hi, i have a 4 month old son who has been in and out of hospital since he was 2.5 months old. he has now been in hospital for 1 month and nothing is being done. i live in australia and have no faith in the medical system any more. my son has never been officially diagnosed with GERD but we have been told by pediatricians and GP's that he does. he has a history of vomitting frank blood in small amounts atleast 5 times (about 1 tablespoon), turning blue multiple times, he is constantly irritable and has multiple screaming fitts day and night that are inconsoleable. the childrens hospital i have been taking him to have admitted him twice now for very poor feeding and FTT. they have inserted NG tubes both times and have done no testing apart from bloods and stool tests. i find this very frustrating especially since this time i saw a specialist pediatrician and payed him $200 and he got him admitted and ordered a scope with biopsy and a ph probe to be done to test for esillipillic esophigitis (sp?) they are reluctant to do tests as they say that even if they were to do tests that they could help him no more as they have him on neocate formula and losec suspension at 10 mg a day. i am feeling scared for my son as they have now without asking me first put him on regular cows protien formula and started him on rice cereal. i have told them before that he does not go well on rice cereal or solid foods as he has intollerances to solids and gets mucousy poos and has alot of tummy problems. my question is should they be testing or am i in the wrong? are their other things out there to help him if the reflux meds are not working? he has been on meds for 2 months now. what has to go wrong with him for them to test and to make him comfortable so his quality of life can be that of a normal baby? and do you think that it could possibly be something other than the reflux? his other symptoms are: black poops (tested for blood already) always watery poop and occasionally without transition he will have a single rock hard pebble, strains for about an hour and is very uncomfortable for an hour before pooping even if it is watery, occasional vomiting, shoving his fist or anything he can down his throat to the point of gagging and vomiting. their are probably more but i cant think of them all now. whats your opinion on all of this what could be wrong with my baby? sorry its so long and thanks in advance.

Hi,

Sorry he has been in the hospital almost more than at home.

I am assuming that he has GERD. If this is the case, he needs to be maximally treated with the PPI meds like Prilosec and maximally treated with meds such as antiacids like Zantac. If he truly has GERD and the meds don't work, then thought should be made to consider surgery like a Nissen fundoplication. Before this is done, have him seen at a pediatric hospital and make sure his neurologic exam, his sensitivities to milk/soy, and other aspects are OK. He should be seen at a pediatric hospital with a full complement of pediatric specialists.

Good luck, Dr. Olson