GERD - Please Help!

Are you nursing or is he on the bottle? If he's on the bottle, try switching to soy formula. If he's nursing, the changes you see may be related to what you have eaten. It's been 15 years since I dealt with a similar issue - we just called it colic then - so the list of foods to avoid is not fresh in my mind but should be easy enough to find in a breastfeeding guide. My son couldn't sleep unless rocked. The second he was put down he'd awaken and the crying would start all over again. He also spit up quite frequently. It's very hard on you, I know. I hope you have someone available to give you breaks so that you can get the essential sleep you need to manage this difficulty. Welcome to L.A.!

My son had the same problem although not as extreme as you're describing. I gave him Gripe Water- it's all natural. It can be purchased at Whole Foods or Longs Drug Store. I actually started ordering it in larger quantities online since I gave him some with every feeding. This helped us tremendously.

S.,

I ve been seeing a Chinese acupuncturist and herbalist for a year and a half. She has lowered my cholesteral 72 points and got me sleeping thru the night after 20 years all with herbs and acupuncture. I was introduced to her thru a friend who's daughter, S., as well, has severe epilepsy. S. was on 6 different western medicines.She was weak, not eating and lethargic from all the meds. Dr. Jin weaned her off of 5 of the medications. I could tell you countless stories like this. Dr. Jin is amazing. She was trained, in China, as a Western medicine cardiologist, but switched over to her roots of Chinese medicine. Her name is Joy Jin she is on Palms Blvd. in Venice and her number is ###-###-####.

D.

Remove all dairy from your diet if you are nursing. Almond milk is a good substitute. Almond milk can be purchase at Trader Joes and Wholefoods.

D. Merlin/author
www.victoryoveradhd.com

I am so sorry you are going through this. It is not easy. I was told my son had colic by pediatrician and er doctor but I knew something else was going on. He had no symptoms, it was all internal. At 6 wo they prescribed zantac which worked on the 3rd day. He still had a couple bad moments in the following 2 weeks but he is now 4 mo and doing great....as long as he gets his medicine. We have since switched to Axid as it is better tasting (but not by much).

Please know that I tried everything before hand. Gripe water, elimination diets, cranial massage, holistic doctor, ginger tea, and the list goes on. If they worked I'd still be doing them. But they didn't work and western medicine did. Ask an adult that has acid reflux to deal with it for 4 mo to 1 yr. Not so pleasant! I recently was told about pH balanced water that seems to be helping adults with acid reflux but I have no additional information as of yet. Other things I found helpful were: bouncing on the big yoga ball, a swing that goes side to side (not front to back), breastfeeding upright and as crazy as it sounds...a childrens vibrating toothbrush for him to hold or just have next to him. Please feel free to contact me with any additional questions.

have you tried removing dairy from your diet? the doctor thought my daughter had GERD (although we didn't go through the whole work-up), but zantac didn't help anything. as soon as i stopped eating my morning bowl of cereal (with cow's milk), her symptoms went away. when she was one and i tried cow's milk with her, she still had a reaction (runny nose, etc). she's two now and soymilk is working just fine.

I absolutely agree with you about no medication particulary with an infant. Doctors are not well trained in nutritional issues, but I think that's where you need to look. Consider lactose intolerance (milk) and wheat intolerance. If you're not nursing, consider options to his formula.

Me--I'm a mother of an adult son and grandma to a 5 year old with another grandchild about to appear.

Oh S. I so feel and understand your frustration. My son is 20 months old and still suffers from GERD. His case is a little different though. He was born with a birth defect of his esophagus and has had 3 surgeries and is tube fed. He was on Zantac, Prilosec and currently is on Reglan and Zegerid which is a name brand for omeprazole. It is suppose to be the best of the best, a PPI which minimizes the secretion of acid in the stomach. I read about it on a website called Marci-kids. It is the midwest acid reflux childrens institute. There is also an online community called infantreflux.org where you can read and correspond with many other parents. When Dylan was an infant we put pillows under his mattress to elevate his head to help gravity keep the food down. Then he started rolling all over the bed so that didn't work anymore. We then bought a wedge angled foam thing that you strap the baby in to so that the baby can sleep an a 90 degree angle but then he didn't like to be strapped down! Then we bought an angled foam reflux bed that fit inside the crib eliminating the crib mattress. They say infant's usually will outgrow reflux, sometimes it takes up to 18 months when the sphincter muscle which is the opening at the bottom of the esophagus leading to the stomach has developed. Not the case for my little guy :( It breaks my heart to see him gurggling, retching and arching his back in pain. My son has his good days and his bad days and when he is sick even with the slightest little sniffle, it throws him for a loop which triggers the reflux even worse. Again, his case is very different than your son. I just wanted to identify with you. I've read some of the other posts and I am considering taking him to a holistic doctor. I'm willing to try just about anything to give his some relief! Good luck to you and your son.

M.

Hi S.,

I don't have any specific advice on GERD though I have heard from other mums who have been through it with their kids that their children tended to grow out of it. A really good website for health questions is www.revolutionhealth.com. Just search under GERD and you will pull up links to articles about it. Good luck.

Hi S. - As I read your post I have to say my "gut" feeling was to suggest having your son seen by a homeopathist or a doctor of chinese medicine (as suggested by another mom). Both of these types of complimentary/alternative medicines may be wonderfully helpful with your child and are MUCH gentler to their systems than most Western medicines (which, saddly don't seem to be helping anyway!). Dr Lauren Feder is a reputable homeopathist in LA that sees adults, children and infants (I have seen her and my son has as well). Her number is: ###-###-####.
One last thought: if these options are not helpful or you feel uncomfortable with them you may consider looking into trying myofascial release and/or craniosacral therapy. These are two types or body work (done *very* gently with babies). This type of work can release tiny (or large) restrictions in tissue and re-set the body's natural rhythms - restrictions in fascia or an unbalanced craniosacral rhythm can upset a lot of things in an otherwise healthy system/body. Feel free to send me an e-mail about this if you are interested ____@____.com luck and God bless! - A.

Hi S.,

CHIN UP :) I am a 28 year old new mum to a 9 week old gorgeous boy who was born 5 weeks premmie. His sucking reflex hadn't developed and was tube fed until 2.5 weeks whilst in special care nursery. Once he was feeding on his own he would bring up almost anything! I dropped the amount (millilitres) he was taking right back which meant I was feeding him alot more frequently but meant he kept it down. He was originally breast fed but I had to go to formula as my supply dropped whilst he was in hospital so this didn't help either. You also need to stay patient and not stress (as hard as it seems) because even when you feel it is never going to end it does!!!! My lil one started keeping down his feed when I learned to relax, drop everything else (as much as possible) and just stay calm and in control. They really do pick up on it. When your gorgeous little addition gets abit older it will settle down anyway. Not sure if you're breastfeeding etc but also try looking at your diet. I didn't have much anyway but caffeine is a big no no with this medication so try not at all. Also citrus type food or beverages can have a negative affect. I was the same with not wanting to give him any drugs especially at such a young age so I was persistent with just sitting or standing with him even if it was for hours on end to have him settled. I also found feeding him standing up helped for him (killed my back though)then walking around the house, I stroked the top of his head which seemed to relax him. Intitally we had him sleeping on a slight elevation too which helped. I also found giving him plenty of baths relaxed him which meant keeping his feed down. Have you also tried googling natural remedies? Best of luck, it does get better :)

We had a similar problem with our son who was diagnosed with GERD at 10 weeks. And to be honest, it was only that worked for us was Prevacid. We tried gripe water and zantac which helped but didn't take care of the problem. It was only after 2 weeks on Prevacid that he stopped arching his back and throwing up 8 times a day. I didn't want to put him on medicine either but, after he lost one pound in one week because of all the vomiting, we decided to try the medicine. Although I felt guilty about putting him on mediciation at such a young age, it was the best thing we did for him. Good luck

S.,

Welcome to LA. Sorry to hear you are going through this. My son had acid reflux when he was only a few weeks old. The pediatrician made me supplement with formula (Enfamil ProSobee). He took Zantac and then switched to Prevacid. I didn't really want him on medication but it was for the best and did help.

Try to make sure your son is in an upright position after you feed him (to keep the milk down). My son would only fall asleep if I rocked him or if he was in the car. He hated lying down, even if he was elevated. He would cry the moment I put him down. I thought those days of constant crying would never pass. Just try to take one day at a time.

Good luck.

My infant daughter had the same issues, but the doctor diagnosed it as Acid Reflux. I didn't think that Gerd was a diagnosis, rather the fluid. It was BAD for the first couple months. I'm not sure if you have him on formula, but we switched to Enfamil A.R. (acid reflux). Not sure if that did the trick or if she just outgrew it. She still spits up, but nothing like those first couple months. Hang in there... this too will pass! But, I would maybe get a second opinion if your dr. is really pushing meds.

I know exactly what your are going through, since we experienced the same a couple of years ago (I promise it will pass!). Our child also took Prevacid, but we think it really did not do a whole lot. We began with Reglan and later switched to Bethanacol, which helped a bit. In the end, we decided to focus on ways to make him more comfortable in terms of feeding. We gave him partially broken-down formulas to make his digestion easier, we figured out a bolus-feeding schedule, after feedings we took turns holding him in an upright position, we placed his bed in a 45 degree angle, etc. I suggest checking out the specific reflux section at this parent support website: http://parent-2-parent.com/forum/index.php

Good luck!

Sorry to hear you are going through this. I would also suggest removing dairy from your diet if you are nursing. I agree with the other post who suggested Dr Feder. A holistic approach is a gentler approach for children. A chiropractor or cranial massage could do wonders. My son has severe food allergies and our chiropractor has been helping tremendously.