Biggerrefluxers

Comment by Helen on August 28, 2009 at 8:08am

Hello to all your parents of older reflux children!! What a good idea this is.
My son is 4yrs and has had severe reflux all his short life. I can barely describe what the first 2 years were like - sickness, pain, poor feeding, frustration, poor sleep patterns, etc. In Jan 09 we finally made it to GOSH (after many, many tests and no answers with other "experts"!) My son was diagnoses by Dr Shah with Eosinophilic Enterocolitis. Reflux was a symptom of the illness so once we could get the illness under control, the reflux started to improve. It can still be a problem from time to time but it is much improved. I won't go into details of the Eosinophilic Disorder now but it answers so many questions for us.
Helen

Comment by Catherine Hazell on September 2, 2009 at 4:45pm

Thanks Helen for starting the discussions off. Hopefully this group will be a help to those with older children. It has been a long road for us and only just found out that reflux has been the cause for over 4 years of very poor sleep for our little boy. He starts school tomorrow like your little boy I think . He then has an endoscopy and ph test on Saturday with Dr Eltumi. I'll let you know how we get on.
Catherine

Comment by Catherine Hazell on September 3, 2009 at 10:22am

Just dropped my LO off for his first day at school. He had a good breakfast and the secretary will give him gaviscon before lunch. He went in fine. Don't know what to do with myself now.

Comment by Helen on September 3, 2009 at 5:21pm

Well Catherine I hope he got on okay today and you were fine too!!
I have just spent 3 hrs this afternoon with the school nurse, class teacher and classroom assistant discussing a care plan for my son when he starts on Monday. I was impressed by them so I am hopeful they will be able to manage his needs okay. Really hope the endoscopy and PH study goes well. Have you had it explained to you? Helen

Comment by Catherine Hazell on September 8, 2009 at 2:29pm

Found this on another sight. Useful to us with older children with reflux...

REFLUX IN OLDER CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS

This article is written by reflux parents for the benefit of reflux parents, based on their own experiences. It is not meant to replace medical advice and is of a general nature only. If you have any concerns, please seek advice from your medical professional.

Reflux in older children and teenagers often goes undiagnosed, and if you have any concerns that your child may still be suffering from reflux beyond the expected age range, please discuss this with your child’s medical professional.

The presentation of reflux in older children and teenagers can be difficult to notice, with some being so used to refluxing that they don’t realise it happens, and they may not be aware of the pain it can cause.

1. While most children with reflux will grow out of it at the expected age range (somewhere from 3 to 18 months), there are some who continue to suffer from reflux beyond that.

2. For some children, it may look like their reflux is improving because their signs go away. Sometimes this just means that the signs have changed, and the reflux may still be a factor (e.g. a child who vomited may no longer do so, but can still be refluxing significantly).

3. They may begin to verbalise how they feel, with complaints such as

“My tummy/chest/throat/ear hurts”
“I have a yukky taste in my mouth”
“I feel sick”
4. They may have behavioural issues and may:

Be extremely sensitive
Cry easily or ‘lose the plot’ over very small issues
Be easily irritated
Have temper tantrums – either extreme, or out of the normal age range expected
Be demanding
Be aggressive, moody
Be clingy
Be unable to reason with
Have concentration difficulties
Display self harming behaviours e.g. head banging, biting themselves, obsessive nail biting
Have sensory issues
Grind their teeth
5. They may have eating difficulties such as

Fussy eating habits (some would rather go hungry than eat something they don’t want; others refuse breakfast but eat lunch while others are the opposite and eat later in the day
Difficulty swallowing
Food aversions or sensitivities to different textures
Demand frequent drinks of water, and may even drink fluids in preference to eating
6. They may have sleeping issues such as

Difficulty falling asleep
Restless even while asleep
Not liking to lay flat
Crying, moaning or swallowing even while asleep
Waking up tired and cranky
Asking for water overnight
Frequent night waking
Either sleeping very little or sleeping for much longer than what is considered normal (some will need extra sleep to make up for it being so disturbed)
7. Children may

Look pale
Clear their throat frequently
Have a hoarse or croaky voice, particularly on waking
Appear to be in pain
Suffer from motion sickness
Have dental erosion
8. Therapies used to correct any issues e.g. behaviour, sleeping, eating, may be ineffective until the underlying cause is adequately addressed.

RISA - Reflux Infants Support Association Inc.,

Comment by ks1 on September 15, 2009 at 11:15am

Hi. My daughter suffered with silent reflux as a baby and I stopped seeing the consultant when she was about 9 months, however she has still displyed symptoms and so I am taking her back to the GP this week to be reffered back. She will be 2 in December. Thought that she would grow out of it but when I found this site realised she may still be experiencing some symptoms. Thanks for thinking of it. Keeley. x

Comment by Catherine Hazell on September 15, 2009 at 1:15pm

Glad this group is attracting some interest and being some help.
My son's reflux seems to come and go. It does seem worse if he is stressed or has a cold.
He had an endoscopy last week and the oesophogus was fine. They did find that the bend after his stomach was at an odd angle. They are now looking into this. Still waiting for ph tests results.
When I have a bit of time I'll explain how the tests went and what was involved.
Catherine x

Comment by ks1 on September 15, 2009 at 2:43pm

Hi. Thanks for your reply. My daughter still drinks a lot of milk-did you give your son cow milk?

Comment by Helen on September 15, 2009 at 6:48pm

Catherine, glad the endoscopy went okay. I wonder what the PH results will bring?
Hope he is getting on okay at school, my son is doing fine and they are doing a wonderful job of taking care of his needs. He is very happy. His reflux has been a bit worse at home though but I think it may be because he is so tired and as always he does not help himself because he cannot sit still when eating or drinking!!!
ks1 - glad you found us, hope you get the referral you are hoping for. A lot of reflux is related to cows milk but I wouldn't want to diagnose your daughter! My son
was taken off all dairy at 18 months and then all soya at 3yrs. He now has rice milk.
All the best,
Helen

Comment by Laurie on September 16, 2009 at 9:21pm

Hi All,
I am so pleased I have logged on today!! I actually stopped logging on a while ago because felt that I was the only person who had an older child with reflux. My little DD is 2 1/2 and was diagnosed with reflux when she was only 4 months old. She is currenlty going through another bad phase!! Does anyone elses children have symptoms that seem to come and go?? She seems to have a few good weeks when her reflux does'nt really affect her (other than her sleeping, which is non-existent) and then have a really bad couple of weeks. To add to her trouble she is currenlty having recurrent UTI's. She is now being checked for kidney reflux Does anyone know if this can be related in any way??

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