Reflux and Bowel Issues

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

Well, I am at it again with #3! Miss Amanda has reflux, but so far not quite as bad as her older brothers. But that could be because we jumped on it right away this time with her.

She is currently taking Axid for the reflux.

But I’ve noticed with all of my children that in addition to the reflux, they have terrible issues with their bowel movements, gas, tummy troubles.

I’m wondering if reflux and other GI problems tend to go hand in hand.

All of my children had very infrequent bowel movements. And quite often, they could be classified as constipation ( constipation is defined by consistency of the movements ( ie: loose vs. peanut butter thick ), not the frequency ).

Also, they had terrible gas and terrible tummy troubles. Often, Amanda does not seem to have gas, does not seem to be refluxing, but will draw up her little legs and whince and cry. All we can do is move her position around. Mylicon drops don’t seem to help. I am occassionally giving her Gaviscon but not sure it’s helping.

My boys were both on Levison drops early on but the pediatrician said yesterday she doesn’t prescribe that anymore.

The tummy troubles seem to keep her from sleeping comfortably. She will be sound asleep, I will lay her down and in a few minutes she is awake and whincing like something is hurting her. But I’m pretty sure it’s not her refluxing, just seems to be more like something in her tummy.

SO – just thought I’d take a poll and ask what your experience was and if you found anything that helped with the other GI issues.

BTW – I have to admit, it’s a bit surreal to be using my website to help myself with my third child, but I’m glad to have this as a resource too!

Sorry for being so long-winded!

ForumAdmin2008-04-03 13:25:26

[Anonymous]

First of all, congrats on Miss Amanda! I am sorry to hear she has reflux too! I bet it is weird coming to your own site for advice but

it will be nice for us to ‘pay back’ so to speak since this site has been a saving grace for so many of us.

Anyway, I definitely agree with you about GI issues and reflux going hand in hand. In fact, Seth still suffers from reflux and whenever he gets constipated, we are almost certain to be in store for a bad reflux night.

He was always very gassy as an infant too. Before he was diagnosed with the reflux, we were giving Mylican drops around the clock.

I really do believe that a lot of reflux babies do have immature/sensitive GI tracts and every little thing seems to throw them off.

Can you maybe try to give some Mylanta before each feed? That’s what our ped. suggested after the Mylican did not seem to help. Moving his legs like a bicyle seemed to help with the gas too.

Hope Miss Amanda gets some relief soon! How old is she BTW?

Mom2Seth2008-04-03 13:52:57

[Anonymous]

Congrats on Miss Amanda. Cooper had horrible gas from day1. I tried to get gas drops in the hospital and they wouldn’t give them to me. Luckily dh is a pharmacist in the hospital so he just went and got us some. We still use them but not as often. Cooper didn’t really have bowel problems but he used to poop 5-6 times/day (after every bottle). We started probiotics and then solids and now he goes at least 2x/day and sometimes 3-4x/day. So I would say we have frequent poops. I would love him to be a 1 a day pooper but I don’t think he ever will. And he still has really gassy days and that means a bad sleep night too.

[Anonymous]

For Myles I think most of his digestive issues were due to having DGE along with reflux. His doc says many babies with reflux also have DGE to at least some degree. The DGE contributed to his constipation, infrequent stools, gas, and poor appetite. Eliana didn’t seem to have DGE (or she had a more mild case) so she had fewere GI symptoms. She definitely had gas, but mainly the kind that needed to be burped up rather than passed the other way.

Congratulations on little Amanda. Sorry she has reflux. Ugh…it’s definitely genetic.

[Anonymous]

Hi Karen,

Saw the picture and she is beautiful!!! What a sweetheart! I wrote you a post before, but I don’t see it here, so I think I voted and then thought it posted?

Anyway, I would say for us it was that “something was not quite right” thing. Things are a big blur now, but I remember using the mylanta cherry supreme when I wasn’t sure what was wrong. It helped, but not sure if others have better advice.

Congratulations on that sweetie!!!!

Ann Marie

[Author]

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