Chronic GERD

Hello! Thank you for your message. You are asking many good questions. I will try to address as many issues as possible. We can follow up and talk some more.

My feeling is - you need a good diagnosis. I am not a doctor, I am a mom too. However, I have talked with hundreds of parents and they all tell me similar stories. It seems like the reflux goes away and then at some point, it flares. It makes me wonder if something like an illness, a growth spurt, change of diet, etc puts the digestive system over the edge. There is even some evidence that reflux is worse during allergy season. The added coughing and nasal congestion of allergy season can cause more irritation to the stomach and start the reflux.

Since your son has a history of reflux in infancy and you have a family member with a history, it is important to confirm the diagnosis. There are some reflux look alikes such as food allergies and intolerances, celiac disease and eosinophilic esophagitis. You don't want to treat a disease and find out years later that another disease is causing the symptoms.

Now the hard part: finding a doctor/hospital that you can work with. I had the experience of going to a large well known teaching hospital and getting a real run around. I had to deal with the residents and the rotating doctors too. I was able to network with some other parents and found a less famous hospital with an excellent gi department. Best of all, my doctor travels to the satellite center close to my house. I have written several blogs about finding a doctor with links to websites such as www.naspghan.org for lists of doctors.

Once you have a diagnosis, you can develop a treatment plan. My two refluxers have benefitted from reflux medications and were eventually weaned off. Now they just take medication as needed. they are both severely lactose intolerant so they are vigilant about avoiding dairy or using lactaid pills. They also use probiotics daily to reduce symptoms and increase digestive comfort. Avoiding trigger foods, elevating the bed and avoiding tight clothes may help. Also avoiding athletics after a meal.

So let me know what else is on your mind and any questions that I missed.

Lets talk again.

Jan Gambino

Hi Jacquiemonique,

Jan has given you some great advice. She is one of the resident experts here at Health Central. You can read about Jan Gambino here and her posts here.  Jan Gambino also talks about a book that has lots of natural remedy tips. You can read that article here . 

There was a discussion not too long ago about natural remedies, and it appears that Papaya has some soothing natural effect on acid reflux. The papain in the papaya has been found to help somewhat. You can read those posts here.  

I hope you find this information helpful. Nothing takes the place of your doctors advice and it is fortunate that your son is now old enough to help you find where it hurts.

Take care and stay in touch. Let us know how you are your son are doing!

Vicki M

Hi there

I have a 8 month old with silent reflux, and we recently went to the Stanford University Lucille Packard Childrens Hospital, where there are pediatric gastroenterologists. Dr Kenneth Cox and his wife see patients regularly, and they also have outreach clinics in distant locations. I live in Eureka, which is 7 hours from Stanford. They come up here twice a year. They might have an outreach clinic in your area.The Cox doctors were very thorough and easy to talk with. I felt really comfortable trusting their judgement.I was worried that they would want to do invasive testing but it seems they are fairly conservative. I hate going to the doctor too. I usually leave crying but I left this appointment knowing that we were making informed choices regarding our son's health.It is so challenging to remain poitive when your child has chronic pain.I am a very sleep deprived mama. My heart goes out to you and your boy!

Sincerely,

Elizabeth- egsea@yahoo.com