Reflux & Colic General Chatter & Support

[kellmay]

I have to use the lactose free s26 and advent bottles, we did use karicare thickener after feeds which helped some but we dont need that know that soilds are in the picture, we also used mylanta and Zactac at times. These days after a great pead spec we only use Losec once a day which is SOOOOOOOOO much easier and better for us. Good luck with all the treatments you just need to work at it and find what helps yuor bub, and try to remember they do grow out of it at some time.

[*charmalea*]

hi ladies .. well im here because im clueless about Reflux ..
DD had major problems which looking back was really bad reflux , she fed every 30 mins from day 1 , almost like she was born with reflux as in hosp she was really unsettled and fed alot , we had a great birth so there was nothing else i could pin it to ..

I was going crazy with her sreaming up to 4 hrs a day and could never be put down , and always had to be upright ..

to cut a long story short i also have nipple vasospasm , i went to see a LC/GP and she didnt really believe me that i thought DD had reflux , she said "oh she may be a bit refluxy .." and thats it .. seeing that she vomited about 4 times while we were in there seeing her , i cant believe she didnt look into it , gave me gaviscon , we tried it and it worked for a few days .. but had a followup appt wit her and she then perscribed Zoton ..

its crap , DD hates the gaviscon and zoton and wont take either at all .. im at wits end , this morinng i made up the whole packet of zoton thinkng at least she'll take some thing , and 2 doses of gavisocn ... both are still sitting n front of me as she hold her tounge at the top of her mouth and spits out anything that isnt nipple ..

i have spent so much money trying to get her to take something .. i have a Medela soft cup feeder ($69) which doesnt work either ..

so basically she doent get enough medicine and is livid by the evening ...

but the thing is at night , she will sleep all night ... weather we co sleep or put her in the cradle she will sleep .. (babies dont reflux when their asleep .... apparently)

i put this down to her having cat naps in the day and the constant screaming at night ..

according to the RISA website , its not uncommon for a silent refulxer to do that ..

QUESTIONS ...

acid reflux vs reflux ... whats the difference
can reflux change into silent reflux , do you have one or the other
is frothing at the mouth a sign of reflux
is sucking or making chewing motions with her mouth a sign of hunger or reflux

DDs symptoms have settled alot and she is starting to go an hour or more between feeds .. and i and getting smiles too .. but day sleep are hard , i will put her in her rocking cradle and 20 mins later she will wake ( she sleeps on a tetra materess , her bed isnt elevated but i make the materess higer at the top so her head is elevated .. )

anyway , i cant do anything at all except pick her up . feed . put her down . pick her up. put her down .. and after the hours of screaming in the evening , it will take her up to 2 hrs to drift off to sleep ... she has to be near me or she wont sleep ..

she wont take a bottle or a dummy .... her dummy is my nipple ...

[kellmay]

WOW what a state things are in, i was there myself just 8 short months ago, and things are great now, so first of there is light at end end of the tunnel - they do get better slowly..
Questions
acid reflux and reflux are one in the same.
they can vomit or not or both, some never vomit.
frothing not sure, but reflux do generally make alot of dribble - it helps reduce stomach acids.
Chew and sucking do tend to be habits of refluxers as is swollowing air, coughing during feeds and hiccoups for some.
There is alot of advice out there, you need to see what helps you and your baby. How old is your DD. Have you tried added breast milk to the meds ??? i guess you have.You need to use a dropper and slide it down the side of her mouth and release a little at a time into the cheeks. Sometimes with mine it was easier to give if they were crying, mouth open and it slides down the throat. She will need to have her head right back or it will just comes straight out. we used 2ml of mylanta the adult stuff rather than the other gavascone as its ready mixed and a smaller amount. this was from the GP recomendation.maybe you need to see a pead spec, i found they took me seriously and investigated more re allergys and alike.
got to go but hope you get sleep to night

[*charmalea*]

thanks Kellmay , if i add EBM to the meds it makes them less effective .. Gabriella is 9 wks old and i also found that if i put a dropper anywhere near her mouth she would tense it and i couldnt get it in there , i try and use a spoon . dammit i try everything .

she often coughs during a feed and also winces alot while feeding too .. right now she is hiccupping away , she has been a constant hiccuper since birth ..

I need a Pead , but i dont know where to get one , i feel a bit intimidated about them really , like they might see me as a drama queen ..

[kellmay]

You need a referral from you GP, so you need to ask him/her. dont worry everyone including family thouht i was a drama queen to, till they spent the day with us. Hopefully a spec will be more understanding. If you ask for a private one it is much quicker too.
What a pain in the @#$ she is to give meds to........you poor thing you must be so over it.
mine was as still is at times a big hiccupper. who told you about the EBM thing, i had not heard that before.

[*charmalea*]

it was a CHN who told me .. and i also googled it and there are a few forums out there that say the same thing ...

well i have a happy baby this morning .. but as it was so chilly yesterday , she has the snuffels ... and talk about dribbilng , i went through about 4 bibs yestereday !!

[kellmay]

Thats really interesting, i had not heard that but i will remember it, hope things get better soon.

[bluesky]

Mia was born the perfect baby until she turned 2 weeks old, I was told she is a text book baby for reflux. She had all the symtoms of silent reflux with the occasional power chuck. She is now 13 weeks old and our battle continues, she is on 15g of losec a day, I give it to her with a little bit of water (boiled) and syringe it in the side of her mouth. Mylanta aswell when she has her various attacks through the day. She is kept mostly upright accept for playtime at least 30 mins after a feed. My ped told me it could take 12months til the reflux disappears which was very upsetting as I am like some of you that it is easier to stay home then get so many glares from people thinking I can't control my baby, little do they know what we go through. I wish there was a miracle cure as it can be difficult I also have a 2 year old Kiarra who loves her sister even though she screams. Did I mention she hates the car, its a nightmere. Enough about me Mia is on AR S26 Reflux formula which my baby health plaza recommended and mia hasn't spewed since worth a try. You should also look up what foods you should avoid. I am not sure what age they operate on to fix the flap the opens incorrectly you should ask you ped. You have done well to make it this far I am sure his reflux will disappear soon.

Mel
Mother of 2

[*charmalea*]

MEL!! omg so nice to see you on here !! , how is Mia now ??? I have been taking Gabriella to accupuncture and since then have not given her medication , its not 100 % better , but she can feed lying down if she goes to sleep striaht away .. but other than that i give mylanta for her attcks through out the day too ... i dont think it works though .. she had a major reflux attck yesterday and was arching her back so high she nearly fell out of my arms .. but from that expreince yesterday i think i'll give the zoton when she has an attck rather than mylanta ... she hates the zoton so much and those stupid white balls go everywhere ... some times i think shes going so well off the zoton , other times i kick myself ,because she'll have an attack and it will take ages to settle down ..

the acc. hasnt fiixed it but has certinaly lessend the serverity of it and she doesnt scream when she vomits anymore ..


but all round she is more settled then before accupuncture and on meds , after a treatment she fall asleep for hours .. which is so nice for me.. and i find if there is no routine or my day is busy , i tend to give her short feeds and she becomes a monster again !!

thank fully gone are the days where she would be on the boob every 30 mins , its more like 11/2- 2 hrs now .. but is still a shocking sleeper , during the day .. and i have cut out alot of acidy foods , Tomato is out and so are citurs fuirts and caffene (its decaff now) and garlic... im so careful of what i eat , but i belive its made a big impact ..

giving her the zoton was so hard, she hated it so much .. so i dread her reflux moments and do everything to keep her upright and relaxed ....

[bluesky]

Hey leah
Fancy meetin you here. Just thought I would check this site out anything can help.
Mia still having her problems. Went to ped last week and he said she shoud get better once she is 6 to 12months which was upsetting, I just have to take it week by week. She is sleeping better in the day thank goodness after going to sleep school.

mel

[*charmalea*]

ugh -6-12 months ..

well today Gabriella is rank , she has napped once for about 45 mins then (thankfully) napped long enough for me to put nix down for his nap ..she has been crying all day .. she is so upset , i have given her mylanta andinfacol and she is burping like no tomorrow ...

later before witching hour i will give her some zoton . as she is quiet for now ... i hope she setteles !

[bluesky]

Leah

Must be the day for it as Mia been screaming most of the day. You should try and give her the medication everyday as it takes a couple of days to get in their system.I now syringe it in the side of her mouth in small bits at a time so she can't spit it out. I don't think the losec works that well but maybe if I didn't give it to he she'd be worse. Least I am not alone. It can be hard to entertain the other child as you know Kiarra has been so naughty but bet all she wants is attention. I have put her in childcare 2 days now so I can get a bit done at home not that she is a problem but less stress too. Catch ya on Thursday text me details.

Mel

[imaan]

my baby has reflux i know what your going through!take him to a peadiatrion losec might help

[scarlet121]

I just want to add that losec and zoton, take at least 2 weeks to get into their system properly and work. So it is best to give them the medicine every day and hopefully you will see an improvement.

What doses are you on? We use losec and that has always worked well, but then there are many who are the other way around.

For us,the right meds was the key, working out the correct dose and how to get it in after that, life was good.

[bluesky]

Mia is on 15mg a day which consists of have 3 half tablets a day. I am seeing some improvement in the last few days so that is good for the whole family. She will be 4 months soon an am a bit worried how she will go with solids, going to start her on rice cerial soon - any advice?

[*charmalea*]

Gabriella is (well suppsosed to be on ) 15mg a day of Zoton ... the zoton has tiny hard little balls in it and its a nightmare getting them into her .. sometimes i let the balls dissolve in the liquid and give it to her then ..

i will try and give it to her now every day .. as the last couple of nights she has been waking and screaming and also has been vomiting heaps latlely ..

just when i go a few days of her being settled , she takes a turn and really makes up for it ...

I dont have a pead .. as i have been to many doctors , but the just prescribe and wont listen ..

[Tracey]

I used to thinking medicating was the way to go, now I am angry about just medicating when the dr's, paeds & MCHN only look & say give tis or that! Now I will not medicate instead investigate whats upsetting them... I found Casein was burning inside my sosns gut & after seeing a naturoptah he is 100% fixed! The things he told me about the Reflux medication was VERY disturbing!!!
I would look at the underlying problem rather than give medecines see what you can change in their diets (breastfeeding means yours too ) & formula I'd look at goats milk... It's worth a shot in my honest opinion!

[scarlet121]

Blusky, it sounds like a good dose for her age, I don't think many drs would go much higher. Splitting the dose three times a day is the best thing (I think) for your bub. It sounds to me like the dose could be kicking in, this can take a couple of weeks to a couple of months, depending on the damage it has to heal and how much acid there is being made.

We use losec here and love it, it has been our saviour med.
In regards to food, my only suggestion is to wait as long as you can. Contrary to beleif adding in food will generally not help a refluxer, the reason being is the acid is made when food is ingested, if you feed something like rice cereal, it may actually sit in the stomach longer and take longer to digest, so it will make more pain for her.

If you can hold out till 5 or 6 months, it may be easier. When introducing them, add one food at a time every 2 weeks, do not introduce them sooner, or you may get really confused over foods that react and those that don't.

Stay away from acid foods and foods that are hard to digest like corn.

If you aren't already, I would try hypoallergenic formula, it may help, reflux formulas tend to be milk based and take longer to digest, so the hypo ones are better, they are more broken down and easier to digest.

Charmlea, with the zoton, it will not work if you can't give it to her everyday (if not multiple times a day), it is not a medicine that works like panadol, it needs time to get into the system as it works in shutting down the pumps that actually produce acid, so it is best to give a smaller dose at more frequent periods.

15mg is a good dose, though it can go to 30mg, most paeds will do if you need, but probably the 15 will do (the dosing of losec and zoton are different), the beads actually have to be swallowed whole to work, they are coated in a substance so it withstands acids on the way down and can work at the pump site. If you dissolve them, then there is no way for it to work. Same with crushing.

With administering, you can try these methods (see link, I think I can still post links?). I would probably try and split the dose 7.5mg twice a day. Just halve the sachet.
Advice on administering medicines - Support Group for Moms, Dads, Grandparents and other caregivers of Babies with Infant Reflux and GERD - InfantRefluxDisease.com

Reflux is totally up and down, you may get a couple of good and then bad, it is a nightmare really cause you don't know how things are going to turn out.

Tracey, I know that you have seen good with a naturopath, and I too have been to many drs that just prescribe and know nothing about the disease, but at the same time to say don't give medication sits bad with me.

My son has extremely severe reflux (180+ acid reflux a day) and in the beginning I was not willing to medicate properly or to find out more on this disease that everyone told me he would grow out of.

Unfortunately the stigma to having my child medicated for just a little reflux, led him to an extreme eating disorder, by not eating anymore, which at the age of 4 we are only jsut coming out of, his failure to thrive was one of the hardest things I have had to endure and this would not have been how it was if we had got the medications early and he did not learn to associate food and pain.

We see a homeopath and their theory is that their methods should work along side medication until the time that it is not needed, which I like.

Reflux is a trial and error game, every child is different on how extreme it is and how many side effects they can have. Just keep playing around and trying new things and eventually it does get better.