Hi there,
Emma and I are following each other, must be the reflux mommy brigade
My ds also has reflux.
Unfortunately it is destined to be, as boys do have a higer incidence rate.
Our background: reflux reared its head the first time we used formula when he was 4 weeks, as i had a bad R breast - not enough milk- and he mauled the left to an extent that it was too sore to nurse. Only had 2 feeds, but in retrospect he was EXTREMELY fussy and we attributed it to my eating garlic and him not sleeping that day - not realising the lack of sleep was actually due wo his discomfort. Then at 7 weeks things took a turn for the worse. ++ reflux and coughing and spluttering, esp at night. he has always sneezed and hiccuped alot, but even that got much worse. Also i noticed that he was always a fuss pot over weekends when my parents visited. Later i realised it was those weekends/days that my milk and dairy consumption had sky rocketed. So i started to cut it out as much as possible (Not easy) and we went from occasionally using gaviscon, to regular use. Helped some, but he would still arch away from the breast when feeding, latch and turn away, latch and turn away... you get the picture. Also he would arch in bed, sleep fitfully, milk would shoot from his nose etc. So I went to see a paediatrician with special interest in GI matters. Obviously diagnosed reflux immediately - GP told me ds had colic!!!
and we started on Zantac and domperidone (anti emetic which helps with LES control and peristalsis). Things improved somewhat, but ds was still unsettled, so we changed to omeprazole. What a different child. he got better over the next few days to 2 weeks, the time it took for the inflammation to settle down, but the screeching when feeding and burping disappeared almost immediately and he stopped moaning all the time.
As the paed said to me, sometimes it is first the reflux that causes the problems, but sometimes it is MSPI - milk and soya protein intolerance- that is the main culprit and causes secondary reflux with oesophagitis/ gastritis.
OK, enough chit chat
How old is your ds? Did he have episodes like this when BF? Did you have particularly bad days? Could you attribute it to anything specific? Have you eliminated at least all dairy from your diet? The fact that you say when you started the formula things got much worse, makes me think it might be MPI at least. I assume it is a cow' s milk based formula (CMBF). Bad news in that case, as Enfamil AR is also CMBF. We bought it for our son, but after he did so poorly on the Cow and Gate, i didn't even want to try that. If you are using the Enfamil and it works, great, just remember to ALWAYS give the meds at least 20-30 minutes before the milk, so that it has time to be absorbed. Also, Zantac/ranitidine is weight sensitive, and as ds grows and gains weight, the dosage will need adjusting. I am not familiar with bethanechol as an adjunct, so can't comment on that.
OK, think i have bored you enough now. Hope that answers more questions than it raises.
Good luck! It isn't easy, but worth it when they get better.
DI
BTW A great site to visit too is :
http://www.cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz/
