How Does One Request a Second Opinion Specialist

You've go so many great suggestions. One more would be to work with the emotional component. This is fast and easy now with the wonderful advances in Energy Psychology. I find that working with the physical and the emotional together brings relief for both child and parent(s)

Simply tell the one you have now you would like a second opinion and does he have one he can recomend.

I would try the ped's suggestions first, and go back to him again if you don't have the success you hoped for, for the referral.

Denise,
The suggestion about the herbal aloe is spot on. I would also suggest yogurt (acidophilus cultures aid in intestinal health) and Flax Seed Oil.

When we moved to a different house this year my son (almost 4) developed cronic constipation due to stresses (we believe). He had bloody stools, pain, etc. It took a good month to regulate him, but we cut out a lot of dairy (gave soy milk, no cheese, etc) and gave him the aloe and flax seed oil, kept him drinking water and he cleared up. You can mix it into juice, apple sauce, whatever. Also oatmeal and whole grains, vegis. My kids are healthy eaters anyway (my son asks for broccoli at restaurants!) so his diet was basically sound. But the aloe and flax will do just as good a job as drugs without the nasty side effects.

Also, if you have a child who is just starting solids and gets constipated I reccomend STRONGLY getting the book SUPER BABY FOOD and learning how to make your own baby cereal. It take so little time (REALLY!) and it's healthier, cheaper and they don't get bound up by the processed junk. Also, try the flax oil in the baby food for baby constipation. works wonderfully, gently, and it's really good for them.
H.

The power of Herbal Aloe
Over coming Chronic Constipation

My name is Leanne Neville and I would love to share with you how Herbal Aloe Concentrate helped my son.

My son had a major bowel problem at age 2 1/2 where his bowel just stopped working. He was chronically constipated to the point that you could smell it from the pores of his skin and on his breath and his eyes were very dull.

I took him to the hospital and after enemas and all sorts of medication (laxatives) that should have worked there was no change. The last resort was a Gastric Nasal tube which had to be put through his nose and then down the back of his throat to his stomach while he was awake and 5 of us were holding him down.
Needless to say extremely traumatic for him and also me having him asking me to help and make them stop when I was one of the ones holding him down. After the tube was inserted he was hooked up to a drip and then medication flooded through him turning all the faeces into liquid.
He would then spasm for the next 6 hours while it cleared.

Then he had to be x-rayed after to make sure it had all cleared. This happened 3 times in 4 weeks. Every time it got more traumatic for him and me with him knowing what was coming once he saw the Hospital. Eventually it came good after the third time and then on medication for the next year as his bowel had become like a limp balloon and he needed this medication to keep everything very soft while his bowel got its'' elasticity back.

Last year at age 4 1/2 things stopped again. We were faced with the tube once more. By this time I had become a Herbalife Distributor and had attended some trainings giving me valuable information on the products.
In pure desperation I flooded my son with Aloe Concentrate and could not believe what happened. His bowel cleared! No laxatives, no medication no tube just Aloe. I felt sick thinking of what could have been avoided if I had known about it sooner. Now any time there is a hint of constipation with him he gets the Aloe and there is no problem.
Thankyou Herbalife from a very grateful little boy and his mum.

Leanne Neville - Adelaide

Thank you
Herbalife International
P. K.

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www.all2success.com

I have problems with my son as well and we have figured out that we have to limit the amount of dairy and bread that we give him. He MUST have a fruit or vegetable at EVERY meal! He gets juice in the morning and then drinks water for the rest of the day. We give him a calcium supplement so that he won't miss out on his daily calcium. We have it all under control now and he goes to the bathroom daily!! yeah!!

Now that I have rambled on.....who cares about the feeling of the pediatrician! This is your child and usually parents know best! Trust those instincts and ask for the referal. You can also check with you insurance company. Some insurance companies don't require that you are reffered. Hope all works out for you.

Some people mentioned some things about breads and such being the cause. Sometimes if a person has an allergy to gluten it will come in the form of constipation. If you want to try eliminating something to see if it helps you can find gluten free things of most the normal products in either a health food store or Raley's natural foods section. Of all the basic grocery stores I've found Raley's has the best natural foods section. (I'm lactose intolerant and my husband's sister is allergic to gluten)

D.,

I recommend that you just ask the ped for a referral to a GI specialist in order to calm your fears that something else may be wrong. Any "good" ped will understand and respect your request.

My personal opinion is not to experiment with the home remedies until you see the specialist. Our GI doctor did not want us using "home remedies" on our infant for fear of causing other problems later on like feeding issues (infants/toddlers do taste mineral oil. even "hiding it" in something else does not mask the taste. You child may not trust the food/bottle you give him). Too much water at an early age can impact the blood count. Let your ped doctor or GI doctor guide you on the remedies to try.

Good luck!

Hello, my1st daughter had the same issue she. i had the doctors say it was noraml. We ended up putting about two ounces of prune juice in her bottles to relieve the issue. i did keep buggin the doctor and finally the did performed an inama (spelling sorry) nd that seemed to help. I took me about three months of going back to the doctor abd pressing for mor tests. But the prune juice also helped out alot. Good Luck.

D.,
I think you need to tell the pediatrician that you would like to see a specialist and tell the ped you are just concerned and would like to rule out any other things that might be possibly wrong with your son. I think if the pediatrician is a confident Dr then they won't be offended.
Your 1st priority is your son so do what you feel is the best for him. I totally understand what you are saying about wanting a second opinion and I myself changed peditricians due to the fact my son's dr was not really giving me answer's I liked, I felt he was just saying the general comment and being a 1st time father that you are, You might have specific questions that you want to know and not feel stupid asking them. If you really like your peditrician then they should not have a problem giving a referral to a Gastroenterolgist.

Good luck and keep us posted..

How old is your son? My 2 1/2 year old also has constipation issues. My pediatrician said she would have passed it off as simply with-holding which is common at this stage, however he has had difficulty since infancy. He was never technically constipated in infancy because he was purely breast fed, but it always seemed difficult for him and he would scream whenever he had to pass a stool. She said that because he has that history (she had his bowels xrayed - his colon was stretched out because he had a lot in there) she is consulting a specialist. My son may have to go through a barium enema to determine if there is anything amiss that needs correcting. There is a condition that is apparently pretty rare (1 in 100 I think) where a child could be missing one band in a series of many in the colon that constrict sequentially to push stool out.(I think I've got that right) If one is missing it disrupts the whole system making it difficult to push stool through and must be corrected surgically. I am waiting to hear back from her today. It is a difficult decision to make - to go through with the test. I hate the thought of putting my baby through that and exposing him to more radiation but it will be a relief to know if the constipation is physical or developmental. We are giving him Mirilax every day in his milk which helps. It's a stool softener and harmless. Anyway perhaps you could mention my story to your pediatrician and she will agree to at least consult a specialist. In case you were curious we have Kaiser which I've always been happy with. Hope this helps and good luck. M. P.

D.,

Just tell him very nicely that you respect his opinion but you would feel so much better if a specialist checked it out for you just to ease your fears.

Most Doctors respect when you want a 2nd opinion, first it gives them the chance to say told ya so, and second they have the re-assurance as well. Sometimes we forget that a Dr. is nothing more than a PERSON that read a few medical books and did many science labs, they have no majic and they are OFTEN times WRONG...some things are not text book. Be confident in your choice not to accecpt the first opinion (it is an opinion untill proven otherwise)
Your childs health is much more importaint than the ego of a Dr. so if your Ped. is offended, tough luv!

C.

My daughter had the same problem and I attempted to change her diet but that didnt work considering she doesnt eat much. I started giving her a small dose of fiber (Fiber Choice) and it has worked wonders. With regard to getting a request for a second opinion, my advice is to just ask. Your current doctor should not be offended by that. If they are, they will get over it!

Most doctors are not offended by the request for a second opinion. If they are, you need to consider whether or not that doctor is right for you, because they are implying they know everything and are always right (which is clearly impossible).

I would just state "I know you think that (son) will grow out of this issue, but we would like him to be checked by a specialist to make sure that there is not something more serious as the underlying cause of this issue.

You are not crazy. I personally know (so this is not a "I heard this on the internet" story) one mother who had the exact same problem with her child. When the family did finally convince the pediatrician to refer her for further evaluation (this was in Canada, so it was mandatory), it turned out she had a tethered spinal cord that no one had previously detected and she required spinal fusion surgery. This is VERY rare, so I don't want you to freak out, but I am relaying this story so you know that you are right, that chronic constipation can, on rare occasions, be the symptom of something far more serious.

Good luck.

Well, first off, how long has he had the constipation issues & how many times have you spoken to your ped. about this? How old is your son? Otherwise, I say just flat out tell him you want a referal to a specialist. Don't be concerned about offending him, be concerned about the fact that he's disregarding your concerns. Pooping is such an emotional issue for s0me kids & you don't want that to happen so I strongly sugget you get into see a specialist. You might have to wait a couple of weeks or even a month but get the refferal.

I know this isn't exactly what you asked for advice about, but have you considered seeing a natropath for your son's constipation? A healthy intestinal system is achieved through eating enough organic fruits and vegetables, drinking LOTS of water, perhaps supplementing with probiotics (acidopholis, etc), exercise, and avoiding processed foods, sodas, junkfood, fried stuff, etc. Of course, if you're feeling like the gastroenterolgist is the right thing for your son, obviously seek one out. I've had a lot of experience with tummy and digestion issues, and always the lasting solution comes with diet, exercise, and healthy bacteria (probiotics) which are found in cultured foods like yogurt.

I think you should just tell your ped the truth. Be open with him or her and say, " I respect your opinion and trust you with my child's care on most issues but I'm really concerned about this particular issue and I was wondering if you could refer me to a specialist." They should be professional and grown up enough to understand. It's one thing to end up wrong when you're doing what you think is best. It's another thing to be wrong when you know you could have done better.

Hello, How old is your son? My daughter had this problem from about 3months to about 1 1/2 years old. She was so bad tht she actually tore her bottom. The Dr had me try everything from changing her diet to all kinds of formula. Finally I had seen a differant Dr and they put her on Miralax and finally something worked. She was on it for about 2 months. I dont know if you have tried this but it does work. I say be bold, if your son is uncomfortable it is our responsibility as parents to do all that we can to help them. The Dr should not take it to heart.

S.

I work in health care. I would tell him what you want, you are the mom. The other thing I would try is Phillips Milk of Magnesia. I have been cronically constipated all my life and I went to a gastro doctor, he recommended it and I use it every evening. This really works! I have used herbs all my life and not everything helps and sometimes is very hard on your stomach.

I am having the same situation with my 5 month old son. He only makes 1 bowl movement every 5 days and the pediatritian is saying this is normal. It seems far from normal to me and I would like to seek a second opinion from a specialist. Do any of your children suffer from these symptoms?

Just tell him that although you respect his opinion you would still like a second opinion to set your mind at ease.

Any doctor who's worth anything will not be offended that you would like a second opinion. I would be proactive and simply tell your doctor that you would like to have a specialist examine your child for your own peace of mind. Do you go to a medical group or is our ped private practice? If he's part of a medical group, you could simply make an appt with one of the other peds and explain that the ped you usually see isn't following through with your request and see if the other doctor will get you the referral.

That being said, one of my daughters developed bad constipation as a toddler as she began eating solids and now that she's four she's outgrown it. We gave her one our doctor calls "Magic Mousse" - a mix of 1 cup ice cream (vanilla), 2 chocolate pudding cups and some Mineral oil (I think I used about 1 oz) blended together and put in the freezer. It was just like ice cream, you couldn't tell the mineral oil was in there and it helped with the constipation. I haven't used it in months but I used it for a good 18 months or so. You just give a little bit (like 1/4 cup size serving) and you can put a scoop of it in with regular ice cream or my children just knew that dessert was a small serving so they were ok with just having a wee bit of the mousse as dessert.

Good luck. It's hard seeing them struggle and feeling helpless to do anything.

Flavored cranberry juices, diluted with some water. There is peach and white grape and apple, they sure helped my friend's boy that was 4 and constantly constipated with stomach aches. Good luck.

Hi my grandson had constipation issues also since he was about 4 months old. I too took him to the Dr's and was told that he would grow out of it. Having to witness him being afraid of having to go to the batheroom because he was so impacted was a very heart renching ordeal for me and for him. What I did was placed him on soy milk and added benefiber to his drinks. I also gave him alot of aplle juice mixed with prune juice. in his juices I added benefiber to his juices . you can also add it to their food as it does not have a taste to it. since I have done this he has not had to cry each time he had to have a bowel movement. As for a second opinion you have a right ti request a second opion and your doctor will not be offended, in fact he should understand he would probably do the same thing if this was his /her child and they had to see the suffering that the child has to go through to make a poop. Good luck I hope all is well for your son.

I hate to say it but... who cares about your pediatrician's feelings? Your son is suffering. Either ask your ped, or call the Advice Nurse (usually listed on your insurance card) or visit your insurance's website. Then call to get approval from your insurance for the second opinion - get it in writing. I hope you find out what is happening with your little guy and get him some relief soon. Good luck!

As an adult with two children I couldn't not figure out why i was always bloated, and looked semi expecting all the time. After eliminating all my favorite foods i found that it was direclty related to all the pasts, rice, bread, i was eating every day. when i switched to heavy on the veggies and light on the other it magically disappeared. Second someone one gave me the advice that you should eat the same thing every morning to help regulate you weight. I hated oatmeal. i tried it and now eat it everyday with fresh fruit. Variety isnt always necessary in everything. Try to isolate the problem and do elimination experiments. you will be doing this for a long time. My children have stomach aches, and we are always reviewing, what they ate tht day and what may have contributed to their pain. I share this to say that we are in control of childrens meals. Oatmeal is a natural body cleanser. They dont need variety in their breakfast, if you are seekin to cure a problem. Start their day right.good luck. CAT

Hi D.,
Have you already tried all his suggestions and found them not to be working? Dietary changes would be the easiest things to try before having your precious little one go through painful medical test procedures. Once you've exhausted his suggestions, you should be able to ask for a referral. Foods can be powerful healers, I hope you look in that direction first. I breastfed all my 4 children and they didn't have constipation issues. I babysat an infant who was on soymilk and her stool was very dense and stinky. She had constipation issues.