Intolerance not reflux!
Hi I am new to this site but really felt the urge to let people know about my recent experience. My baby girl is now 12 weeks old and has been formula fed since birth. She started on aptimil and from very early on would cry and be in discomfort, this would be on and off throughout the day but her worst time was between 5 and 7 in the evening. I hear you say ah colic! But I believe there is no such thing as colic and it is a label given when GP's etc are not sure what is wrong. Ellie never threw up her milk but clear smelly acid would sometimes come out, she would have terrible wind, severe trapped wind sometimes that would come out hard and fast, she would then cry through the pain and shock of it. She would arch her back and scream and cry, and started to get a hoarse voice-classic symptoms of silent reflux.
However she started to get worse as the weeks went by, she was put on infant gaviscon early on and my health visitor suggested I also change her to aptimil comfort. The screaming fits stopped for a short time and I thought I had it down but she was never quite right. She also still had wind, she hated the car seat with a passion, she would be grizzly and moany sometimes and I didn't know why, she would also sometimes get a bloated hard stomach - this could be two hours or so after feeding, and feeding was always te hardest time! As she drank the noises her stomach would make were odd and within a few mouthfuls the pain on her face would appear, it's like she was hungry but it hurt her, she would scream and cry and it would be very hard to give her a feed, I couldn't ever let anyone feed her. Sometimes The only way was to get her sleepy with a dummy then exchange it for a bottle to get her to take it. Night feeds were easier but I think this was because she was sleepy. I did everything...tilting the cot, sat her upright after feeds, used dr browns bottles amongst other things but two weeks ago her reflux seemed worse. I went to the gp and he said the next stage was ranitidine, he advised she continued also with the gaviscon and said he is referring her to a peadiatricion. However within one dose she went off her milk even more and was so unhappy, the next two days were a nightmare and worse than ever, she would scratch , pinch and pull my hair in pain like literally climbing up the front of me, she also started getting red spots on her feet that would come and go around feeding . It was aweful so I chose to stop the meds, two more days went by and she was still bad, I was at my wits end her feet at this point were red and hot to the touch at feeding time and seemingly getting worse but then would go down when she was calm and not feeding. Last Saturday afternoon I broke down and cried as much as she did. My husband and I took her to a and e there and then. The nurse in a and e was rude and really tried to fob us off telling us that we were best to wait for our appointment to come through and the wait to even see a normal doctor was over two hours, but I was determined and through tears and frustration told her to get us on the list and we were staying! The reason being is that they asked if she was gaining weight every week which she had, she always had wet nappies, and poo'd every day and was never constipated by the gaviscon, also (with perseverance ) most of the time she was drinking more than half her bottles in a 24 hour period , oh and her red feet? the nurse reckoned it was frim her crying! The answer to these questions meant my baby was thriving and therefore not an emergency. But I stuck to my
Guns and we saw a doctor who agreed to refer us to a paediatric registrar on duty. We finally got to see her and she listened and I mean really listened to everything I was telling her. At the end of it she said that although the reflux symptoms were there she thought there could possibly be an intolerance issue-cows milk protein intolerance to be precise and she suggested I take her off of all meds and give her a specialised milk called neocate that she was prescribing. She explained it is not even a soy milk as most babies that have an intolerance to cows milk also are intolerant to soy!
It is very expensive and costs the NHS 25 pounds per tub (and its a small tub) hence alot of gp's would not prescribe it willingly. It is amino acid based and smells horrid. It doesn't taste much better either, but within two days of this stuff she was like a new baby!!! She feeds like a dream and yesterday smiled at me whilst having her bottle, she has not refluxed, her belly is lovely and soft, she winds beautifully, and seems so happy and content, I have just returned from the hospital after 3 days of Ellie being on this milk as the registrar wanted to see her after a small period of time on it and she was astounded at how much better Ellie seemed , her skin is better, no flare ups, her feet are fine, and belly small and soft, and no red feet andshe has now been discharged I am so glad we did this.
From looking online there are alot of people that have the same issue but have not been told about this option. I just wanted to let mums know out there about my experience and hope that if they have the same issues to consider this! Ellie has been on meds since she was born for something she didn't have!!! Reflux especially silent reflux can be easily confused with intolerance! Keep it in mind and save yourself the pain of seeing your child go through this as long as I did! X
Hi I am new to this site but really felt the urge to let people know about my recent experience. My baby girl is now 12 weeks old and has been formula fed since birth. She started on aptimil and from very early on would cry and be in discomfort, this would be on and off throughout the day but her worst time was between 5 and 7 in the evening. I hear you say ah colic! But I believe there is no such thing as colic and it is a label given when GP's etc are not sure what is wrong. Ellie never threw up her milk but clear smelly acid would sometimes come out, she would have terrible wind, severe trapped wind sometimes that would come out hard and fast, she would then cry through the pain and shock of it. She would arch her back and scream and cry, and started to get a hoarse voice-classic symptoms of silent reflux.
However she started to get worse as the weeks went by, she was put on infant gaviscon early on and my health visitor suggested I also change her to aptimil comfort. The screaming fits stopped for a short time and I thought I had it down but she was never quite right. She also still had wind, she hated the car seat with a passion, she would be grizzly and moany sometimes and I didn't know why, she would also sometimes get a bloated hard stomach - this could be two hours or so after feeding, and feeding was always te hardest time! As she drank the noises her stomach would make were odd and within a few mouthfuls the pain on her face would appear, it's like she was hungry but it hurt her, she would scream and cry and it would be very hard to give her a feed, I couldn't ever let anyone feed her. Sometimes The only way was to get her sleepy with a dummy then exchange it for a bottle to get her to take it. Night feeds were easier but I think this was because she was sleepy. I did everything...tilting the cot, sat her upright after feeds, used dr browns bottles amongst other things but two weeks ago her reflux seemed worse. I went to the gp and he said the next stage was ranitidine, he advised she continued also with the gaviscon and said he is referring her to a peadiatricion. However within one dose she went off her milk even more and was so unhappy, the next two days were a nightmare and worse than ever, she would scratch , pinch and pull my hair in pain like literally climbing up the front of me, she also started getting red spots on her feet that would come and go around feeding . It was aweful so I chose to stop the meds, two more days went by and she was still bad, I was at my wits end her feet at this point were red and hot to the touch at feeding time and seemingly getting worse but then would go down when she was calm and not feeding. Last Saturday afternoon I broke down and cried as much as she did. My husband and I took her to a and e there and then. The nurse in a and e was rude and really tried to fob us off telling us that we were best to wait for our appointment to come through and the wait to even see a normal doctor was over two hours, but I was determined and through tears and frustration told her to get us on the list and we were staying! The reason being is that they asked if she was gaining weight every week which she had, she always had wet nappies, and poo'd every day and was never constipated by the gaviscon, also (with perseverance ) most of the time she was drinking more than half her bottles in a 24 hour period , oh and her red feet? the nurse reckoned it was frim her crying! The answer to these questions meant my baby was thriving and therefore not an emergency. But I stuck to my
Guns and we saw a doctor who agreed to refer us to a paediatric registrar on duty. We finally got to see her and she listened and I mean really listened to everything I was telling her. At the end of it she said that although the reflux symptoms were there she thought there could possibly be an intolerance issue-cows milk protein intolerance to be precise and she suggested I take her off of all meds and give her a specialised milk called neocate that she was prescribing. She explained it is not even a soy milk as most babies that have an intolerance to cows milk also are intolerant to soy!
It is very expensive and costs the NHS 25 pounds per tub (and its a small tub) hence alot of gp's would not prescribe it willingly. It is amino acid based and smells horrid. It doesn't taste much better either, but within two days of this stuff she was like a new baby!!! She feeds like a dream and yesterday smiled at me whilst having her bottle, she has not refluxed, her belly is lovely and soft, she winds beautifully, and seems so happy and content, I have just returned from the hospital after 3 days of Ellie being on this milk as the registrar wanted to see her after a small period of time on it and she was astounded at how much better Ellie seemed , her skin is better, no flare ups, her feet are fine, and belly small and soft, and no red feet andshe has now been discharged I am so glad we did this.
From looking online there are alot of people that have the same issue but have not been told about this option. I just wanted to let mums know out there about my experience and hope that if they have the same issues to consider this! Ellie has been on meds since she was born for something she didn't have!!! Reflux especially silent reflux can be easily confused with intolerance! Keep it in mind and save yourself the pain of seeing your child go through this as long as I did! X
