New and not sure what to do

[Anonymous]

I have been reading through old posts trying to figure out if what my dr is telling me is true or if I should see a specialist.

My son Ryan will be 3 months next week and is currently taking 0.5ml of Zantac and is on Enfamil AR. I switched to the Target brand to try and save a little money. His “spitting” up has gotten so much better,but his sleeping needs to improve or I am going to go crazy. Some days he will only sleep for 15 min or so and then wake up screaming. I can get him back to sleep in a short amount of time, but he doesn’t sleep more then another 15-20 min and we start all over again. For the last 2 weeks I was lucky to get 4 hours of sleep a night. He has been sleeping in his swing or bouncy seat or on me since I can not get him to sleep in a crib, even with it elevated. The last 2 days he has been so much better, which is why I was able to find time to reseach GERD.

What I didn’t see on the many posts I read was anyone else on Enfamil AR. Does this not work like they say it is suppose to? My husband thinks Ryan needs to see a specialist and for him to say that means alot since he is not a big fan of Dr.s (funny since I have worked in the medical field for years).

Since there are good days and bad days I am not sure what to do anymore.

[Anonymous]

I’m so sorry to hear about your troubles! It sounds like your little guy is in so much pain when he is lying down! How terrible.

I researched Enfamil AR and found several comments that it causes constipation so I tried to not use it. I did notice my son ate better on Good Start, but he developed a milk protein allergy and I had to switch him to Alimentum. I have a Goat’s Milk recipe that is supposed to help with Reflux and my GI Specialist said it was a great formula but he doesn’t allow infants under 15 months to drink Goat’s Milk. For that reason I haven’t tried it but am considering it because he said it looked like a fantastic homemade formula…?

Do you think the Zantac has helped at all?

I don’t think there is any harm in consulting with a Specialist to get a second opinion!

I hope the sleeping and pain improves SOON!

[Anonymous]

The Enfamil AR does cause constipation, I wish the dr had told me this so I would have been prepared. I give him 4oz of prune juice and water (half and half) a day, which seems to help. When I asked the dr how I would know if the Zantac is working, he told me to stop giving it too him and see what happens. Within 4 days I could not stand watching him in so much pain so I put him back in it and he improved greatly. He has been better these last couple of days. Thank God. As I am sure you know when they have a good day you can see a light at the end of the tunnel and then I start to think maybe he doesn’t need a specialist. But at this point I don’t think it would hurt to see someone.

Thanks for the reply. It’s nice to know there are others going through what you are going through.

[Anonymous]

Zantac was useless for my daughter. She got minimal relief for exactly one week, and that was it. I later found (from this site) that Zantac often does not give babies lasting relief because it is a very weight sensitive drug and babies quickly outgrow their dose and often plateau so they get no relief.

PPI’s like Prevacid work much better. My son was on Prevacid and he improved dramatically. You can read about PPI meds for infant reflux at http://www.marci-kids.com I printed the info from this site and brought it to my son’s doctor to convince her to put him on a good dose of Prevacid, and once she did he was fine.

BTW, my daughter who was on Zantac (I didn’t know about Prevacid then) woke up in pain every 20 – 60 minutes every night of her life until she finally outgrew her reflux at 9 months. She wanted to sleep but she was in so much pain. I still feel bad that I didn’t understand what she was going through.

I hope you find relief for your son soon.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Christine.

I am going to be calling the dr. on Monday, partly because Ryan now has pink eye. Poor kid can’t catch a break. Ryan slept for 4 hours today, the longest he has slept in months. But I was holding him the whole time so when he did start to wake up, I was able to comfort him so that he would fall back asleep. I am going to print out some info on PPI meds and talk to the dr about them.

Thanks again for answering my post.

[hellbennt]

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hi &
welcome!

you’ve
found a great place!

the key to
all of this is RESEARCH and, of course, support!

I have a LOT TO SAY! and most of
it is here:

Groupie Intro: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=853

there
is even a link from Groupie Intro for finding a dr near you.

(Anyone
else reading this who has not posted their dr on that link: PLEASE do, as it
helps others! the good AND the bad…thanks!!)

Groupie Intro is
looong, but PLEASE read/skim/scroll
through it & refer back to it, as it TRULY will help you!

so glad you
found us!

~laura

hellbennt2010-08-03 09:28:50

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the info. I have been looking over it when I am able to get Ryan to sleep. There is so much to read. When I took Ryan to the dr for his eye infection we were not able to see our normal Ped, so the Ped we saw was able to give us prevacid 15mg, but he only gave us 1/2 a pill once a day. When I used the dosage calculator it said Ryan should be having that 3 times a day. I am also going to keep giving him the Zantac for 2 weeks. I see our reg Ped next week for my teenagers yearly check up so I will ask him to up the dosage. I am also going to call a specialist and see what they say.

Thanks for everything!

[hellbennt]

please excuse any underlined blue words that are not hyperlinks; my computer doesn’t seem to like me copying from word & pasting into firefox

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unfortunately
we have found we must TELL the dr what our babies need…

FAX FAX FAX
the dr

dont wait
for a call…

start off w/
a THANK YOU

keep it
short & sweet

stick to the
facts (no feelings and no rambling emotions!)

state
current meds, doses, symptoms

make
request- flat out- short & sweet

THANK AGAIN

follow up by
calling office to say fax was sent

call again
later to discuss requests in fax, ie: have you
called in the increased prescription yet?

THANK YOU

sample fax:

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10633&PID=90325#90325

About faxing the doctor
(& more):

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2841&TPN=1

hellbennt2010-08-04 19:47:59

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info. I know the prevacid is not suppose to “kick” in for awhile, but yesterday (day 3) Ryan took a 4 hour nap, which he has not done since he was a week old and then slept 5 hours straight last night. I had to keep checking on him to make sure he was breathing since it has been months since he has slept this much. As I am typing this he is going on his second hour of sleep. I am sure things will only get better from here on out.

[hellbennt]

yay!

[Author]

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