Reflux and GERD in babies and children
Reflux and GERD in babies and children - Hi guys, thank you for the add. I myself do not have GERD, but my 2 year old (3 in July) does.
The first 12 months of life we were in and out of hospital... he was tube fed On and off while they did every test known to man... I pumped for most of it, included when they wanted to try him on specialised formula (so I could go on a strict diet and get back to breastfeeding at some point). He hardly gained weight (this was his main issue, as far as they were concerned). At 6 months old, he finally hit 5kg. When we started him on solids - he reverted to chocking and gagging, then vomiting foods. At this point they told me he had food aversion, and we went on to see more specialist (ENT, dietitians ect). At 11 months old, we were referred to a new gastroenterologist (privately) who straight away started us on losec - which was a life saver! For whatever reason, he stopped vomiting and started eating, amazing! (I knew he never had food aversion as He would always eat meals, he would just vomit them back up!)
Anyway, as he grew, he would sometimes go back to vomiting and then they would up his losec... he is now on 20mgs and has been for 1 ish years. 4 weeks ago, he had a nissen fundoplication and a hiatus hernia repair (which was apparently pretty big). It HAS helped him in that he sounds so clear, not one person/dr/specialist has said he has bronchitis which is a first since he was born really! He has however, gone straight back to vomiting (albeit, with strain and there is not as much - it also upsets him now), but most of all - he is having what I can only describe as acid poo?! He will do a watery poo and start screaming in pain! He will be red raw and won't let you touch him... (when he was a baby this would happen but honestly hasn't happened for a long long time).
Showering him is the only option. They've put him back on losec (they've said for 3 months), but my gut is telling me there is more going on. We are under the care of the royal children's hospital in Melbourne Australia, which is one of the best, but honestly, for most of this journey I have felt let down and alone. I think because he is a calm child (he never screams, nor is he often upset) that we kind of fly under the radar. I am however, starting to get really upset for him - especially now with this poo situation and he is older and understands now!
Is there anyone that may have gone through something similar or perhaps have some advise as to what I could do? I have read the files page and I think diet is where I need to look next to try and get this under control. It's great the vomiting stops when taking losec (again, no idea why, but for him it does), but this acid poo is so strange and I'd ideally like him off meds if at all possible!
Thank you! (I'll post some pictures of our journey - his name is oscar)
COMMENTS:
Kelsie Tripp
Hi Sam! PPI's (losec) are a very strong drug & can cause side effects like leaky gut, gastroparesis (in my case), malabsorption, osteoporosis & lots more. There are lots of articles on this, but here's one: https://www.inspire.com/CAGU/journal/ppi-warning-gastroparesis-delayed-gastric-emptying-proton-pump-inhibitor/
There's also a thing called acid rebound when you go off the drug which he might have been experiencing.
Sam Scanlon
Fantastic- thank you, I will have a good read tonight!
Michaela Villiers-Kendall
I have a hiatus hernia too and I'm on ppi's, (I know, ironic, since my son had his problems), and that is exactly right. I tried to get off them and got terrible rebound, but I refused to go higher than 20mg when they offered to double the dose because `I suspected they were making things worse. It finally occurred to me that I might have the same Leaky Gut that my son had and I went on the same natural protocol and now the reflux is completely under control--although I can't stop the ppi's until I have an op for the hernia.
Nyssa Dobe
Hi, im in Melbourne too. My eldest son has severe autism and has always had stomach problems but nothing similar to yours unfortunately but i wanted to suggest a cream called Calmoseptine ointment for the red rash. My boy has had acid poos and vomiting since he was about 3-4 months old and he would get a bleeding, red raw bottom and we could only shower him to get him clean. Because he is autistic he is still in nappies full time so is still suffering, we were just at the RCH getting a gastroscope and sigmoidoscopy and get his results this week. They suspect a fructose allergy or some other allergy so maybe thats an avenue to explore. Our gastroenterologist is Dr Mark Oliver wondering if your the same?
Sam Scanlon
Hi Nyssa, thanks for your reply... i will definitely look in that cream thank you! That sounds exactly like oscar, red and raw - the poor little things! We're seeing George Alex, who is great... Michael Nightingale did Oscars surgery a few weeks back. Michael has said that George is one of the more conservative Gastros... perhaps thats why it's taken so long to get the NF and hernia sorted... and last week he said to just put him back on and i'll see you in 3 months. He only consults once a month out of the private medical suite there - so i find that frustrating when Oscar's going through certain things. I don't really know what to do half the time!
Nyssa Dobe
Its is awesome you can get it from chemist warehouse near the bandaids and stuff. Technically it was developed for bed sores but we have been using it for years and every dermatologist and specialist we see recommends it to us. Always soooo hard to get an appointment with specialists especially at the RCH.
Michaela Villiers-Kendall
My son was born with oesophageal atresia. The same as adults with these problems, the most important thing is to get the microbiome sorted out, (drugs will have made this worse), with pre and probiotics and natural remedies and replace sugar with Stevia, cut out gluten and soy. Coconut oil is wonderful, (you could try mixing it with yogurt and Stevia and fruit like banana. Kefir lassi and rice milk made with Stevia and fruit and coconut oil, mix in Arabinogalactan powder (Larch powder) an amazing prebiotic. Aloe vera gel straight from the plant heals the tract, but might be hard to get a 2 year old to take! Good luck, really feel for you. My son is a healthy 19 year old pursuing a Hollywood career now and still follows a healthy diet and loves it!
Sam Scanlon
Funny enough, my mother in law gave me a little plant yesterday! His wound from his surgery isn't healing too good and obviously his poo bum is red raw so she gave me one and said to put the gel on the red parts! I didn't think you could eat the plant though!
He's already on probiotics and he takes a children's multi that i get from that Modere company (i think they're american). Our diet isn't 'Bad'... we don't eat junk food every week or anything, and i cook bone broths weekly ect, but it's more what could be upsetting him. He does have ice cream every night for example - but thats the only way we can get the losec in to him. I went to a compounding pharmacy last week and we have tried that, but again - we're having to hide it in his foods! (Mostly icecream). I'll look up a few of those words you've put in and see if i can find those ingredients
Michaela Villiers-Kendall
Yes, it's great externally and internally, (maybe there's a child friendly formula with it in you could buy). You could certainly get him to take the lassi with Larch powder mixed in and the losec too--it tastes great; Just don't buy the stevia powder with dextrose in it as that contains Gluten. Try iherb if you can't find Larch powder in the health food shops, and obviously check if kids of that age can have it.
Teresa Barbanti
Oh i went through this with my son. He is 12 soon. Now I have reflux. He will get better mama it just takes time xo
Cthrn Peartree
I can't offer much advice
But there's a similar page like this geared specifically towards children. You might find more relevant advice there. Good luck in your journey and I hope your poor little guy gets better.
Lisa Herbon
Try diet? I have severe intestinal issues. GERD might be my worst issue. I am on the no dairy, no egg no corn gluten free no soy no acidic diet. I feel a lot better. I was on like 10 different meds until I took this route no 0 meds
Olga Nugara Lisa
we suspect my son has GERD. Can I ask what you eat for breakfast?
Related Post: How will my GERD affect me during pregnancy?
Sam Scanlon
That's what I was thinking would be my next step - thank you!
Marianna McGraw
He is so cute! Hope you find him some relief soon. Trying a diet would probably help him
Laverne Barkley
I have read several times in the past how a Chiropractor has helped babies with this problem. Might be worth checking it out. God Bless your sweet son.
Sam Scanlon
We do this already! Lol I think that's why he has a nice round head and my first born has a flat head!
Vidya Ramabadran
I'm so sorry you are going through this! He s so so adorable! I have a one and half year old son who s having bad reflux from 2 months of age ( on ranitidine from that time) .. He didnt get tube feedings. He always took very less of liquids (formula/ milk). He has been aversive to water, or solid foods (even purees). we got a second eval from gi doctor - he was started on baclofen - he improved a bit; we then switched to bethanachol to improve gastric motility and it has helped a bit. He s now taking purees a bit .He still sleeps a bit upright and throws up quite often. He s still aversive to foods. His endoscopy was normal and we are still trying to figure out why he has bad reflux! some say dairy causes reflux! but kids prefer to drink milk better than anything else (like my son). I guess they gotta grow out of it! Hope your baby gets better soon !
Sam Scanlon
It's tough isn't it! I know what you mean about the 'taking less'... when we very first started going through this, I thought my milk supply wasn't very good - yet with my first son I was fine... I turned out oscar was just taking enough food to keep himself alive and nothing else. When we were tube feeding, he could never tolerate anything over 50 mile three hourly... it was certainly tough! I wish you luck with your son - I just say trust your gut though, is mums always kind of know when things aren't right!
Vidya Ramabadran
Tough is an understatement . Yes 60 ml till 10 months of age every 2-3 hours ! Kids are resilient ! Hope oscar gets better soon ! It's like these kids are in survival mode - just getting the calories to the brain . Someone said - first they get the calories to brain , the extra then goes to preserve height and more extra goes to weight ! That's so true ! Overtime my son started to gain some weight ! One thing I d say - if you feel little inadequate , try seeing another doctor . I have that regret bec it was so tough all through and his gi doc was oh it's fine he d be fine !
Sam Scanlon
This is what oscars paediatrician was like... yet we'd go in for a weight and then they would admit us to a ward for another week. That happened 5 seperate times! But 10 months a cracked it and took him to George as he is meant to be amazing (which, he has been) and at 11 months we were in the losec and things were looking up. I guess it's just hard because he only consults out of that hospital once a month - so I feel a bit vulnerable when wrrr going through things like we are now! I'll keep that in mind though - thank you!
Vidya Ramabadran
I'm thinking of starting him those drugs ! He s showing some improvement so holding off on that for now !
The first 12 months of life we were in and out of hospital... he was tube fed On and off while they did every test known to man... I pumped for most of it, included when they wanted to try him on specialised formula (so I could go on a strict diet and get back to breastfeeding at some point). He hardly gained weight (this was his main issue, as far as they were concerned). At 6 months old, he finally hit 5kg. When we started him on solids - he reverted to chocking and gagging, then vomiting foods. At this point they told me he had food aversion, and we went on to see more specialist (ENT, dietitians ect). At 11 months old, we were referred to a new gastroenterologist (privately) who straight away started us on losec - which was a life saver! For whatever reason, he stopped vomiting and started eating, amazing! (I knew he never had food aversion as He would always eat meals, he would just vomit them back up!)
Anyway, as he grew, he would sometimes go back to vomiting and then they would up his losec... he is now on 20mgs and has been for 1 ish years. 4 weeks ago, he had a nissen fundoplication and a hiatus hernia repair (which was apparently pretty big). It HAS helped him in that he sounds so clear, not one person/dr/specialist has said he has bronchitis which is a first since he was born really! He has however, gone straight back to vomiting (albeit, with strain and there is not as much - it also upsets him now), but most of all - he is having what I can only describe as acid poo?! He will do a watery poo and start screaming in pain! He will be red raw and won't let you touch him... (when he was a baby this would happen but honestly hasn't happened for a long long time).
Showering him is the only option. They've put him back on losec (they've said for 3 months), but my gut is telling me there is more going on. We are under the care of the royal children's hospital in Melbourne Australia, which is one of the best, but honestly, for most of this journey I have felt let down and alone. I think because he is a calm child (he never screams, nor is he often upset) that we kind of fly under the radar. I am however, starting to get really upset for him - especially now with this poo situation and he is older and understands now!
Is there anyone that may have gone through something similar or perhaps have some advise as to what I could do? I have read the files page and I think diet is where I need to look next to try and get this under control. It's great the vomiting stops when taking losec (again, no idea why, but for him it does), but this acid poo is so strange and I'd ideally like him off meds if at all possible!
Thank you! (I'll post some pictures of our journey - his name is oscar)
COMMENTS:
Kelsie Tripp
Hi Sam! PPI's (losec) are a very strong drug & can cause side effects like leaky gut, gastroparesis (in my case), malabsorption, osteoporosis & lots more. There are lots of articles on this, but here's one: https://www.inspire.com/CAGU/journal/ppi-warning-gastroparesis-delayed-gastric-emptying-proton-pump-inhibitor/
There's also a thing called acid rebound when you go off the drug which he might have been experiencing.
Sam Scanlon
Fantastic- thank you, I will have a good read tonight!
Michaela Villiers-Kendall
I have a hiatus hernia too and I'm on ppi's, (I know, ironic, since my son had his problems), and that is exactly right. I tried to get off them and got terrible rebound, but I refused to go higher than 20mg when they offered to double the dose because `I suspected they were making things worse. It finally occurred to me that I might have the same Leaky Gut that my son had and I went on the same natural protocol and now the reflux is completely under control--although I can't stop the ppi's until I have an op for the hernia.
Nyssa Dobe
Hi, im in Melbourne too. My eldest son has severe autism and has always had stomach problems but nothing similar to yours unfortunately but i wanted to suggest a cream called Calmoseptine ointment for the red rash. My boy has had acid poos and vomiting since he was about 3-4 months old and he would get a bleeding, red raw bottom and we could only shower him to get him clean. Because he is autistic he is still in nappies full time so is still suffering, we were just at the RCH getting a gastroscope and sigmoidoscopy and get his results this week. They suspect a fructose allergy or some other allergy so maybe thats an avenue to explore. Our gastroenterologist is Dr Mark Oliver wondering if your the same?
Sam Scanlon
Hi Nyssa, thanks for your reply... i will definitely look in that cream thank you! That sounds exactly like oscar, red and raw - the poor little things! We're seeing George Alex, who is great... Michael Nightingale did Oscars surgery a few weeks back. Michael has said that George is one of the more conservative Gastros... perhaps thats why it's taken so long to get the NF and hernia sorted... and last week he said to just put him back on and i'll see you in 3 months. He only consults once a month out of the private medical suite there - so i find that frustrating when Oscar's going through certain things. I don't really know what to do half the time!
Nyssa Dobe
Its is awesome you can get it from chemist warehouse near the bandaids and stuff. Technically it was developed for bed sores but we have been using it for years and every dermatologist and specialist we see recommends it to us. Always soooo hard to get an appointment with specialists especially at the RCH.
Michaela Villiers-Kendall
My son was born with oesophageal atresia. The same as adults with these problems, the most important thing is to get the microbiome sorted out, (drugs will have made this worse), with pre and probiotics and natural remedies and replace sugar with Stevia, cut out gluten and soy. Coconut oil is wonderful, (you could try mixing it with yogurt and Stevia and fruit like banana. Kefir lassi and rice milk made with Stevia and fruit and coconut oil, mix in Arabinogalactan powder (Larch powder) an amazing prebiotic. Aloe vera gel straight from the plant heals the tract, but might be hard to get a 2 year old to take! Good luck, really feel for you. My son is a healthy 19 year old pursuing a Hollywood career now and still follows a healthy diet and loves it!
Sam Scanlon
Funny enough, my mother in law gave me a little plant yesterday! His wound from his surgery isn't healing too good and obviously his poo bum is red raw so she gave me one and said to put the gel on the red parts! I didn't think you could eat the plant though!
He's already on probiotics and he takes a children's multi that i get from that Modere company (i think they're american). Our diet isn't 'Bad'... we don't eat junk food every week or anything, and i cook bone broths weekly ect, but it's more what could be upsetting him. He does have ice cream every night for example - but thats the only way we can get the losec in to him. I went to a compounding pharmacy last week and we have tried that, but again - we're having to hide it in his foods! (Mostly icecream). I'll look up a few of those words you've put in and see if i can find those ingredients
Michaela Villiers-Kendall
Yes, it's great externally and internally, (maybe there's a child friendly formula with it in you could buy). You could certainly get him to take the lassi with Larch powder mixed in and the losec too--it tastes great; Just don't buy the stevia powder with dextrose in it as that contains Gluten. Try iherb if you can't find Larch powder in the health food shops, and obviously check if kids of that age can have it.
Teresa Barbanti
Oh i went through this with my son. He is 12 soon. Now I have reflux. He will get better mama it just takes time xo
Cthrn Peartree
I can't offer much advice
But there's a similar page like this geared specifically towards children. You might find more relevant advice there. Good luck in your journey and I hope your poor little guy gets better.
Lisa Herbon
Try diet? I have severe intestinal issues. GERD might be my worst issue. I am on the no dairy, no egg no corn gluten free no soy no acidic diet. I feel a lot better. I was on like 10 different meds until I took this route no 0 meds
Olga Nugara Lisa
we suspect my son has GERD. Can I ask what you eat for breakfast?
Related Post: How will my GERD affect me during pregnancy?
Sam Scanlon
That's what I was thinking would be my next step - thank you!
Marianna McGraw
He is so cute! Hope you find him some relief soon. Trying a diet would probably help him
Laverne Barkley
I have read several times in the past how a Chiropractor has helped babies with this problem. Might be worth checking it out. God Bless your sweet son.
Sam Scanlon
We do this already! Lol I think that's why he has a nice round head and my first born has a flat head!
Vidya Ramabadran
I'm so sorry you are going through this! He s so so adorable! I have a one and half year old son who s having bad reflux from 2 months of age ( on ranitidine from that time) .. He didnt get tube feedings. He always took very less of liquids (formula/ milk). He has been aversive to water, or solid foods (even purees). we got a second eval from gi doctor - he was started on baclofen - he improved a bit; we then switched to bethanachol to improve gastric motility and it has helped a bit. He s now taking purees a bit .He still sleeps a bit upright and throws up quite often. He s still aversive to foods. His endoscopy was normal and we are still trying to figure out why he has bad reflux! some say dairy causes reflux! but kids prefer to drink milk better than anything else (like my son). I guess they gotta grow out of it! Hope your baby gets better soon !
Sam Scanlon
It's tough isn't it! I know what you mean about the 'taking less'... when we very first started going through this, I thought my milk supply wasn't very good - yet with my first son I was fine... I turned out oscar was just taking enough food to keep himself alive and nothing else. When we were tube feeding, he could never tolerate anything over 50 mile three hourly... it was certainly tough! I wish you luck with your son - I just say trust your gut though, is mums always kind of know when things aren't right!
Vidya Ramabadran
Tough is an understatement . Yes 60 ml till 10 months of age every 2-3 hours ! Kids are resilient ! Hope oscar gets better soon ! It's like these kids are in survival mode - just getting the calories to the brain . Someone said - first they get the calories to brain , the extra then goes to preserve height and more extra goes to weight ! That's so true ! Overtime my son started to gain some weight ! One thing I d say - if you feel little inadequate , try seeing another doctor . I have that regret bec it was so tough all through and his gi doc was oh it's fine he d be fine !
Sam Scanlon
This is what oscars paediatrician was like... yet we'd go in for a weight and then they would admit us to a ward for another week. That happened 5 seperate times! But 10 months a cracked it and took him to George as he is meant to be amazing (which, he has been) and at 11 months we were in the losec and things were looking up. I guess it's just hard because he only consults out of that hospital once a month - so I feel a bit vulnerable when wrrr going through things like we are now! I'll keep that in mind though - thank you!
Vidya Ramabadran
I'm thinking of starting him those drugs ! He s showing some improvement so holding off on that for now !
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