acid reflux

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mommaof2Boys

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Is it wierd to start having a problem with acid reflux at six? What are the chances a six year old will outgrow reflux? What's the next step after pepcid, nexium and zantac cannot control acid? He's had an upper gi and endoscopy -- had scarring, doc. described as if someone had took finger nails and scratched his esophagus. He doesn't eat much just a little here and there, but we have now started to limit his acid type food, it's hard but he understanRAB. Any suggestions for questions for his gi doc next week?
 
Does your son have allergies? Acid reflux in little boys is unusual, but there is a condition in which the esophagus actually becomes allergic to stuff, it's called eosinophilic esophagitis. That IS most often seen in young boys.
 
Are you talking food allergies? Would he have any other signs from allergies? All this started during the '08 - '09 school year when he ate an entire box of those peanut butter crackers that got recalled because of e-coli. I called his ped. and let her know he had a spell of throwing up and diarrhea (not ever happened with peanut butter before or since), she said no need to test if he's over the symptoms - okay - later when he would exercise he would get a "bubble" in his throat and have to stop playing, we did previcid for 3 months and he seemed to get better. During this last school year he caught a virus and threw up at least once a day for two weeks -- dehydrated, hospital, go see GI doc. Endoscopy showed scarring started on Nexium- bubble went away, came back after a month, added zantac, bubble still comes back when he gets upset. All this is also corabined with a new diag. of asthma, he's had it easy till now - never hardly sick, now he takes two pills and two inhalers and tums when needed. Going to GI doc. next week, I have alot of questions for him any suggestions for me to ask?
 
By "allergies" I mean any allergies, whether it's hay fever or breaking out in hives from shellfish. I personally do not believe in "subtle" food allergies, I believe that true food allergies almost always produce clear symptoms such as swollen lips or hives. Digestive problems alone usually isn't a sign of food allergy, it's an intolerance, which is different.

Now back to the point:

Okay, asthma and multiple bouts of vomiting, now this is starting to make a bit more sense.

Repeated vomiting can actually damage the esophagus and lead to acid reflux that goes on for a while. A few weeks of treatment with PPI's can usually resolve this, although not always. Further, PPIs can become less effective after a few months of use, because the body develops tolerance.

Asthma and acid reflux interact in some pretty awful ways. (I also have both now!)

Bouts of acid reflux can trigger asthma symptoms if the acid tickles the lungs.

Asthma can also cause acid reflux, because coughing and straining to breathe can upset the digestion.

Asthma MEDICINES can also cause acid reflux, particularly antihistamines such as Zyrtec and beta-agonists such as albuterol or salmeterol. Beta-agonists are literal lifesavers for asthma patients, do not stop using them unless the doctor okays it, but keep in mind they may make the acid reflux harder to control.

A diet low in saturated fat may help control both conditions.

May I ask what exactly he's taking? I presume the inhalers are a rescue inhaler and a daily steroid?
 
40 mg nexium, 75 zantac, flovent and ventolin, he was diag. after his second bad spell and having to be put on orapred both times to clear it up, he doesn't seem to have low peak readings even if he has a runny nose but he if plays alot w/o meRAB his nurabers are low, doc says exercised induced asthma. As far as pollen if the count is high enough he does get runny nose, claratin helps.
 
40 mg of Nexium is the higher ADULT dose. Does a 40-pound kid really need that much? Did lower doses fail?

Flovent should not be contributing to acid reflux, Ventolin might, but, again, if he's having breathing problems the benefits far outweigh the risks. I personally find that if I use my fast acting inhaler I get bad stomach pain/heartburn right after.

Claritin is, I find, the one antihistamine that doesn't hurt my stomach. (It doesn't help my allergies either, but you can't have everything, right?)

One key question is whether those erosions are healing at all.
 
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