struggling to breathe when having bad reflux

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Permalink Reply by a mummy on March 14, 2010 at 11:47am

hi sorry I dont have experience of this with my own daughter but my sister went through this with her son and it was awful for her. She had an amazing paed at the time who told her babies are vey good at looking after themselves and and no reflux baby had ever come to any harm from these episodes. It sounds awful I hope things improve for you both soon.

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Permalink Reply by Belinda on March 14, 2010 at 4:53pm

Sarah Jane/ Hi ya Sarah, I TOTALY UNDERSTAND how you are feeling, We to have been where you are now, my daughter was diagnosed with server silent reflux at 5 weeks after being admited to hospital after she stopped breathing and turned blue, sat's levels dropped to 28, before she started to breath again. (they always stated she would breath herself after an attack, but it dont help when it happens).
This happen before, while and after feeds....Any time day or night. It was one of the most scary times of my life. She was hospitalized a few times and had a lot of tests to rule out any thing else. They said what was happening was Synapsis,
this means the body goes into a type of post traumatic stress due to the acid reflux. The lungs shut them self down so they do not inhale any acid as this would harm them, (clever really, but bloody scary).
At around 3 months old she was put on Domperidone (already on Omeprazole and gaviscon) and this is, when it stopped happening. This stuff helps stop any sickieness and empty the tummy quicker so there is not as much acid created when digesting the food/milk. I think is great stuff.
It is scary and I would sleep with one eye open all the time. I bought an apneor pad, which has an alarm on it, that way as soon as she stopped breathing for 20 secs it goes off, she is 19 months old now and I still have her on it. I think deep down I will always worry about her. She is still in our bedroom as I am to scared to put her in her own room.

It should help once the reflux is better controlled, Is your little one on any meds as you dont say....?
It may not feel it, nor does my post read it, lol but it does get easier xxx

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Moore on March 15, 2010 at 6:59pm

This is exactly what happened to us with Josie when she was 8 days old. It was the scariest experience I have ever endured. My husband ended up doing mouth to mouth at one point. We had resus training in hospital but luckily have never had to use it (fingers crossed) We also had a sleep apnoea monitor (provided by the hospital) until she was 4 months old and to be honest it saved my sanity. She also used to be sick out of her nose loads which freaked me out. When she was 12 weeks old she was put onto Neocate and omeprazole (already on domperidone) and from 4 months she was so much better. Certainly not perfect (and still isn't at 11 months) but a million miles from the first 3 months of her life.

I hope you get the correct medication to get Isla and yourself in a more comfortable position xx

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Permalink Reply by Jen on March 19, 2010 at 8:19pm

Hi, this happened to me to when my son was 4 weeks old. I rang 999 too as he couldn't breath and went limp and bluish round mouth. They admitted him and diagnosed GERD and we started meds. It was soo scary, some of the hardest months of our lives, I was scared to be on my own with him and it was awful all night long he would scream and choke on the reflux. He rarely slept at all for months. We used a hammock bed whch propped him up abit and also a nappy breathing alarm. we also always propped him up. He choked daily but seemed to manage it better after that. It is so scary though. My son is now 16 months and still has silent reflux but it is alot more manageable now. I was told that these episodes are usually limited to the first 8-12 weeks. i really hope things improve for your little one soon xx

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