Did Prilosec give my daughter Asthma, bronchitis and pnuemonia?

Our daughter has been on acid reflux meds since birth when she was diagnosed with GERD and pneumonia in the NICU in 2002.  We had tried taking her off the meds every couple of years and her acid reflux symptoms would return.  A couple years ago she developed illness induced Asthma.  She would get a cold and it would immediately go to her lungs.  She would end up with bronchitis or pneumonia and need a breathing treatment, course of prednisone and antibiobics.  They put her on a daily steroid inhaler and an albuteral inhaler for when she got sick.  Every year at her check up I would ask them if we could try to take her off the Prilosec but they told me it could make her Asthma worse if her GERD was uncontrolled. 

Olivia has been off Prilosec for months after my husband took her to a gastroenterologist.  Guess what happened.  Her GERD symptoms are gone.  She has had a couple colds and NONE HAVE RESULTED IN LUNG PROBLEMS.  So we stopped having her do her daily steroid inhaler. And she has been the healthiest she has been in her whole life!  I wish I could say I was surprised by all this.  I had read the same information from a couple of different sources that people who were taking Prilosec for long periods of time were more likely to get pneumonia.

Article from 2004!

Article from 2009

Prilosec has also been linked to increased fractures from long term use.  Article from 2010

Olivia broke her wrist when she was a toddler. 

Has anyone else had a similar experience with Prilose or any other drug?

Are some kids just sickly or do they have some undignosed health issue?

Olivia has already missed 2 1/2 days of school due to being sick. We are just entering the third week of school. She was out of school last Tuesday after we all spent that holiday weekend feeling yucky and tired. She came home early Firday because she went to the nurses office twice, vomited on the second trip. She was complaining of a sore throat, headache, slight temperature and with the vomiting Pat took her to the doctor for a strep test. She had strep 3 times over the summer and she knows what she feels like when she has it and she said it felt like strep this time. When she has strep she gets VERY sick VERY quickly. She once ended up with Scarlet Fever because I didn't take her to the doctor until she had a sore throat for three days. We don't mess around when she says her throat is really sore and she has a fever. Her rapid strep came back negative. She spent this weekend on a sick roller coaster ride, sick one minute then burst of energy the next. She is home again today. Of course, a cold for her could become much worse. With her illness induced Asthma we are always anticipating that she will end up with bronchitis or pneumonia and need a breathing treatment and end up on Prednisone.

Why is she always sick? Are some kids just sickly? Do you have a sickly kid?

Swimming with sharks in the gene pool

Before I became pregnant with my first child I had no idea I would have to decide whether or not to test my unborn child for genetic defects. When the midwife asked us if we wanted genetic testing my husband and I agreed that we didn't want it. Let me premise our reason for rejecting genetic testing with the fact that neither of us goes to church or has ever read The Bible. However, we both believe in God and just think it would be pointless to test our baby because I would never terminate the pregnancy. We both believe that everything happens for a reason.

In light of the fact that my son was diagnosed with Autism at 18 months (he is now 10) we made the same decision when I was pregnant with my daughter (she is now 7). My daughter was born with pneumonia and acid reflux and spent her first ten days of life in the NICU. She was diagnosed with Asthma last fall, and most recently, Segmental Neurofibromatosis (rare genetic disorder) and ADD. My son was diagnosed with Epilepsy 2 1/2 years ago.

I have learned so much from my children and love them so much I can't imagine life without them. I am fascinated and surprised by them every day.

I fear a world that seems to be quickly approaching reality where you can test your unborn child for every known genetic defect. There are so many people in this world that have challenges who have touched peoples lives and contributed something positive to society. What kind of world will we have when everyone is "perfect"?