(UPDATED 4/9/13) can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

UPDATE 4/9/13
I just wanted to give an update for anyone who was following this, reached out to me, offered advice/support - and for anyone in the future who might do a search...
it took about a week to wean dd onto the alimentum completely, and so she's been on it for about 2 weeks (and continues to be on the axid). she is doing sooo much better. are things perfect? no. but she hasn't had one of those screaming fits anytime recently. I usually KNOW why she is crying now. so I had the appointment with the 2nd GI today finally - I chose to still go, even with her improvement. it took so long to get in, I just wanted her established somewhere in case problems arose again and, I just wanted a 2nd opinion. we saw dr gold in Babylon. I LOVED him. he listened to EVERY thing I said, never rushed me and explained every little thing to me. and don't you know - it was her 6th time being tested but finally, finally it showed - blood in her stool. it's a MILK ALLERGY!!! I didn't know what it was, but I knew it wasn't just being "gassy and uncomfortable" like the 1st GI blew it off as. I feel so relieved to finally know what is going on. he said that the alimentum could be helping her and that the old formula may not be completely out of her system yet so that is why a trace of blood is still showing up. OR, she may get worse again. time will tell. I have to send in 3 stool samples in a few weeks and if she gets worse or the blood is still showing then, we will switch her to elecare. otherwise just keep doing what we are doing and bring her back in 6 months so we can discuss what to do about introducing milk to her. and he actually said he's not convinced she even has reflux. he told me that if she's doing great down the line, to try decreasing and then stopping the axid to see if it effects her. anyway, thank you to everyone again. hopefully we are FINALLY on a path to improvement.
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Actually, i already had an emotional breakdown. Yesterday in the dr's office.
Dd is 4.5 months old. About 2 months ago, she was diagnosed with reflux & put on zantac 1.7 ml/2x a day. It was upped to 2ml at her 3 month visit. The meds def seemed to make a difference in her feedings. Where prior, she would arch & scream and the majority of feedings were exhausting for us both, she takes her bottles much more calmly now. There are some issues/fussiness but nothing like before. She is on similac sensitive since she is 5 weeks old. 2 different pediatricians told me not to change her formula again, bc it won't help with reflux. And the ped's office checked 4 diapers for blood/an allergy - all negative.
So about 2 weeks ago, dd starts having these screaming fits. They are "seemingly" out of nowhere... they aren't necessarily when shes tired or eating or at a certain time of day etc. She bears down with all her might, claws at her face, chews her fist/arm, and screams uncontrollably. Nothing soothes her - not a bottle, paci, position change etc. She just has to go through it and even when its over, it takes her a long time to calm down from it. It can last from 15-40min and is just god awful to watch. It happens maybe once a day. The other night she even woke from sleep and it happened.
id been complaining to the ped and im not sure if he thought i was exaggerating or a neurotic 1st time mom or what but via email he kind of brushed me off. Then it happened in his office, at her 4 month visit, completely unprovoked. She was inconsolable for well over 20min no matter what he, myself or my mother did. He asked if thats what i had been dealing with and when i said yes, i can tell his face changed and he took me a little more seriously. He changed her meds from zantac to axid 2.2ml and told me to give her prune juice every day in case it was from slight constipation bc she only ever pooped once a day.
So another week goes by, no difference is made and i chose to stop the prune juice bc i felt like it was making things worse (its been a few days since i stopped and her poop has been all off since i started ). The ped sent her for a sonogram to rule out anything obscure, like cysts, gallstones, kidney stones etc. It was normal.
i took her to see a GI yesterday and HATED him. After waiting an hour & 15 min... he rushed us through a MAYBE 10min appointment. I didnt feel listened to or like he was concerned at all. I have video on my phone of how she acts during these fits, he didnt care to see. He tested her poop, which was again negative and also advised against changing her formula. He gave me a probiotic to give her and changed her meds to nexium. Its a powder that you mix into water. I asked "what if she won't drink it?" . His response: "hmm good question, lets hope she does". I asked "any idea what it could be?" His response: "shes prob just gassy & uncomfortable". I broke down in tears and THEN he had some advice: "dont get upset in front of her, she shouldn't see you like this". Umm thanks. I left his office in tears.
Even my ped said after that fit in his office: "babies crying is usually background noise to me but THAT left a dent".
I feel so lost. Shes sleeping horribly and SOMETHING is wrong - but i dont know what to do or where to turn. Im supposed to follow up in 2 weeks with the GI. I also made another appt with a different GI but that isnt for 3 weeks. Its the soonest i could get. Id like a 2nd opinion and even if these meds are the answer, im still not happy with this dr. Which, btw, she only drank 3/4 of the meds last night & this morning.
I will see how these meds help or dont help over the next week and if there's no improvment, i will be reaching out to the ped again but in the meantime, i was hoping maybe someone here has been through this, has a nugget of advice or guidance. Id appreciate anything.
thanks for reading
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i just want to thank EVERYONE for their input, stories, advice and support. It really means a lot to know im not alone. When you cant do anything to help your baby, its hard not to start questionning youself as a parent
anyway, i spoke with the pediatrician on thursday night. He spent 10min on the phone with me, listening to my interaction with the gi (since he recommend him), explaining the different classes of meds and how they work differently and giving me his advice. It felt good just to be heard and taken seriously.
The plan then was to continue the nexium, since i had already started it, and to try a formula change. He said if shes all of a sudden doing great, i could skip a few doses of medication - and then I'd be able to tell if it was the formula or meds helping. And he said if i was happy with the new meds, he could prescribe them so i dont have to deal with this gi again. He said elecare is always an option to try down the road if alimentum/nutramigen dont help - and obv to continue the probiotic.
However, yesterday, i noticed that dd arched /cried during EVERY bottle. I started weaning her onto alimentum yesterday as well but i assume theres no way it could be from the formula change. It happened simultaneously but, a formula change wouldn't effect her that quickly... right?? Plus, im weaning her onto it. Her bottles were only like 25% alimentum. She was on the nexium/off the axid for 3 days. Im assuming it has to be from that... that the new meds are no good for her. I gave her the axid instead last night & this morning and will continue, to see if she goes back to "normal" in a few days. She's still arching/crying today but i guess it may take a bit for the axid to kick back in. Im hoping anyway. If not, i will call the pediatrician again on monday. But she hasnt arched and cried like this during bottles since before she was on meds/diagnosed with reflux 2 months ago. Ugh just one thing after the other.

Message edited 4/9/2013 9:12:50 PM.

Re: can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

I have no advice for you but just wanted to give you I am so sorry you and your little girl are going through this!

Re: can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

My ds exactly. Sigh. He had colic and neg poop tests but one was borderline. Docs didn't believe me until they saw it in person. Ok my advice. F them. Get similac alimentum and try it for a week. Use florastar probiotics. Use 1ml of mylanta up to 3 times a day. Keep her on axid. Try a swaddle me. ( This was all recd by my gi doc) except for swaddle that is. And I thought colic was a brush off dx but its sooooooo real. The stares I would get when we were outside and the tears in side. Omg. Fm me for more info or if you want to talk. I remember those days. I am so sorry!!!!

Re: can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

I am so sorry you are going through this. Lots of hugs to you-it is so difficult to watch our LO's in pain and then be brushed off by the doc. My advice is to find a new GI doc and meanwhile continue giving her probiotics. There is new research suggesting colic might be because of an imbalance between good/bad bacteria in the gut and in some babies, it takes time for the balance to be correctly maintained. Good Luck!

Re: can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

My dd had horrible reflux as a baby. FIrst advice...definitely find a new GI! I highly recommend Dr Markowitz at LIJ, but have also heard great things about Dr David Gold. We dealt with a bad GI for months,it made things worse. Second- maybe try giving some mylicon drops with the meds. The dr may have to play with dosing to see what will work. DD is older and Nexium wasn't around when she was little. What finally worked for her was a combination of Prilosec/Prevacid int he morning and Zantac at night. I wonder if the spacing out of two different meds may help. I found my dd needed to be held a lot....it seemed tohelp comfort her. Please feel free to FM me....I've been through a lot with her. Just knolw you are not alone.

Re: can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

Def find a new GI , and I agree with a PP , try the alimentum to see how she does... DS was not officially diagnosed with a milk protein allergy but when I switched him to alimentum he was much better. good luck!!

can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

Try Biogaia( a probiotic) sold at walgreens! My daughter was having screaming fits until a few days ago when I started these drops, my ped. had never heard of them, another mommy recommended them, the ped. said it can't hurt to try. She has stopped screaming, fussing and eating better. I want to add that she is also on Similac Alimentum bc she tested positive for an allergy. Hope something helps and your baby calms down.

Re: can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

Dd didn't have any given issues but I do remember her around the same time doing the same. They said it was gas. It was 40 min of torture nothing called her and she did it for a week or two. I think I read something about their digestion changing at a certain age. Maybe that's it. Sorry I don't have any advice gas drops worked a bit. We thought it was formula but I thinking was just her going through a phase of development. I hope that is what it is for you.

Re: can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

how about gas? seems routine but are you using gas drops? My DD is the same as yours, we experience the same symptoms (she is younger though, on 1ml of zantac 2x per day) and also Alimentum for what we think is a milk protein sensitivity though we never had a diaper tested - i just went with my gut since DS had it confirmed.

Gas drops make ALL the difference for us. EVERY feeding and sometimes in between.

ETA - there have been times where i SWEAR she has a bowel obstruction or something because she screams, freaks out, pushes, shrieks etc. Eventually she passes MAN gas and when she poops, she is better. Could just be a less developed than normal GI tract for her age with a combo of reflux and possibly colic. Sounds like the perfect storm

Message edited 3/20/2013 11:40:52 AM.

Re: can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

i agree with above posters about trying Alimentum but give it TWO weeks. Also, be prepared that reflux can flare since Alimentum is thinner!!! Our Ped warned us of that and its true. We had to up DD's Zantac but it made her tummy issues MUCH better! Spitting up/vomiting bottles still happens.

Re: can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

I also suggest that you see another GI and change her formula to Enfamil Nutramigen, it contains that necessary probiotic which I heard makes all the difference in the world! Its also very low in sugar compared to other formulas which causes more gas. I'm sorry she's suffering...and I'm sorry for you too. I hope it gets better soon! Tons of

can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

Dd to the t. She is 5.5 months and it is only now getting better.
This is what worked for us.
Axid 3x daily 1.4
Mylanta 3 ml 3 x daily
Enfamil nutramigen. Started w the powder but now she is on rtf bc she takes it better.
I feeeeel your pain. It is literally a night mare and I came close to having quite a few emotional breakdowns. Now that she is on solids things r much better. Still not great. Also i want to add dd still only poops 1 x daily.

Re: can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

ds was sort of like this..oh boy i remember those days

they kwpt switching foemulas..

he would not poop for days and getting gas out of him was impossible

he arched his back,stomach hard a s a rock turned purple and screamed


pne night he screamed from midnight to 8 am

time he got a little better but once we switched to genltese he was a diff baby

poped more,gas came up better etc

we do gas drops before and after bottle per ped and now they r putting him on reflux meds too

i would def try a diff formula,the sensitive did nothing for us

can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

It gets better! My daughter had this until we put her on ready to feed alimentum and Zantac! Within a few days she was a different baby! It will get better

Re: can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

I am so sorry for what you are going through. It sickens me how doctors can be so insensitive. Most doctors I see I am unimpressed with and then I get the bill in the mail and I can't believe they think the "time" they gave me was worth that much. My daughter and son have some GI issues too. We saw Dr. Lazare in the Winthrop Pediatric suite near the hospital. She is okay but not the best. My 9 month old son has has reflux since he was a NB and we tried putting rice his bottle before we did meds (not there is anything wrong with the meds, though) and that worked for him. My 4 year old daughter has constipation out of nowhere so she is on Miralax everyday. She also has reflux but refuses to take the Zantac because of the terrible taste.

Best of luck to you.

Re: can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

Thank you for all of your replies & support
i just want to add, dd's problem has never been spit-up. She very rarely spits up; she has "silent reflux".
Can anyone tell me if there is a difference between nutramigen & alimentum, other than brand? Is one "better " than the other? If im just following my own gut and decide to change her formula, I'd like to make an informed decision about what to switch her to.
also, like i had mentioned, dd only ever pooped once a day, but it was always very regular and she never seemed to have troubles. I took her off the prune juice after about 5 days bc i felt like it was making things worse, and ive since heard that it can cause abdominal cramping. But since shes been on it - and off it (for a week now), i feel like her tummy is still bothering her. She's not regular with her poop anymore, strains to go, some days doesnt go at all. Can prune juice mess her up that badly and do you think it will straighten itself out on its own?

can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

I'm going through issues with DD too. She is 2 months old. I switched her to Nutramigen a week ago and have seen a big difference in her colic. Now if we can get her reflux under control maybe she can start to get on a bit of a schedule!

The differences that I know of between the two formulas is the nutramigen powdee has a probiotic in it. Alimentum has regualr sugar. The nutramigen has corn syrup solids

Re: can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

My DS as a baby was like yours in the beginning. We put him on Alimentum, and he went from pooping once a day to about 3x a day! He was also much happier. We also did Prevacid and that helped.

He outgrew his tummy issues around 5-6 months. Hope things get better. It took about a week for the formula change to have a big effect.

can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

Nutramigen has the probiotic

Re: can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

We had similar issues and found that the medicine didn't do much but giving my DD cereal with every feeding helped to lower the painful reflux episodes. We went to both and ENT and GI dr. The ENT helped us a lot more than the GI dr.

As for going poop issues, with my kids we always gave them apple juice and that helped them to go, prune juice never worked with us either.

It's more trial and error and seeing what works for you and what doesn't. There is no book that says if this then that. They are just guessing with what works for most and you may not be a typical case. Trust your gut and go from there.

We also used the similac sensitive, but the one for spit up because it had added rice starch.

My friends GI dr put her DS on the gerber soothe or something and that worked out a lot better for them.

can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

Neutramagin didn't help my girls with their colic and reflux, they ended up on elacare and we also gave them zantac and mylanta. I totally forgot about the mylanta until PP mentioned it. I spent A LOT of time holding them upright as well. I would often have to sleep with them on my chest (their tummys touching my chest). My sister kept her twins in their car seats to sleep, especially when they had coughs and colds. I always just comforted them and held them, almost around the clock.

Their GI told me to put cereal in their bottles (we only ever used oatmeal) to make it thicker so it stayed down in their stomach and the acid didn't come up. One of my girls was like yours, excruciating, inconsolable pain. The other spit up a lot and had blood in her diaper. Both ended up having the same treatment though.

I'm sorry mama, it really stinks but it does pass once you find your magic combination of meds and formula.

Message edited 3/22/2013 10:19:52 AM.

Re: updated at bottom of 1st post * can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

Bump for update

Re: updated at bottom of 1st post * can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

Hmm...i'd maybe check into a pediatric chiropractor. it might not necessarily be stomach issues or maybe partly, but maybe something in her nerves that is causing her pain that you cant see.

there are lots of new studies with this in regards to colic and injuries coming out of the birth canal. I learned about this after DS and I started seeing one myself. DS had chronic ear infections that chiropracting helped him with.

might be something to look into.

Re: updated at bottom of 1st post * can any moms of lo's with gi issues please offer some advice... im about to have an emotional breakdown...

When my DD was 4 months old, she was diagnosed with reflux. (We went through this with my DS as well when he was younger). We tried Zantac and Axid with her, and she did not respond to it so well.

I talked my pediatrician and my hubby (also a ped) into letting me try putting cereal in her bottle, and she was a new baby overnight. I know a lot of people are against putting cereal in a bottle at a young age, but at this point I would have tried anything to get her to stop crying after feedings. It worked like a charm (as it did with my DS when he had reflux). We did 1 tsp cereal per oz and had to get a y-cut/cereal nipple for the bottle. (I should also add that DD was BF and drank BM pumped into a bottle.)