Tuesday, May 25, 2010
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More bad press for Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs) ...
When my family doctor was pregnant, she only used Tums or Mylanta for heartburn instead of the usual PPI or H2 blocker. She said she wasn't sure that the PPI and H2 blockers were safe. Might be something to this.
A lot of young babies are also put on an H2 blocker after they're born, at least for awhile. Knowing what we now suspect, is it safe to do that???
I think with all of the meds it really comes down to weighing the risks vs. benefits. At 7 months my daughter's reflux took a turn for the worse, she was hoarse, refusing to eat and losing weight. She cried 24/7. Two days on Zantac she was a different kid. I'm sure if we hadn't started the Zantac things would've only continued to progress (she had worsened over a period of a month when she stopped spitting up and it was then able to just go up and down all day). So, for her and my two boys the meds were a necessity. But, I do think with all meds it's sometimes too easy and we as patients as well as doctors need to sometimes stop and think about the other alternatives.
Stephanie