Has Anyone Taken Reglan For Reflux?

[e&j0304]

This is probably just another example of why I shouldn't research things so much on the internet, but I have been looking up the side effects of reglan and I am worried. I am supposed to start giving it to my 2 year old son on Monday for his reflux.

Has anyone had experience with this drug?

TIA!

[jesscarmel]

hi

i took reglan for about four months starting in march 06 for nausea. i did not have any problems and no side effects and i am very sensitive to medication!

Jess

[Mr J]

  e&j0304 said:

This is probably just another example of why I shouldn't research things so much on the internet, but I have been looking up the side effects of reglan and I am worried. I am supposed to start giving it to my 2 year old son on Monday for his reflux.

Has anyone had experience with this drug?

TIA!

I take one 10mg tablet every day in the evening (see my recent posts on the food intolerances forum) for gastroparesis. I am an adult weighing about 123lb, it muddles my brain and makes me very drowsy. I deal with it by sleeping for a couple of hours after ingesting it prior to my evening meal. I don't like this drug at all but I need to eat!

this drug is not meant to be a fix for reflux, it is intended to stimulate motility in the stomach and allow the stomach to empty properly. (although one of the possible symptoms of poor stomach motility can be reflux)

[tiffjake]

I had to take it before I went gluten-free. I don't have GERD anymore. But I don't remember having any weird side effects. I was on so many meds then, who knows what was related to what, you know? (And what I mean by that is that my depression med could have exasterbated my GERD, causing me to need the Reglan....)

[e&j0304]

Thanks so much for your replies. We are going to just go ahead and give it to him and keep a close eye on him. The side effect that I've heard about for kids are Parkinson's like tremors/seizures as well as diarrhea, insomnia and irritability. I got on a forum for parents of kids with reflux and found that quite a few of them had had bad experiences with reglan so I thought I would ask some more. I guess there's always a chance but hopefully he'll do just fine.

Thanks again!

[Mr J]

hello e&j if its in use for GERD on the message board you visited i am obviously mistaken in my original belief that reglan wasn't meant as a direct fix for GERD. However I am quite sure that it works by making the stomach empty into the small intestine. because of my gastroparesis i spent a fair bit of time on the yahoo message board, of all the drugs being used to treat gastroparesis the members reported the most side effects with this one. because I take thsi drug I have done some research too and the most worrying thing is the involuntary muscle motions you mentioned - however this hasn't happened to me. sometimes even after stopping the drug those unwanted muslce movements will occur - my gastro doc confirmed this to me too. I would go so far as to say that it makes a right mess of my brain for about 2 1/2 hrs then I am back to normal. some of the yahoo gp group reported depression was a symptom, but it doesn't affect me this way at all. However I plan on continuing with it indefinately if I don't get the involuntary muslce motions (tardive kinesis or something like that its called). A safer drug with similar effect to reglan is domperidone aka motillium. I take 2 of these per day. my regimen is take one motillium 20 min before brekky. take another before lunch. then take 1 reglan before evening meal (i'm on liquid snacks as well). the reason why i take a reglan in the evening and not a motillium is that reglan is more effective with me and i can eat more. i cannot take reglan during the day and do my job.

[chrissy]

reglan is a motility drug like mr j said, but it is also supposed to help the sphincter muscle at the top of the stomach to tighten up some which is why it is prescribed so often for reflux in infants. some people have had real success with it. i think you will be able to tell before long if side effects will be a problem for your child.

[cchhrriiss]

We gave it to our 8 month old. Her behavior changed dramatically. She was happy, crawling, entergetic. After we started the medicine she became withdrawn and lethargic. We tried changing the dose, and after a few days we just took her off.

[e&j0304]

Thanks for all the info. I went back and talked with the pharmacist today and he said that many children do very well on this drug and some don't. We won't know until we try. We did give it to my son today and he seems ok so far. He spit his last dose out all over the floor tonight though so I guess he didn't get much. I forgot to ask the pharmacist if I have to mix it in a liquid first or if I can give it straight from the dropper. Anyone know?

I pray that this works out for him. We didn't notice any change in his reflux today but of course it will take more than one day!

Thanks again

[Mr J]

the fact that I take reglan every day means i have weighed up the pros and cons and am prepared to deal with the side effects. i am under the influence of this drug right now and I had mentally composed an explanation of hwo its a dopamine antagonist but now I'm too sleepy

its got a strong bitter taste. for my condition it should be taken on an empty stomach, i've taken it with coca-cola nd it seemed to still work, but I prefer to give things the benefit of the doubt and take with water only (i drink about 1/2 a glass and that works for me). my experience is that its not a cumulative type drug that needs to be taken for days to get the benefit - i can feel my stomach start to contract and crunch within minutes. if it hasn't helped the reflux maybe its coz your son spit it out. i take the tablet form, so taste isn't really a consideration. for my condition its very effective

[e&j0304]

Thanks. I will keep a close eye on him tomorrow and see how he does. I gave him a dose mixed in apple juice 1/2 hour before dinner and he refluxed the entire time he was drinking it. He spits up in his mouth and swallows it back down...

Then he kept refluxing after dinner as well. I'm not sure what to think. I hope this works. I want to avoid any other invasive medical testing on him because he's already been through a lot and he's only 2. He's already been put under 3 times in his little life!!

[Daisy Duke]

I have used Reglan for over a year with absolutely no problems. I was nervous about the side effects to. My dosage is 1/2 a pill before each meal and before bed time. I had an EGD done (stomach scope) and I had a lot of acid sitting in the bottom of my stomach, I also have no gall bladder, and for some reason the stomach couldn't pass the acid on, so instead of growing ulcers, they put me on reglan, and I have had very good luck. Thank God.

Daisy Duke