Hi there,

Well....things have not gotten any better lately. Eric is still waking up constantly through the night. Last night it was five times. He wakes up and is so restless that he can't fall back asleep. He is so tired all of the time, and I am at a loss. He actually seems to be sleeping worse since his adenoids were removed. Also, he chokes on his nasonex, and it seems to be really bothering him now. I am considering taking him off of it, but know that things were so much worse without it in the past that I am scared to...although it can't be much worse than this!! Five times a night is way too many times for me to be waking up. We tried the grape flavored Prevacid, the banana flavored prevacid, and the regular non-flavored stuff (first). He hates all of them equally, and we were only getting many 10% of it in each time following about 20 minutes of him crying and fighting and spitting it all out all over us, our walls, furniture, etc.. We cannot afford another $120 bottle of medicine, and right now we are just waiting until we see his doctor next week. I can't keep forcing this into him, as it is not working and he is not really getting any of it. We are going to ask about the solutabs, but no one here seems to have heard of them. I am going to push for a prescription and try to order online. Right now, this seems to be our only hope. I don't know what else to do. I am getting so tired....three years is too long with no sleep whatsoever. He gets overtired and then does not sleep well...and so the cycle continues. Just had to vent. Thanks for listening. If anyone has any info about getting Solutabs in canada, please let me know. Also, is there an alternative that does not taste bad?????? Thanks.

Tannis

Mom to Eric-aged 3-reflux since birth-recently diagnosed with larygopharyngeal reflux disease. Has been on Prevacid and Losec in the past (at least 1.5 years ago) with no relief.

Jayden has the capsules and we just open it and put it on applesauce and he eats it right up.....I'm sorry things are going so poorly right now , I hope you can get this straightened out soon...keep us updated...I'm sure that you can get the sloutabs in Canada...check with different pharmacies

I am so sorry that the surgery has not helped him. It must be so frustrating for him to still be having so many problems. I know the solutabs are called reditabs, or something like that in Canada, so that might help. I hope you are able to figure out a way to get the meds into him and get some sleep for both of you.

Well Tannis,
This isn't the way is was supposed to go! DARN IT!!!

Is he on any pain meds? We had Eric on them around the clock for .... hum.... 17 days I think. I don't know if it's the same for adenoids as it is for tonsils as far as pain meds, but a little tylenol might help.

I'm no help with the solutabs. I want to try them too, when we go in to see the GI in April I plan on asking for them.

Gosh!
I sure hope things get better soon. How's his breathing? Is it better, worse?

Thank you so much!!

Debbie-When Eric was little, he would take the capsules opened on applesauce no problem. Unforunately, now that is a SUPER picky eater, he does not like the taste. He called them sprinkles, and even to this day (after only trying two times in yogurt recently to get him to take them) he will still look at the yogurt and say no sprinkles. He actually ran into the bathroom and spit them out in the toilet the last time he had them mixed with a minigo. What a little monkey!! :)

Katey-Thanks so much. I will look into the reditabs. Hopefully that will make it easier to find them! :)

Minnie-Yup....I know!! I was not supposed to go this way at all!! Oh well....at least we tried something. I am glad your little Eric is doing so well! That is awesome! As for pain meds, he is not on any right now. THe doctor said that he should have virtually no pain from his adenoidectomy, so I was worried about giving him anything. He is just so restless at night and wakes up so many times just tossing and turning and flinging himself. He is actually alot like my dad at night. My dad has severe restless leg syndrome, and he is presenting some of the same symptoms. There is no treatment for kids as of yet for this, however, so we may have to live with it. It is also probably partially due to reflux...or maybe all due....who knows... His breathing is much better now. Post surgery it was totally scary....I was not prepared for that at all. His nose does seem to be bugging him a little less at night, but he still snores! LOL!

Anyways...thank you everyone. We are trying to maintain some sanity around here and hang in there until we see the doctor next week. Take care.

Tannis

Where abouts in Canada are you? I think the best source of information would be your pharmacy as they can look it up for you. I asked my pharmacy last year for solutabs and they were not available to Canada then. I do believe they have become available recently, though I have not had need to ask for them. I can check at our pharmacy next time we are there. Goodness knows it is our second home... lol

I am sorry that the surgery has not cleared up all his problems, but it makes sense that it is reflux and not the surgery that is the problem here. If he is not getting the correct or full dose, then it makes sense he will reflux especially at night. Have you tried Zantac at all? It is great for overnights. Much better than even prevacid is at night. Or at least it has been the case for us.

Minnie-Yup....I know!! I was not supposed to go this way at all!! Oh well....at least we tried something. I am glad your little Eric is doing so well! That is awesome! As for pain meds, he is not on any right now. THe doctor said that he should have virtually no pain from his adenoidectomy, so I was worried about giving him anything. He is just so restless at night and wakes up so many times just tossing and turning and flinging himself. He is actually alot like my dad at night. My dad has severe restless leg syndrome, and he is presenting some of the same symptoms. There is no treatment for kids as of yet for this, however, so we may have to live with it. It is also probably partially due to reflux...or maybe all due....who knows... His breathing is much better now. Post surgery it was totally scary....I was not prepared for that at all. His nose does seem to be bugging him a little less at night, but he still snores! LOL!


Eric's ENT said the same thing about the adenoidectomy. but I think with GERD it's different because of the chance of reflux getting up there and irritating things. I think it was Jeanette's little Eliana that had problems with her adenoidectomy, and tylenol helped a lot. (not sure though cuz I think Jeanette isn't into using medicines, so it could have been someone else entirely) Another thing that could be going on is thirst. Eric was very thirsty all night. I don't know for sure if it was the tonsils causing this or the adenoids, but since he was still mouth breathing directly after surgery... Well.... you could give it a try.

It's amazing how much it helped my Eric's breathing. I really didn't even know what a hard time he was having until afterward. Ya know, you just kinda get used to it, but man! Eric has energy now, and doesn't get out of breath anymore, no gasping for air, not to mention Darth Vader finally leaving his body. Now if I could just protect his nose somehow from all the reflux going up there, his breathing would be perfect.

It's a bummer to hear about all the problems he's still having, but how wonderful that it helped his breathing! That's so worth it ya know. More oxygen is a good thing.

Take care

Well.....He is probably going to be referred to another GI specialist as this is only his respirologist. She is wonderful though!!! She put him on Zantac 3.3 ml twice a day. I asked about the solutabs, and she would look into getting them somewhere for me. I asked my pharmacist again today, and he said they could probably order them in for me, but he didn't think Eric would like them that much. I am willing to try anything!!! We will try the Zantac for now. I hope he likes the taste. Apparently, the only flavor they can mix it with is grape, but the strong mint flavors overwhelms that anyways. We will give it a shot. If not, I will call the doctor back and tell her my pharmacy can get it in and get a prescriptoin for it. I will keep you updated!!! She is also pretty sure his asthma symptoms are related to his reflux, and we are cutting back on his asthma meds and his Nasonex. Hopefully, once the reflux meds start he can be off everything else. Optimsitic aren't I? :) Anyways, thanks everyone! He has also gained 1 pound since before his surgery, so that is also wonderful news. Hopefully a good night's sleep is coming!!

Take care everyone. Thanks!

Tannis

Tannis

How are things?

Yes,
we need an update PLEASE

Sorry I have not updated sooner, but Eric and I have been really sick with a horrible flu (and Eric with croup). He ended up with an ear infection and I got a sinus infection. We are both on antibiotics now, and are slowly getting better. He has amazingly been taking the Zantac. The pharmacy screwed up the first lot and added alcohol to it. They didn't realize it until later, and they called telling us not to give it to him. We tasted it and it tasted like mouthwash...it was pretty horrible. The second batch was much better, and he actually kind of liked it!! He now takes it pretty good twice a day. As for noticing any change, it is so hard to say because he has been so sick. However, the last two nights he has slept until 5 am....straight through from 8:30 at night...which is a miracle! I was shocked at what a difference that made to how I felt!! I realize that his sleeping might be because he was so tired from not sleeping for about a week prior, but maybe the Zantac is doing something. Our pharmacist has been amazing. He has even called to check on us, and we call him with lot's of different things. He even suggested that he could color the Zantac to make it red, cause Eric really likes red medicine. :) Anyway, needless to say we are going to give it a try! We are cutting the Nasonex back to one spray per nostril twice a day, and hope to be off it in a month or so completely. It is hard to judge his breathing and rubbing of his nose cause he is so sick, but we are taking things a day at a time and I am really excited that the Zantac could really be helping him. I will let you all know!! Thanks so much!! Take care.

Great news on the sleep!!!!:yahoo:

Nothing beats a good night, nothing!!!!!!

I hope you continue to see positive changes in him.

Thanks for updating. I thought you had disappeared, and I missed Eric :(

Thanks! Well things have been not too bad lately. He has slept through the night twice this week! It was wonderful! The other times he work up cause we are potty training and he had to pee and also he lost his soother and couldn't find it in bed and needed me for that. Otherwise, he is definitely sleeping much better on the Ranitidine. Amazing difference actually. He is no longer rubbing his nose. We have cut back his Qvar and his Nasonex, and he is doing pretty good. He is still refluxing (as I guess he always will), but it doesn't seem to be bothering him as much. He may need the stronger Prevacid, but for now things are a little better. Thanks for caring and asking for updates! We are hanging in there!

Zantac is CAN work really well at night. I'm glad things are going better.

Just curious,
How's his eating?

Thanks Minnie!

His eating has drastically improved. He is eating a big breakfast for the first time ever! He is eating much better, and is actually much less irritable during the day. He had a few rough nights of sleep lately, and so I was proactive and called the doctors office today. She is faxing a prescription for Prevacid Fastabs (as they are called in Canada) to my pharmacy this afternoon (and I confirmed they can get them in possibly even this evening)! We are finally going to get to try them! I am beyond excited!!! Yahhhhhoooo!!!! The secretary I talked to said that they really are a much better medication for reflux than Ranitidine, so if we have seen some improvements already things can only get better! I can't wait to get it now and give it a try!!! Things are finally looking up! Thanks for caring and for your support. I will keep you posted! How is your Eric doing?? Is he still making amazing improvements as well?? Take care.

EEEEEE!:yahoo:
That's exciting!!!!
YEA!!!!!!:smt041

My Eric has me in awe everyday. He's doing so great I have to pinch myself constantly! Life is good.

I hope the prevacid makes things for him even better. It's wonderful to see them eat well isn't it!?
Nothing better. Absolutely nothing better!

Hi there. We are in Toronto. The solutabs are available here. They're called prevacid FASTABS. Most pharmacies don't stock them directly as they are not yet as popular as the capsules, but they can be special ordered by the pharmacy from the company. They only come in 30mg tablets though, so you need to split them, as we don't get the 15s. If Eric will eat candies or take other quick dissolve medicines, then he'll probably like them. They taste like strawberry. Just be sure if you do get them to give them on an empty stomach and follow them up with a meal 30 minutes later. The compounded prevacid tastes nasty (very salty) and we've found that even the best compounding pharmacy where we live didn't know how to make it properly. The flavouring was a no-no for us, and really caused her med to not work well. Another option is the capsule. You can get it in 15 and 30 mg capsules and the beads are really small (much smaller than losec). You also have to give it on an empty stomach and follow up with a meal 30 minutes later. You can empty the capsule into a spoonful of applesauce, and if your son eats well, then he'll probably take it no problem.
Good luck. We are getting Hailey evaluated for her tonsils and adenoids. I think she has problems b/c she snores, is up 5-10 times a night, and wakes up screaming hysterically, seems to gasp and choke at night, and has serious feeding issues. But because of her feeding issues, I'm really afraid if he says to go ahead with things. Her reflux is still so bad, and I didn't realize that it could make things worse, or aggravate the sinuses or whatever. It sounds really painful.
Good luck again.

Lori,
The reflux heading out the nose was completely unexpected, and just kinda a thought I had in the back of my head because Eric always fights to get the reflux back down. KWIM?

It solved every single eating/drinking problem Eric had, and when he started eating and drinking well, his belly went into over drive and his reflux went to town. This was right after a really bad feeding refusal period and he was living on next to nothing, so I'm sure his tummy shrunk. Plus recovery from surgery takes a while, and during that time they aren't very good eaters either. (although Eric was so bad before surgery that he actually did better during recovery than he was before surgery).

Now that more time has gone by it's no longer going up and out his nose, and his tummy seems to have caught up with the amounts he is willing to eat. Either that or he has re learned how to control it.

Don't let this weird occurrence stop you from going ahead with surgery if the ENT recommends it. Eric never got a sinus infection and there are things you can do to help their nose if it does happen, and her nose gets sore from it.

Recovery is tough, and I think GERD makes it even harder, maybe even a longer recovery time, but I would do it all in a minute.

I can't believe how much better it has made Eric's life. In just so many ways, even unexpected ways.

Talk to the ENT about ALL of your concerns. I went there to talk about Eric's eating and drinking problems and ended up talking about breathing, sleeping, snoring, hyper activity, tiredness, everything.
I had no idea enlarged tonsils and adenoids could cause all these problems. Especially the eating and drinking. I thought the ENT was a complete quack for thinking all these problems that Eric had were from these pieces of tissue. It took a real long time before it sunk in, and I still didn't fully believe it until after he had the surgery and I saw the changes for myself.

Even if he was still spewing out the nose like crazy I would have absolutely no regrets about doing it. I'll take a sore nose over FTT and all the other problems he had ANY DAY!