What the heck is going on? Blood.

[Anonymous]

Here I am posting again-sorry to be bombarding everyone with questions, but the saga continues…

Ian got his liver sonogram today and thankfully, everything is perfect. It’s just a generous size, but completely healthy. We saw GI after and went through all of our options and have decided to start testing and figure out what the heck is going on. We’re going to do an endoscopy and flex sig to check out colon, reflux, allergies, etc. We have to stick with Elecare. Only problem is, he’s not eating it again. Finally after an hour, got him to take about 3 oz to which he wrigged and pooed during (good) then changed diaper and for the first time saw the dreaded coffee grounds and mucous. Scary. So it looks like it is an intolerance (gosh-I pray not an allergy). Glad we stopped Alimentum after two days-it hit really fast. Now, he’s sitting in his chair doing the bearing down thing again and pushing! He’s had a poo every day-what is that? Any ideas besides stool? It’s also making him fussy.

I’m thinking about going back on Simply Thick to see if he’ll eat better- not sure if that caused this problem in the first place, but what can I do? It can’t get stuck in the digestive tract, can it? I’ll email the company since it is a gum.

So bummed! Has anyone seen blood in child’s diaper and had it just be an intolerance that they grew out of? Or does the blood make it more of an allergy? I still don’t know where he got this-we don’t have allergies, our families don’t have allergies, and I was really healthy in pregnancy-stayed organic and gained only 25 pounds. Very sad.

Thanks again for listening.

Tracy (Ian’s mom 9-26-05)

[Anonymous]

Hi Tracy,

We have not gone through the blood issues, but there was a time I thought I was crazy and tried one bottle of soy. BIG MISTAKE! Dylan had GI issues for over a week to work it back out of his system, so I guess what I am saying is it could have been the Aliemntum that fast and it may take a little time to work it’s way back out of Ian’s system.

I would just give him a little more time to work the alementum out before doing anything new. Some of our biggest mistakes were doing too many things at once.

Hopefully others will have advice!

Hang in there! I’m glad the liver is good!

Ann Marie

[Anonymous]

I am glad that their is nothing wrong with his liver! Hopefully the endoscopy will help out alot!

[Anonymous]

I THINK but am not sure that coffee grounds usually point more to
allergy, not intolerance, but I could be wrong. They will be able to
tell with endoscopy I think. Allergies are often hereditary, but not
always. And even true allergies are often outgrown – it just takes
longer – like he may not be able to have any dairy until at least 2
years of age.

I agree with Ann Marie – don’t change too many things at once. What did
Dr. Moon think about the ST? I don’t think that would have caused a
problem and if it helps him eat the Elecare…

Glad also the liver is good. When are the other tests happening?

[Anonymous]

So glad the liver turned out to be ok, hopefully the additional testing will give you more answers. It will take a few days for his system to heal again after the Alimentum, the mucous and blood are signs of intestinal irritation. At the moment Tyler takes about 3 days to recover from food reactions, but things heal alot quicker if they are on Elecare only. I dont blame him for not wanting to drink the Elecare after having something a bit more tasty. See if your doctor will allow you to sweeten it for a few days with some golden syrup.

We have no allergies in our family except my dh has seasonal hayfever so we have no idea where Tyler’s allergies come from. Our dietician told me that he has a 99% chance of growing out of it by the age of 2 or 3 so we are hopeful. Children that have severe excema and hives type reaction are less likely to outgrow.

Hope he feels better soon.

[Anonymous]

Both James and Andrew had blood and mucous at various times as infants, and neither turned out to have allergies, just intolerances. Andrew could eat anything by 12 months. James still has trouble with milk (but he’s ok w/ yogurt and cheese.) He no longer gets the blood, but stomach cramps and loose poops if he drinks milk. So don’t despair – whether allergy or intolerance he will probably be fine by 1 or 2.

[Anonymous]

Sorry that Ian is still going through this. I’m glad to hear that everything looks good with his liver though- that’s a relief. Good luck with the additional testing. I hope you get some answers and solutions.

[Anonymous]

Thanks all. Good to hear that he still has a chance of outgrowing it. Positive thinking will get us through, right?

Just one note on the Elecare though-for some reason about a month ago (we’re still not sure why-still think probably backed up), Ian started refusing to eat it. Not because of taste-because he kept going back to it ravenously but kept pulling away grunting and squirming-then one day he decided no more. We switched to Alimentum and he went back to 30 oz (but obviously can’t keep him on that). Now, he’s slowly doing the same thing. This time it does seem kind of reflux related but the last month it seemed gas/digestive related. He’s going to have to stay on this and I’m getting very nervous we’re looking at a feeding tube soon (He got weighed today and hasn’t gained in a month). Doctor is having us up the calories in formula for now. He ate it great on ST but we took him off it when these new pains started. Hoping ST didn’t cause it. So frustrating.

As for testing, the doctor wants to see (among other things) if Ian has any eosinophillic disorders. This is mainly because he’s on Prevacid and Elecare and still has problems. Also, he hasn’t been able to tolerate anything. I’m at the point where I’ll be so glad to know.

Side note-was ranting in GI’s office about the mspi situation and she told me something interesting. Her son also had a really tough time with breastfeeding and she switched after a month to formula. She said he had problems with foods and she was in denial to think it was allergies because they didn’t run in her family. Well it turns out he’s allergic to both milk and peanuts and she now carries the epi-pen. She said it’s interesting how foreigners who move to america (she’s Korean) have these problems come up whereas in other countries-such as hers and say Africa, do not have these increases of intolerances. Yes-pollution, environment, cleanliness play a part, but more likely it’s our food-with everything being pumped up with steroids, pesticides, etc. it goes into our bodies. For example, peanut oil is used more than any other oil. Restaurants sneak it in all kinds of dishes for flavor and then a pregnant woman consumes it. I’m not any kind of authority on this, but I found it interesting. Just thought I’d pass it along. Actually maybe it’s common knowledge and I’m just finding out?

All an education.

Tracy

[Anonymous]

Tracy – one thing our ped gi doc said to me was that because MSPI involves the immune system that whenever they are sick, all the reflux and bottle refusal symptoms will come back temporarily. They might not even have a fever or seem to be sick, but they can still have an infection. This is the same as after immunizations. It is just so frustrating trying to find out what the problem is, it would be so much easier if they could tell us. I really hope he doesnt have to get a feeding tube.

I have heard that the types of foods we eat now are causing allergies. Our dietitian told me that she actually went over to Japan a couple of years ago to educate doctors and dietitians about allergies as they are now seeing an increase in allergies and have no trained medical staff to handle it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Amber. That would make sense since he’s been sick 2x this month and the weird bearing down/not eating came after a doozy virus. I also think they get into habits as well-he’s still bearing down/grunting/pushing now even though he’s had some great poos over last 3 days. Didn’t do it on Alimentum-who knows? At least he’s happier on Elecare and feels good.

How long has Tyler been on elecare now? What kind’s of foods is he able to tolerate? Things are going well, I hope? Dietitian sounds really helpful. We’re going to see an allergist too for sure.

Tracy

[Anonymous]

Interesting what Dr. Moon had to say – and makes some sense too. I
guess if/when I get pregnant again (not for at least 3 years LOL) I
will try to eat out less and cook more organic foods.

Tracy – when would the other testing be happening? Can you flavor the
Elecare with anything in the meantime? Does the doctor think ST could
have caused any problems/are you going to try it again?

Re upping calories in formula – just know that it can lead to
constipation since formula is more concentrated/less water intake. Can
you try to get some extra water or Pedialyte in him to make up for that?

Amber – I’ve heard that too and Marisa’s symptoms definitely flare up when she’s sick and after shots.

[Anonymous]

She’s calling me Monday with times. Her calendar is pretty booked so she’s trying to squeeze me in earlier than mid March right now.

No one seems to think the ST could have caused this since it is a fiber and we were using (literally) just a couple of drops in each bottle when he started these weird movements/bearing down. Then he did this for almost a month on just elecare (no st) and when we switched to Alimentum, the symptoms magically went away (except for mspi-which is worse). Then we go back to elecare (sans ST) two days ago and the symptoms come back (even though he’s pooing)-grunting, rejecting bottle, pushing/bearing down. My husband and I crumbled last feeding and gave him the ST and he ate 6oz (with little problem). We’re so confused but bottom line, he wasn’t eating and we’re desperate. I’ll talk to Dr. Moon on Monday about using it again and I’ve emailed the makers of it to see if they’ve heard of this before. We’re thinking, who knows, maybe it is acid reflux-since the only thing we changed when he started all of this was we weened him off prevacid (and he did do well for 2 weeks) and we lowered the ST to barely nothing. Maybe the acid is in his stomach and just manifesting itself in a different way then the alimentum. On alimentum he just wouldn’t bend (which he’s doing again-thank god!). Nutramagin he definitely arched and although he did eat- cried during feeds.

It always amazes me how I can go on, and on, and on. Sorry-I just like to put all the info in there in case readers forget. I know there is alot of info on this board and sometimes I have a hard time keeping everyone’s stories strait.

We are giving him 4oz of extra water a day (not juice-disaster) and we put 1/2 tsp of MoM in it. She doesn’t want to risk backing up right now. Just gave it to him and he did his weird elecare thing-going to bottle, pulling away-wriggly-like gas, frustrated, etc. Then I syringed it to him and he was so excited and smiling/laughing. Do you think it’s ok to try a sippy cup? When do people do that? Was wondering if maybe teething’s involved? But he does take a pacifier…If it was reflux there, wouldn’t it bother him syringed as well??

This is so weird!

How’s avocado going??

Tracy

[Anonymous]

Hopefully she can squeeze you in – let us know.

I would worry about giving the ST as “crumbling” – I don’t think it
caused the problems and it helps him eat and keeps him on the Elecare!
If it were me, I’d definitely use it.

I know you had a hard time with prune and pear juice (as did we). But
if he doesn’t like to drink water from the bottle, what about white
grape juice?

It’s definitely OK to try a sippy cup. It’s never to early to try. You
may want to check out the Nuby ones – they look like a bottle but not
quite or the First Years Take and Toss ones. Both are a bit easier than
“typical” sippies with valves.

So far well, knock wood. We started yesterday and she didn’t like it –
but it was just mashed with some water. This morning we blended with
some formula and she liked it much better. No reaction so far – her
usual fussiness of the past few days, which seems to be largely
teething related (and her gums look TERRIBLE).

[hellbennt]

sippy cup: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2639&a mp;TPN=1

[Anonymous]

Tracy, hope things are improving.

Tyler has been on Elecare for a bit over 3 months now and does great on it. At the moment he tolerates chicken, potato and pumpkin. He reacted to rice, sweet potato, pears, apples, brocolli, zucchini and oats. We are trialling sweet corn at the moment, fingers crossed.

We use a sippy cup with a straw as the others are too much like bottles and when Tyler was having problems with bottles he just thought it was the same and wouldnt drink out of it.

The ST really sounds like the answer for you, I would stick with what works. Hope you can get to the bottom of his other problems though. Keep us posted on how he is going.

[Author]

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