Colic starting at 9wks or reflux getting worse?!!

[LindsayS79]

Hi all
I feel like I'm stalking this forum asking for advice all the time as I'm a clueless first time mum!
I'm completely baffled with my LO last night and tonight.. She just turned into a little screaming soul after feeding her at about 6pm tonight and while trying to feed her last night at the same time.
She's on ranitidine and has always been unsettled in the evenings, but its been a lot better over the past few weeks. I think the ranitidine has helped.
Now I'm wondering if she's just developed colic due to the intensity of her screams. She isn't pulling her legs up, but is straightening her body out so rigid that I struggle to handle her. She's taking in air because of the screaming so that just creates a vicious circle of pain!
Does anyone know if colic can just appear so bad at 9 weeks?? Thanks in advance

I had terrible problems with severe reflux in my DS from when he was only 2 weeks old. He kept getting worse and the repeated visits to different doctors were worse than useless. Reflux is probably one of the most misdiagnosed illnesses in babies as Doctor's automatically tell you it's colic. If your LO is in that much pain it sounds like reflux to me and be aware of silent reflux, that's where the acid is still burning their wee throats and food pipes but they don't actually throw up or produce anything. I would definitely keep going back to your doctor's (and ask for a referral to a paediatrician at your local hospital if necessary) as you shouldn't let your LO continue in that discomfort and agony. I fought a lengthy battle to get a solution for my son and eventually after trying Gaviscon mixed in his bottles, ranitidine and omeprazole all at different times, the best combination that worked for us was omeprazole once a day in the morning with his first feed, I had to dissolve a tablet in water (I used to put a wee bit juice in it to make it taste better) and then he only got given part of the solution, not the whole dose) and then Gaviscon in every single bottle. Then by the time he was 11 months, I weaned him off all meds gradually over a week and he was fine after that. As they start sitting up, moving around and eating solid food, it strengthens their muscles which helps to prevent the acid leaving their stomachs and making it's way up their food pipes. Hope this helps, just be tenacious, you know your LO better than anyone and if you feel in your own gut that something isn't right, then keep fighting until you get resolution. It's not normal for babies to be in agony after feeding, they should be content and sleepy. Good luck and if you need any more info etc, feel free to contact me x

I have experience of 2 babies with reflux and I would say it's best to assume that the pain is caused by the reflux. You say your DD is on Ranitidine. Are you aware that the dosage needs to increase regularly in line with their weight gain? You need to get your GP to do this every 3-4 weeks at least.

Also, the Ranitidine has a limited shelf life and you need to get a new bottle after it's been open a certain length of time (I can't remember exactly how long, but certainly no longer than 4 weeks). I also found with DD1 that after an initial improvement on Ranitidine, she worsened again. It turned out that she was on the lowest dose for her weight. There is a "range" of safe doses - get your GP to tell you what the minimum and maximum safe doses are for your DD's weight and you can increase the amount gradually as far as the maximum until you see a difference. DD1 needed to be on the highest safe dose for her weight.

I would second getting a referral to a paediatrician ASAP as GPs own knowledge of reflux seems to vary drastically. Paediatricians can also prescribe Omeprazole if the Ranitidine doesn't seem to be working. I hope things improve, there is nothing worse than your LO being in pain, especially as it is often unnecessary if the reflux is properly managed.

Good advice MinnieMousse, but Lindsay also be aware that ranitidine may not work for every baby, if the reflux is very severe, omeprazole seems to work better. Ranitidine did little to help my son and my friend (who is a Doctor, although not ours unfortunately!) and it was his advice that led to my son going on Omeprazole. The paediatricians at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow (the main kids hospital in Scotland) all use Omeprazole as the drug of choice and their opinion is that ranitidine is 'old school' and not as effective as Omeprazole. Just don't let your wee one suffer while the doctor's bugger about, it's totally unnecessary and ironically, I now suffer from reflux myself, my son was breech and a big baby and his head caused no end of problems with my internal organs and I know have a hiatus hernia. I have to take omeprazole twice a day and it breaks my heart to think of the agony my poor wee baby was in before they got it under control. It's just absolutely horrid

*now

We've been through the same thing and it's been horrendous. It turned out baby had a hidden tongue tie and once that was snipped, his latch improved do he gulped less air and felt less pain (of trapped wind).

Apparently reflux can be caused by tongue tie too. I'd say his reflux is less painful now but he still vomits if I don't feed him upright so it shows it hadn't resolved completely.

The important thing is that it's improved. But it was a hard 3 months I can tell you! My GP refused omeprazole on the grounds that they have to exhaust everything else first. It seems to be a postcode lottery as my family work in the local NICU and say there have only been 2 cases in about 3 years that she knows have been prescribed omeprazole. All the others have ranitidine.

Apparently shelf life of ranitidine depends on how it is presented to you by the pharmacist.

If they've reconstituted it for you it's a short shelf life, but if it's the trade name Zantac syrup then it's a 2 year shelf life.
read the last page of this manufacturers information sheet

atrcts - I'm in shock - my son had a tongue tie and nobody ever told me that this either was or could be the cause of his reflux!!! Tongue ties are hereditary in my family, my Dad had it, as did I and then my son had one. He's the only one who had bad reflux as a baby but bizarrely my Dad and I both suffer from it badly as adults. The doctors advised against snipping my son's tongue tie though so I guess I'll never know for sure if this was the cause of his reflux (as he was bottle fed) but I sure am interested and glad you shared that piece of information, thanks! x

With both my sons reflux started at about 8 weeks, peaked in awfulness at about 4 months but improved after that. Luckily infant gaviscon was enough to treat it and they were off it by 6 months.
So it could be reflux getting worse. Hopefully it will be manageable for you but it is a hard time. Esp if you are breastfeeding, it is hard not to hate feeding time - I felt every time that I would give up bf but I knew bottle feeding wouldn't help, although it would make me feel less like I couldn't feed a baby properly!

Thanks everyone for your help. I'm going to get the HV to check for tongue tie today when she gets her vaccinations (dreading that..)
I'm also going to try and get omeprazol as GP said she would prescribe this if I wanted. But does anyone know if you switch, is it like starting again? I know the ranitidine took 2 weeks to kick in and the thought of going cold turkey for that length of time is not a good prospect..!!

Lindsay I think some people continue with ranitidine for a couple of weeks after starting omeprazole to give it a chance to start working and not leave their LOs in pain.
Good luck.
My DS had awful reflux and CMPI, reflux went away at 7 months, but he was massively better on omeprazole.
I now have a month old DD and history is repeating itself :(

Lindsay, DD2 transferred from Ranitidine to Omeprazole and as duende said we kept up the Ranitidine for a few days while we started the Omeprazole. If you get the Omeprazole tablets they're a bit of a pain to administer. Make sure you ask for Losec MUPS. We were prescribed a "cheaper" version and the tablets didn't dissolve properly - impossible to give to a baby!

Thanks that's good to know. Tbh it's a pain giving her the ranitidine as she hates it so much!!! She quite likes a wee sip of cool boiled water so I would hope I could get the omeprazol down her!!