Natural alternatives to giving Prevacid/antacid?

Howdy all....

So, my nearly 7 year old DD2 has something wrong with her belly. She had to take prevacid as a baby as she had really bad reflux until 12 months old, and I nursed her and was a psycho about my diet the whole time. Meaning, she truly had a bile production issue or whatever.

During the past 6 months, she has started having issues again, which arise in the form of waking up and immediately vomiting for a good hour. (Gross puke description warning:) The first few bouts have a tiny bit of the prior evening's dinner in it, and then it's just yellow bile. Then, after an hour or so, she lays for a bit and then chippers up and eats just fine and is her usual jovial self. She was having this about once a month for about 5 months and now she's done it every week for 3 weeks. Sometimes she had "bad poo" along with it. The funny thing is how short it lasts....just an hour, then she is ok.

We suspected a dairy intolerance back when it started 6 months ago, and switched to rice and almond milk and very little if any other dairy like cheese. She eats very well....my kids are both fed like champs, no fast food, no soda, not much processed food. She takes a multi and has a chamomile tea some evenings. Not much juice either.

So, we went to the doc this morning, and he opts to put her on a low dose (10ml) of Prevacid for a month to see what happens, and we will reevaluate at her 7yo checkup in a month. We are also to keep a strict food journal to see if we can identify any triggers.

Well, I am a little leary of Prevacid....my ex (her father) is also not wanting to give it to her, and he is a dentist although he thinks he knows all about everything.

Does anyone have any similar experiences or have any advice about what really helped your child? I've done some web research about it, and have found a lot of natural alternatives, but I just want to know about any personal experiences with your child. What set them off and what helped them particularly.

THANKS!

DS1 is the same since 2mths old.... He is unable to digest any lactose. This includes whats baked in foods, cheese (unless labeled 100% lactose free), or anything that may contain some form of lactose. If he gets in contact with even 1g of lactose he has projectile vomiting, potty issues, cramps, crabbiness, tiredness, and he looses weight.

There is a test for it and it is a breath test. You can demand the Dr do the test and maybe a belly scan before you consent to just giving her a pill.

If she does have any kind of food intolerance or allergy she will need special treatment.... diet guidance and supervision. Also a childs multi vitamin(food based), probitics and L-Glutamine to help repair any damage to her gut. Kids with food issues that are left untreated can delevelop dangerous vitamin absorbtion issues that affect the brain as well. Yes it is scary but the sooner she is tested the sooner she can heal and recover! Often kids with hyperactivity, slow weight gain, and delays in school have atleast one food related issue.

Advice from someone who went into her teens not knowing about food allergies and yes my brain has suffered and can not be fully repaired because it was to late.

A friend gives her son prevacid daily, and he is fine. He has been taking the prevacid for a couple years, I think.

If it helps your DD to take it, I don't think it is bad. If reflux is left untreated, it can lead to a precancerous condition called Barrett's esophagus. Barrett I don't know how long it takes for this to happen, though, or how severe the reflux has to be... I get reflux (I have for years) and I have had several endoscopies that were normal.

I guess you need to decide what is the best course of action for your DD. Baking soda mixed with water works as an antacid too--and it isn't too bad (did you do the BSD for swaying purposes?). You could try that.

I have been worried that DD2 has some sort of reflux issues too. SHe coughs a lot (not sick otherwise), has sour burps (I smelled her breath) and sometimes she will burp and then say 'Owie!' I am going to ask the Dr about it at her next check up.

Thanks for the responses. We are trying the diet thing and food journaling also for now. I am cutting out dairy and gluten. One of my colleagues has a boyfriend with celiac disease and she said he gets bad stomach pains and the runs if he eats any gluten, so wondering if that might be it. I will have them do the testing at her checkup in a month though.

I ran into something on google that also might be the culprit: cyclic vomiting syndrome. All of the symptoms are pretty familiar. And most of the kids start at age 3-7. Sometimes it is stress-related, and she has been more stressed than usual about going to her father's (she hates it) and I think them having a new baby and ignoring my girls (from what I hear) is stressing her out too. So, trying to work on some relaxation stuff with her also. Doing some chamomile tea at night and giving her a lot of cuddling, and I think she is doing ok. She had the runs one day this week in the morning and I got all upset but we headed it off with getting her excited about something. I think it may be a bit mental as well as a food allergy, to be honest.

Thats sad that her dad ignores her. My dad did that to me. My 2 younger sisters are treated like princesses and I am more of a bubby he talks to once in awhile. Even DH see's how he treats my siblings and me because of the things he says on facebook.

One thing that may help her is your DH spending time with the girls as well. It would allow her to connect to someone else and forget about how she is being treated. Her dad may start to ignore her more as time goes on. Having 2 family nights a week would relax her and give her something to look forward to, have them before and after a visit.

Yea, it is sad. My DH and I try to counter that will spending a ton of time with them, so your suggestion is right on. They are super happy with us...so much so, that they never want to go over there. Her anxiety stems from having to leave the comfort/happy zone and go there. My DH is more of a father to them than the real one is, which is partly why I love him so much.....it's just a hard thing to combat because I can't do anything about them going over there every other weekend. They have to go and just deal with it.

Well, I have a follow up with her pediatrician and then I am going to ask for a referral to a peds gastroenterologist here so we can start getting to the bottom of it. If it's psychological, then we will know and get some help for that also. We have been trying to really do calming things for her on the nights before she goes, and it is helping.....she is just getting SO attached to us, which I know is a by-product of being ignored over there. Arg....idiot fathers.