2 week old with severe reflux. going insane

[surfergal]

Our two week old has just been diagnosed with severe reflux. Well at least they believe that is what it is. We spent a night in hospital and have been prescribed losec 5 mg per day. We started it yesterday. She is really quiet good during the day, calm and relaxed, but by 7 pm she is in entire agony until about 3-4 am . This is causing my DH and I as you can imagine much stress and anxiety. I am living on about 1 hour sleep per night. Even when DH takes her I can't sleep due to being stressed about her. We have great family support including my cousin who I am very close with happens to be a paeditrician only 1.5 hours away. I don't like to call her all the time even though she said it is fine as she has her own family commitments.

The Paed that we saw at the local hosptial said it should work by the end of the week, however I find myself so anxious thinking it may not work and we will have to live with this poor little baby in agony for months on end. What other options do we have it the losec doesn't work? I was thinking they will probably want to do a endoscopy? I see our usual Paed who was there at her c delivery in 3 weeks time. I hope he has some more answers for us then, or the losec has well and truly kicked in. Otherwise I am going to go crazy!:(

Also does anyone have any other tips for babies who suffer at night? Should we be giving her the losec around 4 pm? We always sleep her upright, to avoid the reflux acid burning? thanks

[cindye]

Hi surfergal

My 5.5 month old has severe reflux, which she's had from 2 weeks old. :hugs:It's so hard seeing them in pain, isn't it?

My DD is on a "tag-team" of Losec and Zantac. If the losec doesn't seem to be working well, perservere with your drs and get the doses increased or try a different medication or combination of meds. We give DD her "afternoon meds" at around 4pm, so try and find a time that works for you.

You can also give her liquid Mylanta to help in the meantime. 1-2ml about 30 mins before a feed. Just the regular stuff from the chemist / supermarket.

Are you breast or bottle feeding? If your baby's reflux is a symptom of cows milk protein intolerance (CMPI) then you may need to go on a dairy and soy free diet if you are breastfeeding her, or put her on prescription formula if she's bottle fed.

There is some great info on the RISA website and a NZ site called "Crying over spilt milk".

Reflux is just horrible to deal with, but try and remember that you will get through it. Good luck, and I hope the Losec kicks in quickly and helps your little one.

HTH

[TripleTime]

Losec, Zantac & mexium can all take UP TO 2 weeks before you notice a difference.

DS was diagnosed with silent reflux at 3 months after he stopped breathing. Now 10 months later it still can be a battle but he's loads better.

We also tag teamed losec & Zantac. There both the same medication just work differently. Losec from the inside of the gut out & Zantac from the out side of the gun in.

There is a reflux orgainisation you can join, I've found it very helpful. Not only for DS but for DF & his reflux.

You can give mylanta liquid 1ml at a time just don't give it 1hour before or after giving medication.

Putting the head end of DS's bed on bricks has helped him a lot.

Handy info- sickness, teething & food can cause reflux to flare up.

[Livvey]

DS2 has reflux too, and it's tough. As TripleTime said, the losec may take up to two weeks to kick in. Hang in there though, we started it nearly two weeks ago and i'm pretty sure we're seeing results as of two days ago.

If you're not keen on trying mylanta or zantac (neither of those worked on DS2 so we had to find other options) there a a few other things you can do....Elevate the cot a bit, so that your DD isn't laying totally flat (we've used two phonebooks), after a feed hold her upright for as long as possible, persist with burping, sometimes there's pain in there from wind too and we also find nice, gentle tummy rubs help, but only after they have vomited.

We give DS2 losec usually around 2pm, didn't time it especially, just figured i'm home at that time anyway for DS1's sleep.

You're doing a great job, and although it's hard right now, and you're tired, it does get easier. I hope you see some results soon :hugs:

[surfergal]

Thanks so much for you help ladies. DH has DD right now and she is screaming her head off this will continue until at least 3 am in the morning. I am absolutley desperate with this little bub in so much pain. She doesn't sleep in a basinette she sleeps in our bed with me as she won't settle in her basinette even with the head raised. The reflux starts gauranteed 5 mins after her 7 pm feed. I am exhausted beyond belief from living on 1-2 hours sleep per night. I want to take her back to the hospital as we are at our wits end with what to do she is so so sick and exhausted from it. I wish they would admit her into special care and give her something to stop the pain ASAP but as she is only 2.5 weeks old i dont think they can give her anything... I just don't know what to do??? My sanity is out of the window and i have lost so much weight and to exhausted i can't remember the last time i left the house?

[TripleTime]

If you awake enough to drive, go to the chemist. Get mylanta & a syringe, give 1-2ml ASAP. It will stop the acid rise & burn.

Trust me. It will help.

If you are any where near us, let me know & ill come rescue you both. Ive been doing the reflux rounds x3 for 9 months, i know my stuff.

[JessicaSleeman]

I hope you got some mylanta last night and tried it. It really did make a diff here while we were waiting for the losec to work. Hope your little girl turns a corner soon!

[Two in Blue]

:hugs: Surfergal I feel your pain! My first now 3 was like your bub. He would scream and scream day and night it was horrible! I was a mess from complete lack of sleep and stress, was not how I expected motherhood to be at all :sleeping: He too was diagonsed with reflux but nothing really helped and he eventually grew out of it. When it looked like our second may have reflux I was freaking out but his was more just sleep issues than reflux. Which leads me to a some suggestions for you that are a little different to what has been suggested but truely changed our lives.

On the advice of a friend we contacted a lady in Brisbane known as The Baby Calmer and we ended up having her out to help us for 3 days. Our son went from from bearly sleeping at night to waking once the first 2 nights then slept 12hrs straight the 3rd night!! What she taught us was to change our perspective of the crying.
Sometimes babies cry and cry and there seems to be no reason for it and we do everything we possibily can to help them and try and make them feel better but to no avail. But what she had us do was hold our baby and look him in the eye (when they were open between screams!) and listen and tell him that we were listening and that he was safe and that he could let his feelings out. It seems a bit odd but it was amazing he really responded to us and had a big cry then because all the stress had left his body he slept.

Check out her website as it explains the theory behind it a bit more. But basically is works on babies crying because they have accumulated stress from in utero, their births and then new stimulations and adjusting to the outside world. I really got interested in the psychology behind it all and since having her last year have done heaps of research into it and the info on birth psych. etc and the impact it has on our bubs is amazing. I so wish I had this info with my first as he had a tough pregnancy, terrible birth and then we were seperated for a few weeks as he was early. I now really believe that he 'reflux' was just him crying trying to release the stress from it all. He was 2.5yr when we had her come but we now listen to him cry and the change in him in the last 6mths is wonderful, he was really behind for his age but is getting close to catching up which is fab.

Anyway hope that kind of makes sense, just thought I'd throw it out there. Check out the Baby Calmer website I knew she does phone consults which could really help you. Also tried this with a friends newborn who was a c section and he slept 8hrs over night.

To try and help with the crying you could also try the 5 s's, might have to google that can't remember them all but it like, swaddle, sway, sing, something???

Feel free to PM me if you want to ask some q's.

[reAllytee]

I won't tell you how long my DS2 has been a refluxer for because I don't want to make you feel like it will never stop because there is a good chance it will, hang in there.

We tag team Zantac & Losec because this works the best for us but it is also the best way to start reflux meds overall really because the acid in the gut can often 'kill' the reflux before it gets the chance to work it's stuff so having Zantac going in for some time to begin with & then going onto Losec can often be the best method depending on how severe things are.

That being said each baby is different & what works for one will not always work for another, while most babies go great guns on Losec which is often the most prescribed med for reflux many don't find it works but have great success with Zantac & the same goes with Nexium.

Mylanta is a great 'break through pain' reliever so keep it on hand all the time !!!

Some reflux babies prefer movement so maybe try a rocker to see whether that helps as you can't always rock them yourself but some just want to be close so get yourself a Hug-A-Bub so you can still have your hands free while bub stays upright. This was my life saver cause I was unable to put my little guy down so I could carry him around & do what I needed through the day & nite even as I was often found at 3am on our computer chair rocking him while crying & posting on here LOL !

It sounds like you have a great support network which is great but if things continue I would suggest asking for a referral to a Paed GI, this is their area of expertise & they know how to fiddle with dosages of meds more for one but also looking at various other reasons etc for their pain.

Are you breastfeeding or using formula ?

Has anyone talked to you about intolerances &/or allergies being the number one cause of babies having reflux ?

If breastfeeding keeping a diary of bubs feeding patterns & when their reactions etc along with what you are eating.

The number one cuplrits are dairy & wheat for causing babies to have reflux.

Whatever you eat goes through your milk into bubs so that means cutting out any items that are causing the problem is needed to allow bubs some relief.

If you are using formula then it may be an idea to look at whether that can be a cause, sadly because the base is cows milk this can often mean it is causing pain. Many suggest going to an LF formula but sadly this isn't what is usually needed because babies tend to have a problem with the protiens in the cows milk itself. There is a similar protein in soy also which is why if they are diagnosed intolerant to this protein then soy is out also. There is goats milk & there is also prescription formula for when they are diagnosed.

Many will also suggest going to a reflux formula which I suggest not to do. These formulas are for the reflux bubs who tend to spew more than be in pain iykwim, they are thickened which makes it easier to settle in their tummy meaning they don't spew as much. The problem with these is that they can also cause constipation which means their bowel starts to push up in their little bellies against their tummy which means once their stomach is pressed more acid comes up so it can be a really vicious cycle to go to one of these formulas or a thickener. So be wary of doing so.

Sorry rambling ! Hope some of that helps !

[tillymum]

Hi, I seen a chiropractor for my bub and it did work for us.

[landofparadise]

have you tried a good probiotic yet?

[landofparadise]

Hi everybody,
The bad news is that all those medications you were talking about has very nasty ingredients in them, like talc, alcohol, saccharin, parraffin.
it's not a good idea to digest such harmful things as they could potentially cause cancer!
A good quality probiotic would help this condition!
A combination of herbs like fennel, catnip and ginger is also very powerful!

[TripleTime]

Hi everybody,
The bad news is that all those medications you were talking about has very nasty ingredients in them, like talc, alcohol, saccharin, parraffin.
it's not a good idea to digest such harmful things as they could potentially cause cancer!
A good quality probiotic would help this condition!
A combination of herbs like fennel, catnip and ginger is also very powerful!


A probiotic wont help a 'condition' they my DS will have for life.

It also wont dull the stomach acid which causes reflux.

[alternatemum]

I agree with Tilly mum, try the chiro! I would much prefer to try natural then drugs specially when they are so young.

Thats my opinion though. I've seen numerous baby's with reflux go to them and fixes them right up!

[TripleTime]

Mabelline - ive taken DS to the chiro as well. Didn't see any improvment, if anything he went backwards.

[reAllytee]

Hi everybody,
The bad news is that all those medications you were talking about has very nasty ingredients in them, like talc, alcohol, saccharin, parraffin.
it's not a good idea to digest such harmful things as they could potentially cause cancer!
A good quality probiotic would help this condition!
A combination of herbs like fennel, catnip and ginger is also very powerful!

LMFAO !!!!

Yanno that is great advice ... For those who have kids with what I call basic reflux, just the reflux that causes them to be a bit spewy & maybe a little upset.

But please please come to my house where my son screams & I means screams for hours on end without medication.

He has been hospitalised numerous times & has had various other issues to deal with.

Probiotics are great for helping gut flora, are great for helping various things I totally agree but they WILL NOT help a child with a serious case of relux or GORD as it's known.

Being that I would rather stick to meds that will mean my son doesn't cause his stomach to dettach from his oesphageous ( sp?) from all the acid & the vomitting or a number of various other issues that could happen from it & being that he is under a number of specialists for this I would take their advice from what I have dealt with.

Trust me when I say I have looked into MANY things, & tried many more & that I have possibly read more than even most doctors have on this subject & that yes many 'basic' issues can be dealt with natural alternatives & things like chiro but many can't be either.

[JessicaSleeman]

:iagree: Walk a mile.........and don't frighten others who take the advice of their health professionals.

Please remember these forums are for parents to support eachother. I don't want to come on here and be told that I'm going to give my son cancer.

Thankyou!

[landofparadise]

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/06/05/natural-ways-to-relieve-heartburn-symptoms.aspx?aid=CD945

[JessicaSleeman]

That article may be useful for people whose babies have regular reflux that causes minimal harm to the infant. However, I'm sure you'll find quite a number of cases on here where very young infants have had their esophagus' have been badly burnt and scared from severe reflux. I am a mother with my third baby suffering reflux. It took me weeks and weeks to convince a Dr that my Bub was in distress with this and wasn't merely unsettled from run of the mill reflux. I'm not new to babies, I do not expect to have a smiling and gurgling and peaceful newborn, these are very rare. I do however know when my babies are in pain, as was the case with DS2. After wasting valuable time and a packet of dollars stuffing around with natural products and chiropractors, further distressing my baby, I finally got a script for Losec and will be forever thankful that something actually worked to give my baby some relief. And I'll admit, it gave me relief as well. It's so incredibly difficult to care for a baby with such a condition, living of less than 3 hours broken sleep a day for weeks on end.

Please, please do not come on here and offer medical advice that is only aimed at alarming parents and making yourself feel superior.

[Livvey]

That article may be useful for people whose babies have regular reflux that causes minimal harm to the infant. However, I'm sure you'll find quite a number of cases on here where very young infants have had their esophagus' have been badly burnt and scared from severe reflux. I am a mother with my third baby suffering reflux. It took me weeks and weeks to convince a Dr that my Bub was in distress with this and wasn't merely unsettled from run of the mill reflux. I'm not new to babies, I do not expect to have a smiling and gurgling and peaceful newborn, these are very rare. I do however know when my babies are in pain, as was the case with DS2. After wasting valuable time and a packet of dollars stuffing around with natural products and chiropractors, further distressing my baby, I finally got a script for Losec and will be forever thankful that something actually worked to give my baby some relief. And I'll admit, it gave me relief as well. It's so incredibly difficult to care for a baby with such a condition, living of less than 3 hours broken sleep a day for weeks on end.

Please, please do not come on here and offer medical advice that is only aimed at alarming parents and making yourself feel superior.

:iagree:Well said :yelclap:

[JessicaSleeman]

Don't you just love people who come onto forums, drop alot of BS and then run!

[TripleTime]

Yep. Gotta love it.

[landofparadise]

I'm not dropping any BS here and definitely not running...
The fact that medications have harmful things in them (f.e.:fillers, alcohol, saccharin, talc) which effects our health and only relieve the symptom, doesn't actually treat the cause.
I don't know about you, but it makes so much more sense for me to treat the cause
You can hook on medications as when you stop taking them the symptoms comes back.
I provided information for those who are open minded, the rest can ignore what i said.
You can watch a great movie called Food matters.
Food Matters sets about uncovering the trillion dollar worldwide 'sickness industry' and gives people some scientifically verifiable solutions for overcoming illness naturally.

[reAllytee]

You are really willing to use Mercola as a back up to your ideas ??? Seriously ???

Food Matters ...

Yep ...

Ummm have you read up on what a lot of kids or adults for that matter deal with when it comes to GORD & how it has NOTHING to do with food ...

So let me see my choices are meds that stop my son from detaching his oesphageus (sp?) from his stomach & other health problems to being in hospital which will in turn see him needing surgery to stop his refluxing ...

Geesssss meds vs. operations hrrrmmmmmmm ....

[TripleTime]

Geesssss meds vs. operations hrrrmmmmmmm ....


Meds!!


Natural options may work with every day run of the mill reflux, but when you a child who stops breathing when he refluxs. No natural option is going to work. Even most meds dont work.

[Livvey]

I don't know about you, but it makes so much more sense for me to treat the cause


Well, from my understanding (and that of my sons pediatrician) Losec is treating the cause as much as any reflux medication will, and it depends on the dosage.
FTR, i myself am very open to alternative therapies, but when my children are potentially going to have permanent scarring in their oesophagus, it's a no brainer for me. Losec works for us.


Meds!!
Natural options may work with every day run of the mill reflux, but when you a child who stops breathing when he refluxs. No natural option is going to work. Even most meds dont work.

Yep, same here. We tried the natural approach as i'm funny about what medicines i give to my boys, and didn't see results. At the end of the day, when there's the potential for permanent damage to be done, it's so much safer to use the meds.

[Blueberry Crumble]

Oh dear, the herbal high horse.

Herbal remedies are great for mild conditions, that is all... Thank god for medications and the medical profession for serious conditions

[Livvey]

Oh dear, the herbal high horse.

Herbal remedies are great for mild conditions, that is all... Thank god for medications and the medical profession for serious conditions

:iagree::iagree:

[JessicaSleeman]

Do you honestly think that most parents decide easily to put their babies on medication?? As everyone here has said, we've explored many other options before deciding on medication. I have spent in excess of $1000 in herbal and natural products (including probiotics)and chiropractors, even acupuncture. It is not a easy option, and one that most of us would still worry about, but like reALLYtee said, it's much better than surgery. I don't find anything about esophagial reconstruction natural, do you?

We are not taking about a minor irritation here. These babies are in constant pain, not just discomfort, pain!! They fail to thrive, because they start refusing feeds. You would know yourself when you have a sore throat, how much it jurts to suck and swallow. Well these infants have RAW throats!! Let's be clear. Most of us here are not medicating our babies because their sicking up is annoying to us. I'm medicating my son because I want him to thrive and ultimately be healthy. I didn't like watchting him starve!!

Yes, I do believe that we need to seriously consider natural therapies where possible. But the fact is, that natural therapies CANNOT help all things, that is the reason why other therapies were developed in the first place. To blanket all medications as addictive and harmful is ridiculous.

[DoneAndDusted]

Seriously....

At some time or another I have tried Health Coaches, Naturopaths, Dieticians, Chiros... basically every natural remedy and therapy I could think to try to help my boys - Probiotics (many different ones), Chamomile (to help with digestive health), Slippery Elm, Aloe Vera (more for constipation not the GORD), Vega Therapy... and god knows how many made up Potions... I have restricted my own diet for 10mths to continue to breastfeed - Dairy, Soy, Wheat, Gluten, Salicylates, Glutamates and Amines...

And Surprise Surprise, although some of these things did help at times, the Nexium, Zantac, Movicol and Neocate were the only sure things to make a continued and controlled difference for the GORD and helped him to be able to 'trust' again when he was FTT.

I'm probably repeating things that have been said, but I'm sure none of us have made the decision lightly to medicate our babies and children... and it's not like we walk into Coles and pick up a pack of Losec or Nexium etc of a shelf like gripe water or wind drops to see if it might help the crying or the spit up, we see peads and gastro's and specialists who 'diagnose' our babies with these conditions.
And second to that I'm sure many of us know how hard it can sometimes be to finally receive a diagnoses after feeling totally neurotic- A diagnoses of GORD is not freely thrown about in my experience!

[JessicaSleeman]

Here here!! It is extrememly hard to get a diagnosis!! Dr's, in my opinion are being very very sure when they put these babies on medication!

[Sparklydreamer]

And Surprise Surprise, although some of these things did help at times, the Nexium, Zantac, Movicol and Neocate were the only sure things to make a continued and controlled difference for the GORD and helped him to be able to 'trust' again when he was FTT.

I'm probably repeating things that have been said, but I'm sure none of us have made the decision lightly to medicate our babies and children... and it's not like we walk into Coles and pick up a pack of Losec or Nexium etc of a shelf like gripe water or wind drops to see if it might help the crying or the spit up, we see peads and gastro's and specialists who 'diagnose' our babies with these conditions.
And second to that I'm sure many of us know how hard it can sometimes be to finally receive a diagnoses after feeling totally neurotic- A diagnoses of GORD is not freely thrown about in my experience!

:iagree::iagree:

Exactly. I hate that I have to medicate DS. I hate that the ingredients contain things that I wouldn't normally want him to have eg aluminium. BUT there is no real alternative. Without losec he refuses to drink, he cries for hours in pain, he fails to thrive. Without Neocate he was losing weight (and he started out underweight so that mattered).

I do what I have to for the overall heath of my son. That includes his mental health.

And I don't need any extra guilt thank you.