What can I give ds2 to relieve his reflux pain?

[anonandlikeit]

DS2 is 5 has mild cp, asd & learning difficulties.
Over the last few weeks has had chest & stomach pains, Docs have said reflux & prescribed gaviscon. Its not helping at all & i'm going to take him back next week but until then he is in agony & i don't know what to do to help.

he has been crying, screaming & moaning on & off for most of the evening, I've tried milk, water & the gaviscon but nothing helped.
It has obviously passed now as he has settled & is asleep. But i need some more reflux/indigestion type remedies suitable for a 5 yr old to try if he wakes & to keep me going until we can get him back to the docs.

Thanks
Anon

Bump .. help...bump!

No tests done yet as such Riven, they were hoping the gaviscon would help but looks like he's going to have to go for further investigation (we spoke the other day about the ph probe thingy)
Its just i don't know how to relieve the symptoms until they sort something out for him.

He can chew but I can't see me convincing him to try the rennie, can kids have rennie?
Although he willingly took the gaviscon last night as he was in so much pain.

Bumping for you! I find cool water (not chilled) sipped gently can help me (adult with reflux) so I guess thats worth a try. You are wise to go back to the doctor incase there is another treatment available.
It is horrible having a child in pain - especially iif they cannot tell you what is wrong- so my sympathy to you ad poor ds.
My ds - a pain tolerant child with LD and asd (unable to point to where it hurt) had a very painful problem that mistified A+E (so sent him home untreated) but the GP (who knew him and knew that rolling on the floor in agony was not theatricals!) - I cant remember the name but some mild virus that in kids sometimes causes severe tummy pain similar to appendicitis pain and was quickly treated once the correct Dx was arrived at.

peppermint cordial no water down in one (like a shot) relives acid pain im on pills for mine have been for years but could help until doctors sort something

No chemist open here the nearest would be tesco, 20 miles away.
I'll phone them & get DH to go when he gets in.
Thanks Riven.

Thanks everyone, have tried the water but i'll give the peppermint cordial a try. He doesn't like anything smelly but i'll see if i can get some down him.

my lo (6mths) is also on omeprazole mups tablets for his reflux, we dissolve the tablet in water for him. if your ds is not keen on swallowing a tablet you can do the same? or even mix it in to his food or drink (but not milk). Also, try to give him smaller portions of food more often and avoid any acidic fruits or juices. hope this helps a bit.

Second (or third) the omeprazole. DS was on that as a baby. Works by making the stomach less acid. He also had something called motilium but that didn't work for him (tho' I think it does for some kids). We ended up cutting back on most acidic food as this also gave him eczema. Miserable for a kid with CP - DS gets over the worst of his by moving about. Hope the doc finds you something.

My son has had reflux for nearly 15 years now and has been on "ranitidine" 2 x 5mls spoonfuls a day and it helps him alot. I put it in his drink cup before breakfast and 4pm (doesnt taste great but better than just off the spoon) this works by neutralising the acid in the stomach and stoping the acid coming back up - causing pain. If your GP can prescribe this it may help. My son also has gaviscon after his main meal as this helps him too. Also when he was small I made him sit quite upright - not easy when he is low muscle tone - and by getting him to reach out and spin a mirror over it made him burp - this helped him and put him in the safety zone with food staying down.

Hope this is of some help.

Thanks all for your help, just waiting for another appnt with the paed to get it sorted but I shall go with a list of your suggestions in case they try to fob me off.

OMG Lainey, I had forgotten about ranitidine. My DS1 (now 8) had reflux (and GDD with low muscle-tone) when he was tiny. It sorted itself out when he became upright most of the time, but he still has a very weak tummy and can puke v. easily. We had to give him gaviscon with every feed, but were prescribed ranitidine for when his reflux attacks were so bad that he was vomiting his stomach lining (yes, I know, v. distressing ).

Hi ANON,
Hope you get an appt with the paed sooner rather than later, my son had a 24 hour ph probe study when he was quite small and it was hard work having to press various buttons each time they sat up, lay down, ate, drank etc but it does show that there is acid there.
Can your GP prescribe it for you if you have to wait ages for a paed appt?
Just a thought
xx

hi Anon, if you get a chance read up about reflux on www.reflux.org and www.infantrefluxdisease.com. I also got lots of tips by searching the board for old threads re reflux.

Thanks for the info & the links i'll have a look. He hasn't been too bad for teh alst couple of days.
Although he has CP he is very mobile so I am surprised it has started again all of a sudden.