I have a child with silent acid reflux, a type of GERD (Gasteroesophageal reflux disease). My son was diagnosed with silent acid reflux as an infant. Back in 2006, I wrote an article called The Symptoms of Silent Reflux which told my son’s story with this disease. I received so many heart-breaking comments and stories from other parents who also had infants with silent reflux, AR, GERD, or some other GI condition that when my son was 2, I wrote a follow up article called Silent Acid Reflux: My Toddler’s Life with GERD . Now, 5 years later I’ve decided it’s time for another update.
Acid reflux is a condition that many adults as well as babies suffer from. The acids in the stomach flow (or reflux) back up the esophagus causing a burning sensation and severe pain. Most babies have some form of reflux because their esophageal sphincter is not fully developed, this causes them to spit up. Typically this is normal as long as there is no pain and the baby continues to gain weight. When there is pain, the stomach acid is being washed up the esophagus which can cause damage and scarring. AR is generally pretty easy to spot in babies. Silent reflux is when the acid partially comes up, or comes up and the baby swallows it back down causing burning both directions.
Because there is no spitting up, it can be hard to diagnose silent acid reflux in an infant. It is often misdiagnosed as a food allergy or colic. In the case of my son, it was both. At first I was told that he was colicky. But I knew when my infant cried for 10 hours straight, something wasn’t right. Then the pediatrician decided it was likely a food allergy. My baby was switched to a soy based formula, and then to a hypo-allergenic formula, and then to a super hypo-allergenic (and very expensive) specialty formula. Nothing was helping my son and I was becoming very anxious and depressed watching my baby suffer and being unable to do anything about it. After a lot of searching on the internet, I came across the signs and symptoms of silent acid reflux on a site called infantrefluxdisease.com. The site provided me with a wealth on knowledge about what was happening to my son.
Most reflux babies will refuse food because of the associated pain and will start to lose weight. But sometimes, as in the case of my son, they can “comfort feed” which causes rapid weight gain. This is another reason why my child was misdiagnosed. Instead of a puny baby, I had a strapping boy putting on an immense amount of weight. He wanted to eat all the time because the formula was soothing his throat. Unfortunately, a too full tummy only makes a baby reflux even more.
After going to the pediatrician with my thoughts, my son was put on a light dose of a reflux medication which didn’t help. Sadly at this point, the pediatrician began to treat me like I was making everything up. Fortunately there are great pediatricians out there, but we experienced the exception. I point this out because while I believe it’s very important to listen to your doctor, you should also have a doctor who listens to you and one that you can trust. Eventually an upper GI was ordered for my son which clearly showed his refluxing and we were referred to a wonderful pediatric GI who got him on a proper medication dose. I have since switched pediatricians and now have a wonderful team of doctors for my son.
Most babies outgrow acid reflux (silent or not) by the age of 1. However, some do not (including my son). Along with silent reflux, he suffers from chronic constipation. I was hopeful that one day he would outgrow these conditions, but at the age of 5, he still suffers from them. Trying to change his diet made no difference and sadly any attempts to wean him off the medication only brought back the condition. After writing both articles on him as a baby and a toddler with GERD, many people have asked where we are at now.
At age 5, my son still suffers from silent acid reflux and chronic constipation. I have pretty much given up on him outgrowing it and the pediatric GI has also confirmed that it’s very unlikely. My child is still on heavy doses of Prevacid for the reflux and Miralax for the constipation. He has started kindergarten and really loves school, but the stomach issues do cause problems at school. He is prone to stomach aches often and while he is potty trained, he doesn’t like to go at school. Luckily he has a wonderful teacher. She also suffers from GERD so is very understanding and is helping him work through his issues at school. The good news is that with medication, his symptoms have been well controlled for years. As long as I keep a careful eye on his medications, he is a happy, pain-free child.
Every so often I try to wean him off his medications but his symptoms always come back. The GI has also mentioned the possibility of surgery to stop the refluxing in the next couple of years. That really terrifies me but we will deal with that when the time comes. Sometimes I still feel very down about what my sweet boy has to go through. But then I realize how much worse things could be. So far he has not had to have surgery, he eats well, and he is happy. I am hopeful that one year I will be able to write a follow up story that says he is cured! But realistically, we cope. I have a happy child so things are not terrible. Hopefully his story will help others out there with children suffering from GERD.