Infantreflux.org | New, confused and need advice!

This topic has 21 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 18 years, 10 months ago by Anonymous.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 22 total)

1 2 →

Author

Posts
November 5, 2007 at 6:18 pm #45049

Anonymous
Inactive

Hi, my name is Gianna and I am new to the board. I have a 7 week old son named Xavier. I am a first time mom and a single mom. Xavier was recently put on Prevacid by our pediatric ENT after being referred there by our pediatrician. The pediatrician said he has colic but I think it is reflux, I’m just not sure if it is bad enough to put him on medication and if it really is reflux. I constantly second guess myself and I don’t know if medication was the right decision? How do you really know if relfux is the cause of his unhappiness? I do know that he is a generally UNHAPPY baby. But he isn’t always in pain and its not with every feeding and he is happy in the morning and then miserable and fussy the rest of the day. He has good days and bad days. Would reflux cause pain all the tim eor are there ps and downs? Has anyuone else had to figure out if it is colic or reflux? How do you know? I am also reading that the medicine takes up to 2 weeks to work – is that right? And now I am reading that the dosage matters. What if it is reflux and its not the right dosage? Ugh I just know that he is very unhappy. He gags in his sleep a lot and coughs in his sleep and chokes while eating. He makes a face like there is something in his throat a lot when he sleeps too. He fusses when he lays on his back, but he will sleep like that (I do have him elevated on a wedge). He was on regular formula and he didn’t spit up, it seems like it came up on him but not out. Now he is on gentleease which is very thin and he spits up a lot. I know the thin formula is counterproductive for reflux, but it is better for his gas. This parenting thing is very difficult, I never know if I’m making teh right decision! Are there dangers to giving him the Prevacid??? Any advice is appreciated!!!!

November 5, 2007 at 6:50 pm #45054

hellbennt
Keymaster

reflux can be a roller coaster. there is silent reflux where a baby doesn’t spit up. there is also the ‘spitting up’ kind. there is also such a thing as MSPI (milk soy protein intolerance)

I have a LOT more to say & (most of) it’s here:

J

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

so glad you found us!

~laura

November 5, 2007 at 8:31 pm #45064

Anonymous
Inactive

Your baby reminds me of when Alston was younger. We’re still trying to get him worked out, but some things have gotten better. My son would get choked while eating and it would stress me out. He still chokes if we give him a formula that is thinner. The dr. told us to try Enfamil AR. She gave us free samples to try. It has been pretty good. It seems to take him longer to eat since it’s thicker. My son is also on Prevacid and hasn’t had any bad reactions that I know of. I know I’m not a whole lot of help, but I just wanted to send you a hug.

November 6, 2007 at 1:36 pm #45094

Anonymous
Inactive

I feel like I have the same problem, my son has his good and bad days and I wonder if it truely is all reflux or is it something else. He is currently on prevacid, 7.5mg/day and I have an appt on friday to take to his ped about a higher dose or different meds, but like today he has been quite happy this morning, until his last feed which he spit up and was crying until he fell asleep. Its just so confusing and I feel sometimes like I am making up something that isn’t there. If anyone has any advice, I greatly appriecate it.

November 6, 2007 at 2:44 pm #45099

Anonymous
Inactive

Hello Gianna,

I used to second guess myself as well. Some days were not as bad as others, and some feedings were better than others, but overall my refluxers were miserable babies. I never really got it figured out with my first refluxer and she continued to be miserable until she outgrew it at 9 months. It was a very long 9 months.

With my son I was still slow to figure it out, even with him being my second reflux baby, because some days were not as bad as others, and sometimes he ate fine. Finally things got to a point where the good feedings and good days were so few and far between that I KNEW something had to be done. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to push for answers and solutions, but like you, I was confused. I mean, they can’t tell us what’s bothering them, so is it really any wonder that we are confused? Anyway, it really wasn’t until he was properly medicated for about two weeks that I saw the little baby I had given birth to. No more pain. No more chronic fussiness. No more feeding time battles. That’s when I fianlly knew I was right – he had reflux – and he needed meds. Other than medical tests, that’s really the only way to know for sure…try the meds (making sure the dose is adequate) and see if your little one feels better and is happier.

Laura’s intro has lots of valuable information for you.

Good luck and glad you found us.

ndrose2007-11-06 14:46:58

November 6, 2007 at 10:11 pm #45133

Anonymous
Inactive

thank you so much for your responses. it is nice to know i’m not alone! Do other people have babies with reflux that are thriving and have mostly ok feedings? It is mostly the other symptoms that he has but he has more good feedings then bad, althoguh so are bad. But he is thriving which is the main reason my ped says it is colic and not reflux. Sometimes I am positive it is refluc and others I am sure its colic. Ugh! Today we switched to Nutramigen in case it is also colic. I figure if I can get him happy, I can stop things to see which it is. I cant stand him being miserable, i just feel horrible for him. He seems to be spittin gup even more on this formula though and eating even more. He eats every 1.5 hours. Anyone else experience this?

November 7, 2007 at 10:17 am #45138

Anonymous
Inactive

My son also has good feedings most of the time, but still wants to eat every 1-2hrs. I thickened the formula with rice cereal, 1tsp per oz, as ordered by my doctor and he now usually feeds q2-3hrs, mostly 3hrs, so that has helped. Per the upper GI he had done, he has reflux, but he is also thriving well and gaining weight, but he still has reflux. So maybe your baby does to. I tried nutramigen with my son, since my first child had to go on nutramigen to help with constipation, but my son seemed to be more gassy and spit up more on that formula, so I switched him back to regular enfamil lipil. But give the formula some time and see what happens, they say to try new formula for at least a week. good luck

November 7, 2007 at 6:41 pm #45152

hellbennt
Keymaster

thriving has nothing to do with reflux. there is such a thing as comfort feeding where it soothes their throats to drink milk/formula

there are also lots of babies who have severe reflux and don’t have a problem gaining weight

I rather doubt it’s colic. that’s me & I’m opinionated. now if you told me that your baby like clockwork is fussy every evening then maybe I would think colic. here’s a great article about colic & reflux: http://wondertime.go.com/learning/article/interview-colic-expert.html

as for nutrimigen for colic, well…usually nutrimigen is for MSPI- this is not colic but stands for Milk Soy Protein Intolerance. Please read here: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2697&PN=1&TPN=1

November 7, 2007 at 9:55 pm #45170

Anonymous
Inactive

I agree w/laura. It sounds just like reflux to me. I also agree about the comfort feeding. That is sooo common in reflux babies.

We finally switched to Enfamil AR (anti reflux). It is thicker from rice starch and helped her keep more of her feedings down. My child was also gaining weight fine according to the pedi. I got fed up with all the spit up and seeing her in pain so we went to a gastro doc for help. Have you thought about seeing a specialist?

November 7, 2007 at 10:47 pm #45172

Anonymous
Inactive

Prevacid is the answer. It is really frustrating that most pede don’t realize this. After 21 mg per day over 3 months and tapering of for 5 weeks he is now meds free and the HAPPIEST camper. He shows no problems with solids and I couldn’t be happier.

November 7, 2007 at 11:35 pm #45173

Anonymous
Inactive

Thank you for the continued responses. It is nice to know I’m not crazy and there really could be somthing behind this other than unexplained crying! So far over the past 2 days he has been a lot better during the day and only fussy between 8:30 and 10 pm. My mom watched him today and even she said how grea the was. So now I am thinking maybe he has both?! He has always been a gassy baby, so maybe it is the gas that builds up adn bothers him at night. The important thing is that he isn’t miserable all day anymore (so far) so I am thinking maybe the prevacid is starting to work. It was too soon for it to be the formula. And although he is fussy at night, he isn’t crying unconsoably so I am thinking I made the right decision with the prevacid. As long as I stand up wiht him and move aroudn he is fine. I am going to stay the course and keep my fingers crossed. We did see a specialist, but its a Pediatric Ear, Nose & Throat doctor instead of a GI. We went to him because my ds is slightly tongue tied and I thought that is what was causing his feeding problems but the ENT said the tongue tie is so mild he doesn’t think that was it, he thinks it is reflux so he is the one that prescribed the prevacid. We go back to him again in 1 month. Does anyone else go to an ENT instead of GI? He seemed to be very familiar with prevacid and reflux…

Gianna

November 9, 2007 at 2:51 am #45230

Anonymous
Inactive

I hope he continues to improve. My dd sees an ENT for her ears but not for reflux, however he does always check her throat and has made many wonderful suggestions to aid in relief. In fact he has told me in the past that it appeared she was having a flare-up before I had noticed any symptoms. Good Luck and don’t be too hard on your self for having to make difficult decisions. Being a parent is hard work and a being the parent of a child with reflux or colic can be even harder. Crossing my fingers for you both.

November 9, 2007 at 3:56 am #45232

Anonymous
Inactive

I think lots of reflux babies do have that evening bad time…well acutally most babies. It does make it a bit confusing about what is colic and what is reflux, but maybe they are just on a continuum. I know Alana always was worse in the early evening…she was also one of those bubs who never had any trouble with eating (or overeating). I’m glad things are getting better.

November 9, 2007 at 9:25 pm #45263

Anonymous
Inactive

Well I thought he was doign better but he had a bad day today. He was miserable adn crying most of the day and he gagged and choked in his sleep several times. I guess maybe teh meds aren’t working yet? I was wondering also ow you know if the ckoking/gagging is related to sleep apnea? He also makes a high pitched sucking in of air now and then like a high whining gasp. Is that normal?

November 9, 2007 at 9:27 pm #45264

Anonymous
Inactive

Thank you for the article Laura – I really enjoyed it adn agreed! Any advice on my last question? You seem to have so much great info! Thanks again
Author

Posts

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 22 total)

1 2 →

The forum ‘HELP!!!’ is closed to new topics and replies.