gp refusing gavison for reflux

[Thefaceofboe]

First off I just want to say my baby was born at only 4lb but was perfectly healthy. At around 3 weeks she started spitting up some of her feed (breastfed) and as the weeks have gone on it’s got a lot worse. She is now proper vomiting after every feed but is gaining around 30g a day, no idea how!

She is clearly in pain and only manages to settle after she’s been sick. I’ve done all the suggested things like changing position to breastfeed upright, winding, holding upright after feeds etc.

At her 6 week check up the gp just told me she would grow out of it and gaviscon wasn’t necessary.

At what point do they think gaviscon would be necessary? Losing weight? She’s still only in tiny baby clothes at 7 weeks and I’m worried that even though she’s gaining weight, she would be gaining a lot more without the vomiting it’s making us so miserable and I don’t even want to leave the house at the moment.

That sounds really tough. I think it’s really unfair of the GP to just brush it off like that, reflux is nasty!

I would get an appointment and insist you get something for your little one.

Could you try speaking to your health visitor? Mine agreed and then approached the doctor who wrote the prescription. Initially it was for carobel as they were reluctant to give gaviscon. However he was allergic to carobel so then moved on to gaviscon. I think that I was also able to buy it from the pharmacy when I was away and ran out so that might be a possibility for you?

Is it projectile vomiting straight after a feed? Pyloric stenosis should be ruled out. She's about the right age for it.

Is it projectile vomiting straight after a feed? Pyloric stenosis should be ruled out. She's about the right age for it

I wouldn’t say it’s projectile but it’s forceful vomit. Sometimes it’s just a mouthful where as other times it’s a lot more. I find if I’ve just fed her she will sick up the milk she’s just had which is followed by lots of curdled milk which is proper sick.

I have just phoned the doctors and have a call back this aft so hopefully I can get sorted.

I’ve not watched it yet, but a friend shared a live today on reflux, it’s on the babyrefluxladyaberdeen IG page!

@Thefaceofboe any luck OP? Sometimes speaking to a different doctor will help.

Reflux does need treating and Drs often dismiss it. However it's no great shame they won't give gaviscon as it causes constipation in babies and makes them really uncomfortable. Which isn't ideal when you're already dealing with an uncomfortable baby. The best thing I ever did was pay for a private consultant about my DCs reflux as I would have never got anywhere with GP.

Hi, sorry for leaving the thread hanging. I spoke to a lovely doctor who prescribed gaviscon straight away and said the other doctor should have done the same due to her low birth weight. She’s on day 2 and considering stopping. She’s been so unhappy since and is constipated (I know they say it’s a side effect but didn’t realise how quickly it would affect her )

She also seems to have awful wind. Has anyone any experience with using gaviscon alongside infacol?

@Thefaceofboe

She also seems to have awful wind. Has anyone any experience with using gaviscon alongside infacol?

I would stop taking the gaviscon and put up with the reflux rather than giving her extra medicine to combat the side effects of the first medicine.

If the reflux isn’t stopping her sleeping and she’s gaining weight I’d just get in with it.

Sorry though OP it does sounds really frustrating

If the Gaviscon isn't working out for her there are other drugs. I would request an appt with the same GP and see what she suggests. She may be too little for the Gaviscon at the moment, it does cause constipation.

Don't put up with the reflux. It's horrible for you both and needs treating.

If you are still breastfeeding, have you checked your diet to see if it might be something you are eating which affects your milk? My eldest only had really bad reflux after I ate Chinese food - took me three meals to work that one out! My youngest had a serious reaction to me eating strawberries.

Infacol constipated my DD really badly.
Definitely don't give her both.

Was she more uncomfortable before the Gaviscon or now that it's been prescribed?

Hi Op have you tried cow and gate carobel?
It thickens the milk but doesn't cause constipation ime, I think you have to go up a teat size though as it's quite thick. (if you do the full thickener dose you may need extra wide teats)
I used to only put one scoop in so it wasn't really thick but not as runny (basically played around with it so it still worked with the size 2 mam teats).

Although it didn't completely stop the vomiting it made it a lot less frequent. I understand how you feel it's horrible isn't it.
They don't just do gaviscon they also do antacid tablets like omeprazole, but you have to push for those, really emphasise how miserable the baby is.
I tried gaviscon but it just is swapping one problem for another and made my DS even more miserable.
Another thing I found useful is tilting the cot mattress up and not placing him down to sleep flat right after a feed, giving it 20 mins to half an hour, If I placed him down straight away it would all just come back up.
I found after going on solids there was a lot less sick up and gradually it stopped.

I came on to say no great loss, gaviscon isn't great with BF babies but I see your updates. Can you go back to GP and ask for something tjng else? Or ask to be referred to paediatrics?

We got ranitidine and that helped massively, but that's not available right now due to a drug recall. But there are alternatives to it.

Also, look know CMPA, with hindsight, I think my DS had a dairy sensitivity when he was little.

DS had awful silent reflux although I had no clue that’s what it was. I breast fed for 4 months and it was awful, we tried loads of positions and nothing worked. I had to wean him at 4 months because of something totally unrelated. I didn’t want to as was convinced breast was best etc but I gave him his first bottle when he was in his car seat (was a long time ago when travel systems were new to the scene) facing me. He couldn’t get it down quick enough, had no issues afterwards and never looked back. The sitting position in his car seat was perfect for him (in those days babies napped in their car seats and no one worried about their backs etc) and he just preferred not being held to feed.

if the reflux isn’t stopping her sleeping and she’s gaining weight I’d just get in with it

She was in pain with the reflux though

Another thing I found useful is tilting the cot mattress up and not placing him down to sleep flat right after a feed, giving it 20 mins to half an hour, If I placed him down straight away it would all just come back up

I’m done all of this and doesn’t seem to make much difference. I’m also BF so can’t use the thicker milks.

It could be something diet related but how do I know what? I don’t eat any spicey food and nothing too acidic so unsure where to start?
I’m seeing the HV this morning so I’ll see what she suggests and then phone the GP. I’m just gonna stop the gaviscon for now as it seems the constipation upsets her more than the reflux did

I would try giving up dairy to see if that helps.

I had two babies with reflux. The Gaviscon can cause constipation - I used extra water to help but this is hard to manage with BF babies. I would speak to the GP about an alternative. Also reflux is often associated with cow's milk intolerance or allergy so you could try removing dairy from your diet and seeing if it makes any difference. Soya can also cause similar issues with reflux.

If your baby is quickly posseting then happy after every feed it isn't necessary and it will have stopped at the end of the fourth trimester usually. I was prescribed it because my baby would continue to cry after posseting so it was a problem for the baby rather just upsetting me if you see what I mean.

Hi this is very strange as I am in the exact same position with our 7 week old twins but only the boy! GP said the same and so did their colleague.

So I bought the aptimal anti reflux formula. It has worked wonders and our boy is so different.

It's thick though so you need to get a quicker flowing teat.

I have also booked him in with a cranial osteopath next week and too to alleviate some symptoms (my friends all swear by it)

You could try cutting out ALL dairy from your diet for a fortnight and add if that helps.

Hi OP, I'd advise checking the kellymom website (there is a section on reflux) for bf specific advice. May also be worth contacting a breastfeeding helpline- have a Google there are a few- and looking up if there are any breastfeeding groups in your area. Sorry to hear little one is suffering - hope it improves soon. My first I think had reflux although no one was interested as he gained weight well. It really improved after 12 weeks but up until then there was a lot of spitting up / vomiting and not much sleep!

Omeprazole helps with the pain.
Gaviscon takes about a week to kick in but the poops are horrible. Didn’t work for my baby though.
Carobel can help- you can give it to bf babies- mix with a bit of bm and feed with a spoon just before.
At around 6 weeks ask the dr to check for any blockages.

Reflux cries are the worst so fight for what is right. No baby should be in pain.

My middle DC had reflux and it took ages to be diagnosed as well. It just got worse and worse as she got older. Gaviscon didn't do anything, she then had ranitidine and omeprazole, and anti-reflux milk (combination fed)

The advice I had at the time was to keep a strict diary. What you eat and when, when baby feeds and her symptoms. Thay helps work out if it is food specific.

I have a newborn and pretty sure she has something going on. She does the occasional projectile vomit but it's more the discomfort - arching her back, crying, refusing to lie flat and lots and lots of dirty nappies. I've just started a dairy free week to see if that makes a difference and going to keep the diary like before.

Possetting is one thing - my first DC possetted after every single feed and it was frustrating but fine. The reflux baby was a whole different ball game.