I have a ten year old boy. He has had chronic constipation since birth. We have been to six doctors in four different states. They all told us to keep him on laxatives. The laxatives no longer work and his condition is worsening. He has now gone over two weeks with nothing happening, but some smelly leakage in his pants. He is losing friends and getting teased.
I do not know what to do to help him..
He is on an ALL oatmeal and fresh fruit diet. He gets no dairy, meat or breads.
The beginning of December my child stopped going at all. I took him to his primary care doctor who documented that he was impacted. He sent us to a pediatric gastrologist. My son was seen two weeks later. My poor child only went once while we were waiting to be seen. The specialist confirmed that he was impacted and told us to come back after New Years.
by the time we went back, the doctor ordered us to take our child to the hospitial where he was kept for three days while they used a n tube to administer go litely, a fluid that dissolves everything in the digestive. My son was impacted all the way up to his small intestine.
We go back next week for a follow up.
The doctor currently has him on mag cirtate and four senacot a day.
My child is going two to three times a day, but complains it hurts to push so hard.
I hope we find out what is causing this.
I appreciate everyones responces.
Later, I will have to update everyone on our insurance company responce. They came in the hospitial while he was being treated and told us that they were going to deny any payment as his condition could have been treated at home. I hate fihgting with insurance. GRRR!
P.-
My son was always constipated till age 3.5. I started giving him probiotic supplement and flax seed oil mixed in with his apple juice, noodles, etc. That was enough to do the trick for us.
I hope this helps. Good luck-
A.
He needs to see a gastroenterologist. This is clearly more serious than simple constipation. Laxatives just treat symptoms and do not address the cause of the issue. Keep searching for a good one.
I think prescribing him various things ont solve the problem.Find a good doctor and see what he can do or refer you to for a permanet fix.
Have you seen the pediatric doctors at MUSC in Charleston yet? When my niece was born she had the same condition and her primary doctor referred her to them.
I agree that your son needs lots of high fiber foods but that will not correct the problem if it is something more advanced. My nephew (he's 8 now) had surgery at 18 months to correct "malrotation of the intestines". He had waaaay too much for his little body -- I forget how much they had to remove. He had been on Miralax since shortly after birth and while it did help some, it was not enough. He would go days or even a week without ever having a bm. And then when he would have one, he would be throwing up as well from trying so hard to go. I would ask the doctor if they think a malrotation could be the cause and just continue to nag them or find someone else who will help you figure out what the cause could be. Good luck!
Hello P.-- First of all, let me say that I agree with the other respone--it is important to look at diet as a possible cause-BUT that is NOT neccessarily the situation and when it has lasted this long, you have to look at other issues as well.LAxatives will not help in these types of cases---they simply cause irritation and aggravate the bowel system. I have been in your shoes with my six year old---we took him to Dr appt after Dr Appt---finally we went to see a Dr in Greenville. She did x-rays and we discovered that our son was severly backed up--his colon and bowel were distended 4 times what was considered normal---well---we went through two months of Ex-lax Every other day--Mineral oil daily--enemas three times a week--and Miraloax twice daily.We were not sure if our son would have to go to surgery to sorrect thie situation or not. You can now buy Miralax over the counter--It is also known as Glycolax. It worked WONDERS with James---he still has a lot of issues with his bowel habits.....but he is moving them every week,,,sometimes twice a week. He still has small accidents occasionally---like if he is very tired or nervous...but for the most part--he is doing well---I believe I still have the medication calender that we went by. I will try to look and see.James still has to take Miralax daily to assost with elemination, but it is a whole lot better then where we were at. Miralax is not a laxative!!! It simply increases the amount of water that is in the degestive system and intestines. I know that it is hard for a Mom to see her little boy teased and tormented like this. James was teased in pre-k...but he manages things so much better now.....Please feel free to email me at ____@____.com if you want/need to talk or discuss the situation further. Good luck!!!
Hi P.
Im so sorry to hear that your family is going through this. I would strongly recommend that you continue to seek the help of professionals (ie: nutritionist, gastroenterologist, etc) This is just not normal. Has he seen an allergist? Maybe he's allergic to something that creates a problem with his digestive system? Don't give up until you get a straight answer! Unfortunately, it takes several attempts and various tests in order to figure out what is is that is creating this problem for him. Please keep me posted!
PS If your in the Atlanta area, I would recommend you go the Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta hospital.
Please don't take this lightly, if he has not gone for 2 weeks he could get really, really sick.
I feel for you and your child. My daughter has had lots of bowl problems which are a result of her bladder problem. So I completely understand your frustration. Gatorade helps my child. Crazy - I know. But it works. You can also go to www.webmd.com and get more ideas about what you can do for him. In the meantime - GATORADE!!!
He is drinking a lot of water? Not drinking enough will only make his fiber-based diet bad for his bowel (the fiber will become hard in his bowel and stay ther longer, so rather than helping him, it will ultimately damage him).
I found strange that all doctors advised you to keep him on laxatives, we all know they don't work after a while.
My personal advice (based on personal history) is to reintroduce in his diet all the foods that he has been missing (and that he needs to grow healthy!) - keeping him off of them hasn't helped anyway, so why avoiding those foods now?? Also, encourage him to drink, drink and drink, give him hot tea at night (no lemon in it!), this will help to soften the stool. Finally, physical activity also helps, so get him moving.
I feel for him, much luck and let me know if you find these advice beneficial.
Hi P.,
I have a friend who uses Papaya Enzyme Supplements with her son. It is an all natural product and helps her son with the same kind of problem. You may want to ask your doctor about it.
M.
Hi P., We are going throw this with my 4 yrs. son. We had to have x-rays done and then had to do 6 enemas every 12hrs.That is not fun. Then they had me put him on Miralax that just make him have accidents in his pants.I took him off the Miralax and found Little Tummys Laxative drops. I gave it to him twice now and he is finally going on the potty for me. He goes about once every other day. When before it was once a week if not longer.My Dr. did tell the older they get and have this problem the more likely they could damage their colon. If you would like you can email me and I can give you my Dr. name & info. I hope this helps you are not lone. Dottie
P.,
I am an RN here in Spartanburg and I STRONGLY recommend that you seek the help of a chiropracter. My husband is a student at Sherman Chiropractic College and the main cause of constipation is a sacrum being misalligned. Putting the child on laxatives just relieves the symptoms, not cure the problem. The body can get used to laxatives and then the child will not be able to have a bowel movement without them and then eventually they will not work. Chiropractic care will only help your child. I would be happy to recommend one if you are interested or you can go to Sherman College and they will adjust your child for a discounted rate. Let me know if you would like more information. I promise you that you will not be disappointed.
Dear P.:
Try dark leafy salad every day for a week. Also try giving him dried prunes. They have some now with orange flavor and they are bad tasting. That should work. Keep us posted.
P.
Hi, P.!
I'm so sorry to hear about your child's situation. How horrible. Has he been tested for any other types of problems which constipation may be a side effect?
What types of doctors have you been taking him too? Have you seen a specialist?
Here's something I found on the net. Not much help, but it HAS to be better than laxatives.
Are you also trying (just for the relieve of it) enemas?
~C.
www.parentingincolumbus.com
Chronic Constipation
Children who are "always" constipated present a different problem. Most often these kids have had painful bowel movements due to large, hard stool. Understandably, they are scared of having bowel movements because of the pain, so they withhold their stools. Unfortunately, the longer they withhold the larger and harder the stool gets, and so their next bowel movement hurts even more. (Strangely, many of these kids have slight diarrhea, because the thin liquid coming into the colon from the small intesttine is all that can pass the large stool plugging up the plumbing.) The secret to treating this is to break the vicious cycle. My method is to use mineral oil, which is a fairly safe and relatively non-habit forming laxative. We give it in small doses at first, and increase the dose each day until the stool is so soft that the child can't possibly hold on to it -- potentially kind of messy, yes, but you only have to keep the stool that soft until your child has had enough painless bowel movements to be willing to go, after which you can back off gradually on the mineral oil. A newer laxative, which tastes better and has fewer side effects, consists of a large-molecule sugar-like chemical that is not absorbed by the body because of its molecular size and structure, but tends to draw water into the colon, thus softening the stool. There are potential risks to mineral oil and other laxatives, just as there are with any other medicine, and there are other possible approaches to the problem as well, so check with your doctor before trying this out at home. Again, chronic constipation can also be the first sign of a more serious bowel problem, so if your child is often constipated, you should take him or her to the doctor.
There is nothing more frustrating, is there, then the whole constipation thing. You want desperately to help your child, but short of changing his diet like you have, you feel like there truly is nothing to do but watch him struggle with this.
The only thing I have tried that has worked for my daughter, who, by the way, is going to be 4 on Sunday (also have another daughter, 7 mos.), is Metamucil powder. Understand that I tried Miralax several times with very little result. I tried the dietary changes and cutting down on dairy, and nothing seemed to help. Finally, a few months back, the pediatric nurse at Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta suggested Metamucil. It worked!!
Try this. I know it seems like a simple solution, but just give it a shot and see if it doesn't help out a little. Hang in there. Tell your son to do the same.
Also, once they've had hard stools in the past, even at ten years of age, they are frightened of having them again, so they will tend to hang onto their stool. Lastly, and I'm sure others have pointed this out to you, moving is a very stressful thing for everybody involved - new home, new friends, new school, new everything. Three times in one year is a lot of change. Holding in his BMs may be the only thing he feels like he can control right now.
Good luck!
E.
Some treatments are decreasing foods that are constipating, including cow's milk, bananas, yogurt, cheese, cooked carrots and other foods that are low in fiber. For children that drink a lot of milk, soy milk is a good alternative, as it is usually much less constipating than cow's milk.
How much fiber does your child need? The usual recommendation is that children should have 5-6 grams of fiber plus their age in years each day. So a 4 year old should have 9-10 grams of fiber each day.
It can be helpful to learn to read nutrition labels to choose foods that are high in fiber. Fruits and vegetables, especially if they are raw and unpeeled, are good choices. Vegetables that are particularly high in fiber include beans, especially baked, kidney, navy, pinto and lima beans, sweet potatoes, peas, turnip greens and raw tomatoes.
Other foods that are good for children with constipation include vegetable soups (lots of fiber and added fluid), and popcorn. Extra bran can also be helpful, including bran cereals, bran muffins, shredded wheat, graham crackers, and whole wheat bread.
It is also important to increase the amount of fluids that your child is drinking. He should have a minimum of 2-3 glasses of water or fruit juices each day. Apple juice, pear and prune juice, or other juices high in sorbitol, are good choices.
I hope this helps.
P.,
As a child I had constant constipation. I was denied all carbonated drinks. No apple juice. No white bread and limited starches. Lots of soft foods with prunes and prune juice. Fiber and whole foods, organic if possible. I know this may not be the total answer, sounds like he may need the help of a good pediatric G I Dr. I do not think laxatives are the answer. I find the body becomes dependent on them, or as you said stops responding to them. Innamas and the new yogurts with live cultures in them may help. I know as I grew up the condition improved. But I can tell you I went many days w/o a BM, sometimes 2 weeks. If it is too hard or too difficult to have a movement try 'fleet suppositories' or a warm innama. Laying in the bed with a hot water bottle and knees to chest butt up in the air help ease the pressure of gas. Hope some of this helped. B D
My son has chronic constipation as well. His pediatrician said that the walls of his intestines are not strong enough and as the days go by and the stool enlarges, he gets constipated. So, she put him on Miralax and told him to eat more fiber. Now, instead of going three to four days between bowel movements, he is getting down to about every other day.
