My 15 yr old son is about 2 months post step 1 with temp ileo. He has been complaining about acid reflux type symptoms. He is off prednisone for 5 weeks now. While on prednisone he was also taking Protonix, but now off all meds. Anyone else have acid reflux? Not sure if it could be from the pred or if things are just not going down efficiently. Dr saw a bit of gastritis in September when he had an endoscope, but he never had any symptoms. Dr said gastritis is common with UC.
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Lots of people (including me) have reflux. Neither prednisone nor stopping prednisone cause reflux. Prednisone can cause ulcers, which is why an anti-acid medicine is often prescribed with it. The proton pump inhibitors (like Protonix) can have a dreadful rebound after long-term use. The worst reflux I ever had was while trying to stop Nexium - it was so bad that my first attempt to stop Nexium failed.
How bad is his reflux? Would occasional antacids (e.g. Gaviscon tablets) be sufficient for comfort? If you go with medications, you might try Zantac in modest doses or as needed. There seems to be no rebound, and unlike the PPIs hasn't recently been associated with kidney damage. In any case, chronic use of acid-reducing meds does increase susceptibility to C. Diff and reduces B12 absorption. Chronic untreated reflux causes nasty things, too, including tooth damage and potentially esophageal cancer.
Sometimes I get a little heartburn. I take Ranitidine 75 mg OTC tablets. If it is severe, I would take Zantac - prescription strength.
Zantac and Ranitidine are the same drug. Both doses (75 & 150) are OTC.
I have acid reflux, and my ENT doc (who saw my inflamed throat and intermittent coughing) put me on dexilant. It seems like a strong drug with many side effects. It is relatively new. Is anyone here familiar with it?
I didn't really have reflux, but did find that PPI's like Prilosec changed my quality of life with a j-pouch significantly for the better. While there are long-term issues with PPI's, I have not experienced them yet. Perhaps only being on once a day has helped. I did go off PPI's for a month or two because of anemia - that was probably caused by NSAID's rather than Prilosec (since I haven't had issues since getting that resolved).
So, if his doctor is okay with it, I would suggest taking an acid reducer.
