reflux :cry:
Was wondering if any of you mummies with lo's suffering from reflux had any tips as we are running out of ideas.
Oskar is 25weeks +2 old and is really struggling with reflux. It started almost straight away but I was told he was just a sicky baby. By 8weeks old the hv agreed that he needed some gaviscon so i went to gp. Then a cycle started of him getting worse me going back them doing nothing except giving lactulose so it got to the point where he had gaviscon for reflux that made him sooooo constipated he would bleed (and he was still sick) so they gave him lactulose to try and counteract the problem (alot of lactulose but not doing that good a job!) But the lactulose had 2 side affects 1. it is making his acid worse due to the sugars in it 2. He is screaming in pain from stomach pains from the lactulose.
He has dropped down the percentiles and is now hovering just below 25thpercentile which considering he started into the world at a painful 8lb12oz has caused them concern. He screams in pain for hours on end and is still sick during and after every feed (I am still bf) he is sick during the night whenever he lays down despite the cot being tilted so I end up holding him upright to sleep.
The drs didnt seem to pay much attention to me so when I went back again a week and a half ago I asked my mum to go as well as she looks after him 3days a week while I work so has to deal with it as well.
The dr now has decided that maybe he needs something else and has finally referred him to the paedatrician to be prescribed stronger drugs which apparently gps arent licensed to prescribe.
While waiting for the appointment she told me to start weaning him as it will make it better - we had already started but he wont take any purees etc hates the spoon and spits everything out. He doesnt take bottles very well when I am at work and has been known to go all day while I am at work not having anything whasoever.
I have finally got the appointment through to find that I have got to wait until July 7th to see someone ?
So he has got to suffer in pain for over a month until we get to see someone for some medication.
I know I have gone on moaning for a long time just wondered if anyone had any ideas of how to help him in the mean time (and my washing machine!!!!!)
Sorry for such a long post.
Oskar is 25weeks +2 old and is really struggling with reflux. It started almost straight away but I was told he was just a sicky baby. By 8weeks old the hv agreed that he needed some gaviscon so i went to gp. Then a cycle started of him getting worse me going back them doing nothing except giving lactulose so it got to the point where he had gaviscon for reflux that made him sooooo constipated he would bleed (and he was still sick) so they gave him lactulose to try and counteract the problem (alot of lactulose but not doing that good a job!) But the lactulose had 2 side affects 1. it is making his acid worse due to the sugars in it 2. He is screaming in pain from stomach pains from the lactulose.
He has dropped down the percentiles and is now hovering just below 25thpercentile which considering he started into the world at a painful 8lb12oz has caused them concern. He screams in pain for hours on end and is still sick during and after every feed (I am still bf) he is sick during the night whenever he lays down despite the cot being tilted so I end up holding him upright to sleep.
The drs didnt seem to pay much attention to me so when I went back again a week and a half ago I asked my mum to go as well as she looks after him 3days a week while I work so has to deal with it as well.
The dr now has decided that maybe he needs something else and has finally referred him to the paedatrician to be prescribed stronger drugs which apparently gps arent licensed to prescribe.
While waiting for the appointment she told me to start weaning him as it will make it better - we had already started but he wont take any purees etc hates the spoon and spits everything out. He doesnt take bottles very well when I am at work and has been known to go all day while I am at work not having anything whasoever.
I have finally got the appointment through to find that I have got to wait until July 7th to see someone ?
So he has got to suffer in pain for over a month until we get to see someone for some medication.
I know I have gone on moaning for a long time just wondered if anyone had any ideas of how to help him in the mean time (and my washing machine!!!!!)
Sorry for such a long post.
0
Replies
I would stop with the early weaning ( personally) as it doesn't make reflux better for ALL babies and he is obv not enjoying or maybe even ready for it!
Please please please fight fight fight fight for your lo - you can get that appt earlier!!!
I phoned drs and they said there was nothngi they could do.
I dont think weaning is particulary helping his acid as he brings any food he has eaten up as well. He is very interested in food but seems to hate the spoon but will sneakily try to take things of peoples plates when we are not watching and shove it in his mouth to chew!!!
Back in the beginning, the gaviscon did nothing for him and I was also afraid of the constipation that could result from it having read others' stories. Your poor little man. The renitadine (when my son was prescribed it in December) was not a licenced drug - as in it was not yet approved. However, gps CAN still prescribe it. Just not all of them will (ie usually those who just dont know anything about it and dont feel comfortable). Can you try another gp as waiting another month seems so unfair on you both? Can your hv step back in and put some pressure on? Although mine was useless, the one thing she did for me was pressure the gp to do something for my son. I cannot believe that you have been putting up with this for 4 months!!
Our health visitor is useless as well and has said just wait!
Maximum+1 - we have decided to try the blw route as he is just not into purees and spoons. At the moment he is still very sick with food but he is happier to try different tastes. We have reduced gaviscon due to bunging up as the constipation was making him bleed - we only use it when it is essential e.g before bed and if he is really sick but he still needs lactulose twice a day evenif he has 1 dose of gaviscon,
lara- i have tried everything but have no joy for an app earlier, the thought of being sick free sounds like bliss and with no meds.
marnie - i know what you mean they seem to be useless and all in my surgery refuse to prescribe anything else.
I will keep it in mind about the slow bowel as my ds1 has movicol for a similar problem. It is interesting because Oskar had problems from the beginning first with his blood sugars not levelling properly requiring him to be fed every hour. He then had a few weeks where he would poo up to 12times a day and then all of a sudden it just stopped and his sicky ways got worse since then he goes about once a week which I know is normal for a bf baby but that once a week is a struggle for him due to meds so I will def mention it at appointment.
I think I will have to do some searching on the internet for reflux to look for foods to avoid as he is trying new foods (not purees anymore as I have given up with them coming back up as they go down)
From everybody that has replied thank you and it seems to be apparent that drs are not too keen on admitting the problems of reflux and helping to sort it quickly. I will just have to keep going with the sea of sickness until the appointment and keep trying to get weight on him so that he doesnt fall behind.
At least there is 1 thing to laugh about - when I am feeding him in public under a blanket people always give me funny looks as he makes a lot of grunting, groaning and general pain noises as well as snuffling so it looks like I am either suffocating him or that he is turning into a cannibal and is literally eating me!!!!!
Thank you to all that has replied I can see that hopefully there will be a light at the end of what seems to have been a very long tunnel!
Interestingly, one paed we visited told me that there are meds (e.g. antacids like renitadine/zantac) that can relieve the pain from the acid burn, but nothing can stop the throwing up. Im not sure whether I agree with this or not, but my son started off with silent reflux and it then turned into him throwing up, which later eased.
As for foods to avoid, I was careful with anything acidic when we started. So no tomatoes (which Ive now been able to introduce no problems). I just think about what stirs my hubby's reflux up. Beer is another but I doubt you would consider offering that to Oskar!! (My son isn't allowed it either!)
We were on staydown milk for a while which did help but then she started being really sick again and weight was dropping.
We weaned at 5 months on the advice of our Gp and it worked well for us, she wouldnt bring up foor but milk was still really bad..
What cracked it for us was seeing a different Gp and he prescribed a feed thickener called Carobel, made by cow and gate. By adding this to her milk it pretty much stopped the reflux within a week.
She is now 11 months old, and been off the carobel for around a month and the reflux has gone completely.
Our Gp seems to think that if you can find something that works for a month or so, then it gives their stomachs a chance to settle and heal, which in itself can resolve the problem.