10 years ago I developed esophagitis after my second child was born. It
took a while before I discovered what was setting it off--- an newly
developed allergy to beans---and in meantime, I was in pain. My Gastro doc
started me on Carafate, which did not help me because it was so huge and
scratched all the way down, dissolving as it stuck at different spots. I
ended up taking Zantac (my baby was 9 mos old at the time); the doctor
had been in on some of the original research, and said that theoretically
it looked ok for bfg on paper. We monitored my baby, who had begun solids
only at 8 mos, but he did fine. The esophagitis reserged after the birth
of my next baby also, and the doctor was not willing to put me on zantac
as she was only a couple of months when I again sought help for it.

I checked both tagamet (cimetidine) and zantac (ranitidine) in Briggs.
Both were originally contraindicated for bfg, but cimetidine has been
reclassified as compatible by the AAP, and ranitidine also has been taken
off the contraindicated list. The concern is that the drug accumulates in
the body over time and may be in milk above serum levels, but there seems
to be no reports of adverse affects with infants to date.

Just thought I'd share my own personal experience on this one.

-Lisa

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Lisa A. Marasco, IBCLC                                /  [log in to unmask]
International Board Certified Lactation Consultant    /  [log in to unmask]

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