Question:
I seem to have a new dilemma with my son. The docs in Boston put him on reflux
meds to see if that helped his asthma. He's on propulsid (5mg 4 x's day) and
zantac (75mg 2 x's day), plus pulmicort (200 mcg 1 puff 2x's day) and singulair
(5mg). His asthma has been under control since Nov, a miracle, but now we are
realizing he's having side effects from the propulsid. He's actually had side
effects since he started but nobody wanted to say it was from the drug. Well,
to make a very long story short, I called the drug company to get some more
info. I found this drug, propulsid, can be very dangerous and children have
died on it. I am now in the position of making a decision of what to do. I
took him off of it last thurs when the effects got worse but the GI doc wants
him back on it and the peditrician would rather him not on it. I took him to
the cardiologist for an EKG and Holter and the cardio dr.'s opinion was to
outweigh the good and the bad and go with my feeling. My feeling is to leave
him off but the pressure from the GI doc is mounting. I will be talking to him
and the pulmo today or tomorrow (waiting for other test results to come back).
There aren't too many alternatives to this drug, so I feel very stuck. Any
info on reflux, kids and meds would be appreciated. I can't get into the FDA
website, its always "busy"
Answer:
you didn't say which natural remedies you've tried so I'll give
this a try... Does your son drink milk and/or eat dairy products? Sometimes
kids with sensitive stomachs (reflux) have a lot of trouble with milk. Have
you tried soy milk? They have a variety now which is flavored vanilla. Not
bad really, but you could sweeten it up a bit more with a teaspoon of sugar.
Soy is a lot easier on the stomach and is nutritional as well. Another
alternative (home-remedy) you could try: 1 teaspoon of cider vinegar to 1
six ounce glass of water drunk immediately after a meal. Kids aren't crazy
about this, but again, if you wish to try it, you could sweeten it up with a
little sugar or artificial sweetener. A friend of mine whose daughter has
GERD (she's 13 now) used to make easily digestible salads and for dressing
mixed sugar, water and vinegar. She told me her daughter loves these salads
to this day...so maybe that's an alternative you could try. Other thoughts:
does your child eat too fast, thus gulping a lot of air into his stomach? Is
he drinking carbonated beverages? How about chewing gum? Gum creates a lot
of acid/gas in the stomach. Is he drinking enough water every day? Does he
have a snack a few hours before going to bed? Try restricting all food and
drink (except water) for at least two to three hours before his bedtime. Does
he eat chocolate or a lot of fried, fatty foods like french fries? These
foods can bring on a terrible reflux episode. Sometimes 6 smaller meals a
day helps more than three larger ones. Hope you don't mind, but I have to say
that the arrythmia which you say your son has concerns me. I am not a
proponent of young children being force-fed medicine unless absolutely
necessary because I wonder how this will eventually alter their developing
immune systems. You have every right to be concerned and question those
drugs prescribed. Drugs like propulsid, ranitidine (pepcid AC/Tagamet) and
prilosec have not been widely tested with children. The side- effects are
usually more pronounced in children as they haven't had as much time to
strengthen their systems (via colds, flus) as we adults have. Anyway, being a
life-long GERD sufferer, I sympathize and wish you and your son well. -
The old raise the head of the bed suggestion isn't a bad one eithe
