DD was diagnosed with Reflux about 6 weeks ago. We have been having ongoing problems though still with her bowel movements, screaming, wheezing and passing of wind. She passes 3+ bowel motions a day which are runny and frothy. Shes on ranitidine and AR formula. But I am really wondering if something else is going on,she screams and screams and then passes wind with exploding poos.

What is the best road to go down. I am at my witts end really...we thought all the screaming was from the reflux but her bowel movements are getting worse and worse.
I am going to make a doctors appointment for her but wanted to know if others have been through something familar and what road was taken.
When he made the diagnosis he said the wheezing and blocked nose was from the reflux? Shes been this way since birth and its only got worse then improved.

There is a possibility that Madison has an intolerance/allergy to dairy which could be causing the exploding poos. As I recall about 1/3 of our reflux kids have some sort of issuue with dairy and I know that a lot of reflux kids seem to benefit greatly from going dairy free.
That said we had terrible problems with AR formula with our kids and needed to carry on with the Gaviscon infant, which I know is a pain with ranitidine given the time gap needed in between. Our DD was greatly improved by using goat formula instead of the normal ones, although I know that it's a controversial subject, all I can say is it worked for us.
There are a few mums here who have a lot more experience with dairy allergies than I do so hopefully they will be able to help more than I can.
Best wishes

Its hard isnt it, with not knowing what step to take. I just rung up & made a appointment and hope I can get somewhere with my doctor. We had her on HA formula and that didnt seem to help it either. Right at the start I thought it was great as the symptoms where less but it all kicked in again.

There is only so much you can take before you go batty LOL

It normally all happens directly after shes been feed- its amazing she still smiles for me.

Sounds Like a dairy problem to me. are you seeing a pead? Ask your doctor for a referal, If it is dairy you need one of the specialist formulas pepti Junior or neocate, and these can only be perscribed by a pead. Clear runny nose and exploding frothy poos are both symptoms.

I second what Clarice has said, you need to ask your GP for a referral asap for your wee one. The running nose definately sounds like the symptoms for allergies. Good luck, the normal course of action a Paed seems to take is eliminating a dairy allergy.

If she showed some improvements on the HA then I would look down that route.
Formulas go in order of how much 'hypo-allergenic' they are
*normal formula
*Karicare HA
*Pepti Junior
*Neocate

Sometimes you can see an improvement and then go backwards. For example we started on Pepti Junior and saw a huge improvement and then she went backwards. We then moved onto neocate and she was much better and stayed better. If you see some improvements i would look into it further - she just may need a more hypo-allergenic milk.
Neocate and Pepti junior can only be prescribed by a paed, who applies for a special authority number for you. (they are hideoulsy expensive otherwise)

Definately go and see a paed, there is only so much your GP can do for you.

Well, we went to the doctors and he thought that at the moment its not a lactose issue and that the thickened formula was not digesting, he said it all sounds like a reflux issue then anything and to review it in a couple of weeks on normal formula again.. So I guess we will see how she gets on.. agghh I think Its a good idea to see a Paed if she doesnt improve in a few weeks at her review.

We had issues on thickened formula too, it was thickened with corn ans Emily had trouble digesting this and it gave her terrible wind.
We switched back to normal formula and thickened it with gaviscon and this was OK for a while.

Very few children actually have problems with lactose, it is more likely to be a milk protein allergy/intolerance.

I knew Emily had issues with milk proteing for a couple of reasons. (she never tested positive on RAST or skin prick)
-she had a really rumbly tummy, you could hear it making noises from across the room
-she had bad wind
-she refused feeds
-she would arch her back and scream with wind
-excema/rashes

My advice would be to keep seeking answers, never rest until you are satisfied and your baby is happyish.

She has all of the above Suomi except the rashes/excema he felt that if it was a allergy as such she would have rashes etc (she has beautiful skin) you can also hear the milk hit her tummy, although in saying so its been less so since shes been on medication. Agggh babies..where is the manual?

It can be an intolerance, which can often have no rashes.

Many doctors only think of allergies and then only if they show up on tests.
Your child have have huge issues with milk protein and have it never how up on an allergy test.
I will try and find you a really good link on allergy/intolerance. I can't remember where it was so it may take a while.
You could also go to http://www.allergy.org.nz and have a look, it may tell you something there.

I think the big thing with Emily was the milk hitting her tummy - I have never heard another baby do this.

As for a manuel - my Emily defies all logic and explanation! DD1 was textbook and so I thought Emily would be to - boy was I wrong. She has tuned all my parenting ideas and expectations upside down. It has probably been quite good for the anal control freak in me to have to loosen up and let go.

Hey thanks for that link. LOL about the anal control freak.. I am that way and finding it hard to let go actually. It sure make things hard hey!!?

I am definately going to ask for a referral if it doesnt all improve.

My DD has cows milk intolerance and I went down the (many formula's) road also. AR formula although fine for a day turned out worse and her wind was already bad but it became horrendous. The formula took longer to digest and caused her huge pain. I tried goats for a while, Soy, Pepti Jun then finally onto Neocate and it's all been better since. Originally on Ranitidine we went to losec granules and she's now well managed. I thicken each feed with gaviscon. If on ranitidine and gaviscon there is a window of administering ranitidine an hour before giving gaviscon with her bottle or 2 hours after. Check out the http://www.cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz website to clarifiy. Ranitidine needs to be monitored against her weight often to make sure it's working. It worked for us for a few weeks then things started going downhill. Losec has been fabulous. Keep us posted and good luck. Gotta run bubba is crying.