Drews Reflux Story

by Gina

Adequate treatment changed my son's life. No more (unnecessary) asthma treatment! No more hospitalizations!

As a newborn, my son was a slow eater. We eventually transitioned to formula as he wasn’t eating enough and was losing weight--a battle we had already gone through with his sister. He was diagnosed with laryngomalacia and had a stridor (inhalation). His ENT gave him Prevacid compound and did not feel that his issues warranted any further treatment. I questioned him on the efficacy of the Prevacid as we noticed his symptoms worsened on the third week. The doctor dismissed my concerns.

Drew never spit up, choked, etc. He would burp occasionally. However, he was continually sick and any little virus would cause significant respiratory distress. He was hospitalized three times with pneumonia, was constantly sick, and was treated "aggressively" for asthma. He was also treated for reflux. His first pulmonologist quickly diagnosed him with asthma and put him on Qvar 40 & ProAir. His second pulmonologist did not believe it is truly asthma, he believed we were just treating a symptom of something else. He had a swallow study (no concerns), bronchoscopy (the epiglottis, vocal cords, etc. were red and swollen), and a pH probe that showed non-acidic reflux.

We were told to see an ENT again by the pulmonologist but the ENT refused to see us. He was insistent that the problem was GI-related. The GI doctor first put my son on Prevacid capsules (15mg) and had us put it on chocolate ice cream or applesauce. There was no change. He then put him on Reglan (3 times per day). When that didn't work he wanted to increase the dose and then wanted to have an upper GI done. He refused to look at the MARCI dosing and was adamant (and condescending) that it was "old science." We did not go back.

My son was hospitalized three time for pneumonia: at 11 months, 13 months, and again at 21 months.

In April I was sick of doctors refusing to look into other treatment options. I was familiar with Jeffery Phillips Pharm D's (Dr. P) research at Mizzou and decided I needed to try and get in touch with him. He immediately responded and was a HUGE help. He first suggested I take the MarciKIDS information to our pediatric GI. At the appointment, the doctor said there was no need to change meds, that Prevacid should be more than enough, and would not even look at the Marci KIDS information. Instead, he wanted to increase the Reglan to 2 mL, 3 times per day for 10 days to see if that helps. I was not okay with any more of this med, especially with the disturbing side effects. Within a day, Dr. P got us in touch with a doctor that was willing to try the MarciKids dosing of Zegerid.

Dr. P went to our appointment on May 4, 2015 and together with an ENT we were able to start Drew on Zegerid. After 25 days on Zegerid we were down to minimal coughing and only giving 1 breathing treatment per day. My description of Drew after 25 days was: "He has so much more energy - he turned two last weekend and family that hadn't seen him in a month or so couldn't believe the difference in his activity level!"

Drew has been a different kid thanks to Dr. P, I cannot imagine where we would be without his help. We have since transitioned to omeprazole and TCM and things are working great. Dr. P's research changed my son's life. We were living in doctor’s offices and hospitals and no one seemed to know how to adequately treat him.