Can infant gaviscon and ranintadine be given together?

[Amanda86]

Hey all,

As above says, can these be given together?

My 5 weeks old baby boy was prescribed infant gaviscon, however it resulted in him becoming constipated (he’s been prescribed lactulose now) and as he was only allowed 6 sachets within 24 hours it wasn’t ideal as he takes more than 6 bottles per day (as he’s not taking a lot of milk at once) so he was still sometimes in some discomfort.

He’s now been prescribed ranintadine however he’s bringing up more milk now (I guess because the gaviscon thickens the milk and he’s not taking that now) and to be honest he seems more distressed than he was before just on the gaviscon.

I’m wondering am I able to give him both? I’m pretty sure they work in different ways but still wasn’t sure if they can be given together?

I wouldn’t give the 6 sachets per day, but even just being able to give him maybe 3/4 a day with his ranintadine.

I’ve ordered some carobel to thicken his milk but this will take a few days to come so just hoped to be able to do this until this arrives.

Thanks xxx

[Tigerlily01]

Hi Amanda what milk is he on? Xxx

[Amanda86 in reply to Tigerlily01]

He’s on cow and gate xxx

[misswinky34 in reply to Amanda86]

Hi Amanda.

I remember this all too well. It may be that ranitidine and gaviscon don’t suit, we tried them with my son, he needed ranitidine and omoperazole, he’s just stopped them both this week, and he’s 18months now!

What sort of symptoms is he having? Xx

[Amanda86 in reply to misswinky34]

Hey,

Thanks. So can the ranintadine and gaviscon be given at the same time?

The gaviscon was working well, it was just that he couldn’t have it in every bottle.

So he’s started on ranintadine but I haven’t been giving him gaviscon, wasn’t sure if they could both be given together?

When he was on the gaviscon it was more just he had pain with the bottles that didn’t have gaviscon and now he’s on ranintadine but no gaviscon he’s bringing up milk with each feed and just seems like he’s generally in discomfort (moaning, lifting his legs etc) but as he’s constipated it could be a mixture of that too.

I was hoping to be able to give him gaviscon as well as this really helped with bringing up the milk xxx

[misswinky34 in reply to Amanda86]

No they never offered both for us. As they both are acid nuetralisers and omoperazole is a inhibitor so it stops the body making the acid in the first place. You need to keep a close eye on his weight as it’s weight sensitive. And it also takes up to two weeks to work does the ranitidine. Xx

[Amanda86 in reply to misswinky34]

Thank you. I ended up giving him a gaviscon in his bottle and he’s so much more settled but won’t give him anymore, hadn’t thought about the fact they’re both acid neutralisers.

He’s due to be weighed tomorrow.

Hopefully within the next few weeks the ranintadine helps - so horrible when they’re in pain and you can’t help them! 😥 xxx

[misswinky34 in reply to Amanda86]

It’s dreadful. And it might be like you say gastric upset in general, all contributing. If it doesn’t settle they will probably refer him to pediatrics and a consultant will probably start him on omoperazole and wean him off the ranitidine. A lot of people I know said the omoperazole worked wonders.

Charlie had it so severe because his osophegus and digestive tract were immature when he got the meningitis so don’t think you will be suffering like this as long as us. 😊 the omoperazole or lanzoperazole are dissolving fast tabs so you can stick some in his bottle whereas I was breast on demand so that was very difficult As it needed syringing in on an empty stomach. If it’s very severe sometimes they can suggest early weaning to help mature the stomach and osophegus but I wouldn’t worry at this point as long as he’s gaining weight 😊 also another thing that worked for us was elevating one end of his cot so he was ever so slightly upright when he slept, and if your getting him dressed or a nappy change do it before a feed, as as soon as he’s horizontal the acid would shoot up his throat and usually some milk too. Xx

[Amanda86 in reply to misswinky34]

Thanks very much, sounds like your poor chairlie had a horrendous time of it too 😞

Hopefully his ranintadine will start taking effect soon. The stuff I have ordered thickens the milk but it’s not a medication so hopefully along with the ranintadine it will help 🤞

I’ve got a little wedge in his crib which tilts the mattress and it definitely seems to help so I’ll keep using that xxx

[Kate91]

Best thing to do is ask a professional as they can tell you or ring a Dr and find out. I wouldn't ever give two meds without specific clearance from a Dr just in case

[Amanda86 in reply to Kate91]

Thanks Kate. I actually don’t think they can be given together after miss winky pointed out they’re both acid neutralisers but I’ll double check with pharmacy to be certain xxx

[sugar_vee]

Hi my lb had reflux too abd is now growing oyt of it at 10 months. Ranitidine worked wonders for us along side hipp organic reflux formula which is thick and will stay down like the gaviscon does.

Ranitidine took a week to work for my son and it made him fo regularly so we no longer needed lactose. As he was constipated earlier too.

We began food at 4 months and this worked wonders as early weaning is recommended.

I've posted on reflux here in the past and had some great advice!

Wishing you luck...

[Amanda86 in reply to sugar_vee]

Thanks for your reply. I had read about early weaning and this is definitely something I’ll try.

Ranintadine seems to be helping now which is great. I’ve also ordered something called carobel by cow and gate which thickens milk so hopefully this along with the ranintadine will make a huge difference 🙂 xxx

[sugar_vee in reply to Amanda86]

I had never heard of carobel, but sounds like good stuff. Hopefully the combination of the two help your little one.

Ranitidine definitely reduced the acidity for my lb and he was much happier.

I found with reflux altho i began weaning early and this worked great, I had to take things slowly. He stayed o. Stage one pureed food for 10months as he'd gag and throw up any mush if we tried it. So take things slow and see what woeks best for bubba.

Wishing you all the best x

[Amanda86 in reply to sugar_vee]

Thanks very much. I’ll be sure to take it slow with weaning. Thanks very much for the advice 😀 xxx

[misswinky34]

Hi hun, did the munchkin get weighed? Xx

[Amanda86 in reply to misswinky34]

My health visitor didn’t come 😥 I’m going to try and take Reuben along to my GP surgery today to see if I can weigh him myself. He’s not been weighed for 2 weeks so I’d imagine there’s probably quite a difference in his weight now (which was 7lb 8oz 2 weeks ago). At the moment he’s on 0.5ml 3 times daily of ranintadine xxx

[misswinky34 in reply to Amanda86]

I would get him weighed too, especially if they’ve calculated it on that original weight. I remember this happening to me and having to google wellbeing health centres that you could just take them into,like baby clinic. Is he any better in himself? Xx

[Amanda86 in reply to misswinky34]

Hey, so I took Reuben to be weighed. He wasn’t very happy so I didn’t manage to take his nappy off (which was a little wet) and his vest was on. I wouldn’t imagine this would make his weight much heavier although it won’t be totally accurate but his weight was 9lb 7oz. Any idea how much ranintadine he would now get?

He’s still grumpy but definitely improving. It’s very hot here so that could be contributing to him being a little unsettled too.

He’s sleeping better at night so it definitely must be doing something as before he was crying being laid down.

Xxx

[misswinky34 in reply to Amanda86]

Yes I just kept him upright after every feed for about twenty mins. I will see if I can dig out my red book to see what Charlie was on at 9lb x

[Amanda86 in reply to misswinky34]

Thank you 😘 xxx

[DianeArnold]

Hi Amanda86. Sorry for the late reply. However, I think Rantadine is probably your best bet as it is a proton pump inhibitor, which means it calms the gastric juices down to prevent stomach upsets and ulceration. You've probably decided what to do by now, so I do hope little one is feeling much better. Diane

[Amanda86 in reply to DianeArnold]

Thanks for the reply Diane. He’s now on ranintadine which is slowly improving his reflux thankfully.

Hope you enjoy your time off 🙂 xxx

[misswinky34]

Hi red book says he was on .3 mls three times a day then went up to .5mls and so on. He’s just stopped now at 18 months and he was on 2.5ml twice a day. So there’s plenty of room for increase. It also says they can dose related to severity of symptoms so it might be that if he gets worse there’s room to adjust XX

[Amanda86 in reply to misswinky34]

Thanks very much for that. I left a message for the GP today with his new weight and asked for a call back if medication was to be increased, haven’t had a call back so I assume they plan to keep it as it is just now, if it stops working I’ll give them a call.

He’s been pretty grumpy today, crying a lot but just so hard to pin point what’s wrong. Also the medication will still be binding up to it’s full effect I guess so 🤞 xxx

[misswinky34 in reply to Amanda86]

I’ve just a posted a screen shot of the letter from the consultant regarding dosage. When you’ve read it I will delete. I couldn’t attach a pic to this thread sobhad to start a new topic

[Amanda86 in reply to misswinky34]

Thank you, I’ll have a look now and will also screen shot it! Xxx

[Amanda86 in reply to misswinky34]

Thanks so much for that. I’ve taken a screenshot xxx

[misswinky34 in reply to Amanda86]

Your welcome x

[SinclairH]

Hi just came across your post, I am a pharmacist (hate saying that on forums!) and thought a wee bit of info would help. Ranitidine (an H2 receptor antagonist) and omeprazole (a proton pump inhibitor) both stop the release of acid in the stomach but in slightly different ways. We usually see one or other prescribed for babies but as they work in different ways are sometimes given together. Gaviscon sachets are used to thicken stomach contents to stop it coming up (also known as reflux) so can be given together with the ranitidine. The Instant Carobel has been around for years and is great for thickening food/milk too. Doses of the ranitidine are based on weight and can be slowly increased until it is effective, and if you get that dose right you might not need the Gaviscon/Carobel. This is just general advice and remember each child is different. It can take time to get to the right combo. I always advise keep a diary and take it with you when you see GP or specialist. Remember you can phone or talk directly to a community pharmacist, we're often easier to get in touch with. And if there is a more specialist question which we can't answer we have a plethora of resources and contacts to get the right info for you. Hope this helps and I don't sound like a know it all! All the best.

[Amanda86 in reply to SinclairH]

Hey,

Thanks so much for your reply it’s really helpful!! 🙂

The carobel was brilliant (at thickening so he didn’t bring up any feed) the only issue was it gave Reuben really bad diarrhoea so I’ve had to stop it. Is this quite common? Would it pass if I continued use? He seemed in quite a bit of discomfort with the diarrhoea which is why I stopped using the carobel. Could you recommend anything else to thicken which might not have this effect?

The gaviscon was also very good, but as only allowed 6 sachets it lost the effectiveness as Reuben feeds pretty regular (even though he’s bottle fed). So the bottles he had no gaviscon in would cause him discomfort, being able to use it alongside ranintadine would be great however the gaviscon gave him constipation which I then had to use lactulose for. Feel awful as just feel like I’m pumping him full of stuff 🙈

So I’ve left a note with the GP with his new weight so that his ranintadine dose can be adjusted.

The ranintadine definitely does help but he’s definitely still not himself and will often suddenly just show signs of discomfort (crying, straining, arching of back, lifting of legs, clenching fist etc).

Again thanks so much for your reply xxx