Not Sure Where to Begin :(

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone

I have my second reflux baby who is also VERY high needs. My daughter had reflux and the choking bothered her the most. My son Jackson is 9 weeks old, and is a silent refluxer. Lots of congestion, back arching, crying and pulling off the bottle/breast (when he was breast fed) But he is gaining weight just fine.

He started out on goodstart formula and was breast fed, but eventually he would recoil from my breast milk- expressed or from the breast. So I stopped breastfeeding him because I thought it was my diet. He had bad gas from day one (he started out bottle fed because of meds I was on) So from the start he had INSANE gas- like passing gas CONSTANTLY ALL DAY. and he seemed very uncomfortable. The the reflux started..and I recognized it right away. I switched him to Alimentum liquid RTF formula and got him on to zantac. (I figured the gas was from the formula) The next day the gas stopped. instantly. The crying from the reflux was a little bit better. But I read that eventually the zantac won’t keep working and to try prevacid as it may work better. Well at about the same time we started prevacid, I switched Jax from the liquid alimentum to the powdered stuff (the liquid is SO EXPENSIVE) and I started him on Prevacid. So here is my problem. He has Diarrhea. I’m not sure if it is from the prevacid or the Powdered Alimentum. I dont’ know if I should stop the prevacid and see what happens, Go back to square one and do the RTF liquid and zantac and then try switching one or the other of the formula or the medicine?? What would you do??? I can’t have him having diarrhea all the time (like so thin it soaks into his diaper) I just don’t know what to do. he is such a fussy baby anyhow, so on any given day he coudl be crabby.. and I don’t know if it is his high needs, belly cramping.. refluxing.. 🙁 There are 150 granules in a prevacid capsule. I was told ot give him half a capsule a day. (75 granules) I have been giving him 25 granules 2 times a day and the diarrhea still persists… do you think it is the formula?? Sorry to ramble.. I just don’t know what to do.

theresa

theresa75762012-12-03 11:58:15

[Anonymous]

Oh wow! I feel so sorry for you and your little one! (((HUG))) Your story is oh…. so…. familiar!! 🙁 That feeling of “I just don’t know what to do” is so hard for us moms to deal with. And the guilt… oh, I always felt guilty! I felt like… “I’m the mom, I should be able to figure this out”.

So, first of all I want you to know that you are not alone! Many many mothers have been there! And other moms is the best place to get answers! But of course every child is different and each child will react differently to meds, formulas, etc. So, it can take some time to figure out the right combo for your child. But THERE IS HOPE!!!

Did your child have diarrhea with the RTF formula? If not, it may have been because the RTF is corn free whereas the powder has corn in it. And corn can be something that is really hard for a lot of babies to break down.

If the Zantac was working, I personly would keep your child on that. Then if/when it quits working then start Prevacid. My understanding is that Zantac is just something that counteracts the excess acid that is built up whereas Prevacid actually stops the acid pumps in the stomach from producing so much acid. Here is an article that tells how the different meds work and the possible side effects. http://www.babycareadvice.com/babycare/general_help/article.php?id=56%20

Have you ever heard of probiotics or digestive enzymes helping children with digestive issues? I would not say they are a cure but many moms have found them to be extremely beneficial for their children.

I have created a blog (see my signature) that tells all about what we went through and what we found to help. I believe that you would most likely find it helpful in finding some answers. On there I have explained why and how probiotics and enzymes can help and will copy and paste here a little about it….

While a baby is still in the womb, he/she has a sterile digestive system meaning nothing including good or bad bacteria has entered it. As the baby is coming down the birth canal he picks up his first dose of probiotics. Probiotics are the good live bacteria (also referred to as gut flora) that coat, line, and protect the entire digestive tract including the ear, nose, and throat. The second dose and the biggest dose of probiotics the baby will ever receive is from mother’s colostrum.

If a baby is born by c-section and/or is not breast fed they will not receive these probiotics. They will pick up probiotics from physical touch but they will get a slower start and also they kind they will pick up from touch will be a different kind than from the birth canal and the colostrum.

Mother’s type of probiotics that she gives to baby depends on her diet and how well her body is capable of digesting the food she eats. It can also be altered by taking antibiotics.

Antibiotics can not decipher between good and bad bacteria so they kill both. If a mother takes antibiotics while pregnant it will kill and alter her probiotics and up the chance of her baby having digestive problems. If antibiotics are taken while nursing or if they are given directly to babies it will most certainly affect their digestion.

All foods have digestive enzymes in them to aid in breaking down that food into a usable form. When a food is cooked or processed the enzymes in it are killed. Also our pancreas makes enzymes and puts them into the stomach to aid in digestion when we eat foods that are lacking enzymes. But our pancreas was never meant to make enough enzymes for our American diets of mostly cooked and processed foods. Many people at the age of 30 or above start having some kind of digestive problem symptoms like acid reflux, heartburn, indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome, etc. This is because the pancreas is getting tired and starts to slow down its production. The medical world calls it “Pancreatic Exhaustion”. Also study shows that once a person hits 40 their pancreas decreases production by 12% every 10 years.

For some people though it can be inherited to have a pancreas that doesn’t produce enough enzymes. This can sometimes be the reason babies are born with digestive problems.

Proteins are one of the hardest things for a person’s digestive system to break down. So this is often why babies and adults too are diagnosed with a protein intolerance. These problems are rarely the case of being a true allergy because in truth it is just the inability to break down the foods.

When food goes into the upper portion of the stomach, the first thing the stomach does is secrete a little hydrochloric acid (stomach acid). This acid is secreted into the the stomach to activate the enzymes. If there are enzymes in the food and/or enough enzymes from the pancreas there, then all will be well. The stomach will break down the food into a usable form and it will go pass easily into the intestines to be absorbed and used in the body.

But… if the food has no enzymes in it and there isn’t enough enzymes from the pancreas to compensate, then the stomach will excrete a little more acid to try to activate the enzymes. But with little or no enzymes there, the stomach will continue to produce acid. Stomach acid is meant to stay in the stomach, but when there is so much of it, it is forced up the esophagus and down the intestines. This excess acid kills probiotics. And remember that probiotics are the protective coating in the esophagus, stomach, and intestines. So when that protective coating is gone it causes irritation, inflamation, burning, pain, and sometimes even bleeding. The names of many digestive disorders end in “itis”. So those diagnosases are simply saying that “something” is inflamed.

I hope I haven’t given you information overload!

And I really hope that you can find help and answers for your little one!

[hellbennt]

hang in there!

I might go back to the RTF, as you’re not the 1st one to mention that it might be better..then, I would READ all you can & RESEARCH so that you can be the best advocate for your baby

next, I’d add the zantac back! don’t just take my word on this! read!

it’s just that the prevacid can take up to 14vdays to ‘kick in’ & in the meantime if there’s not any other meds (zantac), it’s as though baby isn’t on anything at all!

I would calculate PROPER dose of zantac and PROPER dose and PROPER form & PROPER administration of the prevacid…

Prevacid 101:

scroll to the last page of this post, (it’s actually also about other PPIs like prilosec, too)

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1936&PN=0&TPN=1

hang in there!

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