Does anyone have experience with reflux that didn't go away at the "usual" time? DS has been off meds since about the time he was sitting up because he improved a lot at that time. He was still waking up a lot more than we would like and unresponsive to CIO but my pedi didn't flag that as an issue.
I don't know what I'm looking for- should I push to restart meds or just wait it out? Selfishly, I want better sleep. He's been waking once a night and must have milk which is so bizarre at 14 months.
Post by asoctoberfalls on Nov 23, 2014 12:36:21 GMT -5
Yes. DS is 3, and we figured out he had reflux when he was about 5 months old. He's never outgrown it. I would say his reflux isn't "normal" reflux...the only symptom he's ever had is a nighttime cough and fussiness, and in fact, he was originally misdiagnosed with asthma. After the asthma meds didn't help, we had a LOT of testing done, and it turns out he has acid reflux and a laryngeal cleft. (90% of cleft kids have reflux too, and they're not sure why).
DS was on Zantac for a long time. We tried to take him off it when he was 1, because his doctors figured out he would outgrow it, but the cough came back after about a week off Zantac. So we kept him on Zantac until he was 22 months. They had us quit again, and the cough did NOT come back, so we thought the reflux was gone. He was completely asymptomatic. However, a pH probe showed that he refluxed severely over 100 times in 24 hours, so his GI doc put him on omeprazole (Prilosec). He's 3.5 now and is still on omeprazole. They're not sure now if he'll ever outgrow the reflux.
I would NOT take him off meds. It's my understanding that the acid can severely damage the esophagus and even the lungs. Not to scare you, because I don't know what the circumstances were, but DS's SLP told me about a boy she saw whose airways were so severely damaged from reflux that he wasn't able to exert himself or play sports when he was older. I'm honestly surprised the ENT suggested discontinuing meds. Have you thought of seeing a GI doctor?
I feel you on the sleep training. We were unable to sleep train DS until we got his medical issues figured out.
Has your son had a swallow study done? If not, I'm surprised. It sounds like he needs one. Is he under the care of an SLP for feeding therapy? I DO think feeding therapy is a good idea, but only once they figure out what your son's issues are. it seems like there is something else going on that they haven't diagnosed yet.
Post by ilikedonuts on Nov 23, 2014 13:06:26 GMT -5
DD1 was on medication until around 18 months for reflux. We kept trying to wean her off and it was an epic failure.
She had a barium swallow done at 4-5 months and her reflux was so bad that we were warned that she probably would not outgrow it as early as other kids do. Thankfully though she did still at least outgrow it.
Our GI said that she just fell in that very small % that didn't outgrow it in the normal time.
I'd go see a GI. If he still has a decent amount of reflux he needs to be on meds. Like asoctoberfalls said, it can damage the lining of his esophagus among other things.
DS2 (4yo) still has reflux. It doesn't seem to bother him much, though, and he's staying on his weight curve, so he is not medicated. Foods such as citrus, tomato-based foods, mint, and chocolate, can make reflux worse. Unless there is a dairy allergy involved, milk can sometimes actually make reflux symptoms better.
FWIW, DS3 will be 2yo in just 1.5 weeks and just started SSTN about a month ago. He got up to have milk in the middle of the night until almost 17mos. So while it is possible that your DS still waking up and having milk is due to the reflux, it is also possible that it is not related.