Gaviscon - does it relieve discomfort?

[LindsayS79]

Hi all
My LO has been diagnosed with reflux (3weeks old) and my HV advised me to start her on Gaviscon with each feed. My GP initially said to take 3 times a day but my HV said to do the full 6 times a day to get full benefit.

It seems to have helped her keep down her formula better today, but does anyone know if it helps to relieve the discomfort of reflux? It's so upsetting seeing her wriggling about etc and I'm hoping this may help...

My DS is on gaviscon for reflux and while he stopped throwing up all the time, I still thought he had pain in his tummy. Fast forward to several GP appointments later, I got fed up & went to see a paediatric gastroenterologist who diagnosed cows milk intolerance (DS has been FF since 4 months). He is now on Neocate and is like a different child. Make sure that you are winding frequently and keeping baby upright for 20 mins after each feed. It might help to eliminate dairy from your own diet if you are BFing, or looking into Neocate/Nutramigen if FF. good luck, it's awful seeing then in pain

It didn't work for us. If you see little or no improvement, go back to your GP and ask for Ranitidine. There are 3 dosing levels - keep going back if you see no change.

Thanks to both of you. Unfortunately my GP was trying to take me down the 'it's just colic' route but thankfully my HV took one look today and confirmed reflux.
She said to give it a week on Gaviscon and she'll look at getting something else prescribed if that doesnt work. I'm sitting here watching my LO wriggle around after her feed and it's soul destroying. I've been spending at least an hour after every feed sitting her up but mornings and nights are the worst

Oh OP. You need a GP who listens to you. I videoed DD to show the GP what I was talking about. It did help.

But.

I still had to see 6 different GPs in 8 days in order to get a Paediatric referral when it was clear, to DH & I, that we needed a specialist.

Do you have a sling? I used a stretchy wrap - I was able to eat! A sleeping wedge? Have you been on the littlerefluxers.co.uk site? Lots of very knowledgeable people there. There are long running threads on MN. A High Needs Baby thread in Sleep and a reflux thread (can't remember where).

Have you considered any other possibilities? CMPI? Tongue tie?

Thanks stargirl. I can't believe the hassle we have to go through to have GPs believe that our LO's have reflux!!
Thanks for all that info, I'll look it up. I don't think she has tongue tie.
I do have a sling and I think I'll be using it a lot once DH goes back to work next week and I'm on my own!!

Hi OP, poor you and poor lo with reflux. I've had 3, all with reflux so I can empathise.

I say 3 with reflux but please just bear in mind without a scope (camera) exam reflux can never be 100% confirmed. You and the medical professionals just have to go off your best estimate based on lots of symptoms. The other thing to bear in mind is that all babies have a touch of reflux as the little flap to the stomach is underdeveloped for a number of months, just some babies are much worse than others.

My first found gaviscon great relief. She was a different child after going on it around 12 weeks. Every moth or two we tried taking the gaviscon away to check it was still working and she immediately got worse until c10 months when it all resolved itself.

Second baby gaviscon was tried first and it didn't work, then we moved on to ranitidine, the losec and finally a pedeatrician recommended a formula milk called Enfamil. It thickens up when it hits the acid in the tummy. It was fab!!! She stayed on it til around a year.

Third baby settled on ranitidine and he only needed it until around 5 / 6 months.

It's all a bit of a testing game to wait and see what works.

Other signs can be if they are hoarse sounding, or sneeze a lot or get more distressed lying on their backs. Our pedeatrician recommended our ds to sleep on his front with a mattress monitor to check breathing (we used the Nanny brand and it was great) and he got huge relief from this.

Also try raising one end of the crib (stick a few books under) as the tilt can really help.

Hope all goes well for you with the gaviscon but if it doesn't work move on to try the next thing ASAP as the thing about reflux is its all trial and error so sooner you can find something that works happier you and baby will be!!

Oh and if she's keeping her feeds down she will definitely be more comfortable, watch out for the little signs I mentioned though as they can be "silent" ie non puking signs of reflux