Losec - loss of appetite?

I'm so glad to have found these forums! I hope someone can help me with my 4-month old reflux baby. Her reflux with horrible pain started when she turned 3 months. She was a 'happy spitter' from the day she was born. She was on Zantac for a month. We didn't see any improvement.

Now she's on Losec (compounded version) since last week. Her appetite seems to have decreased even more than before. She's currently 11.5 lbs (6.5 lbs at birth). Her current intake (since losec) has reduced to about 18 to 20 ounces in 24 hours. She has about 12 to 15 ounces during her wake hours. The rest we try to make up at night. Some nights she'll take it (in her sleep). Others, she'll just refuse it - either because she's too sleepy, or too awake to take it.

Could losec be the cause of her decreased appetite? She's currently on a hypoallergenic formula (which I'm guessing she doesn't like very much because of the taste). Does anyone have any ideas or tips?

Dear Ceebs,
Sorry to here you are having this trouble with your little one it must be quite distressing for you.
There are several factors that may be involved in causing your infant's colic -
1. food allergy or intolerance to cow's milk
2.Intolerance to lactose
3. Intestinal hyper-peristalsis ( when the intestines contract too much to push the food along)
4.Imbalance of serotonin and melatonin. Too much srotonin cause again too much intestinal contractions and hence the reflux

The reason you are finding your infant is less inclined to eat is because the way losec works is to slow down the intestinal contractions to reduce the pain and reflux. This also results in the digestive system becoming less active and able to work properly and thus not really wanting to feed.
Natural therapies approach it differently
The first thing is to find out if your infant has any food sensitivities.
Another important thing is to make sure that the baby has the proper balance of flora in their gut ( often if delivered by caesarian section) they don't pick up the mother's flora as they come down the birth canal or if have you had any antibiotics during pregnancy they may be out of balance too.
As your infant is over 3 months the serotonin and melatonin should be balancing themselves out now so the food sensitivities is probably the most likely cause
If you are near the Belly Belly Pregnancy centre in Melbourne do make an appointment and we can see if we can sort this out for you and your little one.
Best wishes
Jocelyn King

Hi Ceebs,


I joined this forum after finding your post and Jocelyn King's reply.

My 2 m-o baby was diagnosed with acid reflux seven days ago. Her only reflux symptom is ?refusing food or accepting only a few bites besides being hungry?.

She was ok in the first month, feeding small amounts of formula every 2-3 hours. She gained enough weight by 2 m. A week later, after 2 m check up, she basically stopped feeding. Her formula intake has significantly decreased and she cried a lot when I tried to feed her. I was giving her Pedialite to avoid dehydration. We even took her to ER for tests. Blood work and specimen analysis did not show anything.

I suspect that she may *not* have reflux at all, but a problem with a gut flora mentioned by Jocelyn King in her reply to you. She was given a course of antibiotics right after she was born. I also took antibiotics during pregnancy to treat an infection. I think that baby's gut flora has been compromised and did not recover since. I mentioned this to her pediatrician and the ER doctor, but they believe that gut flora recovers fast and should be balanced by the time baby turned 2 m-o (?)

I am not sure how to create a post for Jocelyn King, so I hope she will read my posting and let me know what kind of treatment she recommends for disbalanced gut flora.



Thanks!
Leah