Hi everybody! I'm Mindy, mom to Karsen, my 4 week old son. Karsen has been vomiting for a several of weeks now. I've been through all of the formulas that I can think of and nothing helped. Finally, starting this past Friday, the vomiting got really bad. He was vomiting several times with each feeding. So, on Saturday, I spent the day in the ER to make sure nothing was severly wrong and that he wasn't getting dehydrated. The ER docs did an xray to make sure he didn't have any kind of blockage and they did a stool screen to check for blood. Both came back negative and they sent me home with advice to keep Karsen on pedialyte and follow up with the peditrictian today (monday). We just got back from the pediatrician and he has put Karsen on Prevacid and we are scheduled to go to the hospital for a Barium Screen either Tues. or Wed. Before this weekend, I really didn't know anything about reflux in infants. My husband has severe reflux and has been on Prevacid forever. I never imagined that my infant could have it as well. Can you guys tell me what to expect with the Barium Screen? I am a big baby when it comes to watching my kids go through any discomfort, and I want to know what to expect before I go. My pediatrician just told me that he would have to drink a bottle and that they technician would monitor Karsen while he threw up....sounds simple, but I got the feeling that my pediatrician was leaving out details.

Thanks everybody!

Mindy

Hi Mindy, and Welcome!

Don't stress over the upper GI. There's really nothing to it.
Pretty much what the doc told you is true.
Trent just drank the bottle, and then they watched everything to check for abnormalities.
The only thing...the barium did constipate Trent a little. I just gave him some milk of magnesia afterwards to help him out.
Otherwise, it was no big deal, and only took about 15 min.

Good Luck!

Amy

Thanks Amy...that makes me feel a ton better and happy to know they aren't going to be poking and proding him during the procedure.

Mindy

Hi Mindy and welcome!!

Don't be alarmed if the barium swallow comes back negative, they have to actually reflux at the moment of the test for it to come back positive. It's not a very good test for diagnosing reflux. It is a very easy test though!

You brought up a good point, Roni.
Trents Upper GI was negative as well b/c he did not reflux while doing it. They sent us home and told us nothing was wrong. Ha Ha.
The ph probe was much more accurate, and showed he was silently refluxing several times during the day and during the night.

Amy

Geez...I can only hope that he refluxes while they are doing the test. I'm pretty delirious right now from not sleeping. I think that they will send me over the edge if the end up telling me nothing is wrong with him.

I just don't know how you guys have coped with the long road that you guys have been down.

Don't sweat it Mindy, you'll cope fine b/c now you know that it's not a very reliable result anyway.