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My 11 year old has been burping food 20 times a day for 5 months!

My daughter started burping up food after a party new years eve this year.. She is 11. She was a little prone to this prior to the party but it only happened once every few months.   Now she does this almost every time she eats. (20 times a day) She's had an endoscopy, motility test, gastric scan, ultrasound, and a gall bladder test. She has a small weakness at the base of her esophagus.   The gall bladder test (torture for 3 hours) was inconclusive they said because she moved too much.  She is on 40 mg of nexium 2 times a day, and a drug called Reglan.  She is not getting any better after a month.  In fact tonight she has added stomach pain and incredibly loud stomach gurgling followed by frightening burps to her symptoms.  Her pediatric gastroenterologist is suggesting it is psychosymatic.  I don't think so. She's missed over 30 days of school.  The talk of esophogeal cancer being caused by constant acid reflux is terrifying me! HELP!
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Avatar universal
I used to think the same thing, but if you take it after a meal I think that makes the difference, when you chew it on an empty stomach I think it definately makes you hungrier!  but I have seen it used as a coping mechanism on two or three websites!  
I'm with you on the admitting part!!!!!! ROTFL!
Lisa
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168348 tn?1379357075
You know my teen (17) swears that chewing gum helps to settle her stomach ?????  .. we had a round-robin with me disagreeing that it churns the gastric juices ......

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm .... but never admit you wrong to a teen ROTFLOL!

C~
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Avatar universal
Well I have some good news to report, we had a regurg free day yesterday, we tried chewing gum. After our evening meal seemed to be the worst time and I saw this on the teens reflux website!  Deb I think Jenna might have had rumination as well but the involuntary kind.  I guess the theory about the gum chewing is that  it activates swallowing more often and might triggor the LES to close so that stuff doesn't come up,  we are going to try the deep belly breathing, too! Do you have a good website for showing technique?  Cheryl that is interesting about raising your feet up, I wonder what that triggers? Hey maybe we are on to something!  Deb I am so glad that you found something that is helping, I was just reading about the deep belly breathing yesterday. I want to try it with Jenna. Keep me posted!
Lisa
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168348 tn?1379357075
I know what you mean with the meds .. getting off them .. sometimes I wonder if they cause some of the problems but that is stretching it a bit .. but as  mom, that is what I oftentimes wonder about myself inside ??

When I had root canal done and almost threw up one time the Endodontist told me to raise my feet up as I was lying in the chair and it worked .. I did not get sick to my stomach and it went away .. your post reminded me of that time in the office chair!

What our poor kids have to endure.  Makes me so so sad.

C~
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Avatar universal
I am not sure if swallowing air is causing it, but she has always been a fast eater. Along with slowing her down, we are trying the deep belly breathing when she feels like she is about to get sick.  The idea is that the two actions are not possible together so the breathing in and filling her belly with air does not allow her to do the action that brings the food back into her mouth.  It is still to early to tell if it is her "cure:" but it is helping over the past two days.  We are staying on all the meds for now obviously, but I'd love to get her off them eventually, especially the reglan.
Deb
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168348 tn?1379357075
WOW .. Do you think she has been swalloing air?  My Ped GI was concerned that my dd may have been drinking thru straws alot .. that can cause gas; in her case it isn't the case, but interesting to note straws and gas, too.

WOW again!

Cheryl
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Avatar universal
I am researching a disorder called rumination.   I think my daughter has it possibly.  The Mayo clinic did alot of studies on this too.  It reccomends deep breathing exercises for children who are burping up food repeatedly.  Kristen has been trying it and it is making a difference.  Imagine after 6 months of tests and missed school, tons of meds all she needs is deep belly breathing.  I am hopeful!
Deb
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I am considering at this point to take her to the Mayo Clinic. They are suppose to be the experts  in Gastrointestinal Diseases. In the mean time I am going to get her into the swallowing clinic at our Childrens Hosp and see what they say. I am so confused and bewildered.
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168348 tn?1379357075
Last I heard, severe reflux may be linked to a gene .. I will try to find out if this is accurate info or not but worth asking about.  

I wonder if she has had the strep long before she had symptoms and that is accounting for all going on in addition to the barium ? hmmmmmmm ?

My oldest had what is called post streptococcal reactive arthritis at age 10 from a strep infection that was undiagnosed or missed on a strep culture .. it produced an awful arthritis similar to Rheumatic Fever but slightly different and it was verified thru a high level AntiDNase-B blood test for it ...... moral to story:  strep is nasty germ and can do nasty things as you probalby are aware and that germ alone can cause a bad reflux flare and/or stomach issues in an otherwise healthy kid .....

What a roller coaster you are on .............

C~
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Avatar universal
She started 2000mg of Penicillan and of course, there are only certain scripts you can use for Strep and penicillan is the first line.  We will have to go with it I guess.   Bad day for regurg, for some reason,  Yesterday we were regurg free! Today we are making up for it.  The Pediatrician wants her to go to a swallowing clinic. I hope we get into the other GI specialist soon!  THe only thing I have to say at this point is Why?  I guess we all have that question about our kids.
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168348 tn?1379357075
OH NO on the throat!!!!  And, yes, the antibiotic can do a # on her .. I hope it is the most mild one available for her right now that will help her get over that throat but not upset her tummy!  I feel so bad for you ... oh no!!!!!

Cheryl
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Avatar universal
Well on top of everything else that has been going on Jenna has come down with strep throat.  I Just hope the antibiotic doesnt upset her stomach more.  
Lisa
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Avatar universal
Hi.  Good luck starting the Reglan.  My daughter really has not had any side effects so far.  I was researching her symptoms last night and found something called rumination disorder.  Kristen seems to fit into what they are describing.  I am going to see if the deep belly breathing they use in treatment does something for her along with the meds.
Deb
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Avatar universal
Reglan is a dopamine which means it works on those receptors, it is suppose to help with moving food faster out of the stomach (motility) and strengthing the Lower esophegal sphincter (LES), It is meant to help but not to cure. I would lthink that you need to make major adjustments in your daughters diet. Bland ,,,, Bland ,,,,, Bland and small amounts of food start with on half to three quarters of a cup of food at a time,  and no juices or fruits right now unless the fruits are cooked, I would even hold off of fruits all together until you see some improvement.  I would also stay away from raw veggies and salads.  No fats or oils. You need to make drastic changes in diet to calm her system down first. Use whole grain breads and no spices, I have seen alot of success with my daughter with whole grain English Muffins because they are heavier and stay down, with a little smear of fruit spread.   Not alot of drinking with meals since it creates volume in the stomach and is more likely to be pushed up. YOu also may want to consider stoping all dairy and eggs for now.  We are also eating Barilla Plus pasta a high protein pasta, last night for dinner we did a plain turkey sandwich the first protein she was able to keep down in TWO WEEKS!  It is going to take some time. Also make sure you are timing the meds properly, and I would try some Maalox to calm and coat the esophagus when she starts and episode of regurg.

A friend of mine was telling me about kinseology and how that helped her with a host of digestive problems and food allergies. A type of chiropractic care. Not cracking! I am going to go for that as well.  My main concern now is getting through the end of school too!  She has missed two weeks in a row!


So here is my strategy for now, keep advancing diet slowly, try the Reglan, find out more about the swallowing therapy and the eating therapy, as well as the Chiropractic kinseology and somehow someway with the Grace of God and His will we will get better!

We are going to start  the Reglan today, wish us luck! We are going to try it before lunch and see how it works. I will post later and let you know how it works.
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Avatar universal
Kristen is taking 4ml of reglan 30 minutes before each meal and right before bed so 4 times a day.   We have not seen any side effects as of yet.   She has been on it for over a month, we've seen a decrease in the amount of food/fluid that comes back up but she is definitely not cured.  She still misses about 2 days of school a week.

My question to anyone who has used Reglan with their child is this.  Is it suppose to "fix" this?  My expectation is that it would stop her problem.  Yes it is a little better, but definitely not cured.  How long until I have a child who can go to school?

Deb
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168348 tn?1379357075
My son didn't get it but probably *should* have gotten it .. he was borderline senosry integration problems with the reflux with high startle reflexes and things bothered him along with extreme mommy attachment which didn't allow him to go to preschool until he was 4.5 (and he was my 4th child so you can imagine how hard that was for me LOL) ..

My son would cry from the reflux pain and vomit.  And then cry when he left my side if only for a moment and vomit and vomit and vomit!  The vomiting came from the weak muslce of the stomach and the reflux .. it was an awfully visious cycle .. he'd get frustrated as a toddler or if I said he couldn't get a toy in the store and vomit ...

I know this is a sidetrack but I forgot about this with him!

Back to the swallow study:  he didn't get it but wouldn't eat hard, crunchy foods .. what they do as I understand is they take a washcloth and rub inside the mouth on the tongue and cheeks to help in that regard.

What they do for the therapy for swallowing I'm not sure .. but I know he couldn't drink fruit juice for 4 yrs or drink from a straw .. both brought on reflux (suckling the air) and the fruit caused pain.

TMI (like the teens texting:  too much info I know) .. but all came flooding back with your one line post to me LOL!

If they offer the OT go for it is my opinion.  I had to push.

And my son had 2 yrs of speech .. sometimes the muscles don't form right in the mouth from not eating solid foods until later with some refluxers.  That happened with 2 of my children .. one was 80% uninteligible and her speech was 8ys with 100% success and my son was 2yrs @ 40% unintelliglbe and his was 100% success, too.

Also watch for development milestones to be certain all is on track.

C~
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Avatar universal
Did your son get sick on the reglan?
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Yes that's it swallowing therapy,,,, did you get that and do you know what that is?
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168348 tn?1379357075
My daughter had 8yrs of speech therapy and 2 yrs of therapy for bilateral vocal cord polyps that turned out to be aggravated by UNDIAGNOSED reflux that she had for yrs and she never felt because it never came up high enough !!!!!  The therapy she rec'd was different, though, from what you are talking about .. they even have sensory integration type of therapy along with swallowing therapies, etc., etc.

C~
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168348 tn?1379357075
Thanks for asking .. b4 I get to me .. I agree it is time to try the Reglan .. she cannot go on like this .. no way!

See post above entitled 10yr old daughter at Pedi GI .. it was a great first-rate appt for certain .............now I get to collect poopsicles .... well, not frozen this time LOL, but 3 separate days worth to be certain nothing is missed in the process .. ugh ugh and ugh again .. last time I did that with my 17yr old I got sick and contaminated the specimen .. ROTFLOL!

C~
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Avatar universal
Stress is definately a trigger for refluxing because you start to produce more gastric juice.  Also  you might want to start modifying what she eats.  Milk can be for some kids another major trigger for reflux. Are you regularly using the Reglan?.  We are going to try it over the weekend. I am scared stiff to try it, but we too are at our wits end. My neighbor phamacist/mom said she called our Childrens hospital to see how they give it it and they actually give it to infants with reflux so I guess the benefits outweigh the side effects. Our nurse practitioner said that the jitters is the biggest side effect for kids and they rarely see it. I am still leary of it, but I guess we have to try!

Jenna is still regurgitating, even after decreasing the amount liquid that she drinks. It seems as though nothing is going to stop it.  My neice's boyfriend is an ER MD and he was telling her that there is some kind of physical therapy/occupational therapy out there that helps people control that esophogal muscle. I am going to look into that more over the weekend. I will let you know what I find out.  

Deb how did you daughter do on the reglan and how are you dosing that?

Cheryl, How did everthing go at the GI MD today?

Lisa
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168348 tn?1379357075
I wonder what chemically causes that to happen or physically .... I'd be interested to know .. I know stress can cause the gasttric juices to start churning .. as well as chewing gum, etc. and too much calcium in tums type product can be counterproductive to reflux, too, but really not sure on the element of stress itself causing the muscles to relax ... there must be a reason why .. wonder if the Dr. on the adult Reflux forum would know . ?  

May be worth posting there?

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/200

Cheryl
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Avatar universal
Thanks for all the good wishes!  One of the frustrating things about my daughter's illness is that it can be triggored (not the original cause) by stress.  If she gets upset, she burps up food.  If she eats too much she burps up food.  Once one of these things happen she then continues to get sick repeatedly after eating, no matter what she eats.  We are at our wits end. She missed school today because she remembered she had a spelling test as she went out the door for school and started bringing back breakfast.  So then of course nothing stayed down all day after that.  It then usually takes a day or two to get back under control until something else stresses her or she eats something fatty, or too much of something.  Then it all starts again.
Deb
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168348 tn?1379357075
We've avoided biopsies to date and the ones tested via blood for makers were ok ..... came close with my 17yr old in january but they feel the inflamamtion they saw on the CT Scan was viral .. whew .. it was close to scoping time for her.

On the water / rice milk being a trigger it is the consistency being so thin that may be the problem.  Wonder if something thicker would work better .. they have a product called thick it the GI's can order to add to help wt. things down.

Just think 10yrs ago this was all new for the specialists and today they are all recognizing our kids have issues!

Cheryl
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