New here and need to vent.

[Danielle]

Hi! Everyone! My name is Danielle and I have a ds Justin who is just 6 weeks old.
I really need to vent!
Since about two weeks of age my ds spents most of his waking hours crying. I have called his ped, numerous times. First he told me to change to soy...no luck, then Levsin drops...nothing...then Alimentum..its been about a week with little to no improvement.
At my wits end I had hubby call and list the symptoms he has AGAIN! Which are: crying will begin anywhere from right after feeding to about an hour after everytime, no matter what. He arches back and pulls up legs, he is very congested and sometimes wheezes, he does not tolerate sleeping on his back very well but does sleep good on belly. I have had no luck locating a wedge and the tucker sling is a little pricey for me right now especially since I am spending way to much money on Formula. He drools all the time. He will eat 24/7 if I let him. He is a gulper and is very hard to burp. Sometimes it sounds like he is choking and trying to catch his breath. I can also hear the formula come up and go back down. He really does not spit up but when he does it often comes out of his nose. He is also very hoarse, but that could be from all the crying. With me and hubby telling his doc this over and over again..he said try Enfimal with LIpil. When my hubby told me this...I lost it. He was on Sim Advance and did not do well on that AT ALL. So I decided to get a new ped.
Well...Doc walks in as ds is screaming and the first words out of his mouth is COLIC. I was like NO. I again told him all the symptoms and I suggested Reflux. He said no cause he is gaining weight and does not spit up that much. I said Silent Reflux and he looked at me like I was speaking a foriegn language. Well I begged for Zantac. He gave it to me. An exact two week prescribtion at .4ml 2x's a day. We started this 2 nights ago. I really have not seen an improvement. Last night wa awful. I gave him babt oatmeal in his bottle and he cried just abou the whole night. The only silent time was when He had a bottle in his mouth. Oh and the doc siad he may still be hungry. I was like ds will eat all the time if I let him. Doc also said there is no reason for him to be on Alimentum. Well I will wait on changing that. I don't want to upset his tummy anymore. I will also wait the two weeks with the zantac and see.
Ahhhh! I feel much better now that I have got that out!
I would apperciate any advice!

[frantic-momma]

I have 2 kids , Both with Acid Reflux and the first thing I have to say is either tell your doctor to send your son to an ped.GI specialist or ge another ped that will...Doc's like to think that they know everything but they really don't know to much about reflux..It is VERY painful to both the baby physically and us as parents mentally...My daughter was on Zantac and it only made the situation worse...So they changed her to prilosec..It has done really good so far...She still spits up alot but she is comfortable..She is not in pain , NOTHING stops the spitting but regalin and the side effects are terriable and not worth it..I would rather do laundry and have a happy baby than have a miserable baby who doesnt' spit up...The GI specialist will decided what kinds of meds the baby needs to be on as well as formulas..My suggestion until thes is to go buy some ENFAMIL AR and beech-nut rice cereal..Both you can get at wal-mart or grocrey stores..Mix 1 TBS per ounce and cut your sons nipples so it will pass through...Then get ADULT MAYLOX..give him 0.6 mls every 4-6 hours to help with the gas and the acid backup ...It will ease his pain...Please let me know how it goes and I hope something works for you..Like I said I have had 2 kids with Acid reflux so I have been though all of this times 2..Veronica:angel4

[Danielle]

Thank you so much for the advice! I gave him the Maloox after his bottle and within 15 minutes he was sleeping! I hope this will do the trick. My heart breaks for him. If I do not see an improvement in 2 weeks, I will ask for a referral. I could be wrong and he could just be a terribly colickly baby, but there are so many other signs of silent reflux. I am going with my gut feeling.
How long does zantac take to work? I have heard two weeks. I don't understand that at all. We will see!

[frantic-momma]

When I had both of my daughter put on the Zantac It really didn't fix anything..Both of them had a bad reaction to it and it didn't help any...It doesn't stop the spitting it just makes it where it doesnt burn but i found that my second daughter would vomit worse right after she took it , and it burned her throat on the way down...keep up the maylox..It should help alot until you can get him to a specialist..The zantac shouldn't take 2 weeks to work but you go by your gut feeling and if you want to wait it out for a couple of week then go fo it...But do keep me posted on how things are going with him..My name is Veronica and you can e-mail me at mcgu2241@bellsouth.net

[chele]

Danielle, you baby sounds exactly like mine, and we were told the same thing, COLIC, the baby is gaining weight it can't be reflux. At 4 months I decided I don't care if it is colic I want a GI to see her. We have PPO so no referrals were needed, I called up a GI and got her an apt. He put her on Alimentum for a month and she went from drinking about 32 oz a day to 64+ oz/day. And none of the symptoms changed. The GI was even leary that she had reflux, but put her on prevacid anyway,(I think he was afraid I was going to start feaking out). Anyway at her next visit, my husband took her and she happend to spit up before they went into the apt. The GI could smell the acid on her breath and asked how much she spit up? My dh answered and the GI asked when she last ate and he said about an hour ago. The GI was finally convinced and also gave us a perscription for some medicine that was supposed to coat her throught to protect it from the acid. She was only on that for a month and now is such a wonderful baby. We actually tried to go off the prevacid at 9 mo, but she started sleeping really bad and was cranky and just seemed uncomfortable most of the time, so I put her back on it. We only take it once a day now and she is doing great.

So I guess my recommendation is check your insurance, if you have a PPO you shouldn't need a referal, if it is an HMO or Point of Service product than you do need a referral.

Oh yeah, we tried Zantac too and the only thing it did was knock her out, which was great the first day but by the 3rd day I was really concerned because she had never slept that much ever. And when she was a wake she screamed even louder than before, which I didn't think was possible, but it was. So go with your instincts on that. By the way prevacid and prolisec are very similar medications.

Hang in there and let us know how it is going.

[Danielle]

I have a pos insurance plan. I did get a referral for a GI, but of course it is not until Oct. 6. The Zantac has been working he is not screaming as much.
The doc told me he saw no reason for the Alimentum and I am going back to CGS. We will see.

[honeybunny78]

Ladies you need to remember that

ZANTAC reduces the acid!
It does not stop it.

Your baby may need to get on something a bit harder like
PREVACID. It blocks acid productions "Prevacid reduces acid by blocking your stomach's acid-producing mechanism. Even though this mechanism is constantly being renewed, and producing new acid, taking Prevacid actually reduces your stomach acid for up to
24 hours"

Or both.

It takes about 2 weeks to see how the Zantac is working.

If you need more infomation let me know and I can get you some websites.

[Danielle]

OMG!!! So excited! We are going to the GI on Monday!!!!!
They got a cancellation and I am in!
I tried the Zantac for 5 days and the crying just got more intense!
I stopped it and he is still crying most of the time, but not has hard!

[chele]

Danielle,
Good luck at the GI. I hope he/she is helpful. And remember you know you baby better than they do, so if they try to brush you off stand firm.

Let me know how it goes.

[honeybunny78]

I hope they can give you answers.

[Danielle]

I decided not to take baby of Alimentum until the Gi visit. The crying now begins almost exactly one hour after feeding. I am giving him 6 ounces. Could he still be hungry? I really can not wait until Monday. BTW Maloox or Mylanta really are not helping. Could it really just be colic? What can I expect from the first GI visit?

[honeybunny78]

Try giving your baby another 2oz and see what happens.
Your baby may also have a burp stuck...that can be very painful.

Good luck

[chele]

When my dd was on Alimentum she was always hungry. You can also put a few tbsp of cereal in his cereal and see if that helps.

[Danielle]

I tried giving him Oatmeal in the cereal and that was just a mess..he screamed for hours! I am afraid to try rice cause we have no trouble with constipation! I also gave him another once after the six ounces and he spit it up.

[chele]

I don't know if this will help but there is a web site that tells you how to massage your baby after they eat that is supposed to help them a bit. We did it and sometimes it seemed to help and others we just had baby fussy. Anyway the website is Hope this helps

[Danielle]

Thank you all so much for all the support and advice! I have tried that method and he still will cry an hour after eating. Sometimes I can get gas out and other times I can't.
Sometimes his belly feels like it has gas in it ither times it does not. Maybe I don't know what the heack I am feeling for!

[chele]

It would really help if they came with a manual wouldn't it?:D

Hang in there you are doing great.

[Danielle]

Well I am back from the GI. I was very pleased with the visit.
This is horrible to say, but the whole ride there Justin did not cry. I was like this kid is gonna smile and the doc is gonna look at me like I was crazy. Well he screamed bloody murder as the nurse went to lay him flat to weigh my little pork chop and continued to scream through the entire visit. The doc read my list of symptoms and by the way he was crying dx reflux and gave us a rx for prevacaid! I was so happy. He also said to switch CGS! I was very happy about that as well! Doc said to give everything a good two weeks and if there are no changes to call him!
Thank you all again for your support!

[chele]

I am so happy that the visit went so well for you. Good luck with the prevacid, I am sure it will help. Keep us up to date!!!

[honeybunny78]

YAY! Finally maybe you can get some rest now!

[Danielle]

My pharmisct gave me the capsules??????
Any help on this??????

[honeybunny78]

See if your pharmacy will do the compounding for you.
If not you may have to do it yourself.
If not call a local pharmacy to see if they know of one that compounds.
Also, if there is a gastroenterologist in your town, call their office. They should know about any local compounding pharmacies, especially if they see children. Also, check online. You might find a pharmacy that will compound the medication and ship it to you if there isn't a pharmacy in your area that will do that. Good luck!

[Danielle]

At my wits end already! It has only been a day and my silent refluxer is now spitting up at all times of the day. We switched to carnation good start and rice cereal. Should I go back to Alimentum?

[chele]

No give him a chance to adjust. His little body is going through a lot right now. You have put him on medication, changed is formula and started cereal. That is a huge change. You might quit the cereal for the moment if you want.

He will seem to start throwing up more, but now at least it is only going one way instead of burning up and down. Just get ready to do a lot of laundry, of both his and yours and don't hold him up in front of you with your mouth open you don't want him to throw up in your mouth, you can ask my dh about that one:D

Hang in there we will try to help where we can. take care

[Danielle]

I really want to stop the cereal and add it slowly. 4 teaspoons seemed like alot. Hubby wants to follow the doctors orders and keep giving him the cereal. Urgh! We have come to a compromise of one teaspoons.

[honeybunny78]

Since its reflux.....your baby will throw up all the time.
Hope is 8 months now and she still does it.

You will get adjusted too.

HUGS!

[Danielle]

Even with silent reflux? He spit up today..alittle mucusy mixed with formula more then he has thrown up in his short life.

I guess I would rather it come out then go back down like Chele said. It just scares me when it comes out his nose!

Thank you all so much for all the advise and support you have given me!:)

[Danielle]

BTW..how could I compound the prevacid?

[honeybunny78]

You would have to mix it yourself.
But I do not know the ratio.
How much water to use.
You may have to call the pharmary to find out.

How much is he taking??

[Danielle]

I just have to say that you all have been so wonderful!
I talked with the pharmacy this morning and she is ordering the liquid for me! Thank god!
Thank you all again so very much!

[honeybunny78]

YAY!!
I am glad that they are doing that for you. It will make it alot easier.

[chele]

I am happy they are getting it for you. I had no idea what to tell you about the compounding. Is it get it getting any better yet with the new formula? I can recomend that when you give the medicine to put it in the top of a feeder nipple for her to take. The syringes work but sometimes they spit it out.

[Danielle]

things have been ok...knock on wood! the crying has reduced alot! i just wish he would fall asleep in the swing instead f me having to hold him! Not that I don't love holding him! I have done alot of that over the past six weeks!
Thanks again everyone!

[chele]

I remember those days, I will tell you though, now there are days I wish she would. He will grow out of it. How old is he? Just keep trying. I always had to hold until asleep and then I put in the swing/bouncy chair/dome thingy.

A quick little story for you.
When DD turned 3 months old, it was my DH birthday. I sat down with DD and said "OK you are 3 months today and it is your daddy's birhtday, so for his birhtday you should sleep through the night." And you know what? She did, we got such a laugh out of it. Of course the next night she was back to her old ways but she slept through that night.

As hard as it is, it helps you to find the little things and really appreciate them.

[Danielle]

Justin was two months yesturday! I should not even say it but he has been in his bouncy for like a half hour and he is not crying! He also ate like 2 and a half hours ago! Fingers crossed!

[STRESSED]

My son is 7 weeks old and every thing you just described he has, I feel so helpless, my doctor says its colic too, I do not believe that for a second, he is on 2.5ml of prilosec 2 times a day, and zantac 3 times a day, and he is on Almentium, and was on Nutramigen, I dont think either of them work or the medicine, he is gaining weight, but if I let him he will eat and eat and eat, I feel so bad. We go back to the GI Specialist on Friday, the doc told me by friday if he is not better they are going to go down with a scope and my husband does not want that. This baby is giving me the run for my money the first time. He hates to be on his back, he moves around and grunts so much when he is sleeping that is wakes him up, I want the tucker sling so bad, what if I buy it and it don't work!. Thanks for letting me vent, I am glad to know that there is someone out there that knows how I feel!!:::(

[honeybunny78]

(((hugs)))
How long has your baby been on Zantac??

[mom2]

Hi there,
Boy, do I feel for you!!Your baby sounds a lot like my daughter when she was younger.It was so stressful and not at all what I expected after my ds had been so easy. At two weeks my daughter was diagnosed with colic and my ped. also wanted us to see a ped GI to check for reflux. At the appt. we had an ultrasound and a barium test. Both pretty non-invasive and not uncomfortable for our dd. The tests confirmed a bad case of reflux and she was put on Reglan and Zantac which did nothing and in some ways made it worse. I was also very concerned about the side effects of Reglan. Long story short, she was put on Prilosec and it REALLY helped. She is now almost a year and is still taking it although I understand many children can be weaned earlier than that. Good luck at your appt. Be diligent and persistent! Find a dr. who will listen to you. You know your child better than anyone else. Come here as often as you can. I met a great group of people who helped me through this last year. It was really rough but the support here was awesome!! Good luck, keep us posted.

[STRESSED]

Hi Mom2,
THanks for your reply I think things are getting alittle better, my gi specialist said that everything seems fine, he did not cry at all yesterday and today is sleeping again, I am keeping my fingers crossed, because sometimes he has 2 really good days, and it is bad for 2, so I will keep praying.