Back to the drawing board..

[Anonymous]

I am going to stop posting that we are out of the woods and Jackson is cured. Every time that I post my “hurray we are off meds” post, we have issues! Yesterday Jackson had hiccups all day, spit up 2 times (he has not actually spit since 13 mos old), had lots of “swallowing” episodes and coughed all night (not sure if this is related or not, but it is not typical of him). He does not seem to be in any pain and other than the coughing, his sleep is fine. No excessive crying and he seems happy. He has been off of prevacid for about 3 weeks, and until yesterday seemed fine. Called his specialist today and he wants me to start prevacid 15 mg/ day for 3 weeks and then cut it down to 15 mg every other day for 3 weeks before taking him off completely. I could just cry. WHEN IN THE H** will this be over. Please excuse my harsh words, but I just did not think that we would be dealing with this at 18 mos. Do not let me post any happy topics until he is old enough to tell me- Mom, I do not experience any reflux pain. We are not there yet.

[Anonymous]

Katie, HUGS. I understand your pain. I know this might not make you feel any better, but a lot of kids don’t outgrow it by 18 months. For some it is closer to 2, and others closer to 3. We didn’t even start weaning until close to 3 years old. I also stopped posting in the hurray category when we’d rebound shortly after, but I think it’s all part of the ups and downs of reflux. What you’re describing about the reflux signs yesterday makes me wonder if he’s coming down with a virus or something- the reflux flare up with coughing at night has always been a sign for Hailey. How long had he been off the meds before this flare up?

For what it’s worth, Hailey has been off meds since age 3, and will turn 4 in May. She has a bit of a cold, and I noticed a lot of gagging and coughing and what I thought were the classic signs of reflux. I caught her making her old reflux face and I asked her what was wrong. She told me “I have throw up coming into my mouth. But don’t worry, I swallow it down.”. I was mortified.

Rest assured Jackson will outgrow this and it will pass. I know it seems like an eternity. Waiting for a child to ougrow something often feels like waiting for a pot of water to boil- when you’re in the midst of it, it feels like it might never happen. Hang in there.

[Anonymous]

Thank you Lori. It is so, so so nice to hear from mothers who have been though this. I am part of a local mom’s group and none of them understand my frustration. I talked to my MIL today and she said- “are you sure that this is not just the spitting that every baby goes through?” I was thinking- where have you been the last 18 months? Have you listened to me at all when I explain to you how serious this is? Ugh!

As far as illness goes, I do wonder about an ear infection since he had some drainage from his tubes yesterday. I need to take him into the ENT. His nose is runny, but what is new? He had been off of prevacid for about 3.5 weeks before yesterday’s flare up? He slept great last night (other than the coughing) and he is taking a 2+ hour nap right now, so I do not think that he is experiencing terrible pain or anything. Yesterday was the first sign of reflux.

[Anonymous]

Hey Katie,

My guess is that it’s the ears. The times that Ben has had drainage meant that there was an infection, and his reflux always flares up a bit. He’s been off meds since around Jackson’s age, but can still have a flare (controlled by TUMS) when he gets a cold. For what it’s worth, my husband coughs like crazy when he gets an ear infection… nothing to do with reflux… just the drainage from his ears makes him cough.

[Anonymous]

I was about to post a thread here too…Dagney hasn’t shown any other signs of reflux except over the last few weeks she coughs all night long. She has severe allergies to trees/grass/ragweed, and is now on 3 different allergy meds (2 tsp Zyrtec, Nasonex, and now Singulair), and continues to cough. Just today, I started wondering “could it be reflux?”, but now that I read this thread, I’m thinking probably not. She’s not showing any other reflux symptoms. I took her to the pedi yesterday and she does have some fluid in the ears, but no infections…yet…and she has a little runny nose. (although she’s had 2 ear infections in the last 2 months…) I’m thinking the coughing is also from the allergies etc, but that reflux is always there in the background…

Good luck finding your solution.

[Anonymous]

Hey Denise,

Cooper is on the same 3 allergy meds (well he is only on 1 tsp of zyrtec) and he has been sneezing his head off recently and sounds “throaty” when he is talking and wheezy when he is breathing. I will say that he even spit up 2x today (can’t remember the last time that happened). But I know for a fact that it is his allergies b/c on the days I can’t get him to take his nasonex he is 10x worse. I think that the pollens are so much worse lately and I don’t know why. Have you tried giving her a tsp of honey before bed? It helps Cooper when he is having tough times with coughing at night…

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