Reflux misdiagnosed as colic?

[ess]

My dd (6mo) didnt have her reflux diagnosed til 4 months. The doctors kept persisting it was colic and that she "would grow out of it". Her reflux is the silent type so there was no vomitting and she was putting on weight. However, she was in tremendous pain and the whole period was extremely stressful on all of us. I am thinking of putting together a letter to the BMA as it has been my experience that GPs know very little about this problem and no advice was given to us on how best to deal with this condition. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Please CAT me if you have and I can include these incidents in my letter.

[lilsmum]

ess, i know how you feel, they said my dd had colic and had me giving her calpol and colief, it wasnt colic...it was lactose intolerance.

it was me who did the research and told THEM, and they had never heard of the lactose free milk SMA LF, once her milk was swapped she was a much happier baby, but dd and i could have carried on suffering if i had took what they said to be true

i know this isnt about reflux, but i just wanted to say i understand how frustrating it can be.

good luck with your letter, xx

[ess]

Lilsmum, my dd has lactose intolerance too and the doctor wanted to put her on soya milk. The doc hadnt heard of SMA LF either and they sold it in the chemist next dorr to him! She still has colief in her milk and I found it quite helped. Thanks for your message. I think as mums its best to trust your own instincts and not always believe the docs. My doc tried to give dd Enfamil milk with Gaviscon in bottle last week. She reassured me this was ok but I checked with Gaviscon and they said it would have caused a major obstruction!

[lilsmum]

ess, it disgusting how little they know isnt it?!

it comes to something when we, as parents, have to tell them what it is? how to treat etc

i always joke and say, the internet is my GP not that it is funny really.

colief didnt help my dd at all, and to think i was pumping calpol into her before every feed, and she didnt need it . every feed she had was awful, her stomach would be cramping, full of wind, and she would just scream and scream, and her nappies were awful too, and i felt like a failure as i coldnt relieve the pain.

the good news of it all is, she is now 18mth and can eat everything, she had 6 mths on the SMA LF and then i gradually weaned her back onto normal formula and she was fine.

my nephew was a sicky/crying when feeding baby from birth, but didnt really show any other symptoms (like runny nappies) my SIL never realised he was lactose intolerant till he was 8 mths old, now he is 15 mth and still lactose intolerant(plus other allergies) as no one picked up on it early enough

you should definately complain though, stand up and make sure they listen.

are you using SMA LF now? if not a really would give it a go, make your GP give you it on prescription though as it is costly.

xx