I am desperate and do not know what to do with my 8 month old son who supposidly has reflux?
My doctor diagnosed my son with reflux but NOTHING is helping his spitting up (massive amounts). He has been on 3 different meds, currently on prilosec. Its been 8 months now and he is spitting up at LEAST 25–30 times a day. I am beside myself and do not know what to do anymore. He had his upper GI tract looked at and it showed NOTHING and everything looked mormal. Something is wrong but I dont know what else I can do or what else I can tell my doctor…Since he is gaining weight they are not taking any actions on his case. I have even started him on solids and he still spits up but it seems to hurt him more and it grosser. Please help and tell me if any of you had babies with reflux or any other help you can give me! Thanks!
March 16th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Seek the advice of another medical professional. If you are concern that your son is not receiving accurate medical care for his condition, then do not hesitate to take him somewhere else. Seek out a specialist in the field. Make an appointment. Take your son to the specialist and be sure to have a record of all of the medications that his current doctor has had him on. This will allow the specialist to rule out which medications could be best for your son. I know that it doesn't sound good, but even with the spitting up your son is gaining weight and therefore is receiving the nourishment that his body needs. Do not worry, if he were not receiving nutrients, he would not be gaining weight. Follow your heart. I know that it is difficult to watch little ones encounter an ordeal such as this. Seek the specialists' opinion and best of luck to you, I hope that soon your son will be able to eat and control or eliminate his current crisis.
March 16th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Your baby may be allergic to the formula that he is currently on. Has you doctor recommended soy formula such as prosobee. Or if he doesn't do well with that you may have to put him on something like neutramagin formula. Sometimes Doctor's will tell you to mix a little bit of rice cereal with the formula so they can keep it down.
March 16th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
It's funny to see the answers you have received for your question. I asked the same question 2 weeks ago and the responses were quite different. Everyone basically told me to suck it up, that all babies have reflux and it will go away eventually. I guess they don't really know what it's like to not be able to leave their baby for a second because he might choke. Anyway, my son is 6 months old and also suffers from severe reflux. He's on an apnea monitor at night in case he has any "episodes." He's been on Pepcid since he left the hospital but I don't think it really does anything. My son doesn't actually spit anything up, he tries to reswallow and this results in choking and coughing. We've been to very good specialists who have told us to have any upper GI done to make sure everythings in place but we choose not to do this because he's been through a lot of testing already. They would not switch his meds because they don't think it will help. I was told there is no solution for this and if we come up with one we will be millionaires. They couldn't even guarantee the surgery for his stomach would help. They told us we just have to tough it out for now, that reflux peaks between 4 and 6 months and usually goes away after a year. Very discouraging hearing this information…a year is a long time. I wish I could help but I'm sure you're doing everything we are to try and help him. Elevate his head, never lie him flat, hold him upright for at least 45 minutes after feeding, try mylicon in case he has gas, try to sit him still after feeding and burp him very often. Otherwise, I don't know what to do either. If he's on formula maybe try something like neocate. I've only changed my son's once to lactose free similac. I just don't want to keep changing, I'm afraid it will make it worse. I'm sorry you have to go through this and I wish you all the luck.
March 16th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Take your child to another doctor for a second opinion, it could be something as simple as eliminating certain foods from his diet. Good luck to you both.
March 16th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
I would look into another docotr. My son had reflux, and he did grow out of it if it is any consolation to you. The sphincter in the stomach doesn't close properly. As they grow older it does, and the food stays down. Hang in there
March 16th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Go and get a second opinion or even your local hospital might be able to help.
March 16th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Reflux is a very common problem in babies. It is true that most children's reflux gets better by 4-6 months but some will not get better until they are a year or more.What makes it so frustrating for parents (and pediatricians) is that there is no really good medicine to treat it. We try thickenning liquids with things like rice cereal (1-3 tsp per oz of formula), and upright positionning but sometimes it just doesn't help.Medicines are even less helpful, because baby reflux and adult gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) are NOT the same problem. The cause of baby reflux is a loose "lower esphageal sphincter" (LES) muscle, which normally keeps food in the stomach after you swallow it. Acid reduction can be helpful if the baby has heartburn symptoms but really does nothing for the muscle itself. Its not until the muscle gains tone (with time) that reflux stops. There are other "promotility drugs" like reglan and erythromycin but medical studies have not shown a significant benefit.It is true that if weight gain is not a problem, then we often don't worry about it. But if you are still worried you should really talk to his doctor again so that you can be reassured. It sounds like he had an upper GI which is important not to diagnose reflux but to rule out other causes. But if you are really concerned ask for a second opinion from a GI doctor. I'm sure his doctor would understand – I would. Maybe they will find something else, maybe not.Good Luck!P.S. Surgery is only reserved for the most severe cases where the baby just cannot gain weight.
March 16th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Sounds like you need to switch formulas. I worked for Ross Pediatrics and they have the Similac brands. There is a brand that will help this situation. When my son was a baby, I switched him to goats milk (comes in powdered form, too). I really think your child is lactose intolerant but I am not a doctor. Ask your doctor if you could try this and see if it helps. Also, you should be able to find a Ross Pediatric Representative in your area or at your local hospital who could suggest the brand of formula that helps babies with this condition.
March 16th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Time to find another doctor.And don't take excuses. Pound on them until you get some real and useful answers. Some doctors can be very lazy.
March 16th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
that is very serious my son had to have surgery for that he has a reconsctrctive surgery and still he gets chocked
March 16th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Definitely get a second opionion, even a third or fourth. Maybe a pediatrictian who specializes in ear, nose, and throat or something. That really doesn't sound good and a mother's intuition is a very real thing so take it seriously.
March 16th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
my daughter had the same problem and after all the meds we took her to a specialist (even though her dr felt she would be fine) and she had problems with her gag reflex they gave her something (I don't remember what) to relax it and then she was fine, she is 11 now, and is still on medication for reflux so it followed her growing up but it is controlable.
March 16th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
If my child had this condition, I would give my child a tablespoon of raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar with a tablespoon of cinnamon in a cup of Root Beer(to mask the taste) three times a day. His gut is not functioning properly and needs to start getting the proper flora it needs to digest food. Apple Cider Vinegar is the perfect food for the gut.Your son may be having an allergic reaction to dairy. Quit the dairy including cheese for a week and see if it helps. He may be having a reaction to glutins(wheat). If quitting dairy does not help, avoid feeding him any foods with wheat or glutins. There are many glutins in processed foods so be careful to check labels. Water has a critical role in processing food for our body. Water is like oil for a car. If you do not get enough water, the important systems of the body do not get the fluids they need to expel toxins. Your child needs to drink water several times a day so his body can begin to funtioning properly. This will rehydrate his body.Also begin adding unrefined sea salt to all foods and even a little to his water. Unrefined Sea Salt is a perfect food for remineralizing an unhealthy and mineral starved body.These are low cost ways to defeat acid reflux. I would try to figure out a way to get the water, sea salt and raw apple cider vinegar into my childs body if he had acid relux. Juice can mask the taste of sea salt and vinegar as well. I would try carrot juice, grape juice, apple juice and other strong juices to get my child to add these critical minerals into his body. Don't let your son's food hide your son's light. Getting the right minerals into his gut, kidneys, liver and other filtering organs will allow his body to begin healing itself. Doctors will not tell you that food and water can help your son because they are licenesed to give drugs. The nutrition class they take in Medical School is just one class and when it is finished, it is never mentioned again. If you are looking for help from professionals, I would look to find a nutritionist. I hope the best for you.
March 16th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Burping may helps to reduce reflex
March 16th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
talk to ur doctor
March 16th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
I know how you feel. my son had the same thing. 2 diff meds and 5 diff formulas. just to try and add a small silver linning, when ny son turned 1 its like a switch was fliped and his reflux just stopped.
March 16th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
MY DAUGHTER HAD THE SAME THING ALL I DID WAS MIX A TABLESPOON OR MORE OF BABY RICE CEREAL DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH SHE WAS EATING TO THICKEN UP HER MILK THAT WAS IT WOULD STAY ON HER STOMACH BETTER AND SHE STOPPED SPITTING UP AND HER "REFLUX" WAS GONE