Pediatric GI Question

[Anonymous]

Hi again everyone,

My pediatrician wrote me back and said that he is not convinced that the symptoms I described to him are only related to acid. He thinks I should take Caden to a GI doctor.

My question is, if I take him to a GI doctor, will that involve extensive testing automatically or can they sometimes figure things out without all of that? I don’t want to subject my baby to all of that if it’s not necessary. He is not nearly as severe as many of the babies I have read about here, so I don’t want to go overboard with this, but at the same time, I do wonder if I could be doing something more to help him that I haven’t tried or am not aware of.

Basically, for those of you who have taken your baby to GI doctors, what prompted you to do that. Were the baby’s symptoms more severe than what I’ve described? Caden’s symptoms are: sour breath, fusses during feedings but doesn’t arch away or refuse, coughs frequently, sometimes gags and makes a face as if tasting something awful, very hard time sleeping, sometimes gassy, mostly silent reflux but some days spits up a lot compared to other days, symptoms come and go – some days he seems fine while other days he seems very fussy.

Do these sound like symptoms of something else besides reflux (for those of you who have experienced something like this)? If so, what else could it be?

My pediatrician seems to think a visit to a GI is in order, but I really want to feel confident that it is necessary before putting Caden through testing and spending tons of money that we just don’t have right now.

Thanks for any input.

[Anonymous]

reflux is like a rollercoaster, and it is pretty common to have some good days and some bad days. reflux can certainly be worse on some days and better on other days.

from what you describe it does sound like it could be reflux to me.

i will tell you what our experince with the GI was. well first, our regular ped had never even had a baby that didnt respond to zantac, and secondly, she had never heard of MSPI, or neocate for that matter. i did my research and bascially refused to take no for an answer. i brought all my marci kids info in about PPI’s in infants, and atually had Dr Phillips contact her. he convinced her that zegerid was the way to go. we did okay for a while but then i suspected a milk soy protein intolerance when he was still refluxy and miserable on a high dose of zegerid. i told her i was going to try neocate after reading about it. it made all the difference in the world.

after all this, she was kind of overwhelmed and suggested a GI. we went to chicago, and told her all about Trace and what med and formula he was on. she was just kind of like ok…why are you here? she said that i had figured out everything and that our visit wasnt really necessary. my son didnt need any sort of testing because it was obvious with his symptoms what his problems were.

good luck to you.

[Anonymous]

Emily,
I think for the most part GI doctors use testing as a last resort. Bryce has been going to a Ped. GI since he was 9 months old and they have never suggested testing for him. We originally took him in because he was having problems gaining weight because of all the spitting up. I don’t think it would hurt to see the GI. They might help you sort things out and find a good combination that works for Caden since he still seems to be having problems with his reflux.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to both of you for your replies 🙂

I appreciate this group so much!

Have a great weekend

[Anonymous]

I just brought Paige to the ped GI on Monday, and our experience was exactly like Natalia’s. He was very nice, took down all of her history, but basically told me I was an old pro at it and that we seem to be doing everything necessary. He said if she worsened, or new symptoms started to crop up, then they could do an endoscopy with biopsies, but only if she seemed to be getting worse.

The symptoms you listed sound like they are reflux related, to me. What is Caden drinking/eating right now? How are his poops? The reason I ask is because quite often our little refluxers have MSPI as well. Are you open to trying meds for reflux? Perhaps they might be able to give him some relief until he outgrows it. Might help him sleep more comfortably as well. Looking back, I sure wish we had gotten Ben onto some form of treatment. My ped just kept telling me to tough it out, he’ll outgrow it. His first 7-8 months were awful for all of us!

[Anonymous]

My experience with my GI was much like the others have described. But in the end we did get testing for Brianna becuase he had me put Brianna on 30mgs of Prevacid and we saw no improvement. They did an endoscopy which revealed irritation in the esophagus, so we put her on Nexium for a few months to heal that…and then were back to prevacid. I loved that GI…unfortunatly he did not live where I did (long story) so I had to find one closer to home. This guy I didn’t like as much becuase immediatly he wanted to do PH probe becuase he didn’t feel Brianna really had reflux. But you know what…I just held my ground “no” to that…and in the end he just worked with us on the medication dose. Just be strong for what you want with yoru child. They may be the Dr….but you are the boss!!!

[Anonymous]

yes , same goes for me as well.. no testing.. he knew it was reflux off the bat… your symptoms sound like it as well.. to be honest. could be some kind of discomfort digesting something in his diet as well.. which i suspect with my son.. but i really dont think he will do much testing just yet.. and i would go.. the regular ped’s are of no help.. so at least you will get someone to talk to that knows “somewhat” more 😉

[Anonymous]

I would probably go to the ped Gi just to get someone elses perspective. You don’t have to do anything they suggest, particularly if you are not comfortable with the testing. Maybe just go, in case they have something to offer?

The sour breath…that reminds me…Alana had that before her meds were right (as well as all the other stuff)>

[Anonymous]

Ok, I made the appt this morning. Thanks for sharing your stories. We go in on April 12th, so we don’t have to wait too long, thank goodness. I’ll update you all after that. I’m really hoping for some answers but am not getting my hopes up

[Anonymous]

I’m glad you got an appointment so soon. I hope they can help you find some answers. Good luck, and keep us posted!

[Anonymous]

Good luck and please let us know how it goes.

[Anonymous]

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Emily: Sorry, I’m not very familiar with Caden’s story. Are you using formula or breastmilk? Perhaps he has an intolerance? Here is something I put together that has Reidun’s story as some gathered info that might be of some help to you… Good luck! https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7728&a mp;PN=1

[Anonymous]

Heidi,

Wow! Thanks so much for the info. I’ll read through it.

As a little history for you, Caden was colicky from birth. He started having mucous in his stool at around 6 weeks. I did TED for about a month (the only difference was I used regular turkey – couldn’t fine free range), but I didn’t notice a significant difference in his behavior, stools, or reflux.

Caden never had blood in his stool, and the mucous seemed to be there most times but not all. Sometimes a perfectly normal mustard stool would appear out of nowhere ( no change in my diet, etc.), so he is a bit of a puzzle to figure out!

I did have an OALD reflex and have fixed that for the most part, and he is less gassy/fussy, but he still has reflux and sleep issues 🙁

I’m thinking that for Caden, it’s an immature system rather than allergies, but I’m not sure.

He has an appt with a GI doctor in a couple of weeks, so maybe we’ll get some new ideas then.

Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

What a puzzle? How frustrating it must have been to do TEDs and see no improvement! I really hope you’ll be able to find some answers with the ped GI. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the two of you. Take care.

[Author]

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