A Dad at wit's end…and worried

[Anonymous]

So, let me start by apologizingfor what is sure to be a long post.

My son is nearly two. As an infant he was BF for the first 6 months and then we had to move him to formula. Regular formula resulted in vomiting spells, so he had to go on Nutrimigen until he turned one and moved over to whole milk.

We have been in constant battles with ear infections over the last 6 months or so, and he finally got tubes last month. During the last bout of ear infections (lasting from late October – January when he got the tubes), he also developed what seemed to be a really bad cold with dark mucus and a horrible cough in the night that kept him up. The only thing that seemed to help is running a warm mist humidifier.

It was a long, trying time. We switched doctors three times (once after being told he had a staph infection inside his nose…). We went to an allergist and eventually ended up at the ENT. A week later he had the tubes in and his adenoids taken out. At the same time the ENT scoped him and said he saw no signs of reflux, but he still was curious if that could be the problem. After the surgery, the adenoids got infected so when we went back to the ENT he gave me a script for Zantac and encouraged us to try it if he continued to struggle to heal up. His point was the reflux could be causing the lack of healing, as well as the cold and cough symptoms from before.

After taking some antibiotics, his adenoid area healed and life has been good for the last month. He become the boy we had been missing for so long. Happy, finally starting to talk a little and just enjoying life. Well, last week the runny nose came. It started clear and with a little cough. I got a cold, as did my wife, so we passed it off as nothing to worry about. It has since worsened back to what he had before the surgery. Coughing the last 2 nights and his snot is turning that fimiliar shade of green.

We had forgotten about the Zantac script we had filled, so I gave it to him tonight after he started coughing so bad. We also have the humidifier running. He seems to really improve if I go in his room and rock him holding him upright. I also put a pillow in his crib to see if that helps and in the 30 or so minutes since I did that, he has not coughed.

I also forgot to mention, he loves to sleep on his knees, with his butt in the air and head on the bed…

Does this sound like it could be GERD? How long does it typically take for the Zantac to kick in? Is that even the right meds? Heck, is an ENT who should even be treating this or am I better off with a GI?

I have no idea where to start. All I know is it is breaking my heart seeing my poor little man so miserable and just begging me to let him go back to sleep at night.

Any and all help, thoughts, opinions and well wishes are defintiely welcome.

Thanks!!

adawg2008-02-26 22:44:38

[Anonymous]

Hi there! Welcome! There is a wealth of support and information here. First, I think I would find a GI just to be sure. I am certainly not a doctor, but curious why nobody is giving you antibiotics for the green drainage? That sounds like an infection and the horrible coughing, is that going to his lungs? Again, I am not a doctor, but sounds like your son is suffering and could use a script to get better.

If it is reflux, then the GI is definitley the place to go. Zantac can work, but it does taste horrible and so there are other choices (axid or pepcid) that work the same but do not burn and taste as bad. If the reflux is worse or those meds are not working, then you could try a PPI, but I am not sure if that is reflux causing all the issues, or the other issues causing reflux. To me, it sounds like the bigger issue is the constant sinus infections, etc.. Also, I understand a lot of ENTs don’t like to take the adenoids when the children are under 2 as they can grow back, but having his adenoids removed as well might help him drain better and not be so full of mucous. I would ask the ENT about that.

I would definitely elevate the entire crib mattress, either with books under the mattress, or a wedge or something, so that he is on an incline every night if that sounds like it is helping already. Also, if he wakes up crying, try a bit of mylanta. We did 5 mls (one teaspoon) at that age, and if he goes right back to sleep or calms very quickly, you can also be pretty sure it is the reflux that is bothering him.

Anyway, sorry if none of this helps! There are some great (mostly moms :O) here that have a wealth of information, and I am sure they will chime in with other ideas as well.

Ann Marie

monty1232008-02-27 08:25:51

[Anonymous]

I was thinking as well that it could be reflux..and Ann Marie is right that a GI specialist it the way to go…and might help you with a better med.. if the need be.

But.. i am more leaning toward the milk?? Does he still drink milk? And if so.. could you possibly stop it and see if things clear up?? Dairy intolerance can show up as Sinus and Ear infections..as well as reflux.

I would be curious to see if that helps??

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the responses! I will try to answer the ones that I can. If I miss any of them, just holler at me.

They did treat the snot/cough in the past. He went through nearly every antibiotic out there, including shots, as they tried to treat his ear infections. Nothing worked on the snot and barely worked on the ear infections. They also cultured the snot and it was not bacterial, at least for that culture. So I am hesitant to start him on more antibiotics, especailly after his immune system has been so destroyed by them over the last 5 months.

For the adenoids, the doctor said that if all the tissue is removed, there is a nearly zero chance they will return, but even if they do, and they again get infected, it is a very minor operation to remove them. Since he was going under for the tubes anyway, it just made sense to remove them at that time, since they were infected.

Last night was the first time he took the Zantac, and he slept great between that and using a pillow like a big boy. No waking up, nothing. I also had the humidifier running, so tonight I may try the Zantac and pillow, but no humidifier to see where that gets us. I want to narrow it down to see if it is the Zantac working or not.

I had not considered a milk allergy. I know I had one as a kid. I’ll have to talk to my wife about cutting milk out for a few days to see what is up with that, although, it did not come back as a problem when we saw the allergist.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Definitely keep it coming. This is very valuable for us!

Off to find a good pediatric GI….

[Anonymous]

Hi again,

Sorry I misunderstood, I thought he still had his adenoids. So…. Then I would agree with the trying to cut out milk. Could definitley help him. He is little still so allergy testing might not be accurate and it may not come back as true allergy anyway.

If the humidifier is working, I don’t think I would turn it off, but I might try the mylanta in addition. That might help you figure it out.

Good luck with a GI and let us know how it goes!!!

Ann Marie

[Anonymous]

Us too..

we did allergy testing …and the first one came back neg .. and the second came back slightly positive. I would say that there could be intolerances that are there with out it being a full blown allergy. Expecially if you had it as a child.. it makes it more likely. If you do cut it out.. it could take up to 2 weeks to get it out of his system … Let us know how it goes!!

[Anonymous]

Hello and Welcome.. after reading your initial post, I also thought it was a milk allergy problem. The fact that you had one as a child would certainly support it too. There was a mother on this board who posted awhile ago about recurrent ear infections/sinus issues who finally figured out it was all caused by a milk allergy.

So, maybe try cutting out the milk products (look carefully, milk is hidden in ALOT of foods) would help!

Let us know what you find out.

[hellbennt]

welcome!

here’s the Mspi/allergy info(‘main page’): https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2697&PN=1&TPN=1

this should help a bit…

also: I don’t know a lot about tubes but I *think* the fluid’s ph level can be tested to see if it’s acidic- but I’m not sure *when* that can be done- I’m not sure if it’s done when they’re putting the tubes in? just a thought as I type…

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for all the information. I was surprised to see so many people have the same thought – milk allergy. As I mentioned above, I had a BAD milk allergy as a kid and as a result still cannot stand the taste of milk (but eat other dairy). After doing some reading, it sure does look like a real possibility! We’ve got him off of milk and will keep it that way to see how it all goes. He has been sleeping for a fre hours now with no coughing spells. So something is working!

We are going to be headed to the ENT tomorrow as he is really pulling at his right ear. We gave him his drops — what an ordeal — so hopefully that will clear up. We will also be getting in to see a Pediatric GI and getting in to see a much better Pediatric Allergist.

Thanks for all the great help. I’ll be sure to stop in and post updates!!

[Anonymous]

just wondering if there has been any improvements on the milk free diet?

[Anonymous]

THanks for the note. I kept meaning to get back and get sidetracked. Been busy as my son just turned 2 yesterday — yep a St. Pattys baby.

Well, we took him off of milk and moved to soy. We saw some improvement and then had to take him to the doc for an unrelated thing. They said they highly doubted it was a milk intollerance and said try 1 thing at a time — and start with Zantac. So we gave him milk and sure enough, he got snotted up again. So we put him back on soy and he has been healthy and happy for the last couple weeks. The docs say that it is coincidence and that he likely just had a respritory thing that was going around here, but we say if it isn’t broke, why fix it. He loves the chocolate soy milk and it seems relatively good for him, when supplimented with a multivitamin, so we are doing well.

Between getting him better with this, and his talking up a storm after the tubes, we are a couple of happy parents!

Thanks again for asking!

[Anonymous]

That’s such great news! And I agree that it really sounds like the milk allergy was a real possibility. You can always do little milk trials as he gets older, but if the soy milk is working, then I say stick with it!

[Author]

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