Its getting WORSE please HELP

[Anonymous]

Is the cough a dry cough? When we took my first son for the swallow the guy doing the test asked us if he had a dry cough. I said yes and he said really I don’t need to do the study. I can already tell you he has reflux. We did the study anyway. After it was over we stood and talked to the dr. While talking to him Luke spit up everywhere. The guy looked shocked. I don’t think he had ever seen so much spit up before. All that to say a dry cough can be a sign of reflux. Just because your baby is gaining weight doesn’t mean he doesn’t have reflux. If you believe your baby has reflux keep on fighting.

[Anonymous]

Hi there. Sorry to hear he’s still having problems.

Firstly, if you think he has a cold, then it’s quite possible that the reflux is flaring up. All the excess mucous certainly makes it worse. Also, some refluxers have hypersensitive gags. Hailey’s is awful. So when they feel something (like post nasal drip) at the back of the throat, then it can trigger the gag reflex which causes the vomitting to be worse.

When Hailey has a cough and cold, we can expect to be covered in vomit everywhere. Our ped said that some kids don’t outgrow the gag until they’re much older. Reflux causes it to be heightened.

You mentioned that the doc said that the cough isn’t due to reflux. Given the vomitting, your son clearly has reflux. If he’s still coughing all the time in the absence of other cold symptoms, then I’d bet that it is the reflux.

Either way, the most important question is whether or not HE is bothered by the vomitting. Does he cry, or arch, or thrash around after vomitting, or does he just pick up and continue on with what he’s doing- which I guess isn’t much at his age? If he vomits and doesn’t seem to be in pain, and isn’t having any other complications (is gaining well, no respiratory infections, no damage, no feeding problems, sleep problems), then I’d say that as annoying as the vomitting is, then I wouln’t worry about it.

As for an upper GI, that test is not intended to diagnose reflux. It’s intended to diagnose structural abnormalities along the GI tract that might cause symptoms of vomitting. (Given the fact that he vomits after every feed, sounds like you already know he has reflux anyways.) Has he been checked for pyloric stenosis? I know that was something that our doc looked into for Hailey due to projectile vomitting.

If the vomitting is causing other problems, then you might want to look into a motility med. Unfortunately, I don’t know if you have very many good choices available to you in the US. I know that reglan can have some scary neurological side effects. We have access to domperidone here, which is a good option.

Good luck.

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