Home › Forums › Infant Reflux Information › Procedures › Upper GI
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November 14, 2007 at 4:35 pm #45454AnonymousInactive
I called Seth’s GI this morning because his reflux is flaring up at night again and I wanted to check to see if we could up his medicine dosage. The nurse called me and said we could go from 1/2 a tablet to 1 tablet of the Pepcid at night and to keep the Prevacid the same. She also said though that the GI thinks maybe we should go for an Upper GI.
Can anyone tell me their experiences with this and what we may be able to find out with it? We go back to the GI in Jan. and I am trying to determine if we should go ahead with it now or see if the increased Pepcid/dietary changes (there is a definite corrleation with what he eats and the flare ups) make a difference and discuss it again then.TIA.Mom2Seth 2007-11-14 16:39:25 November 14, 2007 at 5:33 pm #45456AnonymousInactiveHi Tiffany,
Bryce had an upper GI when he was around 4 months old. It is basically just an x-ray of the upper GI tract. It’s usually done to check for any structural abnormalities (that’s why Bryce had his). It’s not the greatest way to tell how bad reflux is because they would have to have a reflux episode at that exact moment when the picture is taken. I’m not sure what Seth’s doctor would be looking for.The procedure will probably be a little different for Seth since he’s older, but for Bryce they strapped him onto a little board and strapped his arms and legs down so he couldn’t move, then they put barium into his stomach through his NG tube. They took the x-rays, took the barium back out, and it was done.
Bryce’sMom2007-11-14 17:34:40November 14, 2007 at 7:53 pm #45458AnonymousInactiveI wonder (totally guessing here) if he will be able to see if Seth’s les is still really open. Maybe he might know something else he can do for him to get him more comfortable? Just totally guessing, but not a bad idea to do some tests if he is still having significant reflux at almost 3. I don’t think it will be like when they are babies. Carter was 16 months when they did his, and they did barium in a bottle, but also barium on a grahm cracker, barium on babyfood, etc. And, he was sitting up in a chair, not strapped to a table lying down. I think they just do that with the little babies (this is how they did Dylan’s when he was very young as well). I am wondering if you could ask the Dr. or call the place that they may do the test so maybe you could show Seth with a stuffed animal or something ahead of time, or “practice” in a booster seat or something, so he will know what to expect?
Just a thought. Let us know what you find out or how it goes!Ann MarieNovember 14, 2007 at 7:54 pm #45459AnonymousInactiveOMG, Heather, (sorry to be off subject), but Bryce’s picture is adorable!!! I love it!!
November 15, 2007 at 9:19 am #45473AnonymousInactiveThanks Ann Marie!
Now the way you described Carter’s upper GI was the way Bryce’s Swallow Study was… they fed him barium in different consistencies and watched him swallow through an x-ray on video.
November 15, 2007 at 9:29 am #45476AnonymousInactiveFrom my understanding, the upper GI is done the way Heather described it. (That’s also how we had it done.) The swallowing study (modified barium swallow) is done the way Ann Marie described it. The first is to look at structural abnormalities along the GI tract- probably just to make sure they didn’t miss anything. The second is done to look for feeding/swallowing problems including aspiration.
I’m not sure if Seth has had any testing done to this point, but given the prolonged nature of the symptoms, I would actually consider an endoscopy. He’s nearing three, when they would expect it to be gone already. The endoscopy would show if there was any damage (you can do it on or off meds), and if he has EE or other issues that don’t show up in an upper GI.Our ped told us that we didn’t have to see the GI anymore (b/c the best advice he could offer us at that point was to try ranch salad dressing and see if that helped Hailey to eat), BUT that if she still had symptoms that required medication at age 3, then he wanted us to have another endoscopy, another metabolic workup, and allergy testing. I thought it was a good plan. I hate to go through everything again, but I actually believe that quite a lot of good information can be gained from the testing.Good luck.November 15, 2007 at 11:09 am #45483AnonymousInactiveAHH, you are right, guys! Carter had a swallow study, not an upper GI. Dylan had an upper GI the way all of your babies did.
Ignore my post and my fleeting mind!!November 15, 2007 at 2:09 pm #45493AnonymousInactiveThanks, guys. We are not sure what we are going to do. We tried the whole Pepcid Complete last night and the reflux seemed a little better but he woke up anyway with terrible gas! I am inclined to go ahead and have it done especially since it is one of the less invasive tests but I think DH wants to give it a few more weeks and then schedule if it is still bad when we go back in January. Seth has never had any testing done. I have brought it up before but the GI said why put him through that only to confirm what we already know and he said the treatment would be the same either way. I think they are finally seeing though that this is not going away. The nurse said the GI wanted to try the increased Pepcid and the Upper GI before we did an endoscopy. Anyways, I will keep you posted.
Ann Marie, you are so funny. I think I like the procedure you described better! -
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