Conner's Upper GI *Update*

[Anonymous]

Well today was Conner’s upper GI. I was amazed that they could see his insides in real time. Poor baby couldn’t eat passed midnight lastnight so he gobbled that barium right down.

The only info that the doctor could tell me, was that Conners food is moving down his esophogus(sp) at an extremely slow rate, and eventually stops at the opening of his stomach.

They did see a bit of reflux with it as well. They could see his esophogus bringing the barium back up.

So now it’s the hurry up and wait game to get a better diagnosis.

He still hasn’t gained any weight, but he isn’t losing any either, so they aren’t that worried.

Well thats it for now.

[Anonymous]

Hopefully this helps you to get the help you need for Connor.

If you feel things are moving too slowly don’t be hesitant to start researching yourself and demanding the tests or medications that will move you down the road to more successful symptom management and relief for both of you.

[Anonymous]

I really wish that was the case. I really dont have a clue on where to start as far as doing my own research. Poor Conner doesn’t even seem to be responding to Prevacid anymore. For the past 4 days he has been a mess all over again, mainly at night. And tonight he just wants to keep overeating to soothe himself, which I dont allow. I gave him some Mylanta and he spit it all up, and is just seeming like he is getting worse.

I honestly have no idea where to start. Im considering asking my mother in law to fly here and take my 2 older children for a few months, because it isn’t fair that we are sooo caught up with Conner and his episodes that they get left out. My husband and I are suffering from major fatigue, we are both up all hours of the night, sometimes all night, and then we have to be up with the older boys to take care of them, and Conner does generally well during the day, but we still cannot get a nap in.

Im losing my mind, and im literally at my wits end, and desperate for anything at this moment. My husband fairs better with Conner crying, and sometimes I have to just let him cry himself to sleep which can take hours upon hours, because there is nothing we can do, and with me suffering from severe post partum depression, 20 minutes of hearing him scream in pain makes me want to rip my hair out, or jump off a cliff.

Im so hurt and worried and concerned but at the same time I dont know how much more I can take of all this. I actually considered admitting myself back into a *mental* ward just to get away from my own son, and I feel horrible for thinking that, but going through this and never having a happy baby makes it so incredibly hard to bond and enjoy him like I should.

Anyways enough of me rambling lol, I need to go outside and have a smoke.

[Anonymous]

I am really sorry you are having such a tough time. Having a baby who is sick is so hard on you and the family. That might be a good idea to get some additional support from your mother-in-law and don’t be afraid to talk to your doctor about how you are feeling.

[Anonymous]

Rachel,

Thank you, it def. is hard having a sick baby, and being sick yourself. I never knew what kind of a toll this would have. My other boys’ issues were much easier to fix, and we happy babies withen days of a simple formula switch.

This is unlike anything I have ever been through. I feel equally bad for my baby and my family, there really isn’t much I can do to help either of them, besides to just ride this out one day at a time.

Wow, my last post did sound pretty desperate lol, I am desperate but only to find my son the help he needs and deserves. I know one day this will all go away and I will sit back and be able to enjoy watching him run around and play.

[Anonymous]

Hang in there!!!!! It can be awful!! Getting help is the first step so asking your MIL to come is a great idea. Also, you can get help for yourself too. I didn’t end up on meds with Dylan, but with Carter, I was there and ready for the help. He had some other issues, too, but in everything my boys have been through, Dylan’s reflux screaming is the one noise that would just send me over the edge. I too, had to put him in the crib and walk away from time to time. He wasn’t soothed by holding, he pushed away from me and I could do NOTHING to make it better at times. It was completely defeating. BUT…… We have an AMAZING bond now knowing all he went through as a baby and he is a happy, funny 5 (almost 6) year old, so hang in there!!!!! IT WILL GET BETTER, and you need to not be so hard on yourself, if you need to walk away, do so, and then come back regrouped to deal with the crying. It is good too if your MIL is there, so you can take turns and you can all work together to deal with appointments, feedings, support, naps, etc… so you can feel a bit better. I am sorry this is so hard.

I will tell you, though, that Zantac made both of my boys fussier, and they did better on Pepcid, so if you can maybe get that switched, that may help? Not sure. We are here to vent, and I think it is amazing that you have a MIL that will be able to help, so utilize that option!!!!

Hang in there!!!

Ann Marie

[Anonymous]

i hate to tell you this—but cigarette exposure makes reflux worse. even if you are smoking outside, that smell is going to be on you, your clothes and most likely in your house. i am really sensitive to it, and it doesn’t take much to make me feel lousy. now might be a good time to go on wellbutrine—it is the same med as zyban, and it is a pretty good antidepressant.

i have dealt with some hellish depression for more years than i care to aknowledge, and if you don’t get it under control you could be in for a total breakdown—–i’ve been there, and i guarantee, you don’t want to go there. to be perfectly truthful, i have felt like i am hanging on by my fingernails this last year, hoping to keep from sinking into that bottomless pit again. you are not alone.

if your MIL could take your two older boys while you get through the worst of this it would truly be a God-send.

it sounds like your little one could use some better testing than just an upper gi. he sounds like he is having some motility problems in his esophagus, and possibly some narrowing.

i get problems with disphagia when my reflux is bad—sometimes the food i swallow feels like it is just dragging it’s way down my esophagus. i have even had times when the food has actually gotten stuck—-talk about painful!!!! usually, it would only last a few seconds, but one evening, it lasted for about 45 minutes. i cannot tell you what a horrible experience this was. i was in pain–couldn’t sit, couldn’t stand, couldn’t anything. if i tried to swallow, all it did was build up saliva in my esophagus until finally i would throw up—but since my esophagus was blocked, all i threw up was saliva. it temporarily eased the pain—but the process would start all over again. this happened several times. i was just waiting to throw up again so i could run to the car and drive myself to the ER before the pain got too bad, when it finally passed.

i eventually had a scope and the surgeon clipped the ring in the bottom of my esophagus in about 4 places—but my reflux is flaring up again and i think that inflammation can be part of the cause of the slowed motility in the esophagus.

good luck. have you seen a ped gi yet?

[Anonymous]

KevieB- We have a sorta outhouse/garage that we go to when we smoke. We also take the precautions of wearing a *smoking* outfit in which we put on when we smoke and take it off and change into regular clothes after we smoke. My oldest son is highly allergic to ciggerette smoke and doesnt seem to have any issues with the method hubby and I use. We NEVER smoke in the vicinity of our children that goes for the car, or even if we are all outside playing.

I can’t take welbutrin, mainly because I am already on an antidepressant for my PPD. I have used welbutrin before and it landed me in a pshyciatric hospital(my first time in one) because it caused me to have worse feelings than I did before I started taking it.

I have seen a PED GI, he is who gave me the referal for the upper GI, hospitals here need a referal from a doctor or GI in order to have any gastrointestinal testing.

[Anonymous]

i am impressed with the precautions you take!!!! but i gotta ask—–why aren’t you as worried about your OWN health with smoking??!! i know, probably alot easier said than done, right? besides, i think being right in the middle of a PPD isn’t exactly the best time to try and give something like that up.

did you have PPD with your other kids, or is this a first for you? what are you taking? i have taken a zillion different antidepressants and i have such a difficult time with the side effects. sometimes they will just make my skin crawl. my obgyn finally figured out that he had to start me on lower than normal doses, and work me up to a higher dose at a slower than normal schedule. sometimes i would do ok if i took xanax for the first week that i was taking a new antidepressant and it would get me through those first adjustment symptoms. i can still remember sitting on the floor in the shower after taking deserel and waiting for the xanax to kick in because of what the deserel had done to me. another time the doc gave me something (?) and after only a few pills i got vertigo that took 2 weeks to go away. even if i could get an anti-depressant to work for me, it would poop out before very long.

my gyno started to suggest i might be bi-polar, but i don’t get manic—he said some people don’t, they just stay depressed. i finally have been diagnosed with adhd and bi-polar nos. the psych said my history with antidepressants was a red-flag for bipolar—-but the bipolar medication didn’t help me, either!! he finally decided to put me on vyvance for adhd and i take the highest dose with NO side effects, but i still have an ongoing battle with depression. i take clonazepam now instead of xanax. i also take norco and soma for my fibromyalgia and 1/2 a caffeine pill. i finally asked for an antidepressant because i was just spending too much time crying. i have 10mg pills of celexa and i usually only take 1/2 of that. when i was really bad last winter(crying every morning) taking a soma with a clonazepam seemed to get me back under control for some reason. i feel like i am such a drug queen.

i am not TOTALLY convinced about the psych’s diagnosis, because i know fibro can cause some of the same mental symptoms, but i know that i function alot better on the vyvance than i do off of it.

sometimes, if i wake up about 4 am, i like to take my pain meds and my vyvance and try to fall right back to sleep. when i wake up a couple of hours later, i am not in pain and my brain is already functioning better—cool trick, huh? the only problem is that the meds run out too early in the day and i can be pretty difficult for everyone to deal with in the evening—-i need to see if i can add a short term stimulant around the time the kids are coming home from school—-we might all be happier that way.

this probably sounds nuts, but what i really want to try is electroshock therapy. i’ve heard good and bad about it, but i’m getting pretty desperate to feel like a functioning human and semi-decent wife and mother again. i hear that the worst side effect is temporary memory loss——i iknow how to carry a notebook and take notes!LOL!!! besides, i already have memory problems.

i guess this is kind of long, but i feel for you having a bad case of PPD. the worst time i had it, it actually started before my baby was born. that was my first venture into meds and prozac was new—i’ve never been able to take it—i’ve tried twice.

i got pretty bad about 3 weeks after my 11 year old was born. i felt fantastic for 3 weeks—and then i crashed, and for the next 8 months i felt like i was dying. after a couple of med changes, i felt the best i had in years, but it didn’t keep.

i know this is long, i just want you to know that i kind of know where you are.

[Anonymous]

Christine- Right now wouldnt be best for me to quit smoking I dont think. I and my husband were smoke free while I was pregnant, but one long sleepless night when Conner arrived, we caved in lol.

This is my second case of PPD, but not as severe. I lost my first Child at age 17 to a genetic disorder, and went downhill from there, it doesn’t help that I am type 1 Bi-Polar. I am currently taking celexa 20mg twice daily. It has been the only anti-depressant that has worked for me. All the others made me either clinically worse or didnt do anything at all.

I had a slight case of PPD with my older son, but I had other depressing issues going on at the time aswell so that didnt help, but it wasn’t long lived that time thankfully. I do have depression, always have and always will as it runs strongly in my family. My dad is Bi-polar type 2 and I swear he is partially schizophrenic. I also suffer from really really bad anxiety and OCD, so the celexa helps with those too. Xanax knocks me on my rear, so I try to stay away from it. Prozac was evil to me, welbutrin was evil to me as well, zoloft made me not care about anything, literally. My kids could probably run in traffic and id sit there and just smile away, so that had to go.

So far im hanging in there. My husband is my major anti-depressant lol, but sometimes while trying to lighten my mood he can make me feel like I have a 26 year old son lol.

Anywho, Conner is up for his meds and feeding. I will hopefully be back on in a bit.

Thanks for the reply, it helps knowing that im not the only person in the world who has these issues, even though I do feel very alone when trying to battle it.

[Anonymous]

i’ve got OCD, too, and anxiety. celexa was the antidepressant that i did really well on once—–a long time ago, but it has never worked as well again.

[Anonymous]

My mom has that same issue. She does really well on a medication for a few months and then it just stops working. She has to take Adavan(Sp) to calm her nerves instead of an actual antidepressant now. It works well for her, I took one once and man did it knock me on my butt lol I swear I slept for 3 days straight on just half of one.

Celexa has done well for me, I hate it’s sexual side effect though and it’s a double whammy because my husband aslo takes celexa ontop of his depricote, he has a bad TBI and PTSD from serving 2 tours in iraq. He has since been medically retired from the Army and placed on 100% diability, but he fairs better than I do sometimes. He has way more patients than I do at the moment which bothers me, because I have always been a patient person especially with kids, but now with my PPD it’s the exact opposite.

I see on your siggy that your daughter Sylvia had a hiatal hernia? Can those be seen with an Upper GI? Or is there a different test for that? Im wanting every possible issue ruled out before settling with what the Upper GI showed. Im curious as to if he has an underlying issue causing his esophagus issues which in turn are causing his acid reflux. Im having a hard time convincing my PED GI to do more tests and im quite aggrivated about it. So im trying to find out what else I can possibly do to help my son.

[Anonymous]

supposedly, an upper gi can show a hiatal hernia and so will a scope. sylvia had a scope and w upper gi’s—-and none of the 3 tests showed her hiatal hernia. the surgeon discovered it when he went in to do her fundoplication. he said it was pretty good sized. he told me that if it is not pushing through when they look, they can’t see it.

on the little gerdlings site i posted the pictures from her surgery and you can see the hiatal hernia before it was repaired.

[Anonymous]

wow….is their anyway you can link me to the image? Like I said Conner just had his Upper done, and Id like to know atleast 1 thing to look for incase he does have one and it is missed.

Thanks

[hellbennt]

Website for pictures: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2266

[Author]

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