Matt's pH Probe Results

In November, we received a call from our ENT's office with Matthew's pH probe results. The probe shows he has severe nighttime reflux - over 109 episodes while he was asleep. This explains his frequent apneas and sleep arousals, which results in very little REM sleep.

Coincidentally, we had noticed a lot of behavior problems starting in October - I didn't make the connection at the time, but we took him off his anti-reflux medication prior to the pH probe. In hindsight, his emotional meltdowns and ADD type behavior was directly caused by the increase in reflux when the medication was removed.

The probe was extremely valuable for a number of reasons, including:

1. We know he has acid reflux affecting his airway, as opposed to other conditions that can mimic reflux.
2. We know he doesn't reflux during the day at all, but has severe reflux when sleeping.

The second point is particularly important. Originally, Matthew was on a low-dose (10 mg) of Prilosec, given once per day in the morning.  The information gained from the probe gave us the ability to medicate his GERD more appropriately: he is now on 40 mg of Nexium, given in the evening.

Once we started the Nexium, the turn-around in his behavior was phenomenal. He is no longer melting down on a regular basis, is able to focus, and is able to reason again.

We return to the ENT's office on February 5 to discuss his progress and determine what the next step should be (likely another sleep study to keep tabs on his apnea).

I have been absent from this blog - I am now working outside the home part-time and life is insanely busy! It is a whirlwind of work/school/tennis/piano/ski club: all positive, wonderful things, but writing has been placed on the back burner!

I will update on Nolan in another post - Happy 2014, everyone!