Reflux Check-In (8/18)

giggler25

This is a new weekly check-in for mamas of babies with reflux.

1 - How old is your LO, and how is s/he doing this week?

2 - Any new challenges or successes this past week?

3 - How was your weekend?
4 - Anything else you want to share or ask others?

fairytalewed

1-LO is 3 months old as of this past Saturday. I feel like the Zantac is just not doing it's job! Yes he is better than he was, but he still struggles. Lately he sounds wheezy from it coming up. Luckily, we have his 3 month visit on Thursday--hoping for an increase or change! Last time we changed, it became so bad, we went back to Zantac!

2-I think I covered this is 1, but this week DS seemed a little happier than usual, so hoping colic is coming to an end!!!

3-Weekend was ok...just made the decision I don't go to the gym enough, so I hit it hard all weekend since DH was home.

4-For those of you who had LO meds switched off of Zantac...did you see immediate results, did the doctor slowly transition, and of course what was LO switched to? Thanks!

giggler25

fairytalewed said:

4-For those of you who had LO meds switched off of Zantac...did you see immediate results, did the doctor slowly transition, and of course what was LO switched to? Thanks!

DD was on Zantac for about a week. The first few days she seemed to be improving but then she started gagging on her spitup and sort of dry heaving, so the pedi switched her to Prevacid. There was no overlap or skiw transition, though I later read that it cab take up to 2 weeks for Prevacid to start working.

SurprisePartySue

This is my first check in. A lots been going on.

1. LO will be 4 months on Friday. The past two weeks have been from Hell!

2. Like mentioned it's been awful. She's been extra colic and projectile vomiting for the past week and a half. We took her to the urgent care last Thursday because her AR has never been this bad the Dr said we just have to deal. Followed up with her Ped and she saw this in another baby a couple of weeks ago. She said she thinks it's a stomach bug (no fever)

3. Weekend was good. It was my niece's 6th birthday. Basically just made me a mess cause I can't comprehend how she's already 6!

4. We started baby food this week. Her Ped gave the ok. She loves it, but now on top of the extra spitting up and crankiness she's currently constipated! I feel like I can't win for losing

Oh and if I hear "well you next one will be great!" I'm going to flip out.

Thanks for the vent.

sarag0116

1 - How old is your LO, and how is s/he doing this week?

3.5 months old. Been on Zantac about a month and it was helping until Thursday. Then he totally changed. It's been rough

2 - Any new challenges or successes this past week?
He's been back to how he was before we even started meds. Arching, screaming, not wantig to eat, not sleeping. I'm defeated. Waiting on a call back from the pedi.

3 - How was your weekend?
Rough. DH worked and I was on my own. See above.

4 - Anything else you want to share or ask others?
I just need reassurance that this will get better. I'm in a constant state of anxiety due to the lack of sleep and knowing how uncomfortable carter is. I never went through any of this with DD

dogsombrero

1. 14 weeks on Wednesday. He's been less pukey but the meds are causing some crazy diarrhea.

2. As above awful poos. We went out for dinner with my Mom for my birthday and he was so good but right before we wanted to leave I could hear him going. I told everyone I was scared and I was right to be. I had to change all his clothes including socks while DH washed his car seat in the men's room. I've never seen that much poo before!

3. Other than the poo fiasco of which there was at least one a day it was great. My mom took me on a girls day for my birthday and I spent 5 guilt and baby free hours for the first time!

4. Watch out for epic side effect poo!

jenniferroshto

1. LO is 15 weeks old and after upping Anzac dosage again is doing good!

2. She held her own bottle for about 5 minutes today!

3. Weekend was hectic. DD1 wa.attacked by a dog last week. Its turned into a big mess we've been dealing with that. (Shes ok, has 17 stitches all together on her face in various places). Also had to finish up buying school supplies and getting DS and DD1 ready to go back yesterday. I put the "pro" in procrastinator lol.

4. Our Pedi recommends starting food at 4 months. LO showed interest in our food the other day so i mixed her up just a little bit of cereal and fed it to her. First few bites she did great but then got mad and just spit it all out and just wanted to suck on the spoon rather than eat it. I realize it will take a few tries and that i dont have to start her on foods yet but have any of you tried it? If so, how did they do?

fairytalewed

giggler25 said:

fairytalewed said:

4-For those of you who had LO meds switched off of Zantac...did you see immediate results, did the doctor slowly transition, and of course what was LO switched to? Thanks!

DD was on Zantac for about a week. The first few days she seemed to be improving but then she started gagging on her spitup and sort of dry heaving, so the pedi switched her to Prevacid. There was no overlap or skiw transition, though I later read that it cab take up to 2 weeks for Prevacid to start working.

Gotcha, thank you! We were given pills at one point which was crazy! They were time release which makes them have a coding. (sorry can't think of name at the moment). I was to half these tiny pills, then crush and add to a bit of milk in dropper. It was crazy annoying, the day we started the new med and stopped Zantac, LO was throwing up full bottles and just terrible. The pedi said after 3 days to stop. Since the Zantac seems to not be enough anymore, I think the pedi might try and change meds again and that scares me!

momthatlifts

1. She is 14 weeks tomorrow. She is still fussing and choking, it will be one week tomorrow evening that she had been on her new medicine. She is sleeping much better at night though
2. She is very fussy at night and screams and cry until she gets her last bottle and falls asleep. She has been sleeping pretty much through the night, I think because she is much more comfortable.
3.Weekend was good. Spent some time with daddy
4. LO was started on Prilosec last week and I put "thivk it" in her bottle at night which I think helps her sleep because it makes the milk harder to come up so she isn't waking herself up by choking. However, it's been a week almost on her new medicine (3 ml twice daily) and she is still swallowing and choking on her spit up. She doesn't seem like she is doing much better. We have a follow up in another week with the GI, but can anyone tell me if they used prilosec and if it took a week or so for it to start working? I'm pretty well on top of giving it to her on time. She gets it every day between 10-11 a.m/p.m

giggler25

@MeaganStringer, welcome to the check-in but sorry you have to be here.  It sounds like your LO is having a rough time!  

@anniemore -- Awesome that your LO is consistently sleeping through the night!  I know you had a lot of trouble with the reflux meds, so glad to hear you think your LO is improving!  I also feel like the first 3 months of my DD's life have just floooooown by, and I feel kind of angry that I had to spend some of that precious time worrying about her and seeing her deal with reflux.  It just doesn't seem fair to have to watch LOs go through that.... especially when they're SO little and each day just races by!

@sarag0116 -- Sorry to hear it.    I don't have much personal reassurance to give you.... all I can do is pass on what our pedi told us which is that they WILL grow out of it.  Supposedly it peaks at 3-4 months, and most infants outgrow it by 5-6 months.  I'm no doctor, but it may be that you need a different dosage or different meds?  We started on Zantac but then the pedi moved her to Prevacid after a week of it not getting better.  Good luck and hang in there!!

@ljbreck -- Happy Birthday!!  Glad you had a fun night out; hopefully that trumps the poo fiasco!  

@jenniferroshto -- Food at 4 months?  Wow!!  The time is just FLYING by!!!!

@fairytalewed -- I totally empathize to the aversion to changing meds so often.  It seems sometimes like we don't even know if enough time has passed for the meds to work?  For example, my pedi said that the Prevacid should work in 3-5 days but someone on this board (I think maybe anniemore?) said that it could take up to 2 weeks to fully kick in!  So confusing.

@JKBMA2014 -- Glad to hear your DD is sleeping through the nights, but not glad that she's still choking and having a hard time.  I absolutely HATE hearing my DD choking and gagging on her own puke.... it breaks my heart!  I have no experience with Prilosec but my DD is on Prevacid and though my pedi said to expect improvements within 3-5 days, I've heard elsewhere that it can take up to 2 weeks for the meds to really kick in fully.  Perhaps it could be the same with Prilosec?  GL!

giggler25

1 - How old is your LO, and how is s/he doing this week?

- 12.5 weeks (will be 13 weeks on Thursday).  She's not doing great.  So far she's spit up about 15-20 minutes after taking her meds in the morning twice this week, which I think probably means she lost the dosage for that day.  Poor kid.    She's been fussy from what I *think* is super early teething on top of reflux issues.  

2 - Any new challenges or successes this past week?

- I reallllly wish I could somehow prevent her from puking up the meds that are supposed to help control the puking!!  That is the challenge I'm trying to overcome...

3 - How was your weekend?

- My MIL came over on Sunday and stayed for 5 hours.  Which I guess isn't as bad as the time she stayed for EIGHT hours!  Needless to say, I'm not a fan of her bossy and over-involved tendencies and was glad to have DH and DD to myself again when she left.

4 - Anything else you want to share or ask others?

- I took DD to see a chiropractor today that specializes in infant care.  According to her, difficult deliveries like the one I had (info here if you're interested) can cause misalignment in the baby and chiropractic adjustments can fix that misalignment that could potentially be affecting digestion and causing reflux.  I was skeptical when I first heard about it, but at this point I'm willing to try it to get DD off these darn meds and cured of her reflux.  There is no pain or discomfort to LO -- it's not like an adjustment for an adult; it's more like a gentle massage.  This dr. claims she has success with reflux, so here's hoping...

chillypenguin

1 - How old is your LO, and how is s/he doing this week? She is 4 months old today. She is FINALLY doing well with her reflux.

2 - Any new challenges or successes this past week? Finally got her meds figured out. She has been on Zantac, Prilosec, Prevacid solutabs, Prevacid compounded medicine (which worked), Prevacid suspension medicine (pharmacy switched it and started a month of hell), Nexium, back on the Prevacid suspension, and talked to our pharmacist who helped us finally get back on the compounded Prevacid and she is finally happy again. What a nightmare!!

3 - How was your weekend? DD1 stayed with my ILs so I got to have one-on-one time with DD2 and it was really nice.

4 - Anything else you want to share or ask others? Just keep pushing and fighting if you think the meds are not helping. I'm sure the GI doctor thinks we are crazy because I was constantly calling, but if the pharmacy hadn't switched her type of Prevacid we wouldn't have had any of that. But it's so worth it to finally find the right medicine! Before we got it figured out, I got called from work because she was hysterically crying in pain, pulling her hair, and scratching herself. Yeah, that's not ok. Poor baby!

giggler25

@chillypenguin -- So glad to hear your LO's reflux is improving!!  Thanks for giving the rest of us hope!  

bridetobe9132013

We increased my lo's zantac twice this week. She is now on .9 ml 3 times a day. Her dr said to give it a few days and if it doesnt get better, increase it to 1ml 3 times a day. It seems a little better but I dont feel like its working as well as it should. I cant wait until she can feel better off of meds!

fairytalewed

Update: today was baby's 3 month appt. We upped Zantac to 1.5ml 2x a day. ( weight 14-12) and will be transitioning to similac total comfort with the alimentum.

mamagerman

1 - How old is your LO, and how is s/he doing this week?

Cecilia was three months old on Monday and she is doing great this week. We only had one evening of back arching. 

2 - Any new challenges or successes this past week?

We have started taking her to see the chiropractor the last couple weeks and we are seeing huge improvements. She is a much happier baby. She has been on .8 mL of Zantac since 2 weeks of age. We have been able to successfully cut her back to .7 and started .6 this evening. We will see how it goes but hopefully we can continue to wean her off of it. 

3 - How was your weekend?

Weekend was great. We had a five hour car ride to visit my family and grandpa really got Miss Cecilia giggling.  
4 - Anything else you want to share or ask others?

I was very skeptical about taking Cecilia to the chiropractor at first but we have been very happy with the results so far. 

bridetobe9132013

Im so frustrated! I increased DD zantac from 1ml 2 times a day to 1 ml 3 times a day and she is still really fussy but spitting up more than she has in the past idk what to do anymore!

momthatlifts

@bridetobe9132013 the Zantac may just not be working for her anymore. Talk to her pedi about switching to something else?

bridetobe9132013

@JKBMA2014‌ I will talk to her pediatrician if it doesnt get better in a day or two. We increased the dosage this morning. He did say we could try prevacid and I asked if we could try increasing the zantac first. We may be switching.