reflux and gaviscon/carobel

[sarahuk]

Advice needed! Baby is on neocate and we are struggling very bad with keeping it down due to the consistency. We trialed taking him off gaviscon so we could try carobel which has solved the problem with keeping the milk down. Problem is we are now refluxing really bad. Anyone know if its possible to continue with gaviscon and use just a -little- carobel to thicken it just a smudge? I know it says not to use with other thickeners but getting a tad desperate x

 

[Smanderson]

Sarah how come your doc hasnt prescribed domperidone and ranitidine? I was told these are the two medicines that are proven to help reflux. Our DS suffers real bad and has been on this for a few weeks now, we are working with docs to get dosage right but he is like a different child, he actually sleeps now...really not used to this LOL. I recommend asking doc about these x

 

[loves_cookies]

I second going to the GP and asking for something else. My LO is on Nutramigen and we needed Ranitidine and Carobel to get her reflux under control.

 

[sarahuk]

Oh I should have mentioned..my LO is also on ranitidine and lanzapersole (I think I spelled that wrong!). We were on the domperidone but we came off that as it was giving him more tummy aches and also seemed to space him out. We are currently waiting for an appointment with the gastro specialist to find out why these meds (including the gaviscon infant) dont have his reflux under control yet

x

 

[Smanderson]

Sorry your having such a struggle finding the right meds for your LO i hope the specialist can help

 

[_Nell]

You could try a touch of the carobel with the gaviscon. I used to use half a carobel scoop with a 6oz bottle - just start steadily the issue is constipation from using both.

Have you tried getting your LO to take a dummy, we found that helps a little (my LO is 7 months and on neocate and all the meds). The sucking generates saliva which soothes the throat and helps reduce tummy acid too.

 

[sarahuk]

Thanks nell

Yep Alex never took to the dummy but since his reflux got worse its now his new best friend!

We tried to mix and its been all hell. Screaming like crazy and having really bad painful wind. We alternated bottles to see if it was just a one off and low and behold yet again on the gaviscon/carobel bottle we had distress. I guess its too much on his tummy, so we are back to pukeville again! x

 

[_Nell]

It sucks doesn't it. We ditched the carobel tbh and just use neocate watery.
It was a choice between vomiting or griping tummy pains from using a thickener.
I also found that even with the thickener LO would vomit pools of tummy acid - i think it's actually better she vomit some neocate too as it does less damage to her throat that way.
We also ditched the domperidone like you as that made things worse.

I'm glad the dummy helps, we persevered for 4 months before our little girl finally accepted it.

I hope you get some support from your paed appointment, it does get a little better with age but it's slow for many babies

 

[sarahuk]

Nell cant thank you enough for your post. It really helped concrete it into my head that we did the right thing by yanking the carobel and ditching the domperidone. I have been made to feel a bit by a facebook group that I am imagning the problems we had with the carobel. Anyone would think they were ambassadors or something! Everyone keeps banging on to me about how amazing it is and shouldnt be doing to my son what it is. Maybe it is awesome..but not for Alex!

What problems did you have with the domperi?

xx

 

[_Nell]

I think some mums find their 'fix' and will speak no bad of the meds, but it's not one size fits all.
The carobel is just a thickener, nothing more magic than that!

For us domperidone didn't speed her digestion up, LO poop stayed on schedule (slow) and she could still vomit hours and hours after a last feed. She cried a heck of a lot more on it and seemed to revert to having tummy pain. We gave it a good go too, 6 or 7 weeks the first time and then at the paeds persuasion another fortnight more recently. I actually found some studies that indicated for babies taking domperidone there was no improvement, which left me confused as to why it is so commonly prescribed. Our paed admitted that of all the meds it's the one that can make things worse.

At 2 months old you've done well to get your LO on the best formula and meds already - for a lot of babies 8 weeks is the peak of the pain and crying so i hope you get lucky and things get easier for you

 

[loves_cookies]

We were lucky and Carobel helped my LO (we are only just now weaning off of it), but so many health professionals have asked along the way whether it makes any difference or not has always made me think that they don't rate it very much.

 

[sarahuk]

Ive been in and out of the hospital so often, I think thats the only reason we got as far as we did in the time that we have...they were fed up of seeing me! I was just so tired of hearing the word colic when I knew it wasnt.

Oh bless...that must have been a horrid time with the meds It sounds like we had the exact same experiences with the domperidone, so glad we are off it!

How is your LO these days? xx

 

[_Nell]

My LO has good days and bad really, i think we've got used to it. the paed thinks it is still managed and has added an extra med, an antihistamine (LO still cries a lot )
Sitting up made the reflux a little worse, i think it squishes everything up. We've started weaning so i'm awaiting how that affects things.

I hate hearing colic too, i'm glad you stood your ground to get help.

 

[sarahuk]

I hope the weaning goes well hun. I heard it helps much with reflux but can be difficult with cows milk allergy.

Does your little one have cmpi too? x

 

[_Nell]

I think she does, she's on neocate and we did a weeks trial of regular formula pre weaning which confirmed it for us. We're weaning dairy free.