feeling sorry and need to cry

[Anonymous]

The Zantac has stopped working and we’re seeing all of the symptoms of reflux again. My son is also teething so everything is a little bit worse with that. Spitting up constantly, crying in pain from gas and teething and night waking combined with limited nap taking… today is the first day that I started to cry. I just want him to be healthy. I know that everyone says he’ll grow out of this, but I’m really starting to doubt that. (He’s six months on Monday.) We’re starting Prevacid tomorrow morning. I’m hoping it will make a difference. I know there are children in this world who are much more ill, but I can’t help feeling sorry for us right now. I just want my son to be able to eat and digest without all of the terrible symptoms this thing causes. I want him to function without medication! I want him to feel good! I love our pediatricians, but am tired of re-explaining his situation to whomever we are able to see. I need ONE doctor to just focus, just for aminute and help some of my fears here. Our specialist appointment is on July 10th, THANK GOD, and hopefully he will be able to help us a bit more. In the mean time, I guess I thought this thing would just magically disappear by now. The Zantac had been working so well that I had forgotten how ugly these symptoms can be. It breaks my heart to see him uncomfortable. I really needed to get that out. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Dorothy, Alessandro’s mommy (born 12/05/05,) Daniel’s wife

[Anonymous]

Dorothy:

It’s OK to feel sorry for yourself, your son and your situation and the last time I checked, having a good cry isn’t bad for you either. Reflux is an awful thing to have to deal with and especially trying to get the doctors and others to understand what you are going through. They see your child for maybe 15 minutes then they get to go on to the next patient, you get to go home to try to deal with everything. I know that Zantac is very weight sensitive -is there room to have a dose increase? Maybe given along with the Prevacid, you can have your happy baby back. I know there is a certain amount of time you need to wait between giving a PPI like Prevacid and an H-2 blocker like Zantac. I am sure if you read back in previous posts, it would tell you. Hope things get better for you soon!!

Robin

[Anonymous]

I definitely know how you feel! There were so many times when we were in the throes of battling reflux that I would start to wonder if it would ever end. It didn’t help that our doctor assured us that things would improve by 4 months, then 6 months, then when she started crawling, then walking. Every time we hit one of his “milestones” and she wasn’t completely better, I would get really depressed about it. Dh and I found that it helped to look at her long term progress. At each of those milestones, the reflux was still an issue, but if we looked at the big picture, she was doing better at each stage. It does get better! At 11 months, she was still projectile spitting on a fairly regular basis, but by 14 months, we were thinking about weaning her off of meds. Now, at 23 months, she is off of prevacid, and only has occasional bouts of breakthrough acid (usually when she is sick). We give her a Tums and she’s fine!

I hope that the prevacid works for Alex! Remember that it can take 2 weeks to kick in, so don’t give up if you don’t see improvement right away. It doesn’t work for everyone, but it was truly a miracle drug for us!

[Anonymous]

I have my doubts and fears about Myles, too. So many times I’ve thought he’s over it and we can have a “normal” life only to see the reflux monster rear it’s ugly head again. And, I’ve had my share of feeling sorry for myself. It’s true that there are worse illnesses and even much worse reflux than what our babies have, but any mom would feel bad about any illness that there child has to endure. It’s only natural to want your baby to be perfectly healthy and pain free.

I guess we just have to try to keep it in perspective…reading these posts daily helps me to do that….many babies are so much worse off and I feel so badly for them, and I can’t help but be thankful that Myles has reflux but nothing else….Also, babies do eventually outgrow this….some much later than others, but they will outgrow it.

I hope Prevacid helps your little guy as much as it has helped Myles. He has been pain free for several months thanks to Prevacid. (His main problem is vomiting which comes and goes). He sleeps wonderfully and he’s eating quite well, again thanks to Prevacid.

Like Robin said, it takes about two weeks for the PPI to work, so using Zantac as well is a good idea. I’ve read here many times that it can be given 4 hours apart from the Prevacid, but don’t give it together or the two drugs cancel each other out.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much, all three of you. I truly needed to hear your advice and appreciate your support so very much. The doctor did say I could keep him on both meds for a while but didn’t say how. I’m so grateful for the experience and knowledge regarding the four hour wait. The only reason he said yes to both was because I told him about what I had learned on this board regarding the time the Prevacid takes to kick in. (He wanted me to stop the Zantac cold turkey when beginning the Prevacid until I requested that Alex remain on both until the Prevacid started working.) My poor little guy would have been even more miserable! This board has made me a better advocate for my son! Thank goodness for you guys! Thank you!

[hellbennt]

my ped GI said 2hrs between zantac & PPi- that’s what we did- but others have posted 4hrs…so I guess 3hrs would be in the middle?

what form of prevacid?

what dose?

[Anonymous]

comes in packets ( we can’t have the solutab because we can’t have any dairy) 15 mg. once in the morning. My son is just about 6 mos and weighs 17 lbs.

[Anonymous]

Hang in there Dorothy. I’ve certainly had my share of feeling sorry for myself. But I try to count my blessings (not that it always helps, I know), but makes me think about the good things we have. Hailey turned one this week and I had a boo-hoo kind of day, because her reflux is still so bad. So I know how you feel. All I can say is that hold onto the thought that it will get better, and when things are bad, we all know how you feel.

[hellbennt]

you might want to try giving the dose in 2…click the following link & read about ‘proper’ dosing and tips on how to administer the packets

Prevacid 101(scroll down to the last purple post): https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1936&a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;PN=0&TPN=1

[Anonymous]

Dorothy,

I could have written your post a month ago. We had the same experience with Zantac – seemed to be working, stopped working, upped the dose, didn’t help. And I felt the same way – guilty for thinking I had it “so bad” when there are parents out there dealing with Downes Sydrome or cystic fibrosis or something. But as the others have already said, it’s OK to feel sorry for yourself at times. You have to get those emotions out so that you can move on and start another day. I’m glad your doc agreed to using both meds at once. Ours didn’t and things started getting so much worse. It made me give up on the Prevacid perhaps sooner than I should have but I didn’t want things to be worse than when we were on the Zantac. I also agree about trying two smaller doses instead of one large on. We’re now on Prilosec, two doses a day, and it’s been working well for us. We went AMA and continued to use the Zantac while waiting to see if the Prilosec would work. The only problem we encountered is that it made Tess extremely constipated. So we dropped the Zantac but by that time the Prilosec had kicked in so that was fine. I don’t know if you would run into the same problem with the Prevacid.

I hope the Prevacid does the trick for you. Don’t beat yourself up about how you feel. You’re in good company here. These ladies are great!

Karen

[Anonymous]

It feels so good to get so much here. I got through my crying jag and am now feeling stronger than ever. I truly appreciate evryone giving me the chance to feel like I did… it made me much less guilty after I picked myself back up and dusted off. Your words made it so much easier. Laura and Karen, thank you for the advice on the split dosage. I’m going to push for it at my next visit which is soon. In the mean time, today, a new day, seems to be going so well. He is playing and smiling again. (Which makes me so happy I’m crying again! but happy tears!) Alessandro (Alex) is 6 months old today! Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

[hellbennt]

you can just split it on your own for now- whatever dose it is, give it in 2…

ps: you don’t have to wait for a dr visit: FAX your doctor. Start off on a positive note, thank him/her , then state the symptoms that have been helped and what still is continuing. Then STATE your request. short & simple and THANK YOU.

hellbennt2006-6-5 7:44:0

[Anonymous]

Thank you, Laura!!!!!

[Author]

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