chronic constipation with diarrhea post diagnosis

[jpahule]

My 6 year old daughter was diagnosed 1 1/2 years ago and is completly gluten-free however she still suffers so bad from constipation.  For the last couple months she has been constipated the worst I've ever seen and has gone to the ER because of it.  Now this week, she had the constipation again and then switched to having uncontrollable diarrhea and now back to being constipated all within the this last week.  Has anyone experienced this also?  I'm at a loss and feel very helpless for her.  I'm just curious if anyone else experiences the same thing?  Thank you.

[Ennis-TX]

Me to a T, I just finished getting glutened and D now the C is setting back in to the point of vomiting when eating til I clear out.

What I do are these

1. NEVER eat or drink cold food when stopped up, warm promotes your body to keep it moving not really hot but a bit above body temp. Cold your body freezes up til it can warm the stomach thus making constipation worse.
2. I drink 8-16oz of Warm beverage with Magnesium Citrate in it from Natural Vitality twice a day more then a hour before a meal. You dose this to tolerance and everyone is different. Start off with 1/4tsp or 1-2grams and up it in 1 gram or 1/4 tsp increments over a week til the full dose or til you get loose stools. I had to go with a much larger dose when I rebound to C after a exposure this morning and I had a INSANE 3x my normal dose (18g NEVER give this amount unless a normal human wants explosive D) just to produce a normal very hard extremely large stool from 24 hour constipation ( I eat about 4 meals a day and snacks)
3. Avoid Astringent foods that would make the body pull liquid from the stool like certain fruit juices, seasonings, etc. Do some research.
4. Add in insoulable fiber to add bulk to the stool if dealing with thin and string like stools, I find nuts and seeds to work well in smoothies. to lube it up and add fiber.
5. If backed up warm thin soups are best, I had subutter and cocoa porridge with flax meal  for lunch today.
6. She might be a bit young but coffee contains chemical compounds that promote you to poop, it is also high in magnesium and the caffeine can help boost hte system to move. A hot cup of joe might help


OH if she has dairy in her diet...remove it......will really mess with constipation and regularity issues. Go with a coconut milk yogurt for probiotics if you can find it. (So Delicious brand) I also use Nature way probiotics after a bout of D to repopulate my gut flora.

[cyclinglady]

3 hours ago, jpahule said:

My 6 year old daughter was diagnosed 1 1/2 years ago and is completly gluten-free however she still suffers so bad from constipation.  For the last couple months she has been constipated the worst I've ever seen and has gone to the ER because of it.  Now this week, she had the constipation again and then switched to having uncontrollable diarrhea and now back to being constipated all within the this last week.  Has anyone experienced this also?  I'm at a loss and feel very helpless for her.  I'm just curious if anyone else experiences the same thing?  Thank you.

When was the last time she saw her GI or PED for celiac follow-up testing?  Seeing if she might be getting some hidden source of gluten in her diet might be helpful.  If active celiac disease is ruled out, the GI can look for other issues.  

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[TrinaP]

I was doing well about 1 year after my diagnosis and I started having all kinds of issues with bloating and constipation (also diarrhea) but it's important to know she can have diarrhea and still be constipated. I take miralax daily and it has helped me tremendously. Would be something to consider. Non-habit forming. Hope that helps!

[Ennis-TX]

1 hour ago, TrinaP said:

I was doing well about 1 year after my diagnosis and I started having all kinds of issues with bloating and constipation (also diarrhea) but it's important to know she can have diarrhea and still be constipated. I take miralax daily and it has helped me tremendously. Would be something to consider. Non-habit forming. Hope that helps!

Be careful with miralax it can cause all kinds of issues after long term use, I went with magnesium citrate as my constipation was actually related to magnesium difenicy. But back to the miralax...the stuff has many adverse effects with long term use. I learned it was bad for me after being told to use it for a scope prep. Most negative studies of propylene glycol the primary ingredient involved children and development. Oddly do not see much on adults but I could tell it was not for me.