can you help me here

[Anonymous]

I don’t know that a pH probe will be able to confirn if it’s not allergies. Allergies can also cause vomitting which would come up on the probe, I would think. I would strongly suggest an endoscopy over an upper GI to check for eos cells and to do biopsies which can check for some allergies. The probe might also be useful, but I’d personally ask for a scope.

About the constipation, I would ask to try miralax. It’s a synthetic agent so you’d have to check the ingredients, but I’ve heard of quite a few kids on it, even some with allergies I believe.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Lori – you are right – I meant that a ph probe would show reflux. I don’t know anything besides allergy testing that would show allergies. When Carson had a scope and intestional biopsies done, our specialist said that he would be able to tell if he had bad food allergies.

[Anonymous]

Brenda, did his biopsies show any allergies? I’ve always wondered about this- I know that they CAN show allergies, but I think that it’s mainly EE (eosinophilic esophagitis, i.e. allergic esophagitis). I know that this is not the only cause of allergies in children, and that they can have allergies and not have esophageal damage, right? It’s something I’ve thought about a lot, b/c Hailey’s scope was clear by the time we finally got it done (though the GI is sure that she at one point had damage that was healed by the prevacid), and her biopsies were normal, so our ped GI claims that means that she doesn’t have allergies. I’ve tried to argue with him, but figured that it’s not worth wasting my breath.

[Anonymous]

miralax didn’t work. she was just miserable. allergies (according to our allergist) are diagnosed by skin test/blood test. I think that the biopsy would show damage caused by allergies, but is not the only thing they can go on to say there are allergies. Again, the allergist says, that damage caused that is similar to food allergies, but testing comes up negative for, would be considered intolerance..
Brenda: Cecilia gets 2 9oz cups a day of nutramigen. that is her main protein and fat cal source. She eats lots of fruits and veggies and whatever carbs I can find that are ok w/her allergies or that I make at home. Have gotten pretty proficient.
Poor maggie just sucks her hand wanting something other than neocate.
Both had an upper gi and that came out negative for anything. Is that a good indicator of diagnosing anything? they said for each that no reflux was present, so they didn’t have it. *sigh* we’ll see what the allergist says tomorrow.
Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Lori: Carson’s biopsies were just fine. The doc said that he would be able to tell if Carson had horrible allergies because when he scoped, he would see a lot of redness and blotches. He said it was fine. But, our Peds GI Spec said that a lot of reflux is caused by allergies. Which came first the chicken or the egg?? I don’t know! But, HE says that when the allergies clear, often the reflux clears, so he thinks that kids who have allergies usually have reflux.

Sarah: Carson is only getting one 7-8 oz bottle of Neocate before bed and really fights one at nap time. I should try to give it to him in a cup and see if he will take more during the day. It would help with the calories. I do know that the Upper GI is just a snap shot for 15-20 minutes. If they do not reflux during that time it will not show up. When ours was done, we were scheduled and then the nurse called back and said it was re-scheduled for a diff day ?? I said WHAT? She said that Neidich requests a special gal to do the Upper GI and he won’t let anyone else do it. I was with Carson the whole time and she turned him and twisted him and sure enough – he refluxed several times during the GI. Just because the reflux didn’t show up during the GI, it could still be there!

[Anonymous]

Sarah,

A negative upper GI only means that there are no structural abnormalities and that the anatomy of the GI tract looks correct. It CAN see reflux if the child refluxes during the test, but if they don’t, you can’t say the converse.

We once had a really wierd GI who said that “diagnosing the absence of reflux based on a negative upper GI, is like going fishing with no bait for 10 minutes, and when you don’t catch anything, concluding that there are no fish in the ocean”.

If you want to find out how bad the reflux is, the only real way is a probe, but that won’t necessarily help if the reflux is caused by allergies or intolerances. The scope might also help give some info. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I thought it was kind of stupid. But they were consistent with saying it for both kids. Oddly enough, I took maggie out of the room after the GI and she threw up in the hall. I will ask tomorrow about seeing a GI.

Brenda: Cecilia has a cup before bed and one when she gets up in the morning. she knows it is just for her and is even in a “special” cup that she doesn’t drink anything else out of but the formula. she doesn’t get anything before her nap (when she takes one). I guess it is more of the long g’nite indicator.
And most of Cecilia’s reflux went away when we found out about the milk and soy allergies. Everything went off (reflux/eczema/hives) once we found out about the egg. An allergy group I am with is doing the chicken/egg thing with eczema and allergies. funny.

[Author]

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