My daughter has been taking Prevacid for appr. 15 months. She is now 18 months old and wieghs 18 lbs. She has had little to no wieght gain in the last few months and whatever she gains she ends up lossing it due to illness. Our pediatrician once told me that taking a medication like prevacid long term can cause the nutrients and minerals in the food that she eats to not be absorbed which in turn can cause poor weight gain. I was just wondering what length of time is considered long term for an infant/toddler?
Q: Is there any relation b/w extended use of prevacid in infant/toddlers and poor weight gain?
Answers (1)
8/13/08 4:07pm
Hi Jennifer,
Well, you are asking a very good question. Prevacid is indicated for short term use (a few weeks) to heal esophagitis. In reality, many patients need Prevacid for months or years. Every time they go off the mediation, symptoms return. It is considered safe for long term use.
It is approved for use for infants one year and up. Many doctors use Prevacid off label (below 12 months). There is some evidence that babies metabolize the medication differently than older children and adults. This may include nutritient absorption issues. Calcium and vitamin b come to mind. It gets tricky here. What is the benefit of the medication? Has the doctor tried taking your daughter off of the Prevacid to see if the symptoms change? Is she the same on and off the medication? Some doctors try a Medication Holiday-take a break for the meds for 1-2 weeks to watch and observe.
Has the doctor checked her blood recently for signs of nutritional issues? Is she on a vitamin or nutritional drink? Some toddlers need vitamins and a nutritional drink.
I just replied to your private email message too. Lets talk some more about your little girl.
Take care,
Jan Gambino
The Reflux Mom
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By Jennifer— Last Modified: 11/17/10, First Published: 08/12/08
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My son has a cosntant cough that started about three months ago - it even wakes him up at night. It is there even when he is not sick with a cold or flu. It started with a bad cold and has just remianed - not sure if this is a coincidence or not. It started when he was 10 months old. Before that he never really was sick except once at 3 months when teh whole family had a bad cold/cough.
We took him to a ped, pulmonologist and he ruled out asthma, it might be allergies but the Zyrtec they prescribe did not make it go away. We just started him on Prevacid but he now has a cold and had a stomach flu so we are not sure if it is working yet. However his quick gag reflex and aversion to eating anything that he actually has to chew and swallow is getting better.
Jan: Do you have any advice for me? Would love your input!