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Veteran
Posts: 192
 
Location: Bloomington, IN | My daughter Marlee has such a strong gag relfex. Once she starts gagging there is nothing you can do to make her stop until she throws up. She gags so hard and makes the most awful faces and noises. Most of the time she has to push so hard to get it out of her. I do not know if this is just something that trached kids do. Most of the time it does have to do with her trach being moved or her pulling at it. But there are still times that for no reason what so ever, she just starts gagging and throws up. I know that this can not be good for her growth. I am just wondering if anyone has any experience with this or any advise for us on what to do to help prevent this. Thanks- Rachel |
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Location: NC | Hi Rachel, Andrew had a trach for his first year and had LOTS of problems with gagging. He had a g-tube and we had a whole list of what to do and what not to do. We were never sure what the exact thing was that would set him off so we just did them all! When we would get a new home care nurse, we would show her the list and inevitably, she would’nt believe us and Andrew would end up proving us right. His gagging stopped when he was decannulated, got his g-tube out and began eating more regularly by mouth but all of those happened around the same time so we still were not totally sure which it was but my gut feeling was that we were just feeding him too much – the tank got full and then overfull and then the slightest movement or anything extra just put him over the top. But, below is our “list” for what it is worth. Good Luck finding a solution! We kept a log and just jotted down what was going on at the time. - Do any suctioning before feeding
- NO suctioning during feeding or immediately after if at all possible
- NO deep suctioning
- S-L-O-W drip feedings
- Check for residual before feeding
- Don’t try to get “just 5 more cc’s” into the feeding
- Don’t try to increase the calories too much with additives
- Don’t move him or any part of him, including his trach. for at least a half hour after feeding
Hope everything goes well in SA for you!  Patti |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 795
Location: Levelland, Texas | Hi Rachel! Kenzie has the same exact problem as Marlee. She gags and coughs until she vomits as well and the list that Patti gave you is exactly the same list of advice we have to give to our nurse's and family. I think that it is the trach in general but hey I am just guessing. |
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Expert
Posts: 3970
 
Location: Plymouth, Pennsylvania | RACHEL,
ZOE, DOES NOT HAVE A TRACH, BUT SHE HAS BATTLED THE "SENSITIVE GAG REFLEX" SINCE
BIRTH...
ONCE SHE STARTS TO GAG, THAT IS IT, SHE CANNOT STOP UNTIL HER ENTIRE STOMACH IS EMPTY...
A FORCE THAT AT TIMES, BREAKS BLOOD VESSELS IN HER FACE IT IS SO INTENSE...
THINGS WITHIN THE PAST 2 YEARS, AND AS SHE GROWS OLDER, AND SHE IS ON PREVACID, SHE IS DOING MUCH BETTER WITH... HOWEVER, IF SOMETHING GAGS HER, SHE STILL LOSES ALL HER NUTRITION OF THE DAY....
WW, AND ZOE HAVE LEARNED, SLOW AND EASY WITH ALL EATING AND DRINKING...
BEST OF LUCK AND SAFE TRAVEL TO SA....
GOD BLESS... |
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Regular
Posts: 72
Location: Monroe City, MO | Kimberly has had trouble with reflux/gagging since birth. We have always been on some type of anti-reflux, now it's prevacid. She has been trached since she was 11 months old. It was always important for us to keep her very still (at least 1/2 hour) after feedings. Because of her MD, her coughing and swallowing are weak and she gets gagged easily with extra saliva or mucous. And once she gets gagged there's no stopping the throwing up. Like Marlee, it was always a huge production and still can be when it happens. The good news is that it seems to have slowed down. Maybe by 3 1/2 we noticed it wasn't so severe. Now at 4 1/2 it usually only happens when she has a cold and the drainage is gagging her. She can also tell us now when she feels like she is going to get "sick" and she's usually right. Good luck and God Bless,
Mary |
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Veteran
Posts: 116
Location: Bellevue, Nebraska | Carly had this. It was really bad. We tried everything. She had the fundal plycation done 3 mths after her trache. It has been great for her. Carly has a g-button that we use to vent her tummy. She is fed thru her j-tube. She also had a rue and y surgery where they went and moved some things around in her tummy. Once we did this, she gained weight and doesn't throw up anymore or gags as severe as she used to. |
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Veteran
Posts: 213
Location: Abingdon, VA | Zoe has also had a graet deal of trouble with this. She had her trach, G-tube, fundoplication, appendectomy, and LADD procedures all at the same time and we always assumed that her fundoplication was too tight because we were warned that wretching was a good possibility until it loosened, but it seems the common denominator may be the trach or jsut the lak of room in their tiny little bodies. I feel so bad for her when she does it. She turns bright red and then purple. Zoe can't handle bolus feedings so she is fed continuously and also vented continuously through her Mic-Key (we have a very interesting setup rigged). She usually has the most problem when she has too many secretions, which is often, or when I lay her down after she has been up to play. I can't really do the don't move her after feeding thing because it is continuous, but I'm sure that would help. |
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Veteran
Posts: 111
Location: Edmonton,Albert | The biggest one we found was the slow feeds. Jordyn eats every 4 hours but eats for 2 of them. We had a fondoplication done at 3 months and it has helped her so she stopped throwing up. |
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Trached and Gag reflex
