going down hill

[mumofone]

Hi

You might remember me. We have a wee girl who has reflux. We have been going great guns for quite a few weeks. But suddenly it has all gone down hill.
She is now really fussy everytime we give her a bottle, crying, screaming when we offer even when she has been all night and is hungry.

Starting to get a bit frustrated and stressed. Do you have any tips for making this easier again, what could be causing it.
We tried Solids for a couple of days and has been worse since then,

1. Can relux rear its ugly head again ?
2. Could the solids have hurt her stomach ?

What else could it be ??

any ideas gratefully recieved, I am heading back to work next week, so would like to get her back to normal by then.



Thanks

Gendy


ps she doesn't have any temps or anything that looks like being unwell.

[RISA]

Hi,
Of course I remember you, though I have to admit I don't remember what treatment you ended up doing.

I'm sorry to hear that you are dealing with reflux again, but yes, unfortunately, it can happen. I would recommend taking her to the doctors in the first instance, just to have her checked. It doesn't hurt, and sometimes the drs can pick up a problem that we may not have noticed- we just have our instincts telling us things are going pear-shaped again, and it is important for us to listen to our instincts.

Reflux can flare for all sorts of reasons, or it can just be that it is cyclic (though generally the cycles are a bit shorter than a few weeks!!) the kinds of things that can flare reflux are infections (even mild ones like colds), being over-tired or out of routine, teething, vaccination, hot sticky weather, or even crawling.

Do any of those sound possible? It could also be that if she is getting more active and rolling around a lot more, that may even b e enough to trigger it, especially in conjunction with everything else.

and can the solids have hurt her stomach? it's possible, either she is just not quite ready for solids, or another possibility is she doesn't tolerate that particular one. How soon after solids did you notice she worsened, and what happened? What solids did you try her on?

Do I have her age worked out wrong, or is she a little early to be starting on solids? Was that done because she had become unsettled again, or was there another reason? Sometimes it just doesn't work, and it's better to wait a bit longer.

I have had another thought- does she take Zantac? If so, that may be part of the problem as it is a weight related medication. If she has grown and put on weight, then her dose of Zantac is effectively smaller than it was. It needs to be increased as they put on weight.

If you haven't noticed any of the things that I mentioned that can flare reflux, it may be worth checking her mouth to find teeth, pondering whether any vaccinations were given close to when she started to worsen again, or if anything happened to interrupt her routine. Even just one day can throw them out enough to flare it, even if it looked as though things were well under control.

Sometimes unfortunately, you just may never know. You can drive yourself nuts trying to figure it out (been there, done that). Sometimes I've even hoped for some kind of infection, as weird and awful as that sounds, just to explain why things have suddenly worsened like they have. Often there was nothing I (or the drs) could see!!

I hope I have given you some ideas all the same, and I hope you can figure it out. I would think a visit to the drs would be helpful too,

Glenda

[mumofone]

Hi

We stoppped the zantac back in Dec as it made her more unsettles anmd have just been using the herbal rhubarb and Ginger. kezia is 19 weeks, and with the solids she was watching us and reaching so we thought we would give it a go. We've stopped them after 2 tries. The paed said we could start and would help the reflux.

She took the bottle just now no fuss, can't seem to find any teeth, doesn't seem to have a cold and its got colder here in Ballarat now.

might try and get an appt with the doctor.

THanks

[RISA]

Hi,
Well the normal flares don't seem to be an obvious factor. It's great that she just took th bottle no fuss, so perhaps (fingers crossed) whatever it was, has settled again. Reflux can do that, and it can be so confusing. You may never work out what it was that stirred it all up, but I hope it all settles back down as quickly as it started.

If it doesn't settle down, perhaps the drs would need to look at trying a different medication? As she gets more active, perhaps the herbal remedy isn't effective enough? Just wondering if that's a possibility.

and yeah, sometimes early solids, or thickeners can be really effective for some refluxers- for some it is like a miracle cure, but unfortunately for others, it isnt the answer. Sometimes doing that can make their reflux much worse too. At least you know you tried it, and it didn't work. That's one option crossed off the list.

I think it is a good idea to see the dr if it doesn't settle down. I hope they can come up with something. and goodness, weather that is cooling down (sounds glorious as I'm still melting LOL)

Sorry I wasn't able to be much help,

Glenda

[mumofone]

Hi

shes taken all bottles today with no problem. So maybe it was just a flare. See how she goes. thanks for your help.

[RISA]

Hi,
That's great news!! Long may it last!

Glenda