Croup/Acid Reflux

Hi J.
You may think this is nuts but find someone that will sell you Tahitian Noni Juice made by Tahitian Noni International.(not the product in the stores) We have several friends that suffered for years with acid reflux, even with medication, this is safe for your children (only juice) no additives. I think an oz am & pm and you might be surprised at the results. Best thing, it won't hurt them. It is in the PDR with no contra-indications or warnings even for children. Good Luck!

Hi J.,

My son has had acid reflux and GERD since infancy and has also had recurring bouts of croup, despite the fact that he's nine. (True croup is meant to stop during toddlerhood.) He's currently waiting for the gastroenterologist to take a look down his esophagus because - and here's the important part - that 'croup' may actually be a very particular type of asthma caused by micro-particles of regurgitated stomach contents being inhaled. The continued inhalation of these micro-particles can cause an allergic reaction in the trachea. It requires a different treatment than 'traditional' asthma.

The treatment is simple, if this is the case. My son will take an inhaler -- looks the same as his asthma inhaler -- only this steroid is not inhaled, it is actually 'gulped.' The pediatrician said that if my son ends up with this treatment then it will take some getting used to. For those of us who've spent years training ourselves how to 'puff' an inhaler, it's apparently kind of tricky to re-train ourselves to 'gulp' the mist. But, hey, sounds like a comparatively small obstacle.

My son remains on Losec, at the maximum dose for his weight. In some cases, this dosage can provide enough relief that the inflammation of the valve will cease (it becomes paralyzed when too irritated, allowing spontaneous regurgitation).

Sadly, in my son's case, it has not healed and appears to be a physical malformation. His problem may require surgery later on. But in your son's case, it may work.

Discuss all of this with his pediatrician and, if you feel he needs it, insist upon a referral to a gastroenterologist as soon as possible. Three of my four kids have this problem to one extent or another (my son is worst with reflux, but he has a sister who's even worse with croup). I feel your pain!

If you Google "GERD asthma" you'll get a number of informative articles, though many of them are not precisely the same as what was explained to me (which I have repeated here). I'll just have to wait and see if any of it leads to an effective solution for my little tribe. Hope it does for yours!

Best of luck and hang in there! :-)

PS: Sorry! Forgot: Symptoms of acid reflux! Your child is old enough to be able to speak and tell you when and where it hurts - huge help! Listen for complaints of 'sore' or 'burning' throat at the mention of stressful things - during or after tantrums or even simple things like doing something he finds unpleasant.

Ask how his pain feels: like a poke, a pinch, a splinter, a scraped knee, or like when someone's pressing on your bruise. My kids usually use the 'scraped knee' feeling to describe acidic tummies, often accompanied by the 'bruise' feeling.

Don't suggest, ask general open-ended questions. Act casual when he complains of his tummy burning; I've found that if I show worry, it makes the acid flow faster. A sip of baking soda water will take the edge off it - you'd think a toddler would never drink it, yet in my little guys the relief always outweighed the foul taste. That's a really clear sign of an acid tummy right there! And it only takes a tiny bit. Not a cure, though.

For GERD, look for lots of 'chewing the cud,' spitting, or what appears to be 'hocking up a loogie.' It's often actually spontaneous regurgitation. Not a fun thing. Have a look at it and give a sniff to determine its origins - also not fun.

Talk to your doctor after you compile a bit of information from your son over a week or so. Make notes on your calendar and take note of which foods/activities/situations increase your child's discomfort. It will all help your doctor to make a quick and accurate diagnosis instead of playing a two-month guessing game. :-)

I don't know about acid reflux but my son gets croup alot during the winter months and we ended up finding out that he has asthma and it only gets triggered when he's sick so it took awhile to figure it out but with the help of albuterol treatments and a humidifier, it doesn't get very bad

J. E.
My youngest boy is now 30 yrs old and he was found to have bronchial asthma. The doctors did not want to diagnose him under the age of 5 yrs, but I fought for him to get him the treatment he badly needed. I got repeated notes and phone calls from the preschool that he had a cold. This was not so. He had to sleep in the car-seat while he was an infant since he had so many problems breathing. You might try some of my tactics and keep the doctor informed as to what you have done so he/she can demand further treatment by a specialist. I now live in Stagecoach, (which is part of silver springs). I am also in the phone book if you want to contact me with any questions as to how I dealt with those in the medical profession who refused to treat my child under the age of 5 yrs. These medical professionals told me that the child will outgrow the problem, I knew better. Good Luck.

J.,

What is croup? You're the 2nd person who mentions this and I can't figure what it is.

CB

My son is now 5-had reflux and croup. 2 bits of advice-the shots they get in the middle of the night in the emergency room are worth the trip. and the medicine the pediatrician gives is from the devil. (my son needed no more energy) This winter we haven't dealt w/ croup-I hope he has grown out of it.

Yes - we had great experiences with a homeopathic remedy called Spongia Tosta and digestive enzymes. There are powdered ones that you can add to their drinks or sprinkle on their foods - it really helped us. We also did bio-set which is an off shoot of NAET and chiropractic adjustments. My son has croup, bronchitis and chronic ear infections. We also gave up dairy. They all played a part for him.

Hello J.,
We thought the same of our youngest daughter. It turned out to be RAD-reactive airway disease. It causes the bad cough, breathing treatments help. It is very common for babies-toddlers to have RAD and then it sometimes can develop into asthma. We have a really good childrens lung specialist that she sees here in Las Vegas, as needed. Maybe see if there is a good pediatric lung specialist in your area to look further at the problem.
Take Care!

J.,

The problems your child is experiencing may be food allergies. I strongly recommend that you go to site NAET.com. NAET is a group of allergists around the world who ELIMINATE allergies. They are the only doctors in the world who do this.

I have had food allergies my entire life and I am 37. I am in the process of eliminating my allergies with an NAET allergist. Also, you may want to go to Amazon.com and order Say Goodbye To Illness by Dr. Devi Nambrudipad who created the Allergy Elimination process.

Should you have any questions, I will be able to answer. My email is ____@____.com well.

N.