Tummy Issues in Toddler and GI Doctors, tests..........HELP!

Updated on September 28, 2011
K.C. asks from Boise, ID
6 answers

Sorry if this runs long. Some history. My now 22 month old son has had issues from birth. We were in hospital 4 days, for both him & I. He from start would spit up horrible, so much so the nurses put blankets in his bassinet to prop him up, he still would spit up bad. He also when he was less than 24 hours old chocked & turned purple when I went to lay him down to change his diaper. Nurses ran in and had to put tubes down his tummy and suction out what they said was amiotic fluid. They had to do this 2 more times in the 4 days we were there. We left with instuctions from hospital to call 911 if it happened again, thankfully it did not. At 5 days old we saw ped doc & she said he had severe reflux and started him on reflux meds. I also stopped all dairy for me. I only breasfeed him, no formula. She also had a ultrasound done of tummy cant remember what its called what they were looking for but he was normal, nothing wrong. When he was able to start laughing he would get hiccups every time, he would also just get them almost daily for no reason. At 3 months he would cry and would vomit, not spit up, vomit all over. Scary too he acted like he was chocking and gaging and forcefull vomitting. Very scary. I took him into doctors and she said its all due to his severe reflux. He was still spitting up horrible after every feeding no matter what med he was on. Doc changed it few times and never seemed to help. He also had bad eczema. She did blood work for food allergies at 3 months old & came back negative for everything. At 1 year old he was taking off reflux meds due to he had stopped spitting up everywhere I think due to him eating solids more. Well, I took him back to doc as he was still vomiting and have hiccups. The vomiting is what scared me. He vomits so forcefully i was scared he would choke or gag. Doctor said he is to old to worry about chocking while vomiting. We did see a Asthema & allergy docotor, Pedatric doc said she thought it might be due to allergies since he still had eczema. Well he did panel on his back & came back negative except for slight reaction to strawberries and avacado. Both I suspected so he has not had either for long time. He said go see a GI doctor. Well So now we are seeing a GI doc. She pushed on his tummy and in 1 area he got tense. She said something was up. His weight was off the charts at this point and he was born at 50% weight. She did huge panel of blood for food allergies covering everything, celiac, h pylori, & other things. All came back negative. He has had a upper GI, looked normal. She put him on strong reflux and his symptoms seemed to go away after a few weeks. Well he had surgery a month ago. He had to have his toncils and adenoids removed as well as tubes in ears. About a week after that he started to vomit and gag once again, but so much worse now. Instead of 1-2 times a week like before now it is 3-4 times a week. he has hiccups again as well. So back to GI doc, She has changed his med now 3 times and still not changing anything. She checked his tummy and he is still sensitive in that 1 spot again. She scheduled him for a scope of tummy and biopsy. Well that was yesterday. The Docotor who did it came out after with pictures. He says everything looks good, and no signs of reflux even. I asked okay whats next if biopsy comes back negative as well. He made it seem like there is small chance since pics looked so good they will find anything wrong with biopsy, and that basically acted like well he will talk with other GI doctor in his office I have been seeing but that he thinks its something he will just out grow. They have no idea what could be wrong at this point and he hinted at phyilogical behavior in my son, like he does it on purpose for some reason. I would agree excpet he has had issues from day he was born! Not getting better. So my question is if it comes back all normal, do I just deal with my son vomiting? and hope he out grows it? I am just so stressed out and concerned. Its does not seem normal to me that he would wake up from deep sleep, cry, vomit horrible screaming ouchy, empty out tummy and go right back to sleep. Has anyone dealt with this????????? Any advise would be great. Again sorry so long

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.B.

answers from Chicago on

Sounds like something similar to what I went through. I switched ped's so many times cause they kept saying nothing was wrong with my daughter. Finally, she had an endoscopy done. Pictures showed she had candida in her upper esophagus & silent reflux. The reflux meds gave her a rash. I do alternative medicine & she is soooo much better. I give her a few drops of grapefruit seed extract in juice. A childrens chewable digestive enzyme with meals. An acidophilus & probiotic. When she has a tummy ache, I give her a teaspoon of organic raw apple cider vinegar in about 6 oz. of water to alkaline the stomach. My daughter is now 4yrs. & we did not get to the root of it until she was 3yrs. Good luck!!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.E.

answers from Buffalo on

I am sorry, I have not gone through this exactly; however, I can tell you if you think there is something wrong there probably is. You know your baby better than anyone, get another opinion.

Eg. My middle child "D" had issues: Just before he was a year old we got him the flu shot and he got what I thought was croop. It took 2 days to clear, I thought that was weird seeing croop should clear in 24 hours, but ok. then a week or 2 later his b-day party (1 yr old) and the next day croop again, this time it would not go away. ok it must be a bad cold then right, 7 days go by and not any better. I take him in. Doctor said he has a cold it will go away. Hum, ok you are the boss I thought. with in the next 7 days no improvement: actuall got worse. a rash on his butt appeared (must be from teething) and I swore his lips were a VERY light shade of blue at times (not all the time), so i took him in again. "It is just a cold you are waisting your time, and mine." I was so mad. I was doing everything I could at home to help him threw this (Chest PT's, Vaperizors, Decongentants, Humidifiers, Fluids everything) His breathing was so moist I could feel it in his ribs when I held him. SO SCARY. Well i got an appointment with a new doctor and another appointment with his regular doctor the day before giving him 1 more chance to get to the bottom of this. mind you this is now 3 weeks, and his nail beds were now blue(not all the time) NOT NORMAL!!! I took him in again and they again told me it was a cold, i demanded his records I went to this new doctors who rushed me over for a chest x-ray and blood work . Thought he had SEVER pneumonia to find out he was allergic to eggs, which was in like everything I fed him. OMG I was killing him slowly and no one would listen in the 1st doctors office. Now I thank goodness I switched.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.P.

answers from Denver on

HI--
Are you willing to consider alternative medicine? I have lots of ideas for you, but some people aren't willing to try that route. If you are, please contact me. One thought for you--when testing for allergies they test for a histamine reaction. However, he can have a sensitivity without it showing up on an allergy panel. A sensitivity is a digestive problem, not a histamine problem. Based on his symptoms I would bet my right arm he's having sensitivities and that is causing all the problems. There are other tests you can do to determine this, but you won't find it through a doctor of western medicine. Let me know if you'd like me to elaborate.
J.

✿.R.

answers from Boston on

All of my boys were on zantac for acid reflux and they all had belly issues.
Try Ultimate Aloe juice. This will help so much. All my boys are fine today and they are all on this product. Try to strawberry kiwi. Kids love it because it tastes like a freeze pop.
Here's the link. This site is currently offering free shipping on it.
http://bit.ly/ripp5j

M.D.

answers from Dallas on

Hugs going out to you. I really don't know what to tell you, I've never been in this situation but I just wanted to let you know we care. It has to be frustrating for you. I'm sure it's frustrating to the doctor's too, we sometimes think they should have all the answers but they don't. I do hope they can find an answer for you, and it's not something they are just hoping it will go away.

As far as the eczema, the only thing that works for my son is the steroid cream they give. I do wash him in Cetaphil soap and put the lotion on him and the more dry areas use the steroid cream that the doctor gives.

Hugs going out to you momma!!!

J.S.

answers from Hartford on

My middle daughter had really bad acid reflux/GERD and was/is Lactose Intolerant. If he's currently getting dairy at all, I would eliminate it again. It could be Lactose Intolerance or a dairy allergy or a milk protein allergy. If you haven't already, have the pediatric gastroenterologist perform a breath test, where they test for nitrogen in the breath after drinking a lactose solution, to test for Lactose Intolerance. They can test for the allergies by sending down a tiny camera into his stomach to see if there's damage on his stomach lining, similar to the "damage" that eczema causes on the skin.

For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions