Infantreflux.org | Help!!! - Infantreflux.org

This topic has 10 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 18 years, 8 months ago by Anonymous.

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December 23, 2007 at 10:29 am #46660

Anonymous
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Agh. Please help me! Julia – 4months old- has been on Zantac for reflux and it seemed to be helping, but lately its not helping at all. The past two days she’s been screaming unless she’s nursing. The entire day and night – no sleeping, just screaming or resting on me. Its not that I’ve spoiled her with nursing on demand or anything, I can tell its the reflux because she’s just really upset. If I lay her down she sleeps no more than 20 minutes and then is screaming and only calm when I let her nurse and if I try taking her off she gets all worked up again. (agh, now I’m wondering if it could be an ear infection? should I try to take her in somewhere??? we have a family get together today so I can’t spend all day in the ER or anything…) Is there anything I can give her – Mylanta or something? How much do I give? Help! I’m in tears. I didn’t get any sleep at all last night, DH tried taking her out for a ride in the car and it didn’t help at all either. I’m going to take her in to the Dr and discuss other meds, but what can I do in the meantime?

December 23, 2007 at 7:01 pm #46666

Anonymous
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First thing I will say is this, you are not spoiling your baby. I know so many people think that, but it’s just not true. I can’t tell you how many of us have heard that. Your breastmilk has enzymes in it that act as an ant-acid and make her feel better. So, more than likely she is nursing because she is in pain due to the reflux. My son did the same thing and I just nursed him as much as he needed it. You do have to take your breaks, but don’t let anyone make you feel bad for nursing her to make her feel better. She is in pain. People don’t get babies with reflux so, I’m sure you may have to deal a lot with the oh your spoiling her stuff. The best thing I can tell you is to vent to us. We understand. Now as for things to do to help. Yes, mylanta can help or tums disovables disolved in some water and given by syringe. I don’t think it’s her ears only because she is wanting to nurse frequently. Usually a baby with an ear infection doesn’t want to nurse. However, if she is showing other signs like pulling on her ears you can get some hylands ear ache tablets and start putting some expressed breastmilk into her ears. You can also put some rice in a sock and warm it in the microwave and lay her ear on it or lay it on her ear. For the moment though you are in survival mode. Do what you need to do to have peace and get some sleep. With my little man I ended up letting him nurse on me all night long. He had started having tremors due to not getting enough sleep. Once you can get to the dr. I would highly recommend getting her on a ppi like prevacid, prilosec, or zegerid. I personally like zegerid because I didn’t have to time around meals. Zegerid also has many other advantages as well. The disadvantages to it are drs. not knowing a lot about it and it is really expensive. Before your next drs. visit check out marci-kids.com. They have a ton of info on there. You want your baby to be on the correct dosage for her weight or it isn’t going to work, you also want to be giving it to your baby 3x a day. You may have to print out some of the marci-kids info before going in. Be prepared to fight to get what you want. Oh, you will also want to keep your baby on the zantac until the ppi kicks in. So, don’t be in a rush to throw that zantac out. It can also be used anytime she has a bad reflux day like being sick or teething. I hope this isn’t too much info. I don’t get on here as much anymore and I just want to be sure to tell you as much as possible. We are here for you if you have any questions or just need to vent. I hope that you and your family have a very merry Christmas.

December 24, 2007 at 5:27 am #46674

Anonymous
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I agree with Shelby, it sounds like you little one might need to try a PPI. In the meantime continue with the Zantac and try some mylanta (about a ml or so 3 x a day is where I would start…you will know it is to much if her stools become loser than normal)> . Just a word of warning about the hot pack, babies can burn very quickly with these so lay your own head on it first and make sure it is cold to luke warm- this will be hot for your bub. Also, not sure if you have a sling or baby carrier, but if your bub needs to be held all the time at the moment you might want to invest in one so at least you have your hands free to do things like go to the toilet (haven’t we all been there!).

December 24, 2007 at 5:25 pm #46679

Anonymous
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I just wanted to give you a hug.! The other ladies gave you great advice.

December 24, 2007 at 5:36 pm #46680

Anonymous
Inactive

Well, we took her to the Dr today and I’m dissapointed. No help at all. It wasn’t her regular Dr since its Christmas Eve day, but I dont think her Dr will be much help either. I guess I have to push for a referral to a GI specialist. The Dr said that they use Zantac bc its safest and that Prevacid and Zegerid, which she hadn’t heard of, aren’t approved for use under 2 and since she’s so little its not good to switch her meds to something like that. She suggested I try formula in a bottle because maybe she’s hungry???? (since she’s nursing all the time- obvisouly she didn’t know much about BFing and how that formula would affect my supply) Said she should be able to go more than 2 hrs btwn feedings, and that she’s not gaining weight well. (Which is not a huge thing, my kids are always little, we dont have big people in our family, lol) She is a silent refluxer though, so not spitting up, so thats not related to the reflux right? I got some Mylanta Cherry Supreme and might try that, but is that ok to just put her on that and use it 3xs a day without a Dr saying to? (I dont want to get yelled at by them next time I go in.) Julia was happy at the Dr office, go figure, but really, she is still crying alot and mostly happy when nursing and has to be distracted and walked around and held and so on just to give me a break from nursing her for a bit until she has a meltdown and just has to nurse again. Anyway…. I’m pretty frustrated and I hope that they give me a referral and that it doesn’t take too long to get in somewhere.

December 25, 2007 at 8:49 pm #46682

Anonymous
Inactive

Aw, I am sorry they were no help, My ped. Refussed to say Landon had reflux. She sent up the a feeding clinic, and they sent up to the GI. Are you sure you need a referral to see the GI? Is it for insurance or just to get in? You should call and see if you can just make an appointment and take her on your own!

December 26, 2007 at 7:24 am #46686

Anonymous
Inactive

I know how frustrated you must be. My son was only on zantac and it worked for a little while and then it stopped working completely. The dr. would not up his dose or prescribe another med. The GI, whom I just made an appointment for without a referral, would only up his dose of zantac. He would not prescribe a ppi. I immediately made an appointment with another GI and finally got my son on prevacid. Definitely see if you can just make an appointment without a referral. And if you don’t agree with what the doctor says, make an appointment with another one. Also, have you tried the elimination diet. I don’t know about it but the ladies on this website have mentioned it several times.

Try not to listen to everyones comments about spoiling your baby. The only thing that matters is that you and your husband are on the same page and supporting one another! I send you a big big hug!

December 26, 2007 at 1:24 pm #46696

Anonymous
Inactive

Kaelyn was the exact same way. I was worried that I had a supply issue because she was feeding so often. But, it turned out that she was doing exactly as Shelby mentioned, my bm was like an antacid for her.

I would definitely push for a referral. The only thing that helped Kaelyn feel better was a PPI (in her case, prevacid). I would also go ahead and use Mylanta Cherry Supreme. We were told that we could use a 1/4 tsp at a time, as often as we needed. The ped said that you can’t overdose on it, but that too much will cause diarrhea. So he said to give as much as she seemed to need and if she gets loose stools just cut back until the diarrhea is gone.

December 27, 2007 at 6:43 pm #46737

Anonymous
Inactive

It doesn’t sound like the Dr really listened to you or was responsive to your needs. I would definately see another. I’m guessing though she checked ears, throat etc and ruled out an infection. If so you have more evidence that it is the reflux.

Perhaps you could vidotape her at her worst (most digitial cameras have a video option) and take it to the next Dr. We did this because Alana was always so much better at the Dr…luckily the time we took it we didn’t have to show it because we had just fed Alana in the waiting room and the Dr heard all the refluxing madness!

I’d also go with the mylanta.

December 30, 2007 at 8:11 pm #46803

hellbennt
Keymaster

hi & welcome!

I have a LOT 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

holding baby often https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5793&KW=dr+sears

Zantac dosing- my/other’s question: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9539&PID=82914#82914

January 3, 2008 at 8:24 am #46886

Anonymous
Inactive

Sorry to hear that you are dealing with this! I can relate! My baby is 4 months and woke me up every 2 hours last night. Your baby could certainly be on a PPI! You could try to go to a family doctor if it takes too long to get into a specialist. We got our healthy prevacid dose from a VERY kind family doctor who did a great deal of research on our behalf and called a specialist to get information regarding dosage. As for your doctor’s advice about giving a bottle, I think that you need to carefully consider. For the vast majority of women, supply is not an issue. So, it is only logical that frequent breastfeeding would lead to a healthy milk supply. I would guess that your milk supply is just fine and I encourage you to keep breastfeeding. That being said, 4 months is a common time for mothers to have problems with supply. I had a supply issue early on and Jackson was screaming CONSTANTLY! I thought that it was reflux related because he was also showing reflux symptoms. Also, I had been breastfeeding AROUND THE CLOCK so I did not think that it was possible to have a low supply. He refused to be put down and insisted on sleeping on me at all times. He would nurse for 5 or 6 hours at a time and cry the entire time. I thought he was comfort feeding. The doctor said that he was just hungry and that I should try a bottle. I did not believe her because I was convinced that he was comfort feeding. Reluctantly, with tears in my eyes, I gave him a bottle. He smiled and cooed for the first time! He truly was hungry. Since that day, he has had bad reflux days, but he does not scream like he did when he was not getting enough to eat. There is a dramatic difference in his behavior. I am sad when I think about the fact that I was not successful with breastfeeding, but I do not regret giving my son the food that he needed. Every situation is different and I hope that you can keep breastfeeding. I am definitely not trying to discourage you. I just think that it is important to hear from people who successfully breastfed and people who had breastfeeding problems. Chances are, you do not have any issues and breastfeeding really is best for reflux babies (all babies, for that matter). But, for me, it was better to give my baby formula than let him go hungry. I am just an example of someone who really did have a supply issue- it can happen. If you decide to experiment with a bottle, be sure to pump a lot to keep your supply up. Good luck with breastfeeding and good luck getting a PPI. Hope you get some relief and sleep very soon.
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