experiences of reflux treatment other than gaviscon

[Belle]

Son number 2 (nearly 5 weeks) is following in his brother's footsteps with bad reflux. Am going to see the GP tomorrow so not seeking medical advice, but more experiences as we only know about gaviscon - used it for my older son with limited success, using it now with baby with no apparent success (will only sleep up to an hour at night before wakes up screaming and being sick etc). I've heard about ranitidine and domeperidone, but also that you need a specialist to prescribe, so am ready to seek a referral if necessary. Trying lots of being upright for long time after feeds and just generally, going in sling, vibro bouncy chair and propped mattress - to little avail. As I say, will be seeing doc anyway but keen to hear others' experiences as we only have the precedent of our son and in retrospect gaviscon prob wasn't sufficient for him.

[hellosailor]

Our doc at dmc was keen for us to be referred to paeds gastro clinic at Kings rather than her prescribe anything stronger than infant gaviscon herself, so that is the route we went down and got both domperidone and ranatidine prescribed at Kings.

But I do know people who were prescribed one of these directly by their doctor as the reflux was getting worse and the waiting list for Gastro clinic at Kings can be long. So it is possible to get direct from doc at their discretion ,and I suppose, depending on which doc!

Initially we were given an appointment at Kings 2 months in the future, but after phoning the clinic several times to plead our case - on the advice of another specialist at Kings who was concerned that our daughter was not getting enough sustenance - it got brought forward, so it is possible for this to happen if circs are seen as more urgent. (Our case for having a more urgent appt was that our daughter had dropped 3 centiles, also had tongue tie that was never treated as wasn't spotted till 6 months, so that combined with the reflux it meant she really wasn't taking much milk at all, and wasn't really thriving.) Perhaps the waiting list was just especially long at that time though, and even with a 'non urgent' apt perhaps you don't always have to wait 2 months for referral.

[Otta]

Doctor told is that all the treatments were not worth touching.

A friend advised joking baby face down, lying along your arm, so their bum is at Tue crook of your arm, and their head is near your hand. Worked for me, but your arm gets pretty tired!

[Fuschia]

I have some experience of all these drugs myself, having suffered from very bad reflux in pregnancy

Gaviscon forms a raft floating on top of the stomach contents and I think it can actually make pain worse as it slows digestion

Ranitidine reduces acid production http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100003829.html

Domperidone speeds transit

Omeprazole is a PPI and also reduce acid production http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Proton-Pump-Inhibitors-(PPIs).htm

Only omeprazole worked for me, problem is that the non capsule version is very peculiar.. sort of little hundrews and thousands floating in a syrup and it tastes horrible! I couldn't swallow tablets so i ended up on a large dose of the syrup usually orescribed to children.

I hope you can get referred and find a medication that will help to control the problem.

[Fuschia]

http://www.cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz/

[little h]

hi there

There's a posting I started a few months ago you might want to look up, as I was experiencing similar with our then newborn. Ethan is now almost 6 months and gaviscon and omeprazole have helped turn him from a crying and in pain baby to a smiley happy baby. We were on rinitidine with the gaviscon at first but it didnt work as well for us so our dr switched us to omeprazole, which did the trick much better. We had a couple of awful relapse days last week and so our dr adjusted the dosage and now he's fine again... I hear it all gets better after weaning and when baby is more mobile. Good luck, its so awful seeing your baby in such pain and not knowing what to do isn't it.

H

[Belle]

Thanks - all v useful.

Little h - my older son def got better with weaning and less milk too, never seemed to sick up food in same way he had with milk, plus he crawled fairly early which I think helped. I'd say it had much improved by 7/8 months, and gone completely by 1 year. My baby seems worse though than my older one was hence why I'm going to push for further medication. Good to know what the medical options are so I can be semi informed when talking to the doctor later. Does seem odd that some GPs will prescribe them and some won't - rings a vague bell from experiences with my older son.

[Designerjooles]

Our boy is on Omeprazole (Losec) after going down the gaviscon, domperidone renitidine line too. Gaviscon and domperidone made him constipated and the renitidine just didn't work. Losec was literally a shining light that came after battling for 2 months with everything else. We too were prescribed everything through our amazing GP at the time - but we did all our own research and kept pushing for change. So with your experience - hopefully you should be able to do the same :)

Obviously you know to prop him up at all times - not only after feeding and during feeding... We had a book underneath his bassinette and still have a book underneath his cot!

Keep us posted - we all know how upsetting it is for everyone (poor ol baby included!) going through this. And don't forget to ask for help and support if you need it too. :)

[littlemoo]

We also ended up using LOSEC (Omeprazole) after a long trial of gaviscon (useless if BFing..) domperidone ( actually made him more sick..) and ranitidene. We tried everything but only the LOSEC helped. To be honest, within two days he was a different child and it was such a relief that I could see that he was out of pain. He came off the drugs at 12months exactly after a slow wean and is now fine.

I hope that you get the treatment you need.

[T&G]

I went to the GP and got ranitidine on prescription and it worked brilliantly. We also slightly elevated the babys mosses basket and I held the baby upright when feeding and for a good 15 mins after. Hope this is helpful, it is very distressing and knackering but all this helped us !

[intexasatthe moment]

Just to add that IME ( as an Omeprazole user ) mirrored by 2 relatives - there is a tendenacy for prescribers to opt for ranitadine ( and to move Omeprazole users to ranitadine ) because it is a cheaper drug .

[Belle]

Feeling a bit annoyed with myself for not pushing it more at our appt - GP talked about ranitidine but then said to try infacol (hmm) in first instance - and he's no better in fact far worse in the last 24 hrs, lots of screaming (sometimes only relieved by feeding, which of course then makes it worse, vicious circle!), so am going back first thing tomorrow to ask for something else. Just as an aside - I almost wonder if the infacol somehow made it worse? If ranitidine is the first option guess we'll try that but bear in mind what everyone is saying re Domperidone and omeprazole. Thanks again! It IS horrible esp as I can see he really wants to be this chilled little baby he was at first, and he's in so much discomfort and pain.

[Designerjooles]

Don't feel annoyed - it is a slow process of elimination and every doctor would be doing the same. You've done nothing wrong and in my opinion infacol is pretty mild and I would have thought it shouldn't have made it worse. Having said that - stop it if you feel it's not working and trust your gut instinct. Infacol i thought was given for colic babies and not reflux babies?

Hang in there and keep asking until your little one is happier. Also don't forget to ask a friend or mum to come round and help - it is very stressful and just because your second time mum - don't feel that you can't say help! X

[Fuschia]

Infacol if it works at all makes bubbles clump together .. If anything I think it encourages big burps

[mouseysarah]

Infacol made my son's reflux much worse, Belle - it clumps the bubbles together to encourage the wind to come up, so if your baby is sicky already it will encourage big rather than small amounts of vomit to come up. We had a couple of experiences of projectile vomiting on infacol before we got a reflux diagnosis and stopped using it straight away. Your GP isn't really understanding what reflux is if he is recommending infacol.

Don't feel bad for not pushing enough - it is hard to challenge medical professionals when you aren't an expert. But I would go back to the GP and ask to be seen again.

My son had Gaviscon and ranitidine for his reflux and both helped enormously in his case, but all babies are different of course. He came off the ranitidine at about 6 months and off the Gaviscon at about 8-9 months, as by then the introduction of solids and the decrease in milk consumption were also helping.

Good luck and well done for coping with it so far, it really is difficult and demoralising when the baby is so clearly unhappy.

[hellosailor]

yes, in our case when she got to 6 months, reducing milk and solids banished the effects of reflux :)

[Belle]

managed to get ranitidine yesterday - too soon to tell if will help, gp did say could take up to 2 weeks to take effect - so he hasn't let me put him down all day which is usually a sign he's sore. For those who used ranitidine, did you find it caused loads of poo?! of the explosive sort? We're talking every half hour, it's quite something. am hoping it'll settle...

how annoying re infacol - could have avoided a particularly painful 24 hrs if GP had realised.

[littlemoo]

Good luck with it Belle. It is so horrid to see them in so much pain. Until we got on the omeprazole, we survived by him sleeping on his side in a slightly tilted cot, or if he was very bad sleeping with him in the baby bjorn while I slept in an arm chair. ( suggested by my GP when I was tryingto avoid the omeprazole!)

A very good book with advice on reflux and sleep and also on reflux and weaning when you get there is the sensational baby sleep plan.I used it as a bible!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sensational-Baby-Sleep-Plan/dp/0593062817

[hellosailor]

Yes Belle, the medication can cause an upset tummy / diarrhea, that's what the specialist at Kings told us. Not ideal I know. :(

[Belle]

Oh thanks Littlemoo, I was given that book when my first son was sleeping badly so must dig it out! interesting idea re sleeping with baby bjorn in armchair - might need to resort to that. have had him in it most of today in order to get anything done. Also thanks hellosailor - least i know what the cause of the nappies is now, hopefully it'll calm down soon...

[Torben Pieknik]

Hi Belle, our little one (now 5 and a half months) went through the same process - Gaviscon then Ranitidine - both useless. We pushed for Omeprazole following advice from friends who had been through the same. It has been excellent and while it is a pain to administer it has made a huge difference. We have had to have him regularly weighed as it becomes less effective as the baby gains weight so the doc needs to up the dose.

[Belle]

Sorry to keep asking questions on this trhread, but since there are so many refluxy parents (or parents of reluxy babies more accurately) out there:

what did you find worked for sleeping? my little one is so uncomfortable and pained when trying to sleep or even when asleep - lots of coughing, spluttering, v loud snorting, even choking sounds. during the day the most he'll sleep for is an hour, at night 2 if we're lucky, v occasionally a bit more. Realise no babies this young sleep for long, the issue is more that i can hear how uncomfortable he is. Did any of you try side sleeping and if so did you use a positioner to make it safe? because it's clearly the being on their back thing that makes it so uncomfy...even when tilted. Will sleep on me but I can't sleep well like this and worry about safety. The book mentioned above suggests getting one of those breathing monitors to ensure safe side/even front sleeping - have never liked the idea of these monitors, but am getting desperate!

[Fuschia]

Belle I am sure it breaks the rules but cosleeping with my little ones (latest in particular dud seem to fuss and splutter when laid flat) I would angle them slightly towards me with a rolled up blanket on the other side

Because I was beside them sleeping lightly and very attuned I never felt it was unsafe

Sometimes I would settle for a nap inside thd feeding pillow ...

[bluesuperted]

Hi Belle, sorry to hear he's so umcomfy. Another recommendation for side lying cosleeping if you wanted to try that. Several GPs recommended it to me when my LO had a cold (we were already Cosleeping) but you really are so aware so it's safe enough plus he would get comfort both in terms of position and your proximity. It might help you both get more sleep in these early days.

Hope he feels better soon and you all get more shut eye!! xx

[Yak]

We used side positioners (from babyreflux.co.uk) with our little one - admittedly more wind / colic than reflux, but sure did really help a lot. I would lend you ours but it's out on loan elsewhere! We never bothered with a monitor, to be honest.

Also a friend who had a really really sicky baby put her to bed in a maclaren pushchair for a while.....not sure how great that is for spinal development but at least it got her some sleep.