Vomiting

[Guest guest]

Alyssa has had her g-tube for 6 weeks now. In the last few days we

have had 2 incidences of vomitting. She has no known reflux (she had

a ph probe prior to surgery) so I am wondering what is up with the

sudden vomitting. The first time was first thing in the morning and

the second time was in the middle of the day after I offered her

food.

When she was about a year old, she starting throwing up when we fed

her. If she didn't want to eat, she would gag, which was usually

followed by vomiting. It's like it's happening all over again (only

there is more to throw up!)

Per Dr. H's instructions we don't vent her anymore. They did in the

hospital but she never had any residual.

Does anyone have experience with this? I am wondering if perhaps I

should start venting her. Are these things related. Any thoughts,

advice. .

Thanks!

dayna, mom to alyssa, 2

[Guest guest]

Dayna,

First, I would recommend venting Alyssa to see if it makes a

difference. Max did not have much residual after a few days, so we

stopped venting, too, but there are times he asks to be vented and,

sure enough, there is stuff coming up the tube. He is old enough

that he knows how to manipulate his stomach to make the gas come

out, but you may have to gently press on or move Alyssa's stomach to

get her some relief.

My second thought is about the volume of feeding. I don't remember

how long she is on the pump, or how often, or the volume, but you

may have to back down and do it over a longer period of time. Her

stomach may be getting too much over time to digest properly.

Sometimes with our tube fed children, we put the volume in, but the

stomach does not empty it out fast enough to keep up with the volume.

Another thing could be that she is just not feeling well,

developing a cold or something. It was the beginning of a cold that

put Max in the hospital ten days ago - and he will go back to school

for the first time tomorrow. Once we got home from the hospital

last Saturday, his cold really blossomed and he was too sick to go

back all week.

Then again, as our GI doctor says, and I HATE this part, it is

possible that it is something that happens from time to time and we

just have to be prepared for it. I would say that five out of seven

nights Max will start to eat dinner, throw up, and then go back to

finish eating. My heart bleeds for him because it cannot be

pleasant, but, then again, he does not know life any differently.

I'm sure he is frustrated, especially if it happens in school, but

it is something that we cannot stop (AND THAT MAKES ME ANGRY AFTER

PUTTING HIM THROUGH SURGERY TO STOP THIS!!!!), so Max has to learn

to deal with it.

Tube feeding is a wonderful thing in so many ways, but I cannot tell

you how many people have commented on their kids vomiting after

starting this process. I don't understand why. We just have

to " play around " and try to find what works best.

Jodi Z.

[Guest guest]

Marie

Our girl Max does the vomiting just before and when getting sick. Max also had GERD. And as you already know, with GERD there is a lot of vomiting. When Max had outgrown the GERD she continued to vomit. That is when we realized it is directly related to getting sick. When having Pediasure at night she would vomit. We stopped at those times giving her Pediasure and tried to give her regular water or Gatorade instead. That seemed to work a little better.

best reagrds

rosy, mom to max. nearly 6

[Guest guest]

Hi Marie,

I know there's something that other parents have referred to as cyclic

vomiting and I don't know a lot about that (I'm sure others will share

their experience), but I do know that with mitochondrial disease,

gastric motility slows way down when the kids get sick. That's what

happens for my son and he will throw up his formula (he's g tube fed)

because he simply can't absorb it well when he's sick.

HTH,

Anne R, Asher's mom

Re: Vomiting

Marie

Our girl Max does the vomiting just before and when getting sick. Max

also had GERD. And as you already know, with GERD there is a lot of

vomiting. When Max had outgrown the GERD she continued to vomit. That

is when we realized it is directly related to getting sick. When having

Pediasure at night she would vomit. We stopped at those times giving

her Pediasure and tried to give her regular water or Gatorade instead.

That seemed to work a little better.

best reagrds

rosy, mom to max. nearly 6

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