Do I need to see a GI?

[Anonymous]

My 9 month old daughter Cassie has been on axid for her reflux since 3 months. For a while it was working but lately feeding is HORRIBLE again. we just went for her 9 month appt at the pediatrician and the doctor is not convinced that all of her eating difficulties are related to reflux because she is gaining weight appropriately. She has been refusing the bottle (have to really distract her to eat) and can often vomit if coughing or crying after a bottle. She is also refusing to try solids and only eats small portions of puree baby foods. The pediatrician did give me a presctiption for Prevacid, which we haven’t started yet because we are trying a big increase in the axid first. My question is, what would I learn from going to the GI? If we already have prevacid what else can they tell me or give me since I know that testing the ph is not always accurate. Can they tell if there is any problems in the esophagus etc? What can I expect from a first visit to a GI? We just had Cassie evaluated by a Speech Path who recommended feeding therapy to help with the solids and she recommended seeing the GI. Any help or feedback from people who have been to the GI and found it helpful is greatly appreciated. THANKS!!!

[Anonymous]

i would definitely go to a ped gi. they know so much more about treating reflux in infants. sylvia had ph testing done and a scope done when she was about 8 months old, and until we did those tests i had no idea how bad her reflux really was. she ended up needing surgery because her % of reflux was so high and her esophagus was getting ulcerated–she was also failure to thrive and anemic. turned out she had a hiatal hernia that had never shown during any of ther tests.

even after surgery, she continued to be failure to thrive as we dealth with a couple of other issues. one was esophageal thrush. she would refuse to eat or she would chew her food and then spit it out. after we got that cleared up, she developed obstructive sleep apnea. she had her tonsils and adnoids removed a week after she turned 2—-she weighed 22 lbs.

she is doing great these days and will be sarting kindergarten in the fall.

[hellbennt]

I would go to a ped GI.

the key to all of this is RESEARCH and, of course, support!

http://www.marci-kids.com is at the FOREFRONT of research of PPI use and dosing in infants/todders. You might want to start there to see if PPI dose is ‘proper’

then, hop back here to learn HOW to get that proper dose, if need be, and what FORM of PPI and HOW to administer…

Prevacid 101(last post on the page): https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1936&PN=0&TPN=1

unfortunately, the majority of drs & pharmacists don’t know…babies metabolisms’ are much faster than adults, so the drugs work differently with them…

after medication, you might then want to look at diet…

I have a LOT MORE TO SAY! and most of it is here:Groupie Intro: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=853

it’s looong, but PLEASE read/skim/scroll through it & refer back to it , as it TRULY will help you!

so glad you found us!

~laura

ps:

there is even a link from Groupie Intro for finding a dr near you .

(Anyone else reading this who has not posted their dr on that link: PLEASE do, as it helps others! the good AND the bad…thanks!!)

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