Toilet Issues

[Rebekka's mom]

My daughter was diagnosed at 18 months, potty trained as any other kid around 3 years old.

At just past 4 we were still battling the gluten and she was pretty anemic. Got on iron pills that were 3 times the normal and her iron levels stabilized and so has her ttgiga. but since she got on the iron pills (which we took her off 6 months ago) she has had issues with going #2. Basically it feels like she does not realize when she needs to go, which she used to before the iron pills.

 

Anyone else experienced anything similar? Can it be because of her celiac or what do you guys think..

I am asking you, cause I am not very happy with our familydr nor her specialist..

 

Thanks

[tommysmommy]

My 7yr old has struggled with this as well. Gluten free improved his toilet issues but it wasn't until we went tried dairy free that his problems resolved. If he gets glutened or has more than a little dairy, he's back to a few days of problems. It's worth trying, Almond Milk is a easy substitute and he noticed an great improvement within a few days!

[GottaSki]

My grandson is 5...gluten-free for over three years...when he has run into gluten at school...sudden D comes back....horrible for these kids when they can't prevent

[stanleymonkey]

Iron can make you constipated. My kids have suffered from chronic constipation for years.

It could be 2 things - she is so backed up she can't feel the need to go as her bowel have been so stretched out, and stuff leaks out. That's what happened to my kids. My eldest had diahrrea 20 times a day so we never thought she was constipated.

It could also be encopresis, basically one poop hurts, so they start holding poop in as they are afraid it's going to hurt next time. They end up so full of poop everything gets stretched out, they lose they signals that they need to poop. Our ped likened it to putting golf balls in a sock, they have nowhere to go, the sock stretches, take the socks out the sock is still stretched. Start filling a stretched sock with golf balls,mthere is no support they fall through.

Even with constipation, it is still possible to have poopsthat can look normal, bits can squeeze around.

You need to treat this now, the longer it is left the longer it will take her bowels to go back to normal. The treatment is usually something like miralax for 6 months. We were worried about it. But our eldest had been bad for so long it took 2 yrs to fix it. Now she is 4 1/2 and miralax free.

Our youngest got worse on iron, but she had only been having constipation issues for a few months so it took about 6 weeks to fix her.

Go to your doc. Tell them the iron is making her constipated, and she is unable to sense when she needs to poop. Demand they sort out a bowel management programme to help her. If they refuse go straight to the er, tell them she is constipated, your doc won't help. If you are told to give her more fibre, do not listen, giving a chronically constipated child more fibre makes things worse, it's like putting extra sand in the cement. It won't make it softer! Also using laxative will not help eventually a body stops listening to the signals it sends and waits for the laxative. Push fluids, especially water. Limit dairy as it can make things worse. Also anything that starts with p can help you poop ( bizarre huh?) pears, plums, pineapple, prune. Try prune juice too.

I've been there with 2 kids, you need to get her pooping even if it means taking stool softness for a few months. Our gastro said if you break a leg you rest it, if your break your bowels you rest the. Stool softeners make the poop soft enought that the bowels don't have to do much and they can shrink back to normal withput being overworked.

Good luck.

[dilettantesteph]

One of my glutening symptoms is uncontrollable diarrhea.  It is what it is named.  By the time you know it is coming there is no time to get to the toilet, even if it is close by.  Could that be it?

[justa]

Miralax but I know this from iron and pregnancy. It doesn't make you go just easier to go.

[stanleymonkey]

With miralax, it's important when you start using it to do a 3 day "clear out" our gastro made us give our daughters a double dose for 3 days to get everything out, then a normal dose from there on, the clear out ensured they were shrinking an empty bowel rather than one that is still full of poop.

[Rebekka's mom]

Thanks for the ideas, I am taking her to a regular annual 5-year thing tomorrow with our familydr, and will talk to him. I hope we can get this dealt with or at least on a good track before school starts in September.

 

again thank you all, you are great lifesavers

 

Dorde

[Rebekka's mom]

Getting an x-ray of her system tomorrow, i really hope this is the right path..

 

Dorde

[stanleymonkey]

An X-ray is a good idea, you will quickly know if she is all backed up. My eldest didn't even need that, the doc touched her belly and could feel hard stool throughout her gut

[Rebekka's mom]

Hi, got the results from her x-ray and they show signs of constipation. She has not been on the iron since christmas.

Next step is talking to her specialist for the precise course of action.

Am I right to think we may be heading in the right direction?

 

I came to pick her up at camp today and she had a different outfit on and I felt like crying cause I feel so bad for her..

[stanleymonkey]

Even though she s off the iron her bowels could be still stretched out which will result in still constipation. Sorrybthevxray howled constipation,Mbut glad you are on the right track to helping her feel better.

Things will get better and you'll suddenly realize one day " huh I haven't ad to wash any poopy clothes for a while!"

[GottaSki]

Things will get better and you'll suddenly realize one day " huh I haven't ad to wash any poopy clothes for a while!"

 

Yep.

 

Hang tough.

[Rebekka's mom]

Thank you guys, you are great at giving boosts to a mom that needs it!

Calling her doc this week.

[tommysmommy]

It's so frustrating looking for answers. It cant hurt to try going dairy free for a few days & see if there are any changes.

[stanleymonkey]

I second the dairy free but if the bowel is stretched out as it probably is dairy free will help a little, but the bowel needs help. We noticed with pur youngest milk constipates her, but not till after it had been going on a while so we had to put her back on miralax to give her insides a break.

Occasional constipation thankfully can easily be fixed by diet, chronic constipation sucks, without medical intervention permanent stretching can be done to the bowel and you never get full muscle control back. Hopefully we are passed those days I live not having to wash poopy clothes anymore, just the odd wet thing from my self-potty trained 29 month old!

[Rebekka's mom]

For a happy update i can happily say I talked to my girl's GI doctors NR. I like her a lot:)

Well she had seen the x-ray and really felt that putting Rebekka on Miralax would be a good next step. And I am making an appointment to go see her in person so we can really make a plan. 

I told Rebekka and she got very happy that maybe we can solve this.

 

Again thank you to all of you for advice, we would not have gotten this far.

 

Dorde

[stanleymonkey]

That's great! It might take a few weeks to get the dose right nd things moving along again, so don't worry if it isn't working at first. I'd mention a bowel management plan too, I know she's older than my kids but it will help. Even now miralax free my kids go to te bathroom as soon as they get up, before and after eating, before we leave somewhere, before we go somewhere and before bed, and also when thy feel the urge. Our ped said it would help retrain their body into relaxing and get things going.

Good luck

[jepacar]

My daughter was diagnosed at 18 months, potty trained as any other kid around 3 years old.

At just past 4 we were still battling the gluten and she was pretty anemic. Got on iron pills that were 3 times the normal and her iron levels stabilized and so has her ttgiga. but since she got on the iron pills (which we took her off 6 months ago) she has had issues with going #2. Basically it feels like she does not realize when she needs to go, which she used to before the iron pills.

 

Anyone else experienced anything similar? Can it be because of her celiac or what do you guys think..

I am asking you, cause I am not very happy with our familydr nor her specialist..

 

Thanks

My daughter was diagnosed Celiac too, her symptoms improved with gluten free diet (she had severe reflux, constipation, diarrhea, bloating, stomachaches, etc) but it was not enough until I went dairy free, sugar free, starches free and basically I eliminated all processed food. I found this "paleo" diet that saved our lives (I had the same problem) and I finally see excellent result.