Vinegary/fishy mucus poo, Could this be CMPA? Gross Pic included

[miniworry]

We are having a really tough time with our formula fed 8 week old and wondering if he has CMPA after having lots of symptoms of CMPA/reflux:

• mucus poos
• distress when feeding on the bottle, screaming on it but still wanting more

-screaming in pain with stomach after feeding

• crying when awake

-dry skin

• can hear the milk bubbling in his stomach.

-sick after feeds once put down no matter how long he is held up for. -sneezing after feeds and always sounds congested

Over the last few days his poos have also gone from that sweet smelling formula smell to smelling like a vinegary chip shop and they are just mustard coloured liquid with stringy bits in. Do these look like the nappies of a CMPA child?

He was also on antibiotic treatment for meningitis at 5 weeks old for 10 days so unsure if that's wrecked his digestive system.

Does this sound like CMPA even though there are no real skin issues other than dry flaky skin on his face and head?

We have tried omeprazole for the reflux but it hasn’t made too much of a difference so now gp wants to explore CMPA and is prescribing Aptamil Pepti 1.

My understanding is this does still have some cows milk protein in whereas the likes of Neocate do not. Therefore are we going to see any success in trying the Aptamil pepti 1 or should I be pushing the gp to try neocate or an amino acid milk straight away?

It’s heartbreaking as my baby just never seems happy just always in pain!

Thanks for your help!

No idea if the poo is normal for a FF baby, but my ebf baby has cmpa and has no rash/skin issues.

Her poos smell vinegary and are very often and she's also sick a lot, so it's certainly possible

@Firsttimerugbymum can I ask what made you think she had CMPA first of all, was it the smelly poos or were there other symptoms too?

I took her to the doctor for reflux symptoms, and that day she had also had blood in her poo.

It was the GP that mentioned dairy to me. As a coincidence, I tried reintroducing it into my diet yesterday and it has resulted in multiple stinky poos straight away, when she was going every couple of days

I believe that there are no dairy free formulas available to purchase from stores in the UK, you need a prescription so you'll have to go to the doctor

@Firsttimerugbymum we are due back to the GP on Monday to review the omeprazole for the reflux who said if they didn't show a big difference he would prescribe aptamil pepti 1 to try.

How did you get on at the GP @miniworry ?

GP usually prescribes a hydrolysed formula first for a period of 4-6 weeks to see if
symtopms improve.

The mucus and the smell you describe along with the other symptoms would suggest CMPA . There’s nothing else like the smell of an allergy nappy .. just awful.

My son has CMPA. He couldn’t tolerate any of the hydrolysed formulas and was prescribed Neocate . It’s trial an error when finding out which milk works best for your child . Some settle right away on Pepti1 others need the AA formulas. .

CMPA can cause reflux - my sons massively improved once starting the Neocate. He could be comfort feeding because of the reflux .

Hope your appointment went well and you have some formula

@PlantLight We still haven't got any further forward with the GP. DS went the other way last week and hadn't pooed for 4 days so I took him back again and asked to change the milk to some prescription formula but the GP gave us lactulose.

He has seemed more settled recently when awake but last night we had 2 hours of screaming before bedtime and he has certainly been more sicky after feeds the last few days. Nappies continue to be really loose and smell like a mixture of fish and vinegar so we have an appointment with the GP again today at 9:50 and I'm refusing to leave until we get some prescription milk!

Hope the repeat appointment was better and well done for keeping fighting. Which sucks that you have to fight!

@PlantLight well it didn't go to plan. GP point blank refused to give prescription milk before sending off stool samples to rule out infection. After that she wants to refer him to paeds so they can take over his care- that could be months and we already saw a private paediatrician who wrote to the gp to say try aptamil pepti 1.

His poos have gotten so much worse today, it now looks like someone has sneezed in them there is so much mucus.

I just don't know what to do.

Oh that’s horrendous that they’ve already seen a private paed! Can you let them know Gp has refused and see if they’ll sideways refer on the NHS/see in their clinic?

@miniworry hey did you ever find out what caused the vinegar smelling poo? My little one (7 weeks!) has the exact same poo, is pulling on and off the bottle and also received antibiotics for meningitis . Just wondering why the poo is smelling so sour!?