Sorry if this is a long post but I want to make sure I dont leave anything out. So my dd is now a year old and since about 5-6 months old started getting really bad constipation which results in her been fecally loaded. In the last month we have been to the emergency department 4-5 times which results in her having an adult dose of microlax and other medications, we have tried movacol junior, agarol, prune and pear in both juice and fruit form, and putting her on a high fibre diet which doesn't give her any relief. We have had multiple tests which have all come back clear. It upsets me so much to see her in so much pain every 5-10mins she will stiffen up and straighten her legs out stiff and scream for around 10-15mins sometime she even holds her breath, I have tried massaging her while she is going through this pain and taking her nappy off and putting her legs up to her chest which result in more intense screaming and pain. She generally only opens her bowels properly once every 3-4 weeks or immediately after a laxative but have been told by doctors that to much laxatives can cause a lazy bowel. Sometimes there is a small amount of blood in her poo which really concerns me but have been told its nothing to be worried about. Getting test result back on Wednesday to see if its celiac disease. I guess I just want to know have other mums been through this?? And if anyone has any ideas about any natural foods that can have a laxative effect as I I dont feel medication is doing its job??
10 Replies
Sugar in the bottle. My sister had a condition called Hirschsprung's disease hers was mild. She was able to pass movements at birth but that didn't last long.
I am shocked doctors are allowing her to go so long without passing tbh. A week is the limit...
Anyway doctors had my mother load her baby bottle with sugar it kept her bowels passing but only with assistence my mother was instructed to manually evacuate her daily.
Basically what happens is the nerves in the bowel are not fully developed and it can make constipation a huge problem. That BAD news is that every obstruction can do further damage to the nerves in the bowel.
They are right laxatives are actually evil for the bowel long term. Stool softners are what we use for my daughter who may have the same condition....
Parachoc/paraffin oil........but my daughter is older check with the doc and pharmacist for which stool softners are safe to use.
Oh and get a paediatrician this is not something for A&E to be Nutting out
OMG I've been in your shoes and Drs just don't seem to care! It's like they just diagnose everyone with IBS rather than investigating problems or maybe there just isn't enough research on bowel issues?! The new 'popular' laxative that you are supposed to take for a couple of weeks straight is Osmolax but laxatives don't ever work on my DD, they just increase her pain. My daughter has gotten a little better since we found out she's severely allergic to dairy and 6yrs later Drs are thinking she has Hirschprungs Disease. We tried probiotics and slippery elm powder but that didn't work either. If you are looking at CD, just know that I am a Celiac diagnosed from a biopsy as my bloods were normal.. Best way to see if it is a food is to eliminate it for a few weeks.
Thankyou for the advice we have also tried sugar and water in a bottle and that doesnt seem to work either all we get out at the moment is overflow. The did an exam on her nerves in her bowel and said they are in perfect condition. I am so angry that they let her go so long aswell as I feel like its going to cause more harm and put her in a high risk for infection. We have been to a pediatrician for the last 3-4 months and even she is stunned and whats going on and cant work it out so have been referred to a different pediatrician.
Have you tried an elimination diet or maybe a naturopath? She could just be intolerant to some things? All the things you've tried is what I would have suggested to try in the first place so my next point of call if it was me would be to look at her diet?
Give movicol junior it will draw water into the bowel and break up the poo so it is easier to pass. Also give dulcolax this stimulates the bowel so she is not straining for hours. I have a severly disabled child, fecal impaction admission x8, (5years it took to find what worked for him), enemas, and we went to the point of Wilson washouts before finding something that would work.
You need to speak to a continence nurse, they specialise in constipation. Once thd flush of poo comes out after giving the laxative then laxative need to be continued-not just as a "have a poo day medicine". You have to work though to evacuate all the poo and start from scratch. Not just get her to have the rectum cleared.
where are you located
Thankyou for all your help ladies im definitely going to give all these thing a go as I really want this sorted. And I am located in the logan area.
Poor little poppet and poor you too :( must be horrible seeing your little one like this. Keep going to the doctor until they do something. My daughter had terrible constipation. My gp said suppositories everyday and coloxyl every so often, he said suppositories won't cause a lazy bowel as they are just re hydrating the stool. My little one is only 9 months and we no longer have to use them. But he said if it was still going on at 12 months then they would continue to look into it, don't give up for your little ones sake.
This is almost exactly the same as my daughter!
We were investigating her for various quite serious things, when one paediatric doc suggested an intolerance to cows milk protein. Apparently goats milk protein is similar,as is soy. so we ended up on a special formula milk. The name escapes me now, sorry. At 11-12 months we put her on rice milk and the problem disappeared. Slowly after 7ish years she now drinks lots of cows milk as she apparently grew out of the intolerance. It was truly excruciating watching her in pain and we tried many laxatives. Such a simple fix in the end. By the way, she was always able to eat cows milk yogurt and cheese as the protein is changed in the cooking process. It was just the 'straight milk' she couldn't handle.
I NEVER post comments on these pages but this was so similar to our story I hope this advice may help as it was torture watching her strain.
My cousin swears by LSA mix. Her firstborn had difficulties with constipation and daily LSA was the best thing for preventing it. They stopped needing laxatives and had no further worries about lazy bowels etc long term. I've seen it in the health food aisle of Woolies/Coles now as well as health food shops.