Hi All

New to the board and really hoping some of you ladies out there might be able to help.

I am wondering whether my daughter has allergic (or ensohiphilic) esophagitis? She is 7 months, on 20 mgs of Losec and recently Neocate. Her reflux is still uncontrolled and she continues to bleach the carpet every time she spills. I asked the paed if this was the meds and he said it would be the acid.... STILL??? She has been diagnosed with Cow's milk protein allergy - hence the Neocate - but seems just as allergic to most solids. We saw a dietician on the paediatrician's advice, but even some of the stuff she reccommended (like broccoli) gives Poppy a really bad reaction. Her reflux has always been silent, and characterised by heaps of abdo pain/ cramps as opposed to traditional back arching.... As a result i have just returned to baby rice and neocate, again.

The paed is super busy and to be honest, not that interested because Poppy's weight gain is still fine. However he did give us Zirtec - an antihistamine - and it has helped heaps with nighttime sleep... Which again gets me thinking about allergies driving the reflux rather than vice versa.

Anybody else out there with a very allergic kid??? Does this sounds like allergic esophagitis and should i be pushing for blood/ skin/ patch tests, or even as a last resort an endoscope??? Or is it just reflux with a shed load of allergies on top just for some additional fun???!!!

Like all of you, i am on my knees and always looking for answers. I know there aren't any easy ones out there, but it helps a tiny bit just to know that you are trying your best for your kid to find out what's wrong and help them feel better..

Thanks all - and sorry for the long post,

Katie

Mum to Rosie 2 yrs 8 months
and Poppy 7months

Hi katie...
I'm sorry I don't have any answers.. but your description of Poppy sounds VERY similar to Tyde!
We haven't started solids properly yet, as Tyde isn't that interested, but it seems each time he's had something (and i"m amazed any of it actually goes down as he spits it out) he has the same abdo cramps that you were describing... which can last for a week after the ONE trial/taste.. (e.g. pumpkin or carrot, or kumara so far!)
Tyde is way better since on Neocate.. but I'm starting to feel like he will not be having solids successfully for a very long time!! please keep us posted.
P.s. what does the zirtec do? what is that actually for? does she have ezcema etc also?

Hi, and welcome to the board.

Emily sounds very similar to yours...on neocate and 20mg losec. She is now 13 montsh byt he way.
We had an additional problem of bottle aversion so we have fed her all her milk since 5 months...so much fun.

We saw a dietiton as well and took her solids very slowly. Until she was one we kept her egg, dairy, nut and wheat/gluten free.
We have now reintroduced wheat and she seems fine. She also tolerate milk in food, eg biscuits, but not things like cheese. We will try dairy again soon.

Here are some of the things that agreed with her.

neocate and baby rice
pears
golden circle pear and cereal
pumpkin
kumera
carrot
parsnip

*as she got a bit older:
Buckwheat pancakes
peaches
wheat free bread
rice crackers

We still keep her diet pretty 'clean'.

We has RAST tests and skin prick and nothing ever showed up for us.

I also felt like the milk issue and food drove her reflux.
The other thing which we have discovered the hard way is that vaccinations set her reflux off somethign terrible and totally compromise her immune system.

Melanie

No answers here either sorry. Is it possible to see another paeadiatrician? You deserve to be heard.
Abdo pains and cramps would make me think more of constipation or colic. Don't get be wrong, I'm not saying she doesn't have reflux. These conditions tend to stick together along with allergies. Constipation isn't technically the description, and better descriptions are decreased gut motility, difficult evacuation of faeces etc. Have you tried a probiotic? These are good at promoting good gut motility and replenishing the good bugs that Losec can let be overgrown by bad bugs.
Allergy testing often doesn't pick up the gut reactions as they aren't IgE mediated. A delayed patch test may help more but I don't know if they are that readily available. An endoscopy is usually done if reflux doesn't resolve by a certain age, or is difficult to control. Is her pain mostly controlled now?

Zyrtec is an antihistamine. http://www.everybody.co.nz/otcguide-product-171.aspx

Best wishes