The clinical benefit of using acid suppressing medications always needs to outweigh the risk of side effects.
Side effects of acid reflux medicine in babies.
Lead to iron zinc calcium vitamin b12 and magnesium deficiency.
Forms and dosage for babies the type of zantac that you can give your baby comes in a 15 mg.
A children s health expert has noticed an alarming increase in the number of infants being prescribed acid suppressing drugs to reduce unexplained crying and spitting up.
Gastroesophageal reflux disease gerd is when food or liquid travels from the stomach back up into the esophagus the tube from the mouth to the stomach this partially digested material is usually acidic and can irritate the esophagus often causing heartburn and other symptoms.
Side effects from medications that inhibit the production of stomach acid are uncommon.
Reflux is typically caused by insufficient stomach acid and the medications make that worse hence the caution in using them.
Reflux drugs suppress acid production in the stomach which is necessary as a line of defense against infections and also crucial for absorption of nutrients.
However babies who spit up frequently and have other symptoms such as poor weight gain irritability or a prolonged cough may have gastroesophageal reflux disease gerd.
Reflux medications can cause serious side effects when used long term like.
It s prescribed for conditions such as.
Prescription famotidine oral tablet is used to treat symptoms of acid reflux and heartburn.
Side effects may include diarrhea constipation and abdominal pain.
Mylanta maalox and tums are typical antacids that may help with acid reflux in infants.
The flip side is that if your baby has such poor stomach acid that key nutrients cannot be absorbed this too can cause seizure like events like stiffening limbs or absence stare.
For more information about this condition read about the signs and symptoms of acid reflux in infants.
Most recently a study of 800 000 children published by jama pediatrics found that infants treated with acid suppressing medications either histamine 2 receptor antagonists or proton pump inhibitors had a significantly higher risk of.