to need a bit of mn expert guidance for reflux meds

[ledkr]

Hi all,dd is 13 days old has been in hospital with aspiration pneumonia,it was discovered she has reflux which may have caused the pneumonia.
Been discharged on gaviscon-6x daily in bottle.
Domperidone-4x daily and ranatidine 3x daily.

Also monitoring her intake of milk.

Any other parent got any tips,i am giving gaviscon in bottle is that the best way? The other meds i am trying to do in the day so not so much to remember/do in the night but is that ok too?

Hi, hope DD is soon on the mend. Its 2 years ago since I had to deal with reflux but from memory, you're doing just what we did. Rantidine with 3 meals and an extra domperidone before bed. DS was fine really soon after we started on the medicine so hopefully your DD will be too.

bumping

I can't advise you on the meds as I'm not a doctor but have you tried (in addition to meds) other methods to help?

I found feeding in a vertical position and propping up cot helped. Also are you bottle feeding lo or giving meds mixed with water then breastfeeding? Bottle feeding means increased wind meaning more distress and vomiting, so if I were you I would be bfing as much as possible. Attempting to give a daily bottle to my dd made things much worse, and she also had even poorer weight gain.

Hi ledkr

With the gaviscon I was mostly BF so used to mix it on a spoon with some expressed BM then syringe it into his mouth.

Ranitidine I also gave 3 times daily in a syringe, when he got up, at lunchtime then about 9ish which is when DS1 used to go to bed at that age. Domperidone you have to give half an hour before a feed - try not to give domperidone at the same time as ranitidine and to give the ranitidine plenty of time away from the gaviscon (this is v difficult when they're feeding every 5 mins I know)/

Ranitidine worked on DS1 after about 10 days - gaviscon was fairly useless and made him constipated so I stopped it. DS2 gaviscon also useless and ranitidine didn't work either so he went on to omeprazole which made him about 60% better.

If you are FF exclusively it might be worth talking to your doctor about trying one of the thicker formulas instead of gaviscon - I think Cow & gate do a comfort version and SMA do a staydown version - do take advice on this though.

Good luck, it's a nightmare isn't it.

Yes - you are doing it the right way. Reflux is caused by the sphincter muscle at the top of the stomach not closing properly. This is usually an age-related thing, and spontaneously corrects itself in due course. If the sphincter muscle isn't closing properly, acid from the stomach can get back up into the oesophagus and that causes the pain and distress of reflux (the oesophagus is more delicate than the stomach and doesn't like acid). Gaviscon forms a 'raft' which sits on top of the stomach contents and if your DD is kept reasonably upright when feeding, the acid can't get back up to the oesophagus to cause the discomfort because it has the raft of Gaviscon floating on top of it (think of it as a protective cushion!). The fuller the stomach, the more likely reflux is to occur, which is why reflux tends to kick in shortly into a feed - the stomach is more full so the contents are closer to the oesophagus.

Are you BF or FF? If BF, just dissolve the sachet in as little boiled cooled water as possible and give via a bottle immediately before feed. It won't give your DD any increased wind. If you are FF, just pop it in the bottle, as per instructions.

If it's any help, my DD also had reflux and I found Gaviscon to make an immediate difference. Hope your DD feels better soon.

DD2 was FF and suffered with reflux. Gaviscon was useless. I was given Enfamil AR which is anti reflux milk. This work more or less immediately and DD2 was like a different baby. Hope this gets sorted soon

I gave my baby gaviscon and it made her so constipated I couldnt stop crying. Apparently, they get used to it and stop getting constipated but I found I just couldnt do it to her. Probably no help at all to you, but just wanted to say watch for the constipation (warm baths helped!)
Enjoy your little one!

Abenstille - yes, unfortunately that is one of the side effects of Gaviscon. It's important to keep fluids intake up for that reason. If need be, and if child is used to a bottle, giving boiled cooled water in addition to feeds should help that, but I know it's hard to get them to take water.

[I don't work for manufacturers of Gaviscon, honest, but I am a pharmacist ]

I second that Gaviscon was useless and just made ds constipated (to the point that he actually split his bottom )

I gave Donperidone 1/2 hour before feeds I bf and demand fed as well so this was hard on everyone but was managable. and then ranitidine right before feed..

Ranitidine stopped the screaming within a week. he was like a different baby, seriously it was a godsend

Donperidone helped with the sickness but he was still sick, but I would say halved the amount he was sick..

Good luck it is the pits.. but it all stopped for us when he was about 9 months old... xxx

Zingzilla DS would take water but it was guaranteed to resurface within a couple of minutes sadly..

Sorry to hear that, bump - am guessing that's why your DS had domperidone and ranitidine too? Glad it stopped for him - it really is a very upsetting experience.

I just wish reflux was picked up earlier in so many cases. There is still a huge lack of awareness amongst healthcare professionals and I'm tired of seeing it being written off as colic when it clearly isn't!

I used to keep mine propped upright for feeds and a good while after, and thicken milk with carobel, a milk thickener that you mix in the bottle.

But, as someone else mentioned, there is a baby milk called Enfamil AR which is here

I found that keeping upright and the thickened milk helped more than anything else you could do, you can prob stop the meds if you find it works - if it is going to work you will notice within a day or 2, good luck!

I agree zing. Our son was sick from day one. midwife in hospital said i was over feeding him, HV kept saying it was fine the huge yellow (BF) bouts of sickness were nothing to worry about. He dropped almost a lb in 4 days after comming home. Midwife checked his latch and signed him off as she said it was normal and he was fine, didn't address the constant crying at all. We went to A&E when he was 3 weeks old as he was feeding all the time then being sick all the time and they admitting him within the hour....

After a 2 day stay and some very invasive tests he was diagnosed with reflux.. if only my mw and hv had spotted it then he wouldnt have had to go through the first three weeks in so much pain...

Hi my 2 year old has reflux. His was the silent reflux type and he was in hospital for choking and apnea, he would choke all day long and stop breathing. He screamed 24/7 and we got NO sleep for days on end so I really sympathise. We tried everything, I breastfed for 11 months but it didn't make any difference when we tried formula or going dairy free etc.. the only things that helped were..sleeping in a hammock bed (AMBY), LOSEC Mupps tablets helped about 50% with the irritability, never lying him down totally flat. Other than that the only thing that helped was getting bigger.

We saw NO improvement till over 12 months when he could entertain himself and take his mind off it, about 19/20 months he became much better. He still has the reflux even now (2 years) and is still on meds but he doesn't choke so much now and it is managable now and more of the odd inconveinience than constant misery. He still has some feeding aversions as well but we managed to get him on solids at about 15 months after a long struggle.

In most cases though it goes away by 12 months. I had an excellent book called 'colic solved' which is about reflux (rather than colic) and covers everything including the scary choking etc incidents, i highly recommend it, it helped me get through the bad days and gave me hope!! Hope you see some improvement soon.

Jellybeans your post has been so encouraging to me as DS2 15 mths still has symptoms...I have 18 months as my next goal! Agree losec helps somewhat with the irritability but not a cure He too has food aversions - his food is currently the consistency most 9/10 mth olds would take - strangely he will have dry toast or apple i.e. completely dry foods; but not mashed food or lumpy e.g. bolognese.

I hasten to stress to mothers of younger babies reading this - most babies including DS1 grow out of this between 6-12 mths

OP also I think I am right in that you are BF your little one. We were adviced that I give up dairy while feeding ds as there are links between reflux and babies not being able to break down the cows milk protein.. I did it cant say if it worked or not as he was on medication..

Other things we did:

book under matress to keep him upright where possiable
never lift legs when changing the nappy but roll from side to side instead.
Keep upright for at least half hour after feed (this didn't work for us as he was still sick)
during the day and when you are there lay him on left hand side (dont know why this was but still we tried it lol)

sorry Jelly and shamechanger that you are both still going through this.. It really is awful!!

We were lucky, got a diagnosis within a few days. Straight on domperidone and gaviscon. Dc was a different baby very soon after starting on the meds. We also did books under the cot, keeping baby upright careful dressing and nappy changes don't lift legs and don't change after a feed. Lots and lots of muslin squares. 9 months old now and loads better. Hope things start looking up for you. Op.

We found gaviscon very helpful at first (diagnosed at about 8 weeks) but wore off as reflux peaked at months so gave up. Ranitidene definitely helped soreness in throat. I also tilted the cot (was almost vertical with my first child) and carried in sling as much as possible.

With all three of my children, the reflux got miraculously better at about 7 months when they could sit up independently - don't know if strengthened back muscles and had knock on effect on everything else. Until then, persevere and sorry to hear that your daughter has it - it is a wretched condition.

Thanks all.Its all made more complicated by dd having a cleft palate and she aspirated some milk,causing pneumonia and she has only just come home from hospital.I cant bf as i have had a mastectomy,due to the cleft she is a slow reluctant feeder and has now lost some weight too.The meds have cetainly helped and she is no longer sick or back arches but she is def a little constipated,i cant give water cos she needs her milk too much and only takes 50-60mls as it is, i am mixin the gaviscon in the bottle atm.

your poor dd and you. Hope she is quickly on the mend.

We had the same meds as you initially, they helped a bit. We ended up with omeprazole by 6 weeks which helped with the screaming but he still vomited most of every feed and developed failure to thrive.

We thickened his feeds (expressed BM), used some high energy SMA and had a ready supply of cloth nappies, on shoulder, in car,cot, everywhere, to mop up the never-ending vomit. We found they were much more absorbent than muslin.

My Dr advised making up the formula slightly weaker - ie one less scoop per bottle. This did seem to help as mine were never constipated on the gaviscon. Be guided by your professionals though. Hope things sort out soon