Hi there. It's great to read through some of these messages. My daughter Olivia has reflux and is nearly 14 weeks old. We went onto Losec quite early on (about 6 weeks) as she would just scream and not feed well. Finally went to a Paed and he was great and prescribed Losec. Things improved heaps initially, and we were hanging on to the 3 months. BUT now she's 3 months old and things are really going backwards. She is on 10mg a day (1/2 in morning and 1/2 at night). But seems to have really bad gastro pain, full of wind and difficulty with bowel movements. I have just been to the doctor again as suspected she might need an increase in dosage, and something for the pain but have come away with 'Infacol' for her wind. Hmmm will that help?
Feeding is becoming a real issue as it is such a battle feeding her. She is screaming and seems really hungry, but then will realise that it's painful and scream and not want it. She is projectile vomiting more and more up. Any suggestions now? I'm not sure why things appeared to improve so much and now going backwards again. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I've got my own questions about my babies, so don't know of how much help I can be, but the twins were upped to 20mg (YAY, no more splitting capsuals!) once they hit 5kg. I suspect your baby might be hitting that weight bracket. If her dosage is not working, I'd be pushing to up the dose ASAP before you both loose any more sleep.

Some of the ladies here used gaviscon as well (I don't because the twins are bottle fed, and it constipates them). But until the dose is altered, perhaps you could use that as well. Just don't use it at the same time as the losec, as it decreases its strength or some such thing.

Best of luck... for both of us.

Yes, we have just tipped the 5kg so I guess the dose should be increased. I asked the docter this morning and he said no and I've been trying all day to make an appt with the paediatrician with no luck yet. My daughter is now bottle fed except at night I breastfeed. I was having so many issues with feeding we changed a few weeks ago. What about using AR formulas with Losec, is this a problem or OK to do?

I use AR formula on the advice of my paed, and we are on losec too.

I tried the Karicare AR, but found it too constipating. Its thickened with carob bean gum, and thickens on standing. That means you have to make it and use it straight away. By the end of a feed its quite syrupy. I now use the S26 AR formula, which is thickened with cooked cornstarch. It thickens on reaching the warmth of the gut (like white sauce). You make it with cold water, and like regular formula you can store it in the fridge for 24 hours. But when reheating, you have to be careful not to heat it up too much. It is less constipating.

I wouldn't recommend doing gaviscon and AR though. If you ring Wyeth or Nutricia, they'll send you out samples... well, sort of. Nutricia need a letter from your GP, and Wyeth send the sample to your GP or plunket nurse. The WHO code and all that.

Oh, watch the constipation - makes reflux worse I've found. My paed said 1 tsp of brown sugar in 50mls (plunket only recommend 1/2 tsp) up to three times a day to get things flowing.

Good luck for tonight.

Hi there, sorry to hear things are turning pear-shaped for you! You say she is now bottle fed. Is this a recent change? Have you considered the possibility of an intolerance or allergy to the formula? About 30% of reflux babies have allergies, milk seems to be the predominant one. It can cause (among other things) wind, diarehea (sp!), spilling, rashes, stuffy or runny nose, coughing... in fact all sorts of things. Might be something to consider and discuss with your dr.

Thank you both so much for your comments. It's great to have some other ideas as I will try anything! WE have an appt booked with the paed for Wed, so I guess we just hang in there until then. I guess looking back it could be an allergy/intollerance as I was expressing and feeding in a bottle for a few weeks which I have just stopped and have progressively increased the formula feeds, and her reflux has worsened progressively too. Interesting, can't wait until Wed.

Good luck at the paed's.

Which formula is she on? We had a similar issue and changed Katey to soy to find a very definite pattern of feeding, being OK for 2 hours, screaming blue murder for 2 hours, then feeding again. I was still breastfeeding so she was only on one to two formula feeds per day. Maybe switch to soy to see how she goes? It's worth a try.

Hey Rach Great to meet you on Wednesday! Small world huh? I'm so sorry to hear that thinks have gone downhill with Olivia. Hey - you've probably found this, but just incase you haven't - it's the dosage schedule for losec. I'd print out a copy and take it when you see the Paed on Wednesday if I was you - that's what I'm doing anyway! http://www.cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz/MedicalTreatment/DosageSchedule.htm Just so you know exactly where you can move within her weight range. Good luck and I'll see you on Tues!

Hiya

William needed to be upped to 20mg at about that age too, so def worth a thought.

Another thing!! We found that using probiotics really helped with wind and were surprised when we stopped them recently and found that the wind returned! We thought they seemed a bit airy fairy at first but have definitely helped William and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again. We use Primadophulus for Kids which is a powder that you just add to food or drink. We found that it took about a week to work though.

PM me if you want any more info on them.

Goodl uck

Niki

Thank you all for your comments. I now have a very long list of questions to take to our paediatrician. Olivia has just finally had a decent feed. After a very difficult few days and not much help we ended up taking her to Starship last night on advice from our doctor and she was prescribed some Lactulose. This seems to have worked and she has finally had a better feed tonight. Fingers crossed for a good sleep and thanks all for all the advice. Here's hoping our visit to the paed helps too.

My first suspect would be the formula as well. Whether it is an allergy which affects one in three of our babies with reflux or whether it is just purely that formula is harder to digest is hard to guess. I suppose you don't feel like going back to fully breastfeeding?? I have done it and it was useful whilst finding the "right" formula. I waited until things settled back down and tried another one - slowly - third time lucky!
If pain is an issue I wouldn't recommend going to an AR formula. Pain should be controlled first. It would be better to use infant gaviscon but this will increase the constipation. No formula should cause constiption if made correctly unless there is an underlying gut problem or allergy.
Another thing to consider is that a lot of our babies have gut motility issues anyway and that is why they get constipated - it often has little to do with medications and more to do with the disease. Lactulose is great for treating this and it is best to not make large changes either direction in the dose - in other words wean the dose down rather than stopping suddenly. Probiotics are also great for reflux and motility, as well as the complications of medical treatment.
Good luck with the paed. appointment. Paed's should know the dosage ranges for medications; it is GP's that sometimes don't. If anybody wants the easily printable dosage chart, just pm me, but put it in your bag and only produce it if needed. (Don't want to start off on the wrong foot.)