Infantreflux.org | ped visit next week

This topic has 11 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 19 years, 11 months ago by Anonymous.

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November 8, 2006 at 1:29 pm #17440

Anonymous
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I am looking to everyone for some insight since I am almost at my wits end. My beautiful baby girl was born one month ago and was diagnosed with reflux last week. She was prescribed .5 ml of zantac 3X/day. While I feel this is helping (really only during the closest feeding to taking her medication) I think she is getting worse at the same time.

Her symtoms include:

Back arching to an extreme extent

Reswallowing her throwup and now spitting up and projectile vomiting which just started over the past 2 days

Coughing and poor sleeping/eating habits which have been there for 2 weeks are getting worse

She never wants to eat enough and she only really sleeps when she wears herself out.

I feel so bad for her but at the same time the constant attention that my husband and I have to give her is really wearing us down. I just want to help her but I am afraid that the Dr is going to keep giving us the runaround. I made another appointment for Monday and I want to make the most of it and would like to ask everyone here for questions I should ask and perhaps tests I should ask for. Also, should I switch to a PPI instead of the zantac? Should I be looking for a GI who specializes in infants or is a general ped ok?

I have already perchased her a wedge to sleep on (although she seems to slide down it a lot) and I keep her upright as much as I can. Are there any other tricks that can help her to feel more comfortable?

Thank you all very much ahead of time for your responses. I feel better knowing that I have somewhere to turn to so that I don’t feel alone in all of this.

November 8, 2006 at 1:55 pm #17444

Anonymous
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Hello & Welcome,
I’m so sorry your little girl has been so miserable. I would definitely try a PPI if the zantac isn’t working. We started out on zantac. It worked for awhile, but then we had to switch to Prevacid (it did wonders). You might want to schedule an appointment with a GI right now (because sometimes it takes a long time to get in). You could always cancel it later if you end up finding a solution with your ped
beforehand.

Good luck!

November 8, 2006 at 3:13 pm #17445

Anonymous
Inactive

Zantac is weight dependent, you didn’t mention how much she weighed. Whilst lots of babies need to go to PPI’s I wonder whether it is worth checking she is getting enough Zantac whilst the rest is being sorted out- even if you start a PPI next week it may take a little while to have effect and you want her to be as comfortable as possible.

Also have you tried a bit of mylanta at the non zantac feeds? Whilst this is short term relief only, again if it helps whilst all the other stuff is being sorted…it takes so long to get some Drs to do anything!

November 8, 2006 at 4:01 pm #17451

Anonymous
Inactive

Kylie is 8lbs 13 oz and on the .5 ml dose

November 8, 2006 at 4:13 pm #17452

Anonymous
Inactive

zantac didnt help my son much, he needed a PPI.
take a look at marci-kids.com and show your doc the PPI info because most docotors underdose PPIs. many of our babies didnt get relief until they were on the marci-kids.com dose.

November 8, 2006 at 4:20 pm #17453

hellbennt
Keymaster

Hi & welcome!

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

please please please read/skim/bookmark this

because many many issues are addressed!

glad you found us!

~laura

November 8, 2006 at 5:50 pm #17460

Anonymous
Inactive

Alana was on 1 ml 3x a day at that weight.

Whilst Zantac doesn’t help every baby it is worth being on the right dose to see what effect it has. At least it might provide more relief whilst waiting for you pead appt and any change in meds.

Zantac dose is 5-10 mg per kilo per day. If you are using the syrup: 150mg in 10mls the calculation would be:

8lb 14 ouz is about 4 kilos- so on max dose that would be 40 mg a day.

there is 15mg in 1 ml of zantac syrup (eg 150mg in 10ml)

so your babe could have about .8 mls 3 x a day by body weight. Didn’t have a calcualtor to be exact.

I’m not a Dr or anything but that is how they work dosage out. I did a bit of research so that I could check that alana was getting enough and most give this range. You then increase dose with body weight.

Now I am definately not advocating using zantac alone (Alana has just started PPI so I’m definately not anti PPI). I asked my Dr for it in the end because Alana wasn’t getting total relief from Zantac- although she did OK on it. I just wonder if you can increase the dose to try and provide some relief whilst you are waiting to see the pead etc.

If you are anything like me you want to do something until you can get the Drs to do something!

Good luck

November 8, 2006 at 8:01 pm #17469

Anonymous
Inactive

Hello and welcome,

I sure know what you are going through since I’ve had two reflux babies of my own. My first refluxer was treated with Zantac which gave her minimal relief initially but like many babies she quickly plateaued on it after a few dosage increases and then never got any relief. The poor kid suffered for months until she finally outgrew her reflux.

With my second refluxer I asked to go straight to a PPI (due to information I read here). He has done very well on it, though like Natalia said many doctors under dose as mine did initially. It took me several long, miserable weeks to get him on the right dose, but once he was on it he was a new baby.

I would look over the information at http://www.marci-kids.com and perhaps print it and take it along on your appt. That’s what swayed my son’s doctor to put him on an appropriate dose.

In the meantime like some of the other posters mentioned, it can take two weeks for the Prevacid to bring relief, so you will probably want to continue with the Zantac for a while (spacing them at least 2 -4 hours apart), SO do make sure her Zantac dose is high enough to give her some relief.

Are you using a danny or tucker sling? Those are made to prevent babies from sliding down.

Good luck and glad you found us.

November 8, 2006 at 8:40 pm #17473

Anonymous
Inactive

Welcome, I’m sorry you’re going through this. I think you’re definitely at the right place.

You’ve gotten some great advice so far. I agree with everyone. Definitely look into a PPI, and I think that you should look into getting in with a pediatric GI. Also, if your daughter’s primary care physician doesn’t seemed concerned with her reflux, then I think you should find a different one, but that’s just because of the experience I’ve had with reflux. Our PCP right now is GREAT, but I have had a pediatrician and a specialist tell me that Aidan was just colicky, when she really had severe reflux. Aidan was one that never really responded to the reflux meds.

Hopefully your little one will get some relief soon.

November 9, 2006 at 8:58 am #17496

Anonymous
Inactive

Hi and Welcome. I agree with the others. It’s very important that your doc is on board and takes reflux seriously. In my opinion, that’s more important than what kind of specialist they are. Our GI has not been terribly helpful and we waited almost half a year for the appointment. That being said, if you’re starting to see feeding problems then I think that you should get an appointment to a ped GI just in case, since the wait can be long. Also, I would see about a PPI. I don’t like to mess around with feeding problems. Hailey’s reflux was never well controlled on meds and we are now (still) dealing with horrible feeding issues. Hopefully with the right dose of zantac and/or PPI you can sort things out soon. Good luck.

November 9, 2006 at 9:18 pm #17575

Anonymous
Inactive

Hello! Boy, does your story sound so familiar. My son is only 8 weeks old and just started reflux meds. after his 1 mo. appt. Your daughter’s symptoms mirror his. We are still getting his dosing figured out, but I have seen definite improvement with the meds. He is much happier during the day, though the sleeping thing is still being worked on. You didn’t mention if you breastfed or not. I do, and though I don’t know if Ben is MSPI, I have noticed that he is certainly sensitive to some of the foods that I eat … dairy, anything spicy, etc. You may want to ask the doctor about MSPI… Also, if the doc. is willing to try a PPI, you may want to check into Zegerid. From what I’ve read here and other research http://www.marci-kids.com , it seems like the best bet for infants. I’m still working on getting Ben switched to it.

You may also want to consider tummy sleeping her. I really debated this one, but at about your daughter’s age, I flipped Ben to his tummy, and he is MUCH more comfortable that way.

November 9, 2006 at 9:54 pm #17589

Anonymous
Inactive

okay im going to repeat what everyone has said but you have all our advice now so you might as well start from the top with the doc…

1. print out all info, and don’t let anyone talk you down. Marci-kids.com good stuff

2.record any behaviour that youre child is doing…

3. ppi’s are the only way to go. don’t let them try and put you on zantac,… zantac shmantac the stuff doesnt’ help alone..

good luck and stick to youre guns!!!!!
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