Hi Aboveall. I can't help but wonder what differences existed over the six months when he was problem free and the last 2-3 months. Different foods? Less acidic foods? Smaller meals? More or less milk? Chocolate? Juices? A change in meds? I am no expert on the various meds involved, although I know the operating mechanism of the two different meds is very different. I can only tell you my experience. My little bud had major reflux issues since birth - even his sister who does not have CF had horrible reflux up until 6 years of age. The reflux was so extreme, that I could hear a "clicking" sound in their upper chest or throat from across the room, which I suspect is like your "hiccuping." They would scream and scream when that happened - obviously horribly uncomfortable. I even had one doc smile and diagnose our daughter as simply one of those "colicky" babies that we would learn to handle. NOT. She was hurting. Refluxing. I've had some docs (not all) look at me like I was nuts when I would describe the symptoms, but it was from reflux. Extreme reflux. In the beginning, it took a couple of months of Prilosec type meds (proton pump inhibitors) for both of them before they were sufficiently effective to keep reflux down to a painless condition. Our daughter couldn't even sleep lying down until she was close to a year old. Reclining exacerbates reflux. So we put her first in a swing, and then in her crib elevated at the head. And even today, my son will tell you his stomach hurts when he is having reflux - he feels that food will make him feel better, and it does for a bit - its something else for the acid to chew on, I suspect. When he was younger - from about 1-3 years old - the docs would let us give another half dose if he was experiencing problems despite getting his meds. And frankly it would work instantly - he would go from being red faced and in pain to a shocked look as the meds hit the acid - and then he would break out in a broad grin from relief. When we had to switch clinics, they frowned on the idea of an extra dose. Then on one occasion when he had surgery, they gave him morphine and the reflux was intractable and horrible. He was miserable. Frankly no one on the CF Team had any solution other than to split the dosage to twice over a days time, rather than one morning dose. But his ENT felt the morphine, despite having long wore off, had a much more lasting effect on a different level and was actually causing the exacerbation. The exacerbation lasted two months, but the split dose helped. However, the next surgery, the ENT literally banned the morphine, listing our son as sensitive, and we had no further problems. So . . . . any new meds in the mix? I am certainly not suggesting you give him more meds than prescribed - that's always a horrible idea as you know. Nor would I ever suggest you stop a med. But it might be something to discuss with a good gastroenterologist - maybe a different one? Is the dose optimal? Are there other meds exacerbating the problem? Diet? I would really sit down with a thinking cap and see what differences you can come up with between the two different periods of time. I suspect there's a culprit in there somewhere. HUGS!
