Reflux medication

[Ajahd]

My 7 week old has had bad reflux since birth. He was combi fed and would be sick on both formula and breast milk. Now he's just formula fed solely.

He was put on gaviscon which made him constipated so was given lactulose. The lactulose didn't do much and he was still passing hard poos so I tried him on the antireflux formula as he started being sick again despite taking gaviscon. The sickness wasn't as bad but he's clearly in a lot of pain as he only poos once every 2-3 days. He's always straining so it looks like he needs to go, he just can't. His belly always feels really hard as well. I've continued giving him the lactulose with the anti reflux formula but it doesn't help too much I don't think as even though his poos are soft, he's going days between movements. We obviously stopped the gaviscon when we started the antireflux formula.

I had our postnatal check scheduled for today so I brought it up to see if there was anything else we could try, as trying to fix the constipation is just trying to resolve the secondary cause. I've seen on here other babies have been prescribed different treatments for reflux and that it's just about finding the right one for your baby. The Dr said that there weren't any other options for reflux that wouldnt cause constipation, so she prescribed Laxido, which appears to be for 2 years + but after speaking to the pharmacist he can still have it. However its a sachet that you mix with 60ml of water and I honestly can't see how I'm going to get him to drink 60ml every day as he's never been good at spoon/cup feeding. We have syringes but I think that would take hours.

I'm also worried that his little belly will be filled with this medicine mixture rather than food.

Are there other options available for reflux? I really feel at a loss for my little man. He's clearly so uncomfortable and I just want to help him feel better.

Bump

Hi OP have you tried the reflux milk? We have just started cow and gate anti reflux and it’s a total game changer!

He's been on it for a week and a half now. It worked at first but now he's still stuck after a feed. And it's made him so backed up and uncomfortable :(

Sick after a feed that is

There are absolutely other medications for reflux.

Go back and ask for antacids. He's struggling with the reflux.

My baby is on gaviscon, only has been for a week. She has silent reflux and very poor feeding. Speaking about something stronger tommorow because it's not been great and she's now constipated.

But do speak to them again. They can be reluctant to prescribe anything bar gaviscon (because it's cheap), but you should insist if he's struggling.

Sorry I read wrong - I though they told you there weren't any other medications.

From my experience with my older son, gaviscon caused constipation but the antacids didn't at all.

@CountryGirl36
My 8wk son has silent reflux and was prescribed gaviscon. It only got rid of the clear sick up and not the other symptoms (severe grunting, uncomfortableness, hard swallowing and holding breath for a couple of seconds whist on his back).

Did your little one have these other symptoms and have they gone after using cow and gate anti reflux?

After doing the gaviscon for 10 days and it not doing anything for the other symptoms, I switched from Hipp comfort (he had constipation when born) to cow and gate anti reflux yesterday. Again, the sickness has stopped but we still have the other symptoms PLUS 4 x very bright yellow runny poos in the last 12hrs... and still going by the looks of it.

Please tell me this ends soon?

@Ajahd I feel your pain regarding the reflux.

When my 8wk old was on gaviscon, we were on Hipp Organic comfort and whilst it didn’t get rid of his reflux completely, he didn’t get constipated. Maybe comfort plus gaviscon could help you?

Yes all symptoms except occ wind have gone. Poo is like a paste now instead of the runs (sorry tmi 😂) and no sickness!

I don’t think you are meant to use comfort milk and gaviscon as it’s double thickener then?

My little one is on omeprozole, which has done the trick for him but its only because his reflux was too severe for the gaviscon. There is one in between called ranitidine but apparently nobody can currently get it not sure why.

@CountryGirl36 not with all comfort milks but hipp you can because it’s 100% hydrolysed protein. With other formulas you can’t. Double check with your health visitor and/or doctor. But that’s what my doctor told me. Good luck

@CountryGirl36 how long did it take to kick in?

@MummySept2020 the sickness stopped instantly! We are on day 5 now and she is a different baby!

@CountryGirl36 sickness went straight away for us too. Just hoping the grunting and squirming stops at night, soon. Oh and the runny poos that started last night (6 since last night!) 🙈 This is our second say of having just cow and gate anti reflux.

The grunting and squirming haven't eased and he's s been on anti reflux for two weeks now. He's on aptamil anti reflux though, I wonder if the cow and gate is any better. I have the HV coming tomorrow so I'm going to ask her what she thinks. I hate seeing him in so much pain. He pooing once every two days and he's usually so miserable inbetween because he's so backed up.

@Ajahd I hope they find a solution for your little one. Let us know how you get on.

@Ajahd cow and gate and aptimil are the same milk. They are just marketed differently. Go to the doctor. Health Visitors are a bit useless when it comes to medications.

If you get no here with gp insist on a referral to a ped.

It’s 14 years ago but we got omeprazole for my dd as she was in pain and not gaining weight, it was a game changer, she started feeding and sleeping so much better within a few hours . Gaviscon made her constipated too. DS has silent reflux, it took many visits to and from hv and doctor to get the medication.

My son had silent reflux. Wouldntnsleep lying down for the first 3 months so me and dad took turns stayingnawaken48 hours holding him or with him strapped to us. We started with gavoscon, it caused constipation and didnt really solve the issue. HV saw my son feed after having been given gaviscon and heard him scream in pain, suggested pyloric stenosis because of family history so ended up in A&E, got given cow and gate thickening powder instead (carobel). It helped for a few weeks with less constipation but not all symptoms gone. It stopped working after a few weeks, got given omeprazole (btw ranitidine is currently unavailable in several European countries) issue was: didnt dissolve fast enough to be effective, so got given a liquid suspension. That nearly killed him (suffocation). We now use zoton, it has helped him loads. I found out my son was tongue tied, hot that cut, helped even more. And I started osteopath treatments. These combinations finally helped enough for my son to be helped. But it was a 3 to 4 month journey.

For constipation: hear and tummy massage is all I can advise.

Sorry, just trying to give as much info as I can and as I think I of it. Omeprazole family medication doesn't necessarily stop vomiting/poseting, but helps with the discomfort of the acid moving up and down the gullet, it reduces the stomic acid produced. My son was 2 months prem, he is exclusive breast fed and now nearly 8 months and doing amazing. Tongue tie was posterior so not easy to spot, but it can cause air to be swallowed while feeding which causes the reflux (air wants to come out). Really hope this helps. Sorry again for long and lots of posts.

My ds is 14 weeks now and has silent reflux. He was prescribed gaviscon which definitely helps him. To combat the constipation problem, I put a couple of drops of Colief in his bottles.

@EnoilaSRG
wow - you’ve really been through it. Poor thing. Hope he’s better now.

What symptoms did he have?

This is our 3rd night on cow and gate anti reflux and the grunting and squirming continues along with gulping and holding of breath. It has made the sickness stop, however now we have diarrhoea. Think I need to get back onto the doctor tomorrow. I can’t continue with this little amount of sleep!

Symptoms were arching, vomiting or positing up to 2 hours after a feed, grunting which turned into crying when put down on his back and later even when put on a slope, crying was actually more like a very high pitched scream. Weirdly enough he also had a lot of wind problem which hot resolved along with resolving the reflux. I think that was it. But that high pitched scream in pain he had, even made the HV go white when he heard it.