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What Causes Loss Of Appeite In Baby?

Posted on Sat, 19 Apr 2014

Question: My grandson is 3months old. He has had nonstop issues since birth. My daughter nursed and a milk allergy was suspected.. She cut out all dairy and he still had issues. At 9 weeks she encouraged br pediatrican and allergist to put him on formula. She was given elevate which he would not take. She ended up with alimentum. He wakes at 3am nighty and is trashing and kicking. He cries often and is very fussy. He has been onzantac for a month which has not helped. 2wks ago he was sent to a gi specialist and put on prevacid. He now is refusing to eat and having trouble sleeping. He went 6 hrs today refusing to eat and will only eat a few ounces. She was back at doctor today and basically told they have never seen this on prevacid and took him off it. Please help

Answered by Dr. Dr. Klerida Shehu (16 hours later)

Brief Answer: Further investigations needed... Detailed Answer: Hi, I have gone through the medical history of your grandson and understood your worries. Milk allergy is rarely happen while breastfeeding. Young mothers are encouraged to breast feed their babies until the age of 6 months to avoid milk allergy or food intolerance when foods are introduced to young babies. If baby is having problems while breastfeeding, there are 2 main sources where problems should be further investigated: - babies GI tract - mother's breast milk According to your saying, his pediatrician has been focusing only on your grandson GI tract and thinking over GERD (as he has put on prevacid). Even though on such drugs, the baby is still refusing to eat and have trouble sleeping, which is a rare side effect of prevacid. At this point, I need to have further details on your grandson: - is your daughter still breastfeeding him or is only giving formula milk? - is his mouth or tongue having any problem (red, whitish layer, etc.)? - is his bowel movement normal or is he having diarrhea/constipation? - what about his weight? is he gaining weight normally according to his age? - any other symptom he might be having (problems with urination, redness in the genital area,etc.)? Further investigations are needed for better diagnosis and proper treatment: - culture of feces for candida/pathogenic bacteria - culture of mouth swab for candida overgrowth - culture of your daughter's breast milk for candida overgrowth (if still breastfeeding). - abdominal ultrasound - urine analysis Depending on the test results, specific treatment will be prescribed. Hope it helped! Let me know if you have further queries! Dr.Klerida

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Klerida Shehu (27 hours later)

Baby is formula fed alimentum. He has been on it 3wks. He had only been on prevacid only 1wk when symtoms began. He refused to eat for 2days when he was on prevacid. Last few days he has been off and eating today. My question is how safe are ppi drugs for infants

Answered by Dr. Dr. Klerida Shehu (26 hours later)

Brief Answer: Prevacid-safe,but with side effects... Detailed Answer: Hi back, Thank you for following up. Every drug has its own side effects. However, using a particular drugs is done after evaluating that the benefits we get are higher than side effects. In your grandson's case, he is experiencing one of the rare side effects of prevacid. Although it is approved by FDA to be used in infants, it might cause rare effects such as irritability and difficulty in sleeping, being restless. Hope it answered to your query! Let me know if you need further assistance! Dr.Klerida

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Klerida Shehu (1 hour later)

Thank you for ur answer. The baby has been off prevacid 4days now and definetly doing better. You mentioned certain side effects of prevacid.....his refusal to eat....could that be one also.? XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Dr. Klerida Shehu (47 hours later)

Brief Answer: Rare side effects of prevacid.... Detailed Answer: Hi, His refusal to eat and being restless can be one of the rare side effects of prevacid. I am happy to know that your grandson is doing better since off the prevacid. Let me know if you have further queries! Dr.Klerida

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar