Infantreflux.org | any other ideas?

This topic has 19 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 16 years ago by hellbennt.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 20 total)

1 2 →

Author

Posts
September 13, 2008 at 1:15 am #56504

Anonymous
Inactive

Hi! My baby is 3 1/2 months old. She has been spitting up 90% of her feedings since she was about 2 weeks old. Everything I can think of has been done pretty much. I’ve tried zantac, reglan, and prevacid (30 mg 2x a day, weighed about 10 lbs when on it), 2 weeks each. None of them even took the edge off of her pain or throwing up. I actually think the reglan and prevacid made her act like she was in even more pain. I do give her the cherry mylanta a few times a day and that seems to at least help her sleep more peacefully. I tried no dairy, but just for a little over a week (I’m fully breastfeeding), didn’t seem to effect anything. I haven’t had wheat in 3 weeks now, and the first week I saw such a difference. But this last week she is almost worse than she was before I saw the improvement. She is throwing up at every single feeding litterally puddles, not just spit up. And after that she acts like her pain is over until she eats again. (which is pretty soon after since she doesn’t hold much down to fill her up). Last week I tried giving her Goodstart formula a few times to see if it was something to do w/ breastmilk, and used the Dr. Brown’s bottles because I read some good stuff about them on here, but she was even more uncomfortable and had about the same amount of spit up. And I don’t want to quit breastfeeding if it’s not neccessary. So I guess I’m hoping someone will give me more suggestions, I’ll try anything to help her! Oh, she’s also been constipated since she was born. The GI dr. told me to give her a suppository after 4 days and I have to every 4 days… very foul smelling gas.. Thanks again for listening and for any advice!

September 13, 2008 at 9:13 am #56508

hellbennt
Keymaster

first of all: hang in there!

1) what I would do is look at your diet. The constipation is a BIG RED FLAG!

I would either start with milk and soy or just go full force and do the Total Elimination Diet (TED). It sounds like you’re ‘desperate’ enough to try it. I did it. It’s not too hard and it was SO WORTH IT for me to do it. It was worth it in MY case to learn that it was NOT my diet (except for a few foods) that was affecting my baby’s reflux. It can be helpful to find out WHAT foods, IF ANY, are affecting baby. You said you cut out milk for a week. Sorry to say, you’ll have to cut out ALL milk and soy (or just do the TED) for a good 2 or 3 weeks and that means HIDDEN ingredients like casin, whey, rhennet, etc. You MUST check lables very carefully! So in your case, ESPECIALLY with the constipation, I would do the TED.

2) once you’re addressing diet, I would also address medications. You say you gave Prevacid 30mgs 2x a day? 60 mgs a day? I would go to http://www.marci-kids.com and figure out the proper dose for her weight. OR, give 15mgs 2x a day. What KIND of prevacid? solutabs? if so, were you giving on an empty stomach, followed by a meal 30 minutes later? anyway, what I would do is: use whatever form of prevacid you have on hand to get started and, in the meantime, get some Buffer Babies (also referred to as Caracream): https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11191&PID=94236#94236

3) NEXT: I would figure out the proper dose of zantac. I would give this ALSO. just make sure to give 4 hrs seperate from the prevacid.

how much does baby weigh? highest dose is 10mgs per kilo & I can help w/ the math, LOL! don’t just take my word on the dosing- it’s here:

Zantac dosing- my/other’s question: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9539&PID=82914#82914

4) I would not quit breastfeeding. That’s just me. Because once you go down the road of trying every single formula you might be headed towards even more frustration and aggrevation. You can make your milk like neocate! that’s what’s great about the TED. there is A LOT of info on this board about doing the TED and what you CAN eat as opposed to what you CAN’T eat. Focus on the positive! It’s just 3 weeks! And then you’ll have some great answers!

5) I would skip the reglan for now.

6) I would also ask dr. for CARAFATE. you’ll have to ask one of us for the timing of this med. We can ask Sheri, our resident pharmacist or Beth, who’s dh is a pharmacist, LOL. Carafate is like a super duper teflon coating (it’s NOT TEFLON!) for the esophogus and stomach to help it heal. It’s like a band-aid in that it’s not for long-term use- it’s just to get things better for a bit as you figure it all out.

so there! LOTS of ideas!

September 13, 2008 at 10:23 am #56510

Anonymous
Inactive

Ohmigosh, you have no idea how encouraging you are! Thank you. I will start the TED TODAY! (and I wrote the prevacid dose wrong, I did 15mgs 2x a day, total of 30, sorry!) Since it didn’t seem to help should I try it again anyway with the zantac? I haven’t tried the zantac since she was about a month old! I’ll start on both again. You were right, I am ‘desperate’! And I’ll call the dr. about the carafate, I guess I’ll have to wait until monday now, but it sounds great! Again, thank you! momof3angels2008-09-13 10:53:25

September 13, 2008 at 10:28 am #56511

Anonymous
Inactive

just realized i didn’t answer the other prevacid questions… it was the solutabs, and i gave them on an empty stomach, but not always with a feeding 30 minutes later… so i’ve got to work on being more precise!

momof3angels2008-09-13 10:53:02

September 13, 2008 at 10:51 am #56512

Anonymous
Inactive

sorry to keep posting to you, want to make sure i get the dosing correct for the zantac, she is about 12.5 lbs right now… about 6kgs? would that be 30mg 2x a day? want to make sure i’m getting it right!

September 13, 2008 at 11:53 am #56514

Anonymous
Inactive

I was going to post everything Laura said (well, not everything– she’s a lot more thorough than me-lol)… but I was going to suggest TED for sure.

The symptoms you mentioned are red flags imo for diet related intolerances. In our case my son was on 30mg of Prevacid/day as well but still seemed to be in so much pain… looking back it was definitely intolerances & not so much reflux (don’t get me wrong, he had reflux but @ that point when we were on the high dose of Prevacid his reflux pain was nonexistent).

I can’t imagine if I hadn’t done TED how miserable he would still be.

I’m still on TED so if you have any questions please ask!

erinntx2008-09-13 11:54:58

September 13, 2008 at 3:13 pm #56526

hellbennt
Keymaster

don’t be sorry to keep posting! I enjoy it (when people actually listen to me, LOL)!

ok zantac dose: 12.5 lbs = 5.7 kilos

5.7 x 10 = 57mgs a day total

bottle should say 15mgs/ml

so 57 divided by 15 = 3.8mls total for the day (you could make it 4mls, I would imagine)

divide this into 2 doses, however you want- maybe more at night/in the evening- you’ll figure it out

make sure to space 4 hrs seperate from the prevacid

you can mix zantac & mylanta cherry supreme, but you have to space the mylanta from the prevacid just like you have to space the zantac from the prevacid

good luck w/ the TED. it was such a blurr when I did it…but Erin here is now an expert! and there is a LOT of info in the TED forum– much more than when I did it that’s for sure!

September 13, 2008 at 7:04 pm #56537

Anonymous
Inactive

My only other suggestion would be to talk to he GI about the possibility of EE. Those things that are going on can be symtoms of EE. The dr can do a scope in the OR to rule it out.

September 13, 2008 at 7:23 pm #56539

Anonymous
Inactive

I 100% agree with Laura – go for the TED, give it at least 3 weeks for improvement. Hopefully you’ll see it sooner, but don’t give up on it if you don’t see immediate improvement.

The only other thing I would definately add is probiotics. If her gut is off balance, which it sounds like it is with the constipation, foul smelling gas and reflux, then you need to colonize the “good” stuff to make sure the “bad” doesn’t take over. I can’t stress how important that is. Sometimes you can see worsening of symptoms at first as the bad stuff is dying off, but hopefully that would only last for a couple days.

Good luck!

September 13, 2008 at 9:57 pm #56545

hellbennt
Keymaster

Probiotics, brands used: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8970&PN=1

September 13, 2008 at 10:40 pm #56550

Anonymous
Inactive

All of you are wonderful! I don’t know what EE is! But she has a GI apt Wednesday coming up… so that should work out good.

I acutally have a bottle of baby probiotics I bought at the healthfood store 2 weeks ago sitting in my fridge. Not sure why I haven’t used it, but I gave her some today. And prevacid, and zantac, and still mylanta, and did TED! I’ll keep everyone updated with the results in a few weeks! Oh, and can a GI doctor check for food allergies?

momof3angels2008-09-13 23:30:11

September 14, 2008 at 9:18 am #56556

Anonymous
Inactive

I think the other ladies have said it all. I think the only thing I would add is this, stick to the breastfeeding. Breastmilk is the absolute best thing for a reflux baby. I had two boys and gave up bf my oldest due to dr. telling me to supplement and him deciding the bottle was easier. With my younger son I was told by the gi doc. that his problems were probably due to food allergies and to stop bf and try a formula. Thankfully I was determined this time around to bf and did try TED. We learned that my son could not have dairy or beef and his reflux was SOOOOOOO much better than my older sons. I have no dought that the bf had a huge part to play in that. Your doing a great job and I can’t wait to hear how things are going.

Oh, my oldest son also had the constipation issues and after drs. prescribing many different meds for it we decided to try a chiropractor. It was amazing! After going to her he had a bm the next day and then the next time it was the same day and then after awhile he started going ever day. Eventually we didn’t have to go as much, but if he got constipated again we took him in and she would adjust him and he would go that day. The constipation can really make the reflux worse. For my oldest it had nothing to do with my diet or his formula, but everything to do with his spine. After that experience we took my youngest when he was about a week old. Thankfully he was in good shape. My oldest had been pulled out with a vaccum and that really jacked up his spine. Just thought I’d add that.

Justice’smom2008-09-14 09:24:15

September 14, 2008 at 10:06 am #56563

hellbennt
Keymaster

I don’t think a scope is as bad idea at all- they go in w/ a tube & a camera & check out the esophogus & they take little cell samples/biopsies to check for the presence of EOS cells (I posted a link below- this is related to ‘EE’ I *think* that ‘eosinophilic’ is long so it’s referred to as ‘EE’ and ‘EOS cells’)- if these cells are present it means there is an allergy- you can read more by doing a search here on the board (search button is on the upper right hand corner of this screen) and from this link:

about eosinophilic disorder http://www.cureresearch.com/news/digestive_system_disorder_is_gaining_awareness_with_it_s_increasing_prevalence_amongst_children.htm (thanks Liz!)

Anyway, regardless of the presence of EOS cells or not, the course of action would be the same that we just told you- TED, meds, etc…

September 14, 2008 at 10:49 am #56567

Anonymous
Inactive

We eventually (after 5wks of TED) did an endoscopy & colonoscopy & it was very helpful to know what was going on.

I hope all is well w/ your changes (probiotic, zantac, prevacid, mylanta, TED); good luck & keep us updated!

September 23, 2008 at 11:23 pm #57047

Anonymous
Inactive

Just an update! The GI doctor did a blood test to check for everything, and all food allergies were crossed off… so no TED for me! But she has to have a few other tests… so I’m praying it’s something simple and fixable! Thanks again everyone for advice!
Author

Posts