My daughter has been on zantac but is still projectile vomiting, is this pyloric stenosis?

Question

When my daughter was born she would be fussy after a feeding and act like she was in pain. Around 4 1/2 weeks the doctor put her on zantac becasue of her crying spells and the fact that she was not back to birth wieght. But about a week into treatment she started projectile vomitting. Every day it seems to be getting worse and it seems like she is doing it more often and in larger amounts. The vomit is mucousy as well as her poops. She is very fussy and wiggles alot during sleep. Could this be pyloric stenosis or is it just bad reflux?

Answer 1

I think you need another doctor and another check up.  Zantac is often  prescribed for infants yet it has never been tested on them.  My daughter (3 months old now) had painful reflux too and I did small meals, lots of burping, keeping her upright, and I admit I let her sleep on her side or tummy with the angel care monitor so I could hear her breathing.  She's much better now but still will vomit an entire feeding sometimes if I don't give her time to digest upright.  Get your girl in for some tests before things get any worse or the Zantac causes some serious side effects.  You need answers from a professional on this one.  And quick.

Answer 2

I would implore you to please bring her to a gastroeneterologist within the hospital right away.  I say that because what you are describing does in fact sound like p. stenosis.  It's an easy diagnosis - they don't have to do anything invasive to check for it, so you have no reason not to get her checked out right away.  P. stenosis frequently shows up at this young age, and the surgery to correct this is minimal with immediate results, (this procedure is so often done and so well tolerated that it's very low risk).  A coworker of mine experienced this with his newborn daughter.  She was eating after surgery within four hours!  She was fussy for a day, and then was great, no more vomiting.  Don't panic, but please, bring her in to the doctor as soon as you can.

Answer 3

It could be either.  Usually with reflux, it's spitting up, not really projectile vomiting, so you really need to discuss this with the doctor.

As for the Zantac, it's just an acid reducer.  It does NOTHING to help stop spitting up, it just makes the spit up less irritating to the esophagus.  

There really are no medications to stop the spitting up, it's a mechanical problem.  Sometimes they prescribe Reglan which is supposed to help them digest the food quicker, but again, it doesn't stop the spitting up itself.  And Reglan is some scary stuff.  My daughter was on it and it was horrible.  After I took her off, I read some horror stories about it.

Answer 4

Why are you sitting in front of the computer? Get her to the hospital there's more going on than can be diagnosed here! If she's losing that much fluid she's beginning to dehydrate!

Answer 5

I am not a doctor, but my best guess would be bad reflux.

My husband had a pyloric stenosis at birth and it nearly killed him very quickly. A pyloric stenosis prohibits food (formula or breastmilk) from getting into the stomach. If your child had this she would very likely be very, very sick already, assuming that it has been a few days since this started occuring.

I would call your doctor either way because acid reflux can be very harmful to a small child over a long period of time. Good luck!