K.M. asks from Attleboro, MA on February 16, 2007
Acid Reflux - Attleboro,MA
My son is 10 months old and has acid reflux. To make a very long story short. He has been on Zantac since he was 2 months old. I'm now taking him to a GI specialist because the Zantac is not working anymore and he is still at times in alot of pain. I'm just wondering if anyone else has gone through this or is going through the struggles and heart break of having a baby with acid reflux.
So What Happened?™
Thank you so much to everyone for sharing your struggles with acid reflux. It has helped alot to hear what has helped your child or just eased the pain. My son was put on a much higher dose of Zantac from the GI specalist. After about two weeks of taking the higher dose of Zantac, I noticed my son did not spit up as often, eating better, and seemed to be comfortable. I had my fingers crossed that it was working for him, but no luck. He is back to spitting up and being very uncomfortable. That was the longest he had ever gone with out spitting up so maybe it is getting better. I'm taking my son back to the GI specialist at Mass General to see what to try next. Thank you all again.
Featured Answers
C.M. answers from Springfield on February 23, 2007
hello, my daughter had acid reflux really bad as a baby. we had to have her sleep sitting up, thicken her formulas (couldnt breast feed because of it) and i think it was tagamet she was on. every meal every day. It finally eased up, along with lots of allergies she had as a baby. The tagamet worked really well. It was a liquid form we put right in her bottle w/ her feedings.
Good luck.
CJ
D.C. answers from Providence on February 22, 2007
Hi K., I have a daughter with a GI history too and she is only 9 months. I see a Pedi GI at Hasbro and I have been very happy with the results. Dr. Cerezo is fantastic- my daughter was on Zantac for a short time (she hated it!) now we are dealing with allergies and weight gain issues. I know that meal size and diet have a big effect on things. Small meals more frequently, I pay very close attention to how she reacts to what I give her for baby food and avoid the ones that cause problems. Hope this helps!
More Answers
J.M. answers from Boston on February 17, 2007
Hello,
I'm J., also 28 and have a 5 month old daughter with reflux. I'm curious to hear what the GI doc recommends next. Hailey is on Prevacid and doesn't seem to be in pain but still spits up a TON!! Hope to hear back from you. :)
T.M. answers from Boston on February 17, 2007
my girlfriends son has acid reflux too. unfortunaltey they didnt find out until he was three and then had to have 4 of his fron teeth removed because of what the acid did (he of course was throwing up) and now he is on Nexium and it seems to work and quite his belly. he is now 5. they also did an extensive allergy test and found out he was alerrgic to alot, eggs, beef, gluten, wheat. etc so she had to change his whole diet which was extremely difficult but workable. best of luck, if it were me i would see a PEDI GI speacalist. where they specialize in little ones
S.C. answers from Boston on February 17, 2007
Hi
My son is 11 months and he also has reflux. He was diagnosed at a month. We tried zantac, it didn't work. We found that prilosec worked best for him. Also, we gave him Mylanta supreme. It has to be supreme because that does not have aluminum in it. Its cherry flavored so he loves it. We gave him 1/4 tsp with every bottle. I honestly think this helped more than the prilosec. Has your son been to a GI doctor before? If you live on the south shore I can suggest a good one. You might want to request an upper GI. Most kids outgrow reflux by 6 months. Others at age 1. I would say your son must have a pretty bad case. Did zantac ever work for him? If it did maybe he just needs to increase the does since im sure he is growing. good luck, reflux stinks!
ps: please do NOT put your son on reglan. it is a very serious med and can interfere neurologically.
T.P. answers from Boston on February 19, 2007
K.,
My son also suffered form reflux. There are many med to try such as reglan, carafate, prevacid, etc.. I would start by asking the doc to try a different med. I am sure you have heard all the ideas- sit the baby up 1/2 hour after eating, use a tucker sling at bedtime, etc.. My son had very sever reflux and ended up needing a nissen fundoplication- a small stomach wrap to keep all acid from coming up. This is a fairly small surgery compared to others he required.
I know the horrible feeling of watching your baby so uncomfortable- the arching back and crying. You will find something to help, it will get better. Are you working with BCH? I may be able to recommend a good GI doc.
T.
C.R. answers from Bangor on February 24, 2007
My 3 month old baby boy has had acid reflux since he was a month old. I was breastfeeding, but then had to switch to a formula that helps the acid refux. The first formula was Nutramagin (which gave him the runs), then he was switched to enfamil AR lipil... it works wonderfully... that and he eats sitting up, and after he eats, he stays sitting up for like a half hour.... we have no more troubles with it now... if your son is still on formula that couldf be something to talk to the pediatrician about. My friend uses Pragestamil (not sure on the spelling) and zantac on her 9 month old...
C.C. answers from Boston on February 17, 2007
Yeah, I'm so glad to see you took my advice, Kath. Good luck, I hope you get lots of good input. Luv Ya.
S.Z. answers from Providence on February 17, 2007
My son suffered from Acid Reflux as a baby. He was on Zantac for his entire first year of life. After that they figured he was fine. He was always extremely picky with food and we thought it was just him. Until when he was sick he started vomiting blood. Of course we followed up with Pedi GI at Hasbro Hospital. Come to find out he has a condition known as Eosinaphilic Esophogitis (SP) not sure if I am spelling that right this early. But it is a fairly new diagnosis. Most commonly found in young boys and it mimics acid reflux. So I definitly recommend following up with a GI specialist. He has had 4 Upper endoscopies. And will probably need to have them periodically through out his life. He is in what they call remision. He will be fine with this condition, but it may come back through out his life. I don't know if that is waht your son has but it is definitly worth acting now and not waiting for him to be as bad as my son was.
C.K. answers from Boston on February 18, 2007
Hi, K.,
My son is now 4 and I have a 16 mo. old daughter. Both of them had reflux. My son had a severe case. We went through a barium swallow, upper endoscopy, a nuclear draining procedue, etc., etc. He is now taking Prevacid solutabs twice a day and he's doing great. No one understood the enormity of our difficulty. He was vomitting every 10 minutes daily for the first 18 mos. of his life. I was perpetually covered in vomit and so was everything in our house. I would not leave the house because, to strap him into a seat would have him choking on his own vomit. I can give you many possible solutions but, there is no magic cure. Please get back to me if you want to know some things that helped and what we tried and discovered in the process. My heart goes out to you - C.
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