constipation

[sesley]

p has had constipation problems now since july,with a constant course of remidies and a lovely doctor,who has started to take us a little more serious than send us away with powders and potions with nothing else,this doctor has us back for follow up appointments, poor p is a challenge ,he says no to every suggestion, he detects the powders in his drinks and refuses to drink,so now using the liquid stuff which is just sweet and goes in drinks, the liquid stuff softens things, the powders give the gut some pushing welly,but what happens is the gut contracts and stretches from the powders,and has no muscle flex in it,so he gets whoppers compacting and he won't push them out they are too big and hurt,so doctor gives us suppository's that get moistened before insertion,but,p hasn't the disipline to hold long enough for it to do its work,so it plops into toilet with some liquid stuff,so i persuade him to try another one and hold a little while longer,i got him relaxing in a warm bath waiting for natures call, a little longer, maybe i should take a egg timer with me for next try plop that goes into toilet too, poor soul, next doctor suggests blowing a balloon on toilet helps to push on his bowel muscles, he keeps saying no to that. he has messy pants because he is leaking stuff around the mass he won't more pass or more likely he can't ,so he's getting softner from the top a little softener from the bottom and still he's ###### bound I hope this is just another phase that will pass

[MichelleW]

Sorry to be pessimistic, but J has had this problem since he was 2 and he is now nearly 8. He had been through all the medications, and the only one that works for him is Movical, which I mix with milk shake. I've had him tested for coeliacs and dietry allergies. My next step is gluten and dairy intolerence testing, as a glutein/casein free diet can possibly help.

[Nic m]

hi sesley,

my daughter has had this since she was 18months, she is now 11 and we have tried everything.The thing that now works is the dulcolax perles they are tiny and my daughter finds them easy to take and they work better than anything for her.All the liquid medicines she took for years actually contained the preservative she was allergic to so they made the problem worse.we also now know having hypermobility does not help either.

Anyway the things that helped my daughter, you seem to have tried sitting in the bath, warm deep water helped.

sitting in the bathroom with them for 20minutes at a time having a routine for trying first thing in the morning, after every meal, just before bed. when he is sitting on the loo use a foot stool or step to make sure his feet are supported, its not easy to sit on the loo that long.

soft soft soft loo roll, we use the one with aloe vera.

lots of fluids, and fruit if possible.

i would massage my daughters stomach and lower back and this would help.

there is a bath bomb we would use to help relax her from a popular shop, i will pm you with this, it helped her get to sleep when she was uncomfortable.

we also have the heated teddy bears for sitting on her lap when she is sore.

good luck and i hope it clears up soon for you and your boy

nic

[baddad]

With Ben it was all down to dairy... over a year trying all the other stuff the paediatric specialist pushed at us, and he was better within a couple of days of going DF. Not necessarily the case with your own littlie, but well worth a looksee

 

L&P

 

BD

[krystaltps]

Baddad, just wondering with Ben on dairy-free, how do you get enough calcium into him?

C has been on a self-imposed DF diet for years now and is seeing a dietician who's helping us find non-dairy foods that have calcium which he will eat. Aside from nuts and bread, we're not doing well, and it's looking like he'll be started on a calcium supplement soon.

[baddad]

Baddad, just wondering with Ben on dairy-free, how do you get enough calcium into him?

C has been on a self-imposed DF diet for years now and is seeing a dietician who's helping us find non-dairy foods that have calcium which he will eat. Aside from nuts and bread, we're not doing well, and it's looking like he'll be started on a calcium supplement soon.

 

His soya milk has added calcium, and he also likes soya cheese which is a good source. Lots of fruits and veg (he loves broccolli, which scores high on just about every vitamin/mineral chart)... I'm trying to increase our intake of lentils, beans and pulses too, and their good sources, but more just 'cos i really love 'em than because of dietary considerations. Ben's starting to come round to the idea (i'm adding green lentils or mung beans to simple chicken casseroles etc) but still will only eat a few chick peas or butterbeans as a side vegetable. Mind you, he'd gobble down chana dahl every day if i'd let him, so I guess it's just the way you present 'em!

Tofu, apparently, is a brilliant source(??) so why vegetarians all look so thin and weedy I'll never know

One source kids will always eat - baked beans, and they're good for fibre too which is another bonus if constipation is the problem

 

L&P

 

BD

[krystaltps]

His soya milk has added calcium, and he also likes soya cheese which is a good source. Lots of fruits and veg (he loves broccolli, which scores high on just about every vitamin/mineral chart)... I'm trying to increase our intake of lentils, beans and pulses too, and their good sources, but more just 'cos i really love 'em than because of dietary considerations. Ben's starting to come round to the idea (i'm adding green lentils or mung beans to simple chicken casseroles etc) but still will only eat a few chick peas or butterbeans as a side vegetable. Mind you, he'd gobble down chana dahl every day if i'd let him, so I guess it's just the way you present 'em!

Tofu, apparently, is a brilliant source(??) so why vegetarians all look so thin and weedy I'll never know

One source kids will always eat - baked beans, and they're good for fibre too which is another bonus if constipation is the problem

 

L&P

 

BD

 

Ahhh, alas all the things C wont eat!Not for the want of trying (on my part).

Not even the baked beans - food mustn't be wet. He has enormous issues with texture as well which is why beans and pulses are out. Food must have the consistency of bread or cereal in order for it to be consumed, with bacon and ham being the only exceptions to the rule. No vegetables whatsoever - they cause meltdown simply by appearing on his plate, and the only acceptable fruit comes in the form of apple juice.

Hadn't thought of soya products or tofu, however. I used to use them a lot (I was vegetarian for 12 years... unfortunately for me though, not the thin and weedy kind ). I'll certainly give them a try... fingers crossed.

Thanks BD.

[jb1964]

Hi Selsey,

 

It's so upsetting to see them suffer with this - our daughter has suffered from chronic constipation since birth - on laxatives since 3 months old - had various tests (coeliac, hirschprungs) - Paed. thought she was lactose intolerant so put her on a milk free diet till she was around 5yrs old. Limited food and liquid intake didn't help the situation at all (to get her to eat or drink was a huge problem) and even though this has got much better (she does feel hungry & thirsty now!!!!) - her foods are limited and she sticks to the same thing for months on end. The Paed. kept insisting she saw the dietician as he thought discussing healthy foods and how it works in your body would help - but my daughter knew what was good for her she just refused to eat it - and she never felt thirsty - we would practically have to keep asking her every hour to drink a little sip - we then used a straw with her drinks as she seemed to take a little more each time.

 

She is nearly 15 now and still on laxatives daily - sodium picosulphate (Laxoberal is the brand name) - and even though her bad bouts are much less they are still happening. I do see a change if she's eaten a lot of chocolate - say at Easter time or Christmas and think she does still have some sort of intolerance to milk etc.

 

When she was younger if she was having a particularly bad bout I'd put vaseline on the area - now she's older that obviously doesn't happen - but I do remember lots of warm baths helping (even though she hates bathing) and getting her to drink as much as possible. She was always very small and gave her supplements, tonics and also build ups to help keep her vitamins up etc.

 

Hope P feels better soon.

Take care,

Jb

[Tally]

Constipation is my old friend

I never realised how bad it was until it went away (mostly, anyway) when I changed my diet.

I just thought it was normal because it was the way it had always been. I guess it can't have started in early childhood, otherwise my parents would have noticed. Now I can see how much the constant pain and cramping were getting me down.

I didn't know there were medicines that could help, so I never asked the doctor about them. When I did realise that things weren't right, the first thing he suggested were dietary interventions, and fortunately, it has helped.

 

Baked beans are evil. The mere thought of them makes me feel sick!

[jlp]

My little one has had this problem for about a year, he's 4 now.

 

I was interested to hear that some people found this improved with dairy removed from the diet as ds#2 came out in alarming blotches with some dairy as a baby and once he was weaned from breast feeding he has never had any milk in any form, simply won't drink it. He no longer goes blotchy with butter or chocolate but this thread has got me wondering if something along those lines is still going on.

 

We've never been referred anywhere, our GP keeps giving us lactulose and while he's on that the soiling problems are fairly manageable, I must take him back for a chat - difficult though as they want to feel his tummy (he can't stand anything on his - big! - tummy and pushes his trousers right down under it) and he won't let them.

[sesley]

Thanks for you input everyone i do appreciate it, i will try the bath bombs when i can find them,he eats chocolate no problems, he sees food programs on tv cee bee bees and even my cooking programs he see.s my other boys scoff and enjoy pizza's but he won't try them or burgers, his diet is limited to his safety zones,he has omega oil,put in his drink,it has to be the citrus one, the vanilla one he can taste, the citrus works because his drink is mainly ribena nd lemonade, he gets coke a night after meals, i slip his laxative in that its sweet stuff,he's better today,and for back to school tomorrow, he comes home for lunch he won't use school toilets.thats probably why he can hold on,he won't use public toilets either,all these things have contributed to his gut problems,we saw the dietietian 3 years ago and he said his diet was fine then,and crushed veggies are good for them since, they release the nutrients better for them, i have been unable to persuade him to try other things, veggies get hidden in his formula mince dinners ,its basically watch this space for anything new,

[sesley]

just to say, things are getting slightly better, i couldn't find the bath bombs around Inverness,but i have changed his milk to soya and that seems to make the difference, i ran out yesturday and he had full fat milk and the trouble went backwards again,so i have some more soya milk today and hopefully things will get back on track, up to yesturday his pants started to get cleaner as well,so the doc signed us off on thursday,and felt his tummy which was things will start to improve some more. Thanks for all you input it has been very valuable and supportive.

[Nic m]

Sesley that is fantastic news!

well done you for persevering.

nic

[sesley]

hi quick up date, we have seen the nutritionist doctor and we changed dairy milk for soya and check for that aspertaine sweetner in diets drinks and use sparkling water now, he does seem a lot calmer and the pants have got cleaner until this week, he seems to be getting mucky pants again, he says he has no pain and is not rying to push out a lump, i have worked out by what he says, we know he has poor executive funtion ,and doesn't understand cause and effect and so he feels he need s to go,but would rather carry on with what he is intersted in and so he has mucky pants ,so i tried to suggest he can always go back to what he's doing when he has prevented his pants from getting mucky again it seem like we take steps forward and steps back keep fighting :

[baddad]

hi quick up date, we have seen the nutritionist doctor and we changed dairy milk for soya and check for that aspertaine sweetner in diets drinks and use sparkling water now, he does seem a lot calmer and the pants have got cleaner until this week, he seems to be getting mucky pants again, he says he has no pain and is not rying to push out a lump, i have worked out by what he says, we know he has poor executive funtion ,and doesn't understand cause and effect and so he feels he need s to go,but would rather carry on with what he is intersted in and so he has mucky pants ,so i tried to suggest he can always go back to what he's doing when he has prevented his pants from getting mucky again it seem like we take steps forward and steps back keep fighting :

 

Hi sesley -

 

Has he been off colour at all with a cold or anything like that? While getting Ben off dairy solved the problems brilliantly, it was always a case of him 'shutting down' again if he got ill in any other way... it was almost like the immune system couldn't cope with both tasks at once... Over a period of about two years his immune system caught up properly, and it's been ages since he's been 'bunged up' regardless of colds and stuff.

 

Hope that's helpful

 

BD

[sesley]

thanks could be ,we have all had sniffles ,he had them a couple of weeks ago so ,its a thought