Silent reflux? Food allergies?

[Plummeting]

Hi everyone. My DD was diagnosed with reflux at 5 weeks, however I learned shortly thereafter that she had milk and soy allergies, along with allergies to some other things. Once I did an elimination diet, the reflux was gone and I thought everything was fine. But now she's had a cough and runny nose since October and I have occasionally been hearing wet burps mabe 4 or 5 times a day. She spits up a small amount every week or so, but it's not more than a tablespoon or two. I'm wondering if I should assume another food allergy and start over or if she actually has reflux unrelated to food allergies. She doesn't cry or appear to be in any distress - she is actually the happiest baby I've ever been around. She eats regularly. I don't count, but I'd guess every two to three hours. She's 23 pounds or so. I'm giving this info because I know reflux babies often either eat all the time to try to relieve the pain or refuse to eat due to the pain. She, however, seems perfectly normal in regards to her eating patterns. She's eating maybe 1/2 teaspoon of solids a day. She's 8 months. I don't want to give her Zantac, as I believe the stomach acids are there for a reason. However, I will if necessary. I feel like a horrible mother who has neglected to treat her child. Does anyone have any opinions on this?

ETA: The cough didn't start until she actually got sick. She was coughing so badly and making the most awful noise that I was starting to think she had whooping cough. (She's not vaxed.) It sounded like the recordings of it that I have heard, but the coughs only lasted 20 seconds, then she would whoop, then spit up. Anyway, she got over that for the most part, then caught another cold/cough, then just as she was getting over that, she caught yet another one. She got over the last cold/cough a couple weeks ago, but she still coughs in the mornings and a couple times a day and her nose sounds stuffy, but it doesn't run and she's not having trouble breathing. Could it just be taking this long to get over all the coughs? I didn't even think of that until after I posted. TIA!

[Plummeting]

After thinking on it, of course the only option is to try an elimination diet again to be sure. A question I had though, if anyone can answer, is what I should do about the solids she's eating. None of them seemed to have caused any problems for her, so can I keep giving them to her? She's only had avacadoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas and Earth's Best Biter Biscuits. Can I keep giving her those things while I do the diet? Can I eat those things while I do the diet, since they didn't seem to cause any problem? TIA

[moneca]

RIchelle,
You were so smart to not vax. My dd is 12 mo old and what the docs thought was reflux turned into MULTIPLE food allergies caused by damage to her immune system by the vaccinations ( I and my holistic doc believe this ). It's wonderful that your dd has no problems with weight. Mine went the other way and only weighs 16# at 12 mo. Elimination diet is what both of you will have to do if you're BF. Increasing immune system function can make allergies worse, but fish oil also decreases any inflammatory process so you might want to consider a quality brand like nordic naturals AFTER talking to a ND or holistic doc. Not sure what to tell you since your dd didn't have any damage to her immune system from the vaccinations. Has your dd been on antibiotics?

[Plummeting]

Well, she actually did have a few vaxes. I wasn't intending to mislead, just didn't want to explain exactly what she had and was trying to say she wasn't vaxed for pertussis. She had 2 hib, 2 ipv and 1 prevnar. She didn't have any until 3 months, but it could have been from the shots. However, she was like this before the shots, so I don't believe the shots caused the problems, but I guess I'll never know. At any rate, we decided after her 6 month checkup that she wouldn't be getting any more shots. (Had to get my husband on board for that one.)

She's never been on antibiotics, but I did give her the Zantac for a couple weeks until we figured out what the real problem was. From 2 to 6 or 8 weeks she was projectile vomiting, pulling her legs up to her chest and grunting all the time, like she was SO uncomfortable. I cut out dairy and soy and that quit immediately. After the diet, I found out she was also allergic to salmon - it gives her bum that red blistery ring OUCH! - peanuts, well lots of things, really. But there is something else that I'm eating. Apparently when I eat it for the first few times it isn't bothering her, otherwise I'd be able to identify it. Thanks for your help!

[moneca]

Good luck Richelle!

[LaLa]

any ideas?

I had refulx for years with dairy intollerance, but if you have already eliminated all traces of dairy and other known allergens, then I don't know?

I would definetly investigate the other potential allergens be they environmental or food related!

[USAmma]

If she has reflux even a little, it will be made lots worse by things like illness, coughing especially, teething, emotional upset, etc. It takes awhile for their systems to recover. If she's not acting like she's in pain, then she may not need meds. However if it continues you might want to make sure if she has it or not.

My oldest, Abi, had projectile vomit reflux from birth to 6 mos. but was a good eater and would just vomit and be hungry and take in more. We never put her on meds, either. Nitara was miserable from the start and her reflux is a lot more severe. It started with silent reflux, a gurgly voice in the mornings, little coughs, spit up even 2 hours after the last feed. It got progressively worse but she's a rare case. Most of the time they outgrow it pretty quickly.

There's a test that can be done but you probably wouldn't agree to it unless her problem got worse or didn't go away. It's an endoscopy with biopsy. The put the baby under, then put a small camera down into the stomach and look for acid damage. THey also take tiny tissue samples to look for inflammation (signs of severe reflux at the cell level-- not always visible to the eye) and allergies. If allergy cells show up then the baby is allergic to something he or she is being fed. Nitara has had the test done twice and I'm glad because it lets the doctor and me know what's going on and if her meds are effective.

Nitara has some kind of dairy thing going on, but she can eat some dairy okay, just not a lot. When it starts to build up in her system she starts to vomit a lot more. Kids who have allergies are more likely to have reflux, asthma, and allergies. They are all related. I would stick to the elimination diet just so if you have to see an Ped GI you can tell him/her that you are on it, and that would pretty much rule out allergies and point to reflux or something else.

Hope she gets better soon so you can stop worrying!

Darshani

mama to Nitara who has a feeding aversion due to severe reflux, is 100% tube-fed, and on Prilosec and acidophillus