Reflux is common, nearly everybody suffers from Acid Indigestion at one time or another. When it’s an ongoing issue the cause is often a weak muscle at the base of the oesophagus when allows stomach acid to leak up. Reflux is common in babies and most outgrow it.
In our house Molly didn’t outgrow it and she literally vomited every day until she was seven. Sleeping is particularly tricky and we were advised that she should try to sleep in a sitting position propped up on pillows. Not easy.
The difficult thing about Reflux is that there is a physical cause, so for us all talk of allergies or intolerances was dismissed as investigative surgery showed reflux. It was only by chance that a specialist who was covering for our normal gastric consultant said that reflux can be a result of allergies and intolerances and recommended an elimination diet. I’ve since discovered, thanks to Allergy Uk, that reflux is a known symptom of intolerances:
http://www.allergyuk.org/food-intolerance/symptoms.
So…in short there can be more than one cause for reflux and sorting out what it is can be a job.
Molly was on ranitidine and omeprazole and while it reduced the vomiting it didn’t disappear. Only an elimination diet which identified the triggers of dairy and egg have solved the problem. Fat and sugar are also triggers so we have to be careful there as well. Spices, coffee and alcohol are also known triggers for reflux so adults should limit these if prone to acid reflux.
Molly was diagnosed with Asthma at about 9 months. This was due to chronic coughing, particularly at night. Inhalers and steroid pills didn’t solve it; the symptoms only improved when her reflux was controlled. There is a link, apparently, between asthma and reflux as the body responds to the reflux by creating more mucus.
This is a helpful website to better understand the link http://asthmaandallergies.org/asthma-allergies/asthma-and-gastroesophageal-reflux-disease/
So…our experience was that once we got Molly’s diet under control and understood the triggers we could reduce and even eliminate the acid reflux medicine and steroid inhalers. She now has all the drugs, and we use them for flair ups but she is not on them continuously. We’ve had advice from our GP about reducing usage and monitoring responses so please don’t reduce drug usage without medical supervision.
In our house, once we got the reflux under control Molly stopped suffering from a lot of reactions.
