in the afternoon.

I have learned that all maladies are celiac related. Maybe when the dust settles, I will get the hernia fixed.

Ug, let me live through this next week, please.....

[jerseyangel]

Lisa--It's getting right down to the wire! I just know everything's going to be fine. I'm sending soothing, stress-free thoughts your way--the 10th--right?

[shai76]

Anyone taking Prevacid/Prilosec might want to read Open Original Shared Link. Those drugs are far from harmless in the long run, and you might have equally good results with pepsin/HCL supplements, which are natural. At the very least, the book is an eye-opening read.

I've heard about some inconclusive studies on antacids causing food allergies but not PPIs. It will be interesting to read.

I don't think going off the medication without talking to your GI doc is a good idea though. Some people, like myself and my son, get dysphagia and asthmatic reactions to GERD so going off the meds is not an option. I've weighed the consequences of the meds against the conseuqences of not taking them, and a few extra food allergies is not bad compared to a feeding tube, or esophageal cancer. Right now my son and I both take it twice a day, every day, probably for the rest of our lives.

I definitly think the book looks worth the read though.

[penguin]

I may have to check out the book also, but for the time being, a daily prilosec is much better than stomach cancer. I don't have GERD, I have erosive gastritis. I clearly make too much acid and my stomach tries to eat itself, and long term irritation like that can cause cancer. Going gluten-free didn't help, if anything it got worse. Right now, for me, prilosec is what I can do, even if it doesn't work all the time. Until a better solution (and a better gi doc) comes along, it's PPI's for me.

I had been dx'ed with GERD, and at the endo, the dr was surprised that my esophagus was totally normal. He biopsied the stomach lining and I "oozed" which apparently isn't good. He didn't test for celiac.