My 12 year old with stomach cramps, acid reflux.

Hi Big Jim,

Welcome to Healing Well!  I'm so sorry that your kids are experiencing GI problems.  I know how frustrating they are for adults, so I can only imagine how hard it is to watch them suffer and not know what to do.  We have lots of members who are searching for ways to use natural remedies to help their symptoms.

I'll start a new thread for you with a request for ideas.

I expect others will be by soon to offer ideas and support.

Best wishes!

Denise

Jim,

Diet is always a good place to start, as with children some of these changes may be difficult for them. Limit sugars, soda, choc., pizza, anything with red sauce, fast food. Avoid "box" food and opt for fresh food instead. Avoid red meat, spicy, deep fried or greasey foods. Introduce lean meats chicken, turkey, fish, green veggies, sprouts, some ppl can eat eggs. Melons are great as well (watermelon etc...).

Supplements.....hmm, I'm always careful when it comes to children. Papaya (is like a natural tums) will settle a upset tummy and is safe. Manuka honey (with warm water as a tea) soothes throat and tummy. Childrens multi-vit can't hurt either. Digesitve enyzmes and probiotics are an option, however check with your childrens dr to make sure it's ok to give (children are differnet than adults).

This should get you started in the right direction, as you don't want to introduce too much at once.

As someone who began suffering from Acid Reflux and IBS at the age of 5, I can relate! It's important to know specifically what symptoms your daughter is suffering from. You say Acid Reflux, as well as stomach cramps. Are these the only two symptoms? Does she have diarrhea, constipation or anything else? I say this because while upper and lower digestive ailments can have the same cause, they can also come from two separate causes/conditions and therefore require different treatment. What works for my Acid reflux is not always the same as what works for my IBS, and vice versa. Like others said, diet is a good place to start. I would test for celiac disease and lactose intolerance, at the least. Celiac is just a blood test, so not too invasive. Lactose is a breath test, but you can even test that by just removing dairy from her diet for a trial period. (gluten is a little more complicated which is why it's good to get the test on that). Fried greasy food, fast food, super acidic foods (tomatoes, citrus), spicy foods and chocolate should all be limited for reflux, and foods high in fat, red meat, bran, dairy and too many raw veggies can all be problematic for lower digestive issues. Garlic and onions can also be problematic for both.

I know you're looking for natural treatments, but Gaviscon, an over the counter antacid, is very helpful for reflux and is not a strong drug (it's like Tums but works much better). The original tastes bad in my opinion, but the cherry flavor is much better. I hope this helps a bit!

Alcie said...
Don't get canned coconut milk. It's loaded with sulfite preservatives. Processed foods are "polluting" us worse than meds. I feel lots better if I avoid unnecessary additives by just looking at the ingredient lists. If they're longer than 3 lines I don't buy. I was in the ER after eating a chicken pot pie with over 100 ingredients from a chain grocery. Carmel color and azo dyes are some of the worst. I walk right past the deli.

Did your son ever get a barium swallow? That would show if there is a swallowing problem, hiatal hernia, or gastric reflux.

WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS. AMEN. We have started a homeopathic regiment and it is working. Thank you to all that are helping me, we did just about everything on here an we found hat the flavored propel water was the main culprit along with gluten and maybe Pylori but will not know, manuka honey and probiotics with coconut oil we are getting he tummy back to normal. Thank you all and I hope I can pay this forward, Big Jim