Anyone had domeridone for their baby?

My son took it for a long time.  Not sure if it really made any difference to be honest but his problems turned out to be very complicated.  Is your son having anything else?  Other commonly used treatments are ranitadine and gaviscon. 

Have you seen a paediatrician or has this come from your gp?  if things don't resolve I'd ask for a referral one if you haven't already.  Sometimes the cause of reflux is cow's milk protein intolerance.  Has that been considered?  If you are breastfeeding you could try cutting dairy out or if formula feeding there are alternatives.

One thing with domperidone is that is crosses the blood brain barrier so that is something to bear in mind.  We never noticed any specific side effects with my son.

Hope it helps.

Hi

Thanks for the reply, the medication doesn't seem to be working, infact he seems worse in himself since he started on it. He often has days when he just cries and cries and there is nothing I can do to console him. We thought he had colic at first, but who knows!

What problems or symptoms did your son have?

I am breastfeeding and have heard that about dairy, so will give that a try.

What did you mean by it crosses the brain barrier?

Thanks

Hi

Sorry to hear your son is suffering from reflux. We did use domperidone with one of our sons but only for about a month. We had been giving him ranitadine too.

We found out that he couldn't tolerate milk protein so I changed my diet (i was breastfeeding) and he did improve. About 18 months later we found out that he (and his brother who had severe acid reflux and was taking omeprazole) had a condition called EGID (Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disorder) which can cause acid reflux. We now see a consultant at Great Ormond Street and the treatment has helped enormously with the reflux and the other symptoms.

I feel for you as I know what it was like with all the vomiting and the gagging and food refusal. If you try the drugs you are offered and they don't work then maybe ask for a second opinion? We did and I am so glad as treating the reflux really wasn't solving the underlying health problem and that's why it didn't work.

Maybe a dietician could help you explore dietary links as reflux is linked to dairy/soya intolerance? 

Sometimes the gagging can continue even with the drugs.  We ended up seeing our local speech therapist (who specialised in feeding issues) and she tried to help us reduce the gagging. We also see a specialist feeding team at Great Ormond Street who have been fantastic!  Our eldest son gagged so much he couldn't tolerate anything but completely smooth puree for about 3 years but now his favourite food is fish fingers!  

Have you tried any other drugs or just the domperidone? Does he suffer pain with the vomiting?

Take care,

Kitty

Hi

Hiya

I forgot to say that it's a good idea to ask your GP for a referral to a dietician if you are going to give up dairy (and soya as a lot of babies are allergic/intolerant of both and it has been linked) as you may need calcium supplements to make sure your baby gets enough through your breastmilk and they can help ensure you get a balanced diet.  Your son may need supplements too when he is full weened.  I had a really helpful dietician who also gave me lots of recipes for me and for my son when he weened. 

We were told that you need to trial being dairy free for 4-6 weeks before you can be sure it is/isn't the cause. Apparently this is because any inflammation inside a baby can take 4-6 weeks to resolve and so you may not see massive improvements till the inflammation reduces. So it is worth sticking at for a little while if you can bear it?

You may want to check out the recipe section on parentsown as there are hundreds of recipes and pretty much all of them are dairy free.

http://www.parentsown.co.uk/recipe_centre

This may help you too:

http://www.parentsown.co.uk/page/milk-free-egg-free-and-soya-free-diet-where-buy-foods

Good luck with it,

Kitty

Hiya

When my son was on domperidone we had a dr who was not keen on it as she felt it worked on the brain as well as the digestive system.  Having looked it up to give you some more info it seems there isn't any concerns about it that I can see so sorry if I concerned you at all.

I certainly wasn't suggesting you just suddenly stop taking dairy without going back to your dr to discuss it.  Having said that I went on an egg, wheat, dairy and soya free diet for 6 months to feed my son ( I will remind him of this in later life!) as recommended by our paediatrician and they weren't too concerned about me in the short term.

Have you got a paediatrician?  It sounds like you need one if you don't and some dietetic advice as well.  Don't be fobbed off.  It is hard when you've a young baby to know how much of things are them just being a baby but at the same time you are his mum and you know best,  If you are worried that things aren't improving then I would push for some more help.  Some children withh reflux do get a good response from changing formula or food in their mum's diet.  As Kitty said soya can be a problem too if it is a cows milk protein problem.

As to my son, he is a complicated little boy.  Currently nil by mouth and on parenteral nutrition by having no food in his gut and fed via a Hickman line into his heart.  I have a blog if you want to read his history.

Hope things improve soon and do ask if you have more questions.  We are here to try and help.

Love Helen