Don't accept 'reflux'.... get them to check for Pyloric Stenosis

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

Just a friendly word to anyone whose baby is vomiting lavishly, diagnosed with reflux and not responding to the medication. 11 years ago my 3wo DS was exhibiting those symptoms and I was fobbed off originally with 'all babies throw up' followed by wrong diagnoses of 'gastric flu' and 'reflux'. When Pyloric Stenosis was finally diagnosed and treated he never looked back. But it took more than a little 'Tiger Mommy' behaviour to get to that point.

My (now 6 yo) dd had awful reflux as baby and was actually checked for pyloric stenosis pretty quickly, even though as a girl, she was less likely to have had it. I think it depends on your gp how effectively things are investigated - a midwife witnessed my dd's spectacular vomitting when she was a few days old and within a week she was under the care of a paediatric gastroenterologist!!

But in a lot of ways it would have been a hell of a lot simpler if it had been pyloric stenosis and I agree that you need to be pushy!

My GP at the time was spot on (HV useless) and sent him to the hospital with suspected pyloric stenosis. But DS was discharged undiagnosed, still incredibly poorly, and I had to take him back to casualty and not take no for an answer before I got him properly admitted. Even then, it still took several days of disgracefull faffing about (the 'reflux' rubbish) and me having a 'frank and open discussion' with one of the registrars before a specialist finally diagnosed him and the operation could happen. All this time I had a 3wo baby getting weaker and weaker, crying with hunger and throwing up anything he took down. When it was all over, one of the nurses had the decency to apologise for the way we'd been trated....

So if anyone else in a similar position and thinks that what they've been told doesn't feel right. I just wanted to tell the story and hopefully someone will benefit.

My DN had this. It took my DBro and SIL ages to finally get listened to. They were fobbed off by GP, Consultant etc at local hospital. It was only because NHS Direct had mentioned it to them in passing that they were at all aware of it. In the end he was blue lighted to Kings, where they do a surprising amount of PS ops per week.
It is most common in first born males but can affect other babies too.