Doctor gaslighting my child or he is right

[MuteDS]

My beautiful child 7 years old had Scarlet fever, RSV, flu A and other viruses back to back. He was coughing non stop and needed hospital and help with breathing anyways after all the latter subsided. He occasionally feels little vomit come to his mouth when lying down or just random. It happened 3 times so far the little vomit come to his mouth. I contacted his gastroenterologist Consultant because he is under them for chronic constipation and this is the consultant reply:
Mild post-viral regurgitation is common

i have big family and I asked around and everyone seems puzzled and say they never experienced it. Anyone here have similar thing happened to them ? Is it actually common to regurgitate after viral infection. I am actually losing my mind worrying he developed another chronic problem pls advise

Why is a doctor gaslighting if they are doing their job? I am not seeing an issue with what the doctor said? Maybe focus on listening to to the doctor rather than fighting against them

If English is not your first language why is your default to disbelieve the doctor first?

You seem more determined for wanting the doctor to be wrong than you are focusing on helping your child get better, it is odd, a language barrier cant be believed for this thinking

English is my first language.

Gastric Reflux is a very common post viral issue, because inflammation causes vagus nerve dysfunction which affects the lower and upper oesophageal sphincters function. Seems particularly prevalent with the current covid strain, I've had it for a couple of months.

Its a well known, well documented medical fact, there are lots of papers on it out there, and it can take months to resolve.

Small meals, cutting out fizzy drinks etc, elevating the head of the bed 6 inches, not eating or drinking 3 hours before bed, all these things help to slowly recover function - if it persists they can give a proton pump inhibitor like omeprazole to reduce the stomach acid - but speaking from experience through my life, it just takes time, trust the Dr and if it doesn't resolve go to the GP.

My son had post viral gut inflammation after a virus, took a month to calm down. GP prescribed gaviscon.
The doctor hasn’t gaslighted you at all, probably sick of you constantly emailing them and wasting their time. You need to get your aniexty looked at.

How long post viral is he. It can take a while for things to settle down, a gentle diet is advised at first and reflux is very common. With kindness give it 6 weeks then make an appointment with your gp if it’s continuing, do not contact the specialist directly

Op, itd happening when you wat out. Clearly his stomach is sensitive. Most likely to herbs and spices and also to fat. That xhixken was probably fried, either spices or herbs, the mayo and the chips. Sensitive stomachs are common so you havr to leant how to deal with it. Eating out less is one option. Or find ways to est food out he can cope with better. Ironically, steak might be a good option - no sauces. Grilled fish. Maybe a pasta sauce. But my instinct says finding chold friendly food in restaurants that won't trigger him will be har.

Just saw the picture of what your child ate. Definitely stay away from that sort of thing while his stomach recovers. No fried food, possibly the lettuce would trigger too (my daughter still doesn’t do well with leafy veg). Start with the BRAT diet if he’s really struggling and then add things in slowly.

i think he is 2 weeks or 1 week post virus not sure. He was sick all winter. He was positive for scarlet fever (swab), flu A, Covid, RSV and other unknown. It was one after another one. When he has scarlet fever he was waking up at night and choking. Like something coming up to his throat but scarlet fever was 1 month ago and then all viruses followed after them. Oh before scarlet fever he had stomach bug from school I think was Norovirus 🥹his attendance is very low

My initial reaction here is that he’s impacted. During the viral illnesses he probably ate less, almost definitely drank less and had some dehydration, and possibly didn’t have maintenance laxatives at normal dosage (if he is on them).

My son was vomiting on and off for 7 weeks (!) and multiple GPs, inpatient paediatricians when he was admitted for dehydration, a private outpatient paediatrician, my husband and I (both doctors) had no idea he was constipated/impacted “because he was still pooing”. His abdomen was soft and normal when examined by at least 10 different doctors. It was the x ray he finally had that unravelled everything. The xray was so bad that it got sent to a specialist children’s hospital for discussion. My son’s vomiting/regurg was also much worse when lying down and at night.

I’m not trying to scare you, more that I’m trying to impress upon you that your son may be really constipated. I’ve never heard of post viral regurgitation in the context of respiratory viruses but that’s not to say it doesn’t exist . Good luck OP

Or, is it that his tonsils are enlarged and combined with the food it’s making him gag? Really consider constipation though

thank you doctor for your reply. But he is pooing every second day since viral attack and I am aware of regurgitation or vomited induced by constipation because that’s how we knew he was impacted in the past and I am 100% sure he is not. Before he tested positive for scarlet fever. His first symptom was waking up choking on something like something was coming to his throat. We went crazy thinking what’s wrong then he developed the scarlet rash, high fever and other symptoms. So I know throat infection by itself caused such symptoms but my worry is why he is 2 weeks post everything and his symptoms still lingering. Just worried he will develop chronic GERD. Anyways my only option is wait and see !
I don’t know If u know famous gastroenterologist Mike Thompson. It was his statement normal post viral. Thank you again everyone for reassurance
I will update in 2 weeks. ❤️

I think you’re getting a hard time here OP, but probably mostly because they haven’t been through months of having a poorly child.

As a couple of PP have said, it sounds like constipation has caused acid reflux. The reflux would explain his sickness before the Scarlett fever. Him having a poo every other day isn’t enough if he’s eating every day.

If he’s not already on laxatives, then you need to start. If he is then you need to increase as it sounds like he’s having overflow rather than an evacuation.

Ask you GP to prescribe gaviscon for his reflux - although you can get it over the counter. No need to go back to the consultant.

I understand why you’ve emailed your consultant frequently if you feel you’re not getting an answer, but either his secretary may be answering his emails or you need a second opinion. But, as others have said, if you’re going down the route of investigations then think whether you want to put him through a PH test (a tube up his nose and down his throat) for 24 hours or a milk scan (tastes vile and is uncomfortable), in order to diagnose GERD.

I know it's hard but try to give him a bland diet with daily kefir and see how he is in a couple of weeks.

Do you give your child probiotics? I would give him symprove or optibac in the morning before breakfast to help the gut recover.

Personally I would cut all dairy and go for a low fat, easy to digest simple diet for a few weeks. Try and avoid sugar too (as much as you can anyway) as the bad bugs love that! I would definitely combine this with a good probiotic in the morning and try and give some good prebiotic foods (fibre, veg etc) or buy prebiotics if he won’t eat the prebiotic foods as boosting his good bacteria will help his tummy recover. His immune system is likely still shattered from all these bugs so personally I would avoid overly crowded places with him for a month or two as he will pick things up easier until the viruses are totally gone from his system.

If after a week or so he is still only pooping every second day and getting reflux you could try getting some kids laxido and give him a sachet every morning to help clear out the system!

The Zoe project has some great articles on gut health and boosting your gut btw - really worth reading.

But she IS getting an answer - this is a common and non serious condition that will likely resolve without intervention.

No doctor in their right mind would do those horribly invasive tests on a child with a two week history of mild symptoms.

Honestly let the child recover, stop panicking over mild symptoms and leave the consultant to do his job.

But she IS getting an answer - this is a common and non serious condition that will likely resolve without intervention.

No doctor in their right mind would do those horribly invasive tests on a child with a two week history of mild symptoms.

Honestly let the child recover, stop panicking over mild symptoms and leave the consultant to do his job.

It’s probable a bit too early if he is recovering from illness to be out for a big meal out.

Just stick to little and often plain food . Make sure he is sitting up/ relaxing for at least 30 mins after eating.

This was not something to need to email a doctor repeatedly about I’m afraid. Just watch and wait . It’s part of his recovery

Just updating in case a mother going through same thing.
It has been 2 weeks since the last post and he has been back to normal and eating normal and no regurgitation. 😭 maybe I need to learn to have some patience and not panick. He is happy again and healthy !
thank you all for keeping me on check, reading and listening to me ❤️

That’s great news, I’m really happy for you and your son. But don’t ever apologise for having a very human reaction to a worrying situation. You’d hope mumsnet could be the sort of place you could come to talk these things over and find some reassurance. Glad all is ok :)