Up every 1-1/2 to 2 hours still

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone. Since I last posted a couple of weeks ago, Andrew started doing better, then has slid right back downhill again.

As a refresher, he didn’t seem to be helped by 8 mg 2xday of Zegerid (as prescribed by dr). For a while I tried no meds…big failure. Lots of horrible pain through the nights. Went back to Zegerid, but upped it to 12 mg 2x day. Gradual improvements. Had two nights last weekend where he only woke once and was easily consoled with a little Mylanta. Since then it has been downhill. The past three nights, he’s been up every 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Sometimes Mylanta works, sometimes it doesn’t and I end up nursing which starts the cycle all over again.

My questions:

1. Is it normal for us to have this very short “honeymoon” where Zegerid works for a day or two and then it starts being less effective?

2. Has anyone ever tried picking up their sleeping child BEFORE he wakes in pain? Does that help? I was thinking that since Andrew wakes so regularly, I could try setting my alarm and going in and picking him up and holding him upright for a few minutes while he sleeps. Perhaps that change of position would help prevent the reflux pain from waking him at his regular intervals???? Any thoughts?

Thanks, Dianne

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear he’s still suffering with reflux pain and not sleeping well. I wonder if his Zegerid dose might still not be high enough. Did you check http://www.marci-kids.com to see what they recommend for his age and weight?

I would think that running in there to pick him up before he wakes up would just wear you out and you’d never know if he would have slept if you hadn’t gone in; well I would wonder if it was me.

Is he sleeping on an incline?

Maybe an H2 blocker at bedtime? Some moms here have found the combination of PPI during the day and an H2 Blocker at bedtime to be the answer for their babies.

Are you still on the Elimination Diet? Could it be something you are eating?

[Anonymous]

Hailey also wakes up really frequently at night. It’s exhausting. We’ve found though that picking her up doesn’t make the reflux any better, just makes her more comfy b/c mommy is there- but she still arches, and cries, and thrashes… same symptoms, just settles easier b/c I can tend to her more quickly. She even sleeps on an incline and I don’t know that’s helped her at all. The most important thing for us has been to make sure that the prevacid dose is high enough. Even at her highest dose, she’s still shown signs of flareups and discomfort at night. But she had an endoscopy that showed no more damage, so I knew that at least her acid was being well controlled. Has your son had any tests done?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the responses. I know that he is underdosed for the Zegerid, but don’t want to up it anymore without talking to the ped again. (I switched peds and this new one was quickly willing to read up about marci-kids and prescribe Zegerid. I have already upped the dosage myself from 8mg to 12mg, but don’t want to alienate this helpful new dr by upping it anymore before talking to him. I plan on getting an appt this week.)

Andrew is sleeping on an incline. I don’t know if it is helping his reflux or not, but he will at least be comfortable rolling down grassy hills when he gets older – he’s getting lots of practice.

I appreciate the suggestion about the H2 blocker. I will talk to the ped about that. Maybe suggest that we up the Zegerid to the Marci-kids dose first, and then if that doesn’t work then try adding a H2 blocker.

I am still on the Elimination Diet and know that he is not reacting to anything right now. “Thankfully”, one of his responses to intolerances is that he develops a rash – so it makes it quite clear when he is reacting to a food vs. having other problems.

As far as tests, we had an upper GI back in September as part of his FTT issues (before the MSPI dx), but that test was done before his reflux became the monster that it is. Also it was a fasting test, so the reflux might not have even shown.

He hasn’t had an endoscopy done. No doctor has even suggested it. For those who have had it done, what difference has it made in your child’s treatment? Is there a change in medicines after seeing the results of the endoscopy?

I am sorry, Lori, that Hailey’s reflux still flares up at night, but it is helpful to know that “controlled” reflux doesn’t necessarily mean “no” reflux at all.

Last night, actually, was much better than I expected. He woke (like clockwork) every 1-1/2 hours at 11PM and 12:30…and then he slept until 8:30!! I am glad that I didn’t set my alarm to go and pick him up as a proactive measure.

Thanks again for the responses.

Dianne

[Anonymous]

rolling down grassy hillslove your style!!!

[Anonymous]

LOL about the rolling! Hailey also does this.

[Author]

Posts