Can children take Omeprazole?
Omeprazole is one of the best selling medicines in the world, and it is used to treat different gastrointestinal conditions, but is it safe in children?
Many children, due to a poor diet or to suffer from a disease, suffer from gastroesophageal reflux, so they have to resort to taking some medication to solve this situation. If an adult were affected by this situation, they would have to take omeprazole, but can children take it?
The omeprazole is one of the drugs most widely sold in the world and this is used in cases of reflux and heartburn. The main function of this is to reduce the emission of acids in the stomach. This medicine can also be used to treat stomach bleeding and to treat ulcers or inflammation in the lining of the esophagus or intestines.
Index
CAN CHILDREN TAKE OMEPRAZOLE?
In the event that a child suffers from heartburn and reflux in the upper part of the stomach or in the esophagus , omeprazole can be taken , but it must be taken into account that the child is not allergic to any component of this medicine and that he does not have any liver problems. as it can cause omeprazole to build up in your body causing health problems.
To administer omeprazole to children, you must take into account the recommendations made by your doctor or pharmacist, although when the time comes and it seems that the child is well, we must strictly follow what the specialists tell us.
This is one of the medicines that can do the least harm to children but the correct thing is that we give it half an hour before the child goes to eat, so that it has a greater effect and the body can assimilate it better, administer it every day at the same time so that the body can get used to it and, finally, we have to give it with enough liquid, either water or juice, so that it reaches the stomach well.
Taking this medicine on an empty stomach will help it work more. This is because omeprazole is one of those drugs that works best in the absence of acids and when the stomach is empty it has the least acid, so it is essential to give it on an empty stomach.
On the other hand, when we give our son omeprazole we should accompany him with an antacid for at least the first week that the child takes this medication so that it does not reduce the effect. The only case in which we should not administer antacid is in the case that the doctor prohibits it because the child has kidney problems or receives the medicine through a tube or line.
Although omeprazole is a drug that is quite effective, it does not do so immediately, since it takes at least two or three days to be noticed. That is why children may notice discomfort and pain in the stomach the first days of the treatment until it takes effect one hundred percent. The maximum recommended time for a child to take this medicine is approximately 1 month, since it is the estimated time for it to have the expected effect and the treatment to be carried out completely.
Like all medicines, this one also has some possible side effects in the body and these are:
– Drowsiness or tiredness.
– Rash.
– Nausea and vomiting.
Finally, there is some care in children to take into account when taking omeprazole. The first thing is that they cannot take it at the same time as a blood thinner, diazepam or phenytoin, since it can cancel the effect of this. To make sure that everything is going well, the best thing is that when we go to the doctor we show him a list of the medicines that the child takes, if that is the case, so that the pediatrician can adjust the doses well and these are not canceled. effects between them.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.