How long does Zantac take to Work

[Anonymous]

Good morning!

As many of you know from reading a couple of my other posts, my three month old has terrible reflux. I put him back on Zantac 11 days ago, but at the old dose amount. He has been on a higher dose based on his weight for about a week. How long does Zantac take to work. So far there has only been a bit of improvement. I see the doctor tomorrow and will insist on seeing a specialist but I wonder if she will say wait and see if the Zantac will work or if prevacid or another drug will be suggested.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

From my experience we put my son on Zantac at week 4 and didn’t really notice a difference until week 7! I don’t know if that’s typical though.

[Anonymous]

In our experience, Zantac & Axid (both H2 blockers) work immediately if they’re going to relieve any pain. Many many times though it appears as if they aren’t working b/c a) the dose is too low &/or b) a PPI is needed to relieve pain.

Sorry if that’s confusing.

[Anonymous]

I agree w/Erin. Either the dose is too low or he is in need of a PPI. Normally if ur increasing a dose(b/c the original dose isn’t working anymore) it should have immediate results. If not, then it’s not enough to take away his pain. I’d consider going to a PPI. Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Well we started it a week ago today and it finally took effect this past Monday it seemed, so for us, it took 6 days total to work for our lil man! HTH!

[Anonymous]

My experience with my two boys was that if Zantac/Axid was going to give any real, consistent pain relief, it should work pretty quickly — within a day or two. Our problem was not that Zantac took awhile to work, but that it stopped working so quickly. We had about one good week with my first son, then only one good DAY with my younger son — then absolutely useless. Just my opinion — I’d move on to a PPI as soon as you can. They work to reduce the amount of acid the stomach makes — different than Zantac, which just tries to neutralize the acid that’s already there (somebody please correct me if I’m wrong on that explanation).

[hellbennt]

really this is about all PPIs…

Prevacid 101(last post on the page): https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1936&PN=0&TPN=1

[Anonymous]

Thank you ladies! I go for the doctor`s appt in a couple of hours. So from hellbent`s post, it looks like Zegrid is the way to go.

[hellbennt]

actually…I vote for caracream/bufferbabies- this is in prevacid 101, too

you use this with either prilosec or prevacid- I vote prevacid…

[Anonymous]

Darn, I guess I got confused by the different info. The doctor suggested the other one so we went with that. We will be seeing a specialist so I guess we can talk about that then. Thanks for all your responses.

[hellbennt]

it’s all good! zegerid & caracream/bufferbabies both originate from the same place

[Anonymous]

This may be a stupid question…but im a total newbie lol. What is a PPI? What does it do? How do I get it? What is caracream and bufferbabies?

Thank you for answering this totally idiotic question lol

[Anonymous]

my friend is a drug rep who sells PPIs, and being a former drug rep, I consulted her rather than my pediatrician about zantac and prevacid. Basically zantac blocks the acid almost immediately but over time it can develop tachyphylaxsis (sp?) meaning it loses its efficacy and will require a dose increase and could stop working all together. Zantac stopped working for my DD so we recently switched to Prevacid. My friend also mentioned something about Zantac actually increasing the acid over time (but I never asked for clarification since we switched any way). I just finished reading the Prescribing Information for Prevacid. It works by actually stopping the pumps from creating the acid and takes about 1.7 hrs to start working but can take up to 2 weeks to reach maximum efficacy. It should be taken at least 30 mins before eating or the food interferes with the efficacy. GIs dose 2x a day because after the drug binds to the pumps, it does wear off gradually over a 24 hr period and often earlier. I notice my little one is uncomfortable at about 15 hrs (my pediatrician dosed it once daily) so I have recently increased my DDs dose. anyway, i hope this helps someone!

[hellbennt]

thanks one armed mommi!

Connor’s Mommy:

yes, prevacid does need to be given on an empty stomach IF it is being given in the form of solutab or capsule (capsules need to be given w/ a tiny bit of something acidic like applesauce or pears). If it is given as a PROPERLY COMPOUNED solution, which includes caracream/bufferbabies, then it can be given at any time.

Zegerid is ALSO a ‘proper compound,’ only it is made with the drug prilosec.

from groupie intro, there’s this link, which is also ‘stickied’ in the Medicines Forum, Prevacid 101(last post on the page): https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1936&PN=0&TPN=1

the other ‘stickies’ in the Medicine Forum explain all of the various meds

[Anonymous]

OK, I am getting confused. Our little guy was prescribed Zegerid in liquid form (pharmacist said could not be given in powder form). We pick it up on Monday and I believe he said we will need to give it once a day. Is this right I read somewhere else that the liquid form is no good, but when we asked him he knew nothing about that.

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