oh wise wonderful women of mumsnet, lend me your teats

[eandz]

Sorry for the title, My 4 month old son and I are having a problem and I'd really appreciate your help. Please.

Rewind to 8 weeks ago and my bm supply diminished because of a flare up of an auto immune disease (Stills Disease) that I've had since childhood. I tried really hard to get my bm back, I even flew home so my mother would prescribe prolactin to help. It didn't work and needless to say I've had to use formula, but I still try to get my son to latch on and suck as much as he can during the day and night. I would love to keep breast feeding. So far I'm lucky if I get a drop out while he's sucking or 3 ounces.

He has always vomited after every feed small amounts. I didn't worry, I read that it's never as much as it seems so dismissed it. Anyway, before I knew it, he had colic. Very bad colic. I switched formulas, I bought the bottles (Dr Browns and Born Free), we tried Colief, Infacol, gripe water. I just learned to live with it and kept him upright during and after feeds until his body relaxed and he'd burped. His burps have always been loud and they have always shaken him on their way out.

But about two weeks ago, his vomiting became projectile. After every feed, he spits up excorcist style. Whatever is behind me is be covered in puke and (thankfully) my shoulders are often left unscathed. His burps are sharp, loud and just feel grizzly coming from him. The gp has prescribed domparadone and renititdine. I've been trying the medications this week and his symptoms were at least stable last week without the medicine. But with the medicine his symptoms have increased in severity. I've called the gp and tried to explain, I've taken my son in to be seen but they really aren't helpful, they keep dismissing me and telling me to keep using the medication.

I've continued with the medication, but there has been no change. He won't sleep at night unless he's in the sling upright and I'm standing. He will not even let me sit down. He will not be held in any other position except upright, and if you hold him the wrong way, sit down or even try to lay down he screams. These days his body doesn't seem to relax for more than an hour at a time and then he's wailing again.

Help us please!

[JamesAndTheGiantBanana]

I don't know a lot about this stuff but have they saidhe's got reflux? if you can't put him down, that's a classic sign.

[JamesAndTheGiantBanana]

There's an article here about reflux and what you can do to help. Sorry I have to go to bed now, but I do hope you get some help off MN and that you both get some sleep. x

[eandz]

yes, they did say it was reflux, they gave him the medicine for it, but it's not getting any better. it's only getting worse.

my biggest concern is that the medicine is making it worse.

[treedelivery]

Shit! Sounds like hell!
There will be loads of advice coming your way. Have you looked at cranial oestoepathy [sp? at this time of night?]

[eandz]

thank you jamesandthegiantbanana. will read the article now.

[eandz]

treedelivery
i've been told about cranial osteopathy, I haven't looked into it more than looking for a place that can do it soon. The soonest I've found an appointment for is the week after next.

[Aitch]

eandz, it sounds awful... you poor thing. i second the cranial suggestion, but mostly i'm just sending you a bit of a squeeze, you sound like you've had it really tough this last while.

[treedelivery]

God bet that feels like a lifetime away. But get it booked I guess next week will come. You may even get some sleep between here and then.
Is there a chance he is loving the upright sleeping with you think AS WELL as the reflux issue?
I get reflux, and have had spasms that have seen crash teams assemble for suspected heart attack such was the magnitude [yes really! ] and I found the anti-acid producing meds quite helpfull so I'd guess carry on with them. But it must be awful to worry they are making it worse.
Ask for referral to paeds?

[treedelivery]

Yo have probably seen it but this is informative
www.cranial.org.uk/page3.html

[Jacksmama]

He could have pyloric stenosis. That's the valve that goes from the esophagus into the stomach is very tight and narrow. In thin babies it can sometimes be palpated (felt) just above the stomach but it usually diagnosed by ultrasound. Please mention this to your GP and ask them to check for it. It does require a small surgical procedure to correct. This is a Wikipedia article that explains it.

[eandz]

treedelivery
i think it's a definite possibility that he just likes to be upright, but 2 weeks ago he'd settle for being on his back for at least a few minutes.

i'll call the gp for an appointment and take a print out of the wikipedia article if they get dismissive again. alternately i'll schedule an appointment with a private pediatrician.

i'll also still keep my appointment with the cranial-osteopath person.
...

is there anything else that i might be doing wrong? i'm losing a lot of confidence with how things are going now.

he's also sleeping a lot, but i think he's sleeping because he's just not getting a good quality of sleep because he's always in the sling.

[Aitch]

imho dd2 gets a better quality of sleep in the sling, she's right next to my heartbeat, completely comforted. it's even better than the amby hammock, dare i say?

try not to lose confidence in yourself, poppet, he does sound like a difficult baby to look after right now, i'm sure you are doing everything you can to make him happy. but it's hard when you think they're in pain, it's the worst, really, isn't it?

[eandz]

oh and thank you aitch for the comfort jacksmama for the article and jamesandthegiantbanana for the other article

[Aitch]

you're most welcome. can you get someone to take him in the sling for a few hours while you get some sleep? things often feel better after a nap (as i tell my three-year-old ).

[eandz]

oh, i get about 3-4 hours of sleep a day a day which is good. my husband takes him for a bit of the night. during the day my best friend takes him for an hour so i can clean up and get some stuff done and then in the evening my husband takes him for more time so i can make dinner and his lunch for the next day.

i don't mind anything except his crying and obvious pain.

[Aitch]

it must be hard, i can't bear it when mine are crying like that. sounds like the pyloric stenosis might be worth looking into for you both.

[treedelivery]

Wrote you a big post full of strenghtening positive vibes and computer crashed. Argh!

Just to say I think you're doing marvellously trying to chase down a treatment and managing to rest, using the meds which are tricky I know, and using the sling. Lots of people have been reduced to simply rocking in another room by crying so your doing great! You've been really resourcefull, I hope the GP can refer you on or you can get an opinion re the stenosis.

[Aitch]

lol at lots of people rocking in another room. so true...

[eandz]

well lets not get a head of ourselves. a private corner in some clean dark room sounds promising.

[treedelivery]

It's my personal standard that I can rock, sway and possibly moan or gibber, so long as I'm not swigging from a gin bottle at the same time.

Seriously though it's unbearable for mothers to think of them in pain. Just tears the heart out. So do let us know how you get on at GP.

[eandz]

yeah i will. as soon as they ring me back with an appointment time. but i'm still wondering if there are things i could be doing otherwise. y'all are very helpful!

i wonder what everyone else does.

[Jacksmama]

have they rung you back yet?

DS didn't have reflux but I read on some other threads that frequent, small feeds work best... sorry, you've probably been told that a few hundred times [feeling useless emoticon]

[eandz]

jacksmama

don't feel useless because i've never been told that, but noah only feeds little and frequently anyway. which is why he hasn't slept through the night yet.

ok, here is what happened:

they didn't call me back at all yesterday, so i went in this morning with crying baby in tow and sat there until i was seen. after hearing noah cry for soooo long they just gave up. the gp gave me a 10 minute slot for the 15 minutes i waited to be seen. but i know other people have to see the gp too. anyway they upped his dose minutely-- according to my postnatal thread her daughter who weighs less then noah was given double the dose. then they told me to come in on friday to see how the upped dosage has gone. i told him i wanted to see a pediatrician, i wanted the special prescription formula, and this cream that will help his milk/drool rash.

he said he'll go through my demands on friday after we see how noah does on the upped dosage.

[treedelivery]

Are you ready to kill or burst?

Am projecting onto you but thats how I'd be I think

[Jacksmama]

Oh I'd be !!!
Your "demands"????

AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Could you possibly increase the dosage a bit more on your own and see if that would help? You said your friend's DD was given double the dose and she weighs less than Noah? That should be ok then shouldn't it?