reflux baby

[ansmomma]

My dd has reflux, and she was so fussy, the dr gave her zantac, but now shes really sleepy. Im enjoying the peace and quiet considering i was listening to screaming for 10 hours a day. but i dont want her to be so sedated. Any suggestions?

[kjbrown92]

Acid reducers didn't have that reaction in my kids.... so I'm not sure.
But if structural defects have been ruled out, have you looked at food intolerances as the cause of the reflux (instead of using meds to mask the symptoms)? Dairy, gluten, soy are the most common triggers....

[sbgrace]

Zantac has a couple of things that are problems. 1. the body of kids build tolerance pretty quickly so it's not useful long term 2. it contains alcohol and often peppermint both which aggravate reflux. I don't like it for those reasons. I do like treated reflux in a child who is in pain. I've seen what happens when you don't.

I don't know what you mean by sedating. Zantac doesn't typically sedate. But I will say it is cruel not to medicate a child who is experiencing pain because you have a problem with the idea of medicating. People will suggest cranial sacral, chiropractic, allergies. For my child it was not any of those. Sometimes kids need to mature. Sometimes there is an underlying issue.

[CarrieMF]

Zantac never sedated my child, or myself when I was on it.

However, if she was screaming 10 hours a day she is probably catching up on sleep she was missing out on. Depending on how old the baby is she may have gone through a growth spurt(which results in a sleepier baby) or she could be sleeping what is normal but with her past seems unusual to you.

[loveandkindness]

How old is she? Is she exclusively breastfed? My DD was diagnosed with reflux as a baby and after I cut out dairy (she was exclusively breastfed) it went away -- turned out it was a dairy allergy/sensitivity. Doctors don't think about stuff like food sensititivities, so they rarely suggest dietary changes, but from personal experience and anectdotal evidence from friends, I would highly recommend you cut dairy out of your diet (if you're breastfeeding) or out of hers.

Good luck!

[WuWei]

DO NOT DO antacids!!

Indigestion tablets may trigger food allergies, according to a study by scientists in Austria.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/4395.php


http://www.endfatigue.com/health_art..._syndrome.html
http://www.wddty.com/033638003727565...digestion.html
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=24007

The body's first line of defense against intestinal infection is the acid produced by a healthy stomach. Stomach acid kills most of the bacteria and parasites that are swallowed along with meals. Strong suppression of stomach acid increases the risk of intestinal infection. The widespread use of antacids is, therefore, a reason for concern, and the FDA's recent decision to make the acid-lowering drugs Tagamet and Pepcid available without a doctor's prescription is a terrible disservice to the American people.

Most people who take treatments to buffer or reduce stomach acid do not need acid reduction and should avoid it. Tagamet and Pepcid are called H-2 blockers because they block certain effects of histamine in the body. (Conventional "anti-histamines" used for treating symptoms of allergy are called H-1 blockers). They were originally developed for the treatment of ulcers and they made huge profits for the companies which owned them. Doctors soon began using H-2 blockers for relieving stomach pain which was not caused by ulcers (this pain is called "non-ulcer dyspepsia"), even though their efficacy for non-ulcer pain was disputed.
http://www.toddcaldecott.com/leaky_gut.html

http://members.upnaway.com/~poliowa/Leaky%20Gut.html

4. Increased risk of food allergies

According to Professor Erika Jensen-Jarolim and colleges at the University of Vienna, regular use of antacids can increase the risk of food allergies. Medications that reduce acid secretion OR neutralize the acidity within the stomach may be setting up a situation where harmless food proteins become potential allergens, which can then trigger an immune system response resulting in an allergic reaction.

Although Professor Jensen-Jarolim's study was conducted on adults using the medication ranitidine (Zantac), these findings have important implications for infants, who by the very nature of their young age have immature digestive and immune systems, which increase the risk of food allergies developing.
http://www.babycareadvice.com/babyca...icle.php?id=56


Our intestinal flora contains both good and bad microbes (bacteria, yeast etc). The RIGHT balance of acid and alkaline is necessary to SUPPORT the growth of good microbes (the kind that makes vitamins and antibiotics in our digestive tract). Changing this acid balance by the use of antacid medications reduces the amount of good microbes and encourages the growth of bad microbes (the ones that steal nutrients, produce gas, toxins and disease).

Acid-suppression medications are frequently used in the treatment of dyspeptic disorders, yet by increasing the gastric pH, they interfere substantially with the digestive function of the stomach. Research has shown that this increases the risk of food allergy induction. Gastric digestion substantially decreases the potential of food proteins to bind IgE, which increases the threshold dose of allergens required to elicit symptoms in patients with food allergy. Thus, antiulcer agents that interfere with the digestion of protein have a major effect on the sensitization and effector phase of food allergy.
http://www.allergenbureau.net/news/g...ergy-outcomes/


Reflux is generally due to food intolerance, most often dairy, soy, wheat. Ds had very painful burps, immediately after nursing. Upright helped, transiently. Gripe water helped, transiently. Totally resolved when I eliminated tomatoes, corn, soy, wheat, berries, cinnamon, cauliflower, cabbage, onions, lemons, limes, citrus, dairy, broccoli, anything processed, ... gosh, we had to eliminate a bunch of stuff. The distress continued until we eliminated all of them. It was amazing! When I didn't eat those foods, ds never had to be burped, never was gassy or crying after nursing, never spit up. No more mucousy green poop, no more red anus. After we eliminated wheat, the night wakening diminished significantly.

My understanding is that generally baby is reacting to your improperly digested proteins, due to your/his leaky gut.

The quandary is that baby's gut doesn't tolerate whole proteins, either undigested by his system, or undigested by your system. The fact that he is reacting at all, means that his gut needs "different" milk. That occurs when you remove all the foods from your diet to which you are intolerant. Baby's reactions help you to identify which foods those are.

An option is to remove your breastmilk from his diet. But, then he loses all the immune benefits which only breastmilk can provide, impacting his gut health permanently.

So, net is to provide healthy breastmilk exclusively until his gut is healed (ie. your leaky gut no longer is damaging his gut). The way to do that is to remove all foods from your diet to which he is reacting. Especially, if you intend to have additional children, I'd focus on your leaky gut now, while you have his reactions as a 'guide' to heal your own gut. The longer we have leaky guts, the more food intolerances which develop, eczema and asthma and other auto-immune dysfunctions, ultimately.

A candida overgrowth goes hand-in-hand with leaky guts and leads to all kinds of immune system issues. So, a diet low in sugars, and includes natural antifungals, PLUS whole food probiotics is the path to gut health, from all of my understanding.

Btw, classical homeopathy helps the body to heal itself. Both ds and I are on classical homeopathy and we are now able to eat many of the foods to which we were previously intolerant. And dh's allergies and asthma have been resolved with classical homeopathy. So, diet isn't the only path to healing.



Pat

[WuWei]

Bumping.


Pat

[USAmma]

Zantac won't sedate her. She's probably just feeling better and sleeping in peace.

I had a severe reflux baby and I can tell you, you want to treat this condition if she was screaming all the time. No baby deserves to suffer like that. Mine was an extreme case and ended up on a feeding tube because she was hurting and wouldn't eat. She associated the taste of milk with reflux and pain.

Not to scare you, but please do try to weight the pros and cons of treating or not treating the reflux. And I agree-- no antacids!!! (Mylanta etc) They can hinder bone development for one thing.

[WuWei]

Zantac is an antacid. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/antacid

Reflux is generally due to food intolerance, most often dairy, soy, wheat. My understanding is that generally baby is reacting to mama's improperly digested proteins, due to your/his leaky gut.


Pat

[moonlight mom]

Pat,
Thanks for all the info. I almost considered giving dd zantac until I read your post. I really appreciate it!!

[pumpkinhead]

Originally Posted by WuWei

Zantac is an antacid. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/antacid

Reflux is generally due to food intolerance, most often dairy, soy, wheat. My understanding is that generally baby is reacting to mama's improperly digested proteins, due to your/his leaky gut.


Pat

Zantac is *not* an antacid. It is a histamine H2-receptor antagonist that inhibits stomach acid production. It does *not* neutralize stomach acid.

It was a life saver when my youngest was an infant. Reflux isn't always due to food intolerance. Intolerance definitely played a role, but it wasn't the only cause. Dairy was a reflux trigger for ds, but even with complete dairy elimination, he still had acid reflux, albeit not as severe. Due to the complete elimination diet I was on and the results of gradual food reintroductions I feel confident in saying that his reflux issues were more than food intolerances.

Zantac did not transform him magically into an always contented baby, but it allowed me to nurse, burp and sleep him with a modicum of relative peace. He still needed to be worn lots and he still wanted to nurse lots, but the acid erosions in his little throat were able to heal and he wasn't either attached to my boob or screaming 24/7 anymore.

Constant pain is mentally and physiologically damaging to an infant. Having the very thing that is supposed to give them comfort (food) cause them pain is damaging.

Zantac/Ranitidine is a very safe medication for infants. Prevacid and Prilosec are much more effective but doctors are reluctant to perscribe them for reflux as there isn't as much safety and efficacy data with regard to their use in infants.

[USAmma]

Believe me, Zantac is fine for reflux pain in a baby. I ended up having to give my dd Prilosec/Prevacid because her reflux was so bad, which is also not an antacid.

The above meds stop the body from producing excess stomach acid which can erode away the tissue of the esophagus. My baby had *scar tissue* on her esophagus from reflux! It is no joke for some babies. (There are happy spitters but mine was obviously in pain).

No baby deserves to be in pain. Yes, there could be food sensitivities going on. Breastfeeding moms should follow a reflux diet. But even with every other factor removed, some babies and some kids in general have reflux. My dd still has it at age 5, and for awhile she was on a medical food that is for kids allergic to everything. She no longer suffered from food problems, but she still suffered from reflux because her body just liked to reflux the way some people like to hiccup.

[sbgrace]

My son ended up spitting up blood from esophagus erosion. He screamed in pain and fell off the growth curve (he only swallowed enough to get his hunger under control and then stopped). It was horrible and I still want to cry to think what he suffered.

Babies do not deserve to be in pain. It is cruel to withhold reflux meds for a baby who needs them. Zantac usually won't work long. We ended up on a PPI. Neither zantac or PPI's are antacids. My kids reflux was not food allergy related and diet changes didn't help though we did an allergy free diet for many years. His was structural/physical in nature. Many kids need to mature out of reflux around 6 to 9 months when they physically mature.

If a kid is happy and not in pain don't worry. If a kid is in pain it is not smart nor kind to avoid treating them. Zantac isn't going to suppress enough acid in a baby to cause any issues. That's why it often doesn't work in severe cases. I wouldn't worry about zantac if it works great. The PPI's also won't completely suppress in an infant unless they are dosed at least three times per day at appropriate doses. If you're completely shutting off stomach acid (really hard to do in a young child if not impossible) there are things to do to mitigate some effects of that. Things like probiotics and checking ferritin. If a child is on them for years watch b12. My kid was on 3 x's a day at high doses for almost four years though with normal b12 levels. And no allergies or other issues.

Here is the thing. Whatever the (theoretical) risks of completely suppressing stomach acid (which, again, would be very difficult to do in an infant and isn't even a risk with zantac) there are risks of not treating a child with severe reflux pain too. We lived with those. They are serious. My son was afraid to drink/swallow until he was almost 4. It took years to get him back on the growth scale and he'll never catch up to where he could have been. Then there is the emotional impacts of not treating a baby in pain. There are risks either way. The risks of not treating (if a child needs it) outweigh treating. Don't let a baby be in pain.

[pumpkinhead]

Something I personally noticed about Zantac was that it was very weight specific for my ds. If he gained even a few ounces outside of the dose for his weight range, it would just stop working. We were constantly upping his dose. I wish I'd known more and asked for a more effective drug like a PPI, but I didn't.

[WuWei]

Bumping.


Pat

[WuWei]

Pat

[pumpkinhead]

For some babies, reflux is related to the length of the esophagus. LIttle babies have short esophaguses and weak pyloric sphincter muscles. This is why so many of them simply outgrow it. Babies are meant to have weaker sphincter muscles as a protective mechanism.