Reflux

[christy]

Hi there all... I just thought I'd start with us and our situation and share a bit...

Matilda was diagnosed with Silent Reflux at 6 weeks. We had a few goes at medications and have found Mylanta to be the best at the moment. (Gaviscon caused major constipation...). We have trialled the chiropractor, and have found that the reflux pain is reduced! I find the hardest thing to listen to her cry & scream in pain and not be able to do anything about it. I have found that for me, crying with her is the best thing to help relieve all the stress.
We are still up every 2 hours at night though but mainly to wind pain now #-o . Hoping that it settles down!

We found a great Reflux association in Brisbane, and I would highly recommend anyone whose baby is diagnosed with Reflux call them & get a newsletter! The have coffee mornings once a month to meet & Mums can commiserate together ykwim! I found it amazing to read that others have gone through and are going through the same things we are and its so encouraging to know that you aren't alone!

So those who are going through this battle, join us in here! Its great stress relief!

[BellyBelly]

Wow Christy, good on you for finding a support group - it truly is the best thing to do. It can be so isolating when you have an unsettled baby for any reason, be it medical or not - so finding others going through what you are is a great way to relax (dare I use that word!) a little and even learn that much more about what it is you are dealing with. Good on ya! \/ Any one else?

[christy]

Just thought I'd see if anyone was out there?? Any reflux mums??

Matilda started on Zantac a few weeks ago and now its just starting to get bad again... just wondering if anyone out there had any other suggestions??

[kelly2202]

Does a previous reflux mum count??? LOL

Jack had very bad reflux but was a happy chucker! He brought up so much milk but continued to gain weight (he had plenty to begin with) and never cried when he vomited.

Jack was put on Prepulsid to help with the reflux which it did (reduced the amount he brought up) but I have since found out that it is not recommended as it can cause irregular heart rhythms. I am sure that there are other prescription medications out there that help but I don't know of any!

I am glad you have found a support group Christy. I had nothing like that as I was in a small country town ... we just got on with it ... I used to have a big sheet ont he floor when Jack was crawling so I could catch the vomit before it hit the carpet LOL.

Cheers

[christy]

All I can say is so much for silent reflux... we've had quite a few power chucks this week!! Wow, I didn't know vomit could fly quite so far...

[Marcia]

Ok, just a quick question. Hudson has reflux, but it doesn't seem to bother him too much pain-wise. He chucks up quite a lot between every feed and often seems quite happy about it lol! Anyway, at his 8 week check up the Dr mentioned Gaviscon, however didn't really seem all that fussed about his reflux and just said we could try it if we really felt like we needed to do something about it. Anyway, I weighed him a couple of days ago and I don't think he is really putting on as much weight now as he should be. This is making me worry a bit and I am thinking maybe I need to go back to the Dr's with him again. I just wanted to know how much they are meant to be putting on at this age (he is 3 months), and if I should be going to the drs again to get specific instructions rather than just going to the chemist to get gaviscon? Hmmm. Not really quick after all lol.

[christy]

Hi there!! Matilda was on Gaviscon at first and you can get infant one from the chemist... its really safe, except it causes constipation in some, and it was awful constipation with Matilda. But apparently its a really good medication... Matilda put on around 100gm a week around that age... & she's always been a good weight gain girl, so I hope that helps. I would definately see your Dr again just to give a starting weight on Gaviscon as well. We are on our way to get a 2nd opinion this week as her reflux is getting bad again, so hopefully we might get some more answers....HTH

[dd]

Hi there,

Shynelle was officially diagnosed with reflux at about 2 weeks but it got really bad and very distressing to her around 6 weeks. She was originally on mylanta before each feed and that didn't work everytime. She also gets constipated and the paed has put her on precription formula (didn't know there was such a thing) to apparently help everything with Zantac but the Zantac did nothing and now Shynelle is on Losec she still vomits and it still distresses her but I don't think it's as bad - it's definately not every feed now so that's progress \/ !

[christy]

Thats great dd!! I just stopped bf because everytime I did MAtilda would power chuck... so onto the karicare HA-AD thickened formula & it works great guns...its what the paed recommended at the hospital... Its always good when the vomits don't lead to screaming... I used to hold my breath everytime Matilda ate...

[Marcia]

Hi there!

Just a quick update on what we are doing for Hudsons reflux. Dr's visit on Friday and he is actually gaining weight fine ATM so no worries there thank goodness. We are still going to trial a couple of things to see if they help as it is very messy as I'm sure you girls know, but if things don't work for us it won't matter too much, I will just have to keep up with the enormous amounts of washing lol. Tried infant gaviscon in his feeds over the last 3 days and it does work well at keeping the feeds down. A bit of chucking straight after the feed, but not much at all for the following 2 - 3 hrs inbetween feeds. Only problem with it is the price. We realised that it will cost us around $70/ fortnight to use and that is not including formula. I am starting to trial thickened formula today as this is a lot cheaper if it works so we will see how we go with that. We have bought S26 AR for reflux formula, purely for the fact that Hudson has been on S26 regular formula up until now and I have heard that you should avoid changing formula brands as it can upset their tummies? I'm not sure if all brands are the same, but the s26 says it must be made up with COLD water. I am taking this to mean fridge temp, does anyone know if that sounds right? Also I am assuming it is still ok to warm it before a feed? Any input would be appreciated.

[christy]

hmmm....no idea about that MArcia... we changed formula brands with MAtilda but she was only having one to two bottles a day at that time... She's on Karicare thickened HA-AR and we use warm colled boiled water that has been put in the fridge and then heated up in the microwave & then we add the formula to it, once it cools off it gets heaps thicker so I don't know about mixing it up cool, I do know that Matilda likes it best at room temp and not too warm though so we don't really heat it up much in the microwave....

HTH

[Marcia]

Thanks christy. I just realised today that wyeth, the company that make S26 have a helpline so I gave them a call and asked what I needed to. The girl I spoke to said the water just needs to be room temp. and that it is best made up right before it is used rather than in advance #-o . Not great for night feeds, but never mind. Last night I gave Hudson normal S26 for his 4am feed and ended up having to change his whole bed because he vomited all over it as soon as I laid him down, so I guess it's better to spend the extra time making up the feed rather than having to change his whole bed at 4am lol. I think I might do what you suggested and just microwave the bottle of water from the fridge before adding the formula as that would take it to room temp pretty much anyway. Thanks again. Oh, another question. Did you have to battle matilda to drink when you changed to reflux formula? Only asking as Hudson screamed his lungs out the whole way through the first feed of thickened formula. He is gradually getting better, but he still doesn't want to drink it. I am guessing maybe he doesn't like the taste or texture or something, but I suppose he will get used to it.

[iris]

Marcia our DR suggested that Alana go on the thickened formula for reflux also. We were prevoiusly using S26 gold. We hated the S26 reflux formula. Alana stuggled to take her bottles. Which worried us as she was not putting on enough weight as it was.

Just as a suggestion, I read that you can mix the thickened formaula with the regular. You may find that Hudson is having trouble because is is so much thicker. He will have to suck harder. And definitely make the formula up as needed. It actually gets thicker when made up in lots and kept in the fridge!

When we went to our health nurse she suggested that Alana try NAN 1HA. She thought that S26 was upsetting Alana's tummy. Anyway we have found that it worked great. We went from her only putting on 85gms in 2 weeks to putting on 210g in four days. Also she went from screaming and being unsettled, to the opposite.

The problem is everyone seems to have a different opinion. Its all trial and error. Good Luck!

[Mummy2B]

my DS also has reflux and we use Karicare HA-AR. He was getting so much better and gaining heaps of weight so we decided to try him back onto the normal Karicare Gold, BIG mistake! After the first feed he had a massive vomit (even came out his nose the poor little thing ) and continued to throw up for hours after. So needless to say that he was getting much better because he was on the thickened formula! Silly Mummy #-o

He was on Zantac but we found that to make him worse, Marina did nothing, Infant's Friend helped with his colic which in turn helped with the reflux but completely changed his pooing habits (sorry tmi!). We now have him on Infacol as well and can gladly say that since he started on that 3 weeks ago, he only 'spits up' now rather than vomiting. And definitely no power chucks since then either!

If he is screaming due to the thickened formula, he may not be getting it as fast out of the teat as he used to. You may need to go up a teat hole size. We found this to happen as well, and we prepare ahead for our night time feeds and add an extra 10mls of water to his bottle. This gives it just that bit more fluid to help with the thickness.

Also, we heat the bottles in the microwave with the formula in it. CHN told us this was ok to do it that way. Makes no difference with the thickness if its prepared right before the feed or hours before the feed and put in the fridge.

Hope this makes sense, i'm tired and just waiting for DS to wake up to have his feed.

Good Luck to you!

[christy]

Matilda took to the thickened stuff really well, and if you try to feed her normal formula she screams the entire time...LOL...but we definately did have to stop making up bottles beforehand. Last weekend we tried her on some S26 Gold & she refused to drink after 40mls.

The difference between the normalo thickened formulas and the HA ones is that the protein source is either easier to digest or partially digested for them :-k I forget which one, but I found with Matilda the HA is heaps better, I didn't know there was a NAN one too? Thats always good to know!

[iris]

Christy the Nan HA is just new. You can get it at the supermarket, but I have found that it is cheaper to get it in a chemist. Unfortunately it is more expensive, but its works well, for Alana anyway!

[Marcia]

Thanks so much girls. I really appreciate the input. We are going to keep going with the S26 AR until the can is finished and see what we think then. ATM he is still vomiting a bit and I feel it really only is marginally better than normal, so after this we might try the Karicare or NAN. He is getting better with drinking it and not putting up such a fight today. We bought some of the avent variable flow teats as we weren't sure what we would need and I actually wonder if maybe he just wasn't used to getting so much so quickly and that is what was bothering him, as even when we had it on slow flow it seemed to be coming out a lot quicker than his normal no. 2 teats with regular formula. I tried the no. 2 teats once with the AR and he couldn't get a drop out of it lol! Anyway, I guess like Iris said, it really will be trial and error. Thanks again girls.

[christy]

No worries...

Then when I thought everything was going so well with Matilda's vomitting... it hits with a vengence. She was overtired yesterday and screamed then the vomitting hit... I had her in her sling facing me to just settle her as she hadn't slept and she projectiled all over my chest, down the sling & it started dripping on the floor & I ran outside & had a pool around my feet by the end... #-o ... just had to share our lovely experience, I didn't have a change of clothes because she's been so good, so we had to go home...LOL