Re: Starting periactin?/NG tubes/gastric problems-alternative medicine

August 9, 2002

Hi Debi:-)

I am glad you wrote to the site. I enjoyed meeting you at the convention.

If you do not recognize the name I showed you Janelle's button & g-tube at

the convention. It sure sounds like you are doing everything possible

within your ability. I really feel for you going through all the vomiting.

When Janelle goes through vomiting sessions day after day I feel as though I

will loose my mind sometimes.

Dr Dumont was speaking on peppermint oil mixed with caraway oil by a

compounding pharmacist. He has a particular ratio that they are to be mixed.

I actually tried this on Janelle and it made her reflux worse. He said it

either works or makes the reflux worse. Everyone is biochemically different

so the trial and error method is all we have.

Janelle will be seeing Dr Dumont next week and I would be very interested in

what the homeopathic doctor says and I might be able to run it by Dr Dumont

while I am there. I have been discussing possible absorption problems with

him so we will have a lot to cover and I would love to add your findings or

lack of findings to the list.

About the bee venom, I may have misunderstood but I thought he was using it

as an example for another way of administering something to someone that is

sensitive to that very thing. For instance, bee venom broken way down to

help someone to not be so sensitive to it. Can someone else clarify this

for us.

I have been thinking of you and hoping you have been able to get the care

you need where you live. Good Luck and I continue to keep you and your

family in my prays.

--

Jovanovich

****Please note - our NEW e-mail address

laura@...

Reply-To: RSS-Support

Date: Sat, 10 Aug 2002 13:17:24 +0900

To: RSS-Support >

Subject: RE: Starting periactin?/NG tubes/gastric

problems-alternative medicine

Resent-From: laura@...

Resent-To: bugwilder@...

Resent-Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 22:02:41 -0500

Hi, I've been lurking in the background reading the posts here since

finding out about the site at the Convention which I attended in Chicago.

I am from the UK but live in Japan with my husband Masao and son (9

months, 5.1 kilos, 61 cms).

I'm also pretty new to this subject but my son have lots of gastric

issues and continues to suffer alot through feedings. He can't eat at all

on his own now. He's been on an NG for 5 months already, is fed a

Japanese medical formula which is 100kcal per 100cc and had one spurt of

growth but that lasted only a few weeks. I drip the feed in extra slow,

faster, or medium pace and nothing seems to prevent him spitting up yellow

bile at least 20 times per feed.

He has a bloated belly too but his doctors insist he doesn't have slow

gastric emptying, if anything its so fast that it gushes back up and causes

some reflux.

When we did a ph test (this time at University College Hospital in London),

it came up as extremely insignificant result.....but they still put

on reflux medication anyway for a while on the basis of clinical

observations. In other words, the ph test for reflux can only detect acid

movements up and down the esophegus and not aklaline reflux which can be

just as active but not prominent on the results. I am also told that for

one child the formula could need to swoop right back up to the mouth and

for others just a few little spurts up from the entrance of the stomach is

enough to aggravate. So on reflux testing, as Dr H and Dr Dumont said at

the convention its not so reliable but the best on offer right now and

should be used in conjunction with other tests.

I asked Dr H at the Convention in the Q&A session exactly the question

brought up regarding when to start a child on periactin. She said that she

had no specific age limit to begin. Some say around 2 years is best.

However if a child had reflux or stomach issues Dr H was clear - she would

NEVER start periactin regardless of age partly because periactin aggravates

reflux (as does concentrated formula) and partly because you don't want to

encourage a child to eat when they can't cope with either the extra volume

or concentration of food. The message was, sort out the gastric problems

before considering the next stage of RSS treatment - stimulate appetite

using periactin or, as some folk in Europe apparently do start growth

hormone and then periactin.

Here in Japan even the basic medicines for reflux Zantac (ranitidine in the

UK) are banned due to the side effects. Medical qualifications for drugs

are ultra strict here but their view is that reflux medicines can actually

cause the opening from esophegus to stomach to relax and thus open further,

aggravating the condition. When spent a few months in the UK they

had no such qualms so just goes to show how cultures differ so.

In the absense of wide drug use for the reflux problems in Japan, have

looked into alternatives......the new visions feeding site (www.new-vis.com

then go to feeding section) which was passed out at the Convention has

heaps of suggestions....particularly worth a try the use of water about 30

minutes before a feed to help digestion.(definitely worth a try in the hot

humid summer weather here) ....formula rotation to prevent sensitivities.

The articles on offer are numerous and might seem overwhelming but the are

focused and manageable with practical suggestions in each. They also

suggest the use of plant enzymes to aid digestion. I can't get those here.

RE Ng tubes.....here in Japan they have children on Ng tubes for years and

prefer it to g-tubes which obviously require initial surgery. They are

less concerned about the impact on tongue movement and swallowing of an Ng

tube than the fact that starting a g-tube can cause or aggravate reflux. I

imagine the crux is how long you need this for. From the short time I was

in the UK, NG tubes appear the prefered option there too but definitely not

in the US where I didn't see one child with an NG tube at the Convention

but many with their buttons and pumps and little backpacks (very cute - I

even wanted one)

Twice monthly visits to doctor at the National Children's Hospital in

Tokyo always end in everyone scratching his/her head. They seem to feel we

just have to wait until his stomach settles down. I of course don't really

know any better but on a mothers instinct he just appears to struggle in

digesting calories. He never sicks up on the same volume of glucose or

water. absorption tests, stomach enzyme tests, stool sugars, amino

acid/oceanic acid tests, barium swallows, barium meals have all shown up

nothing. now has an ED tube which is passed through nose past

stomach, duodenum, appendix and into the small intestine. So food goes

directly into the alkaline environment of the small intestine and bypasses

the stomach all together...he is still sick but just bile now rather than

milk too.

We are heading to a homeopathic doctor today (having heard some about that

from the Convention presentation). Acupuncture and acupressure, reiki of

course is in abundence here in Japan. Reiki leaves him a real smiley pot

but no more inclined to eat.

By the way, does anyone know how to administer the peppermint which Dr

Dumont suggested as a good anti-spasm for small children with gastric

problems. I have tried making peppermint tea but he was mentioning

something about caraway oil mix..... Have not yet plucked up the courage to

use the bee venom (diluted 1000 times) which was also on the slide as an

option. I might change my mind after a trip to the homoepathic doctor

though I guess....Will keep you posted.

Debi Collis, mother of in Japan, RSS, gastric problems big time, 61

cms, 5.1 kilos, 9 months.

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> ·ol : jjfazzolari jjfazzolari@...>

> ˆ¶æ : RSS-Support

> Œ–¼ : What age can a child start periactin?

> ‘—M“úŽž : Saturday, August 10, 2002 2:06

>

Hi all-

Pat is the grandmother of an RSS infant, . I am asking on

her behalf the following question because I didn not know the

answer: what age can a child be started on periactin? Thanks!

F.

August 9, 2002