Very Worried

[Anonymous]

Hello, I am new here and was hoping that you all could give me some advice……

My 4 month old daughter was diagnosed with GERD, 2 weeks ago. When we went to the Dr. she was vomiting her formula, arching her back, screaming in pain, and not eating as well as she should. She had gone from being in the 80th percentile to the 50th percentile in her weight and was not doing well at all.

My pediatrician 1st had me try adding rice to her formula, this did not work. She would gag and refused to eat, so then he had me put her on Nutramigen, the vomiting slightly decreased, but the paid did not. So then we added Previcid.

Last week she did really well, and all of a sudden over the weekend it got bad again. She is refusing to eat, and is going as long as 6 to 8 hours between feedings. When she does eat she vomits it all back up and is pain. While trying to feed she is arching her back again and is very unhappy.

I called my pediatrician 1st thing this morning and am waiting for him to call me back. I was just wondering what’s next? I have heard that babies with severe cases usually have to have surgery and I am so scared for her. Please Help!

[Anonymous]

Hi and welcome,

Sorry to hear about your little girl being so miserable. I hope you can find some good advice & support here.

How long has she been on the Prevacid & what dose is she on? (if you don’t mind me asking). It sometimes takes a couple of weeks to see the full effect of the Prevacid (It took that long for my son, but then it made a HUGE difference). She might also need a higher dose.

And last, how are you administering the Prevacid? Unless it’s the compounded kind, it’s best to give it on an empty stomach followed up 30 minutes later with a meal.

Good luck, and I hope you can find something to help your little girl feel better.

[Anonymous]

Hello and welcome,

Like Heather said it can take two weeks to see the full effect of a PPI medication like Prevacid. And unless you’re using the compounded version you need to give it on an empty stomach and then follow it up with a feeding 30 minutes later. Also, many doctors under dose our babies because they are not aware of the current research which shows that due to their high metabolism infants usually need a higher dose than adults and need to take these meds two to three times per day instead of just once. You can read about this research at http://www.marci-kids.com They have a dosing calculator that you can use to see what dose they recommend for your baby.

My son was a huge spitter as well and the PPI meds don’t do much to stop that. The meds are mainly used to stop the acid production and the pain. Once the baby is no longer in pain they will eat better and most babies will eat enough to grow normally despite frequent vomitting. Since she’s already dropped percentiles I’m sure her doctor will monitor her weight gain closely.

There are things that can be done besides surgery to help her gain weight. Getting her on a good enough dose of Prevacid to control her pain so she eats more may be all she needs to gain steadily. If not then they can try motility meds, but our doc uses them only as a last resort if baby is not gaining becasue of the possible side effects.

Well, good luck. I’m glad you found us and I hope your little girl is feeling better and eating better soon.

[Anonymous]

She is currently taking the 15 Mg Solutab, in the Prevacid. I have to put in a syringe with 4ML of water and give it to her that way. She has usually had a bottle when I pick her up in the afternoons so I have been giving her the meds at 7:00pm, she generally doesn’t eat for at least 1hr after I have given her the meds.

The pediatrician is sending her to a GI, so I will talk to them about changing her dosage around. Could the type of bottles I use make any difference? I am currently using the Dr. Browns bottles, but I have wondered if using the Playtex bag bottles would be better so I could make sure there is no air in the bottle.

Can anyone give me a heads up on what to expect when I go to the GI? Will they run test?

[Anonymous]

It would probably be better to give her the meds 30 minutes before feeding her. An hour may be too long for it to work properly.

I used the Dr. Brown’s. I think they’re better than the platex disposables.

[hellbennt]

welcome!

please please go to the Introduce Yourself forum & click on the 1st post- it’s ‘stickied’ & it’s called ‘Groupie Intro’–

it’s my welcome/intro & it has a lot of info to help you-

please bookmark it so you can return to it as questios arise…it’s long, but really should help

glad you found us!

~laura

[Anonymous]

My guess is that she needs a higher and more frequent dose of the ppi. I really do recommend checking out the Marci Kids info. and taking it with you to the doctor. Sometimes they aren’t all that interested in what a mom has to say, so you should have something to back you up!

[Anonymous]

i agree with everyone! def check out marci-kids.com and look at dosing, many of our babies got no relief until on the marci kids dose. its also important to administer the PPI properly.

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