Reflux and the rotavirus vaccine...

DS2 had his first lot of immunisations at 7 weeks (3.5 weeks ago) and since then has been miserable. My GP thinks he has reflux and TBH I agree. We've started him on Zantac and am hoping that it will provide some relief.

But here's the thing. While he had a lot of trouble with wind since birth and leading up to the vaccinations (we were seeing an osteo for this) I really don't think that he was showing clear signs of reflux before having them. He was a bit of spewer (but DS1 was too and it never bothered him), but that is pretty much the only symptom we had. He was generally happy, didn't really cry, had good naps, settled relatively easily and only really had issues with the wind. Now he is clearly in uncomfortable, tense during feeds, cries uncontrollably at times, sucks constantly, won't nap for any longer than 30 mins, and is showing most of the signs.

I can't help but think that the vaccinations have contributed to, or even caused, his reflux. I've been trying to do a little research and it seems that vaccinations, the rotavirus in particular, can cause a flare up in babies who have reflux. Does anyone know how long this flare up typically lasts? It's been over 3 weeks, so to me that seems a little more than a flare up... Anyone heard or the rotavirus actually causing the condition?

I didn't experience my DD2's reflux quite like you describe, but I thought I'd put some of my experiences out there to see if it is useful in some way.
Basically I would say that I found her reflux 'looked' really different at say 8 weeks than it did at 4 weeks. At 4 weeks it only really presented itself as being chucky, not sleeping during the day (some days not at all) and having trouble getting wind up (and being really uncomfortable before it did come up). By 8 or 9 weeks it presented with a lot more of the 'classic' reflux signs, wet burps that made her scream, screaming during feeds and breast refusal, was uncomfortable and unsettled a lot of the time, wanting to feed often (for comfort) etc.

From what I've read it can often be like this, not really showing the classic signs until 7 or 8 weeks old, I read many stories of babies who'd started medication at 9-12 weeks, I assume because it took a few weeks for their reflux to present with the classic signs. I've heard people say diagnosing reflux in babies under 6 weeks is tricky because the signs at that age aren't that distinctive and can easily be confused with other things like hunger, being overtired, colic etc. where as later they are more distinctive.

So I guess there is a chance that coincidentally your DS's relux has kicked in (or looked more obvious) at a similar time to the immunisations? I remember DD2 being really cranky for about a week after her 2 months immunisations (which were at about 9 weeks) but her more obvious reflux stuff definitely appeared before then.

I feel your frustration and i understand you racking your brain trying to figure out the whys and hows. DD had her immunisations also but i never put any of her discomfort down to this as i'd not heard of the link before. BB has taught me another useful tip :) As Sargres above has said we also peaked around the 7 week mark. At first she was occasionally uncomfortable, every second night may have been a bit of a struggle to get to the end of the 'witching hour' but i think it was either week 6 or 7 where every single night we had screaming, arching of her back, one exhausted little bub who was just too uncomfortable to sleep, the list goes on.... until she finally would fall asleep about the 11pm mark for a reasonable nights feed/sleep routine. We too were on medication (zantac) somewhere between 7-8 weeks and it made a difference and it helped ease the symptoms.

So i can't help by saying it'll ease off or not because i really don't know. Each little ones case of 'reflux' (i believe they can all have it, it just varies in severities) is difference and as to if your little mans is mainly due to the immunisation i'm not sure how you'll be able to tell. I suppose time will tell, in the mean time you just do what you can do to help your little one through their discomfort.

Good luck :)

Thanks ladies. I wasn't aware that it peaked at around the 7-8 week mark. It makes a little more sense now, he had his immunisations at 7 weeks and had been suffering from wind issues before that.

EJ, how long was your DD on Zantac for and how long did it take for you to see results? DS2 started it 5 days ago now, I think I've seen a little bit of improvement, but can't be sure. He's still struggling to sleep during the day because of it, the only place he will have a decent sleep is in the swing. The GP said it takes about a week to start providing real improvement, so fingers crossed tomorrow might be a better day...

Miss E i wouldn't have said that i was aware of the 'peak' either other than from reading others expereinces now after it's all over.... always the way :) But for DD that was a week i'll never forget.

DD was on zantac up until 6 months and it helped, i wasn't something i enjoyed doing and really wish i didn't have to but anything to put her out of her misery. DD had silent reflux and she was really uncomfortable, she never smiled until she was about 10 weeks old when she finally started to feel a little better. The zantac can take quite a bit of time to settle in, 1-2 weeks from memory but you will notice little changes along the way hopefully. The zantac dose is given by weight so depending on how rapid your sons growth is you may need dose increases from time to to. I was able to call the nurse at my dr surgery and she would help with this. At 6 months when i took DD of it i did see signs return in the first week which had me thinking she wasn't ready but i stuck it out and they went away. I think it was her adjusting to the feeling of the juices again as the zantac supresses these.

Good luck i hope you sort out what it is your little man needs, it's a tricky time and i'm sure all you want to do is make your little man happy :hug:

I thought I would pop back in and update on where we are at with DS2's reflux. He's now 17 weeks and thankfully we've been able to get it under control with the Zantac. However, I haven't been able to shake the feeling that the Rotavirus vaccine was a big contributer to its serverity, or even the cause of it. After doing a fair bit of reading, DH and I began to question whether or not we should give him the remaining two doses. Amazingly when we had our 4 month check up with the MCHN she actually said that if we suspected it was the cause we shouldn't let him have another dose (despite her own daughter having been hospitalised with it). We also discovered at that appointment that his weight gain since having the vaccine had gone from well above average to far below the target gains. So after much research and lots of lengthy discussions we came to the conclusion that it wasn't in his best interest to continue with it.

Today I took him for his 4 month immunisations. I had been dreading the conversation with my GP, expecting her to try and convince us to continue with the Rotavirus. But, the conversation went very differently to what I had expected. She was incredibly understanding and supportive and more than willing to complete the Medical Contraindication form.

I guess I feel the need to share our experience, because it seems to me that our experience with reflux and the rotavirus is not as unique as I initially thought it was. There are quite a few threads on other parenting forums where other parents have shared the same concerns and suspicions. But I feel that the fact that both my MCHN and GP were supportive (and in some ways encouraging) of us not continuing with it, shows that we're not alone in our experience and that perhaps there are many others out there who they have come across. This vaccine is a relatively new one and I tend to think that while for the most part it is safe there are some side effects that are yet to officially documented by the medical community.

I was actually going to post looking for you! It's good to hear how you are going.

Glad your GP and MCHN were supportive and that the reflux is under control. I hope you are keeping well and looking after yourself.