Anyone's LO suffer from GERD?

Skatcat

So, at 17 weeks of age, poor Henry is still suffering from GI issues. Not only is he gassy, which I am trying to control with Mylicon and my own diet, but he also suffers from awful reflux. The poor little guy is already on Zantac, but he was up every few hours last night. When I went to nurse him, it sounded like a thunderstorm rolling through his little body, and he's clearly in discomfort.

I called my pedi about switching to prevacid, which I'd read seems to help some babies much more than Zantac. She wants to refer me to a GI specialist at this point, but the only one in the whole area that will work with infants doesn't take my insurance, and he's $400 a pop. Yikes!! I can't afford that right now.

So, my question is, if your LO has GI issues, what worked for you? I would be willing to spend money to help him, but if this is something he's going to outgrow or there is something else I can do, I'd love to hear what worked for others! 

sweater

Honestly sweety, at 17 weeks, your babe has a way to go to be done with the reflux. I just want to give you a realistic idea of what to expect. I agree with your doc that Henry needs to see a GI doc to just make sure it's not something else (like pyloric stenosis which can be fixed immediately), and a GI doc will have a dietician to help with calories etc when a child is vomiting.

Zantac doesn't help many babies with reflux. Didn't work for either of mine. My one baby with normal reflux responded well to Prevacid. There really isn't any GI doc around to take your insurance? That's nuts!! Is there any way your ped would be willing to switch to Prevacid, and if that doesn't help in lets say...10 days, you'd agree to see the GI doc?? That's my only suggestion.

Good luck and HUGS?

krisc

Both of mine had it, I guess they had pretty typical cases.  They responded to prevacid but it didn't take away the constant spitting up.  That only went away with time.  I would second seeing a GI.  Mine helped a lot with suggestions of food, monitoring their weight (we're still seeing him for that), and just basic advice re: the spitting up and arching in pain.  I would investigate your insurance a little more, is there any way your pedi can help with that? 

Hang in there and good luck! 

lajolla09.30.06

I guess we're one of the rare cases that were helped out by zantac... ours never stopped spitting up (they still do it and a lot) but the zantac kept them from having the howling back arching screaming that they would do when they burped/spit up.

It's just now getting to the point where they don't always spit up after eating, but they are already 7 months old.  I think it's supposed to be worst at 4 months if I remember correctly what our pedi told us... but I could be wrong

Skatcat

Thanks guys. There are other GI specialists in my health plan, but they don't see infants. And then they referred me back to the first guy.

I'm not sure why my pedi doesn't want to just prescribe the Prevacid. She said something in her message about it not necessarily being safe or something. I need to call her back for more info.

 

sweater

Skatcat:

Thanks guys. There are other GI specialists in my health plan, but they don't see infants. And then they referred me back to the first guy.

I'm not sure why my pedi doesn't want to just prescribe the Prevacid. She said something in her message about it not necessarily being safe or something. I need to call her back for more info.

?

Paige Goldie Locks about this. She used to be a rep for Prevacid and knows the safety of it for infants. And yes, reflux peeks around 4-6 months.?

lstaylor73

sweater:

Honestly sweety, at 17 weeks, your babe has a way to go to be done with the reflux. I just want to give you a realistic idea of what to expect. I agree with your doc that Henry needs to see a GI doc to just make sure it's not something else (like pyloric stenosis which can be fixed immediately), and a GI doc will have a dietician to help with calories etc when a child is vomiting.

Zantac doesn't help many babies with reflux. Didn't work for either of mine. My one baby with normal reflux responded well to Prevacid. There really isn't any GI doc around to take your insurance? That's nuts!! Is there any way your ped would be willing to switch to Prevacid, and if that doesn't help in lets say...10 days, you'd agree to see the GI doc?? That's my only suggestion.

Good luck and HUGS 

Ditto what Sweater said.  It's important that you see the GI because a lot of pain and suffering can be alleviated with even just one trip to the GI.   My boys both have severe reflux / GERD and are on feeding tubes along with Prevacid, erythromicin, zantac and Carafate because it is so bad. 

Some other things you can do in the mean time is start having him sleep in his bouncy chair or car seat.  That should help him get some relief at night.  Also, feed him in small doses and burp as often as you can, even the burps hurt so get them out often so it doesn't turn into a big painful belch. 

Prevacid is great for infants, it is the best med on the market for GERD and there isn't much else they can do once you've tried the stuff we're on.  Good luck!