Infantreflux.org | Not reflux, but slow digestion?

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September 1, 2006 at 7:48 pm #12810

Anonymous
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My 3 month old son had an abdominal ultra sound done this morning and according to my husband who took him, the doctor at the Childrens’ hospital doesn’t think it’s reflux, but that Braydon has slow digestion. We were not supposed to feed him for 4 hours, which we followed and the doctor saw a lot of the food still sitting in his stomach.

Anyone ever hear of this? The pediatrician was not in the office today so we won’t get an answer until perhaps Monday (we are going out of town for 2 weeks to a time zone 6 hours behind so who knows if we can get a hold of her), but the doctor at the hospital said there was medicine to help with it.

Thanks!

Dawn

September 1, 2006 at 8:22 pm #12813

Anonymous
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Maybe DGE (delayed gastric emptying). It’s fairly common with reflux
babies; not sure how common in non-refluxers. Basically it means the
stomach is very slow to empty causing lack of appetite, small intake,
and sometimes refluxing of stomach contents. My son had DGE but outgrew
it at the same time he outgrew his reflux. His doctor didn’t want to
treat him (for the DGE) because it was not causing him any severe problems; and he
was gaining normally. He was on meds for reflux, though. What problems/symptoms does your son have?

The common drugs to treat DGE are Reglan (which has been shown to somtimes cause some neurological side effects; so I’d avoid this one if possible), Erythromyocin (an antibiotic which has an effect in emptying the stomach more quickly, and Bethanacol, which I don’t know much about. I think there’s something else called Motilium, but I’m not sure about that one. Sorry.

I’m glad you found us and I’m sure there are many moms here who’ve used
some of these drugs that can help you by sharing their experiences.

Good luck and please come back if you have any more questions.

ndrose2006-9-1 20:41:20

September 1, 2006 at 9:22 pm #12814

Anonymous
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Bethanacol is generic reglan. Reglan has some ugly side effects in some children. There are other safe drugs so you may just need to explain that you would like to try something other than reglan. I highly recommend you do a search on it so you can see for yourself the side effects it can cause.

September 1, 2006 at 9:47 pm #12816

Anonymous
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Thanks for the welcome!! I wonder if he does have reflux (still ?), but the zantac he is on now can “hide” it, don’t know since I’m not a doc and know nothing about that.

Anyway, he throws up a lot, sometimes HOURS (like 3-4 hours) after he has eaten. While slow digestion would suggest he wouldn’t be hungry a couple hours after he has a bottle, he will cry because he is hungry and will empty a 5-6 oz bottle easy.

At bedtime he will actually eat a 7 oz bottle and go right to sleep for the night (from 7:30 until 6:30 am) and will not throw up, perhaps that’s a sign he does have DGE. I have no clue.

Well, thanks for the replies. Isn’t reglen the same thing they can give moms to help breastfeeding and it can cause severe depression?

I will certainly say no to that drug.

Thanks again!!!

September 2, 2006 at 9:06 am #12827

Anonymous
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Bethanechol isn’t generic reglan. It’s a different type of motility drug with less side effects. It actually cost us a lot more than what reglan cost.

September 2, 2006 at 10:13 am #12832

Anonymous
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Yes, Reglan is the drug they give moms to increase breast milk, and it does cause depression in some women.

Personally, if he’s eating that well, sleeping all night….I wouldn’t think he needs treatment for dge even if he has it.

Zantac will control his pain from the reflux but will not do anything
to stop the throwing up. My son threw up ALOT. But when his reflux pain
was controlled (by Prevacid) he ate fine and kept enough food down to
grow and develop normally.

Was your son in pain before Zantac? Refusing to eat? Sleeeping poorly?
Just be aware that H2 Blockers like Zantac are very weight sensitive
and babies usually quickly outgrow their dose and many eventually
plateau on it and no longer get relief. If you see that happening to
your son you may want to ask for a PPI medication like Prevacid or
Zegerid. http://www.marci-kids.com has some valuable information about reflux
meds for you to look at.

Good luck and keep us posted about his test results.

September 2, 2006 at 10:25 am #12837

hellbennt
Keymaster

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=853&am p;PN=1&TPN=1

September 2, 2006 at 3:37 pm #12857

Anonymous
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Christine – yes, Braydon seemed to be in pain before we started to zantac. He would wake up crying and throwing up, make faces in his sleep, arch his back while eating, etc. So the zantac has helped that, he has had his dose increased a couple times but it seems to help les and less each time the up the dose.

Our new pediatrician said that depending on the test results she would but Braydon in prevacid. So, I’ll just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, we are trying to feed him less at each feeding and see if it helps. Of course it might mean we have to feed him more often, but who cares, right? If that helps, I am all for it.

Thanks for the link Laura!

September 2, 2006 at 8:27 pm #12861

Anonymous
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Sounds like you are on top of things, and definitely sounds like reflux. Eventually you may have to push for Prevacid (and the right dose) because the Zantac may stop working. The smaller feedings are helpful for most refluxers. Do you have him sleeping on an incline? That does help keep the acid down somewhat and may help him sleep better.

September 2, 2006 at 9:03 pm #12863

Anonymous
Inactive

Yes, he sleeps on a incline, thing is he no longer has any trouble sleeping, he sleeps through the night (from 7 – 6:30), so that’s what puzzling about this whole thing. During the day, he seems like the typical baby with reflux, but has not problems sleeping. Guess he’s just a good sleeper like mommy and daddy

We are going on vacation tomorrow for two weeks so I hope he does ok and the zantac can still work (the little it works now) while we are gone. I may have to have the doctor call something in while we are away if he gets bad. We will be out and about a lot and it may be hard at times to keep him still and upright for the period of time we usually do.

Thanks again for replying!!!
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