Help ! 8 year old Daughter sick

Posted by Marie on April 23, 1999 at 16:16:30
my 8 year old daughter has been diagnoised with gerd and esophagitis .She had barrium swallow and endoscopy plus a cat scan (cat scan was negative)propulsid and tagament didnt work. Now she's on prilosec and donnatol helped
a little but still spitting up the doctor increased donnatal yesterday seemed to work ok.Just a small amount spitting up now so far. But she doesn't want to take donnatol says it makes her throat burn more and increases her chest pain.
Help! shes been spitting up for 3 weeks is in pain with  chest/throat/back/ stomach.
Posted by HFHS.MD.HSW on April 24, 1999 at 14:01:31
Dear Marie:
Effective management of gastroesophageal reflux disease requires intertwining a number of interventions and time. I will assume that your daughter avoids foods which generate excessive stomach acid, sits up after meals, doesn't eat late meals, and sleeps with her mattress elevated at an angle of 20-30 degrees. Aggravating emotional and social stress must be also addressed. These steps are critical. When appropriate doses of the histamine-2-receptor anatagonist ranitidine (Xantac) fail to control discomfort, the potent proton pump inhibitor omeprazole (Prilosec) usually provides significant relief after a month or two or two of therapy. The symptoms of heartburn may at times reflect an underlying gastritis (irritation of the stomach lining). If gastritis is present in addition to esophagitis, it too must be treated. Gastritis may involve infection with an organism called Helicobacter pylori which is responsive to appropriate combined antacid and antibiotic therapy. H. pylori is diagnosable by biopsy of the stomach lining at the time of endoscopy as well as by urea breath testing. I presume this possibility has been explored by your daughter's physicians.
This information is supplied for educational purposes only. I hope it points you and your daughter toward better health.
HFHS.MD.HSW
Key Words: Gastritis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, Helicobacter pylori