silent reflux...a rant about docs!

[allypally1983]

my lo is 9 weeks now and from about the age of 2 weeks i knew there was something wrong, she was very irritable, wouldnt sleep, got dreadful hiccups all the time, foamed at the mouth...the list went on. after speaking to my midwife and health visitor and being told numerous times that 'babies cry', i thought i was over reacting. then she started to fight her feeds terribly, it was a struggle to feed her with all the back arching and screaming. eventually i went to the docs and said i thought she had silent reflux. he looked at me funny and agreed eventually. he gave me baby gaviscon which did nothing really. after seeing another doctor, he said it was colic. i disagreed, he got very rude and virtually threw me out for wasting his time. then it was time for her 8 week check. i had had enough by this point, so i demanded ranitidine which funny enough has had a major effect and we have no more fighting feeds and shes sleeping through most nights 9.30-4/5. why is it that if reflux, silent or pukey version are so common in babies that the doctors and other health professionals are so rubbish at 1) diagnosing it and 2) treating it. sorry, but its so annoying. my friend had the same problem and one doctor she saw said that ranitidine wasnt licensed for babies????!!!! and another had never heard of it and promptly got on google when it was mentioned as a treatment!

I had the same problem it wasnt until dd refused feeds altogether my hv was brilliant got me emergency referral to a paed that day on ranitidine and domperidone and is 80% better. Dr.said at 6 week check silent reflux Didnt exist it was just what babies do!!

Makes me angry too... Had same troubles with my ds, I virtually had to research and then tell them what medication to try him on. We were fobbed off continually, when they finally agred to do tests he was found to have a hiatus hernia.. Only then did I feel we were taken seriously. Awful seeing them suffer :(
X

i feel for all us mums, its pathetic when you have tell the docs whats wrong and then tell them waht medecine to prescribe. we should get a chunk of their inflated wages!!!

Ds2 had this and it was awful. My dr was actually good (but he'd had four dcs himself). He gave me gaviscon but it did no good and I had no idea there was another option until I clicked on this thread.

The worst thing was seeing other peoples horror when they saw ds2's feeding position. Bolt upright with his head back at 90 degree angle. It was so odd it looked almost cruel.

He grew out of it eventually but one word of advice. If your dcs still have it when you wean them keep an eye on what they eat in the evenings. We found that yoghurt and bananas set ds2 off terribly and he was in a lot of pain.

I also had similar problems, DS was a very sicky baby, and I had terrible problems getting enough milk into him, as half of it would come back up! When I started to wean him things went from bad to worse, he ended up so distressed that he would eat nothing but yoghurt. I was back and forth to the health visitor, but as he was still putting on weight, albeit slowly, they did not seem remotely interested.

Eventually a doctor suggested trying Gaviscon, and it was like magic, within 2 weeks he was happily eating a normal diet. It still makes me cross now, that it took 9 months of struggling, and pain for DS before anyone though of reflux, which I now know is so common. I am also annoyed with myself, as I didn't work out what it was. I wish I had known about MN in those days!

Dd had reflux. She now has a milk protein intolerance and soya intolerance and apparently the two are closely linked.....
She never formed a solid stool till age 5!

Same issues here!

Both of mine have it - triggered by intolerances to soya, dairy and other things. I'm weaning dd on solids at the mo and she has to have a plain diet otherwise it could trigger her reflux. I took her off the ranitidine at 6 months because it can inhibit absorption of key minerals.