just reflux or an intolerance/allergy ???? help

[yasmin247]

Can anyone please offer any advice.... my 10 week old baby has been poorly now for almost 8 weeks. ..Symptoms are:

• A blotchy rash which comes out every now and again. It never completely goes and seems to remain under the skin.
• Constipation/loose stools
• fussiness / crying at the bottle
• sick after every feed
• seems uncomfortable after every feed
• when put down (at an angle, never flat).. is still wriggly and does back arching. Extra info:- The wriggling and the being does start after baby has taken feed. Although she can be wriggly during feed too. We tend to wind her during and after feed. Sometimes wind comes up easily sometimes not and to be honest it doesn't seem to make any difference to the sickness :-(

She can also start to be sick up to an hour after feed. We tend to see the following pattern..
Sick immediately after feed - milky
sick about an hour after feed, the texture is thicker and the longer the time since the feed the more watery it becomes.

Last night for example, baby fed at 7.30. We kept her upright for half an hour as we always do and as soon as we put her down the sickness started. It carried on until 10 pm. It doesn't matter how long we keep her upright for either and occasionally she is sick immediately after feed.
Baby is currently on omeprazole and domperidone and the dosage has already been increased twice :-(

In a nut shell?. we have been back and forth to the doctors and paediatricians and don't seem to be getting anywhere. We started baby on cow and gate stage 1, switched to comfort milk, then paeds changed us to hungry baby milk.. then lactose free milk after baby's stools tested positive for reducing sugars. Still no improvement so was changed to neutramigen, this seemed to make the sickness worse. Now the paeds don't think baby has any intolerance or that it could be a cow?s milk protection allergy, they just think its severe reflux... changed last week to a reflux milk and although baby is now taking more ounces, she seems sluggish, is still being sick just the same and seems uncomfortable after every feed..
I spoke with allergy UK yesterday and was advised that neutramigen does still have cmp in it although it's broken down so the body shouldn't recognise it.
We keep asking to be referred for allergy testing but appear to be wasting my breath.

Feel fed up, a little stressed and worried about my baby.. has anyone experienced the same/similar or have any advice please ??? :-(

Don't have any answers but didnt want your message to go without anyone replying. If she seems sluggish I think you need to go back and insist. If there one thing that having DC has taught me its that you have to insist. Have you got someone you can take with you for support?

Thanks for your reply.
My friend has offered to come with me. Im determined to try and stand my ground but they have a funny way of making you feel stupid sometimes.

That's so true. It can be easier to get your point across when there is someone with you and I always find it hugely irritating when I am taken more seriously when DH is there.

I think they are changing everything far too quickly. You need to do 6-8 weeks on a hypoallergenic milk before you conclude it's not working. Was it Nutramigen 1 you were on? It's a hydrolysed milk where the CMP is broken down by enzymes. 70% of CMPI babies will be ok with it, the most sensitive 30% need Nutramigen AA or Neocate which are made from amino acids. The milks are thin in texture which can result in an initial increase in reflux.
Can I recommend the book Colic Solved despite stupid title and the support website Little Refluxers, both of which helped keep me sane.

The allergy testing not that likely to be useful. Positive results helpful, negative results tell you nothing. Most CMPI babies have non IgE mediated reactions, hence will me negative on allergy tests,.

Hi bakingtins
Yes baby was on neutramigen lipl 1.. the sickiness seemed to get worse on this, I'm not sure if it it was a coincidence or just the reflux getting worse.
One paed thinks it is cmpi and another just reflux which doesnt help us.
I agree, I think baby has non ige reaction as all her symptoms were delayed.
Since being put back on full fat milk so to speak she has become sluggish like and is falling asleep at the bottle. We have vari flow teats on the bottle so we know its not that. What is odd is that she can have a feed, eventually settle down and then an hour or so later start being sick and then once it starts it just goes on and on. Her feeding pattern has gone silly too on this milk. . Its as though it isn't satisfying her :-( lets hope the review today goes well .

Thank you for your recommendations x

We had the same problem, lo is now on neocate which has no cmp and reflux meds, they suspect cmpi! Nutramigen made lo sicker because its only partly hydrolised (broken down) Make sure u do ur research and tell them what you want rather than let them experiment with the cheapest options first!