Fed Up With Trying To Figure This Out!

[norahsmommy]

My 15 month old has had SEVERE constipation problems since the introduction of solids at the age of 6 months. One of her first foods was baby oatmeal. Through elimination diets we discovered over and over that anything containing wheat, rye, barley or oats caused her really bad constipation. I am talking over a week with no poop, straining for days to poop, abdominal distention, and poop that was so big it made her bleed and scream in pain. Plus severely rotted smelling poop and multicolored poop ranging from green and mucousy to grey, whiteish grey and grainy and hard to wipe off. Once we eliminated ALL gluten from her diet she got better, not perfect but better. However we have discovered that many other foods also cause her the same problems, such as bananas, dairy, quinoa. We eliminated those too. BUt there is still SOMETHING that is causing her issues. She isn't gaining as much weight as the docs would like. They told us at her 12 month appointment she was falling off her curve and they don't want to see her fall off more. She was in the 75th percentile for weight and height at birth until her 9 month check where she fell to about the 50th in weight and at her 12 month she was in the 72 for height but only in the 25th percentile for weight. Anyway, I have been trying to feed her foods that will help her maintain her weight and gain but its hard with all the things we have to keep out of her diet. some days she also passes things through her system very quickly. It doesn't even digest. I will see her previous nights dinner nearly intact in her diaper in the morning. I have been feeding her o'soy yogurt daily but maybe soy is bothering her too? She eats alot of meat. She loves meat. right now here are the things she eats often

soy yogurt

almond milk

pediasure

corn and rice chex

envirokids peanut butter rice cereal bars (gluten free)

raisens

brown rice

grapes

unsweetened apple sauce

apple juice

breast milk

carrots

sweet potato

russet potato

squash

peas

gluten free (bob's red mill) pancakes

chicken

pork

ham

ground turkey

rice noodle spagetti

spagetti sauce

rice cakes

pears

gluten free crackers

olive oil ( I put it in her cooked food for extra fats)

prunes

probiotics

there is probably more but thats what she eats most often. I am just so tired of trying to figure this out on my own! I made her poop by giving her a liquid glycerin suppository today. It had been a week! Her poop had red blood on it and it was so painful for her. We are going to the doc on monday. However I don't want them to just throw laxatives at us. I want to know what is causing this to happen. Plus the laxatives I have given her do not help. They dont make her poop and the stool softeners dont soften her stool. THe suppository is the only thing I have tried that will make her poop but it doesn't do a thing to make it easier on her. I need to fix this! I have brought this up with the doc 3 times before. The first time they said she wasn't very mobile yet and it would get better as she got more mobile. The next time they said, give her prunes and probiotics, it doesn't help, she gets those every day. Sorry for the rant, its just getting to me!

[tarnalberry]

Two things:

1) Ditch the processed foods - anything that doesn't come into your house as a whole food - to eliminate that possible source of contamination.

2) Have you thoroughly evaluated sources of contamination in the kitchen and around the home?

(And, as a bonus, try other doctors. Consider talking to a naturopath or an osteopath (MD with additional training), as they are more likely to actually treat these "things". IMHO. )

[emaegf]

Also ditch the soy. It can cause problems for many as well as gluten.

You listed breast milk? Are you staying away from the things that she has trouble with? The proteins that cause the problems can pass through the milk to the child.

[rosetapper23]

Ditto to all of the above--I was also going to suggest no processed foods and definitely NO soy. Many celiacs cannot tolerate soy.

[domesticactivist]

They gave good advice but I just wanted to add that I'm thinking of you. It's so hard to see your baby in pain, and it's really stressful to try and try without figuring it out, especially if feeling bad makes her cranky

I do think you will be able to discover what's wrong, but it can take time.

[Roda]

You said you eliminated oats with her. Some celiacs can not eat even gluten free oats. I am one of those and discovered that I was having issues with Bob's Red Mill products from the cc from the gluten free oats. You could eliminate the Bob's products and see if it makes a difference.

[T.H.]

So, so sorry your little one is suffering!

And very sorry the doctor is not much help. From their previous reaction, I wouldn't expect them to be. We had issues with my son and food right from the start, and sadly learned that at least in our experience, the doctors who were ever going to even consider food as an issue were willing to look at it right from the start.

The doctors that insisted there were other reasons besides food, and pretty much ignored what was helping or what was a real problem, or offered solutions that tend to involve 'wait and see,' just continued to do so.

I had to do an elimination diet for myself under the guidance of my dietician, to try and track down what food was bothering me. We did the same with my kids - who were older, however - and refined it a bit. We're now doing it again because my daughter is reacting to something new, so we have to track THAT down. I'll pass it along in case it might help you track down what is bothering your little sprite. It's a bit long, but honestly, all of this is stuff I wish I'd known when I started out.

I'll discuss the actual food in afterwards.

1. First, for the food journal, we record what we eat. Every single ingredient, including salt - brand name included for all. Or farm, if it's produce. We record the time we eat. We record the physical health, including time - for that, we often picked intervals during the day to check on the health, mood, elimination, just to make sure we didn't forget.

2. We make a menu plan for 2-3 days. The more planning there is in making this plan, the easier it is to track down the food. For our plans, we make sure there is no overlap from one menu to the next on: any one food or the companies that made the food. If we are still having trouble, then we make sure there is no overlap on food families (this helps for allergies).

The reason that avoiding food from the same companies or farms is so important is because at this stage, you don't know what the little one could be reacting to, or how much of the food is being reacted to, or even if it IS a food. I had no idea how many substances interacted with our food that could affect us until all this started, but it's something you'll become aware of pretty quickly.

It could be a pesticide on produce, in which case all produce from the same farm may be affecting her. It could be a soap used to clean the machinery that processes her yogurt and she reacts to the residue. It could be gluten contaminant of her oil (we had this happen, where our company actually processed wheat germ oil on the same line as ALL their oil, so while we tried different oils, they were from the same company, so we kept getting sick. )

Even salt could be an issue, like if the little one reacts to the anti-caking agent they add to it, or if the salt is processed in a facility that processes other food items and can cc it.

The above information is good to remember not only when you are trying to track down problem foods, but when you are trying to reintroduce them. Because reacting to, say, apples from one farm that uses pesticides might not mean she reacts to apples from an organic farm. Or sometimes vice versa - you just don't know at this point. With a little bitty this small you might want to stay away from it all until her weight is better, I'd think. But some items you may want on your list of 'check this later with other farms to see if it's okay.'

Peeling fruit and veggies may also make a difference, as it gets off some chemicals. As can cooking them, which destroys much of the allergens in certain produce (like citrus, for example. Typically, the allergens which aren't as stable a molecule as peanuts and wheat. The heat denatures the proteins.).

One more fun thing with this one - you get to record down everything YOU eat, because of the breastfeeding, so you'll get to be on this menu plan, too. And any medication you both take can have suspect ingredients, as well, and needs to be recorded.

And one last thing: you're unfortunately going to have to pretend the term 'gluten free' doesn't exist for a little while, in a way. It's a legal term that says how low an amount of gluten a product can have to be gluten free. Which means that most gluten-free food still HAS gluten, just in minute amounts.

Most of us, that's just fine. If your little one is still having all these problems, then she may be a bit more sensitive to gluten than most. One of my children is like this, and we have to call up all the gluten-free companies and find out what their products test below. Typically, all their products test as <20ppm, <10ppm, or <5ppm. <20ppm is the most common.

Also, something to think about: if your little one is getting most of her diet from foods that are gluten free products like this, then she may be getting too much gluten that way. Kind of like eating too many low calorie foods can still have us eating too many calories.

So while you don't want to get things that aren't gluten free, you'll probably need to start calling up companies or going to websites, if you want to keep in any of the processed food, just to find out how much gluten is in the product.

3. Okay, for how to utilize the above menu. We eat only one menu plan for 2-3 days. Then switch to the next for 2-3 days, then the next, and then repeat. This way, if there IS a reaction, even if it's delayed by 24-48 hours, we have a better chance of associating it with the food itself. It also gives us time to recover, hopefully, between bouts of 'bad' from whatever food is getting us.

4. After 2-3 weeks, we usually have enough data to start narrowing down the reactions to a specific menu. We can eliminate foods one by one from the 'problem' menu and slowly see what helps.

FOOD

For her foods, well...dropping pretty much anything processed, like everyone has been suggesting, is a good idea. It also saves you from mad hand cramping, if you do a food journal, because you wouldn't believe the number of ingredients you'd have to write down. Dropping the 8 major allergens might not be a bad idea either, honestly. or at least spacing them out over your food menu days.

Out of your list, the things that I would think have the most potential to be problematic would be the following (I'll list a few of the good ones, too. And 'cc risk' means a risk from ANY ingredient getting in unintentionally, because you don't know what you need to avoid yet, yes?):

soy yogurt - soy tends to have higher gluten and corn cc rates, due to being a rotation crop with wheat often

almond milk - processing can add cc. Although honestly? If you can find some safe nuts (often processed with wheat), making your own almond milk is really pretty easy, and you get this nut paste that you can dry out and give a whirl in a food blender for almond flour, too.

pediasure - I am sure this is for calories, but it also contains dairy, which you said was a problem for your little one, right? Is there any way to get a hypo-allergenic formula? I don't know how hypoallergenic they go. But this one has not only dairy, but soy - another big allergen AND more likely to get gluten cc - AND corn - another big 'has gluten cc' issue. The corn and soy get the cc in the field and during transportation, so it has nothing to do with the company's processing.

corn and rice chex - tend to have higher cc rates. Also higher gluten cc rates than some of the other gluten free cereals.

envirokids peanut butter rice cereal bars (gluten free) - obviously, there's lots of ingredients here that might be hard to track, but gluten-wise, this company is very low, so that's a plus. They test to <5ppm of gluten.

raisens - I'd double check with the company - dried fruit is often processed with wheat (oh, and that label? 'processed with...' is a voluntary one by the company. There is no law forcing the issue. So if a company doesn't have this on the label, it doesn't mean they don't have it happening.)

brown rice - If you haven't yet, I'd go look for one of the gluten free rice brands, just to be extra careful. Lundberg is the only one I know of off-hand. Any grains at all tend to have higher cc risks because of harvesting, transportation, milling, and processing. Just a lot of companies that deal in all the grains at once, sadly.

unsweetened apple sauce - I'd make this yourself, if you don't already. cc risks.

apple juice - I'd ditch it like you wouldn't believe. Not for the processing, though. For weight gain and nutrition purposes, juice tends to take up room in your little one's tummy and not give her much for it, you know?

sweet potato - curiously, every once in a while this can be a surprise issue with gluten. Some farmers have rye as the cover crop and dig it back into the soil and so cc the sweet potato. This isn't everywhere, but if the little one reacts to it, that might be something to think about when trying to narrow down the issue

gluten free (bob's red mill) pancakes - bob's red mill tests at <20ppm. They have a gluten free facility, but with something like the mix, there are lots of ingredients that would be hard to track during a food journal.

ALL meat - Do you buy this frozen, or from the butcher (cut up and packaged at the store?). There is a higher risk of cc from the meat cut up at the store because they tend to make the meats that have coatings and such in the same areas. If you can find a company that processes meats with no, or almost no, products with coatings offered, that is probably a safer meat for your little one. The ground up meat especially is a risk at the butcher counter, if they make sausages and such. Oh, and ham and raw chicken can have injected solutions in them, so you'll want to check the ingredients on that.

rice noodle spagetti - cc risks with processing.

spagetti sauce - do you make your own? If not, I'd ditch it for how many ingredients it has and how hard that is to track, as well as cc risks.

rice cakes - do you get ones that are gluten free? If not, I'd switch to that, if not ditch it. I know that Lundberg, again, makes some gluten free ones. Still, a cc risk

gluten free crackers - lots of ingredients that are hard to keep track of, lots of cc potential risk from processing.

olive oil ( I put it in her cooked food for extra fats) - cc risk, although olive oil is better than many in terms of gluten cc. Buteally and truly? For fats from oil, I'd cut the fat off of your own meat before you eat it and cook her food with that. Put it in the water with her rice before cooking, or fry it with her meat, or render it down in the pan and pour it into her foods, or stir fry veggies with it and mash it.

prunes - cc risk, that 'processed with wheat' issue

probiotics - cc risk with lots of ingredients

Some foods that might be of help in getting fat/nutrition into your little one.

1. avocado - higher in fats, source of iron, soft texture.

2. taro root - high in carbs. You have to make sure to cook it thoroughly, however, as this gets out certain substances you don't want to eat uncooked. I'd probably stick with recipes on this one, like making poi.

3. gluten free amaranth - it's used as a grain, but it's actually not. It's a full protein, and it's high in iron. Makes a porridge. carb source

4. gluten free teff - a grain, carb source. Makes a porridge. Teff co. is a company that only grows teff that you can order teff from on-line.

5. buffalo meat - it's very high in iron, higher than beef, and a lot of places are having packaged, ground buffalo meat in the regular stores - hidden among the beef, LOL.

6. Can your little one have eggs, or are you trying to avoid those as a potential allergen? Boiled and mashed eggs are good for both the calories and nutrients, at this age.

7. liver - I wouldn't do it more than once a week at this age, but liver that you've cooked and chopped fine into a mash would be good for calories and iron, too.

8. buckwheat (which you probably know isn't related to wheat) - carbs

9. root veggies: turnips, parnips, beets, rutabegas

10. If you can find gluten free beans, those are easy to cook soft and mash, mix with other stuff. Filling for the little one.

11. oily fish - maybe once a week, but higher fat content, good iodine content, etc...

A warning: if you end up dropping iodized salt from your diet in favor of sea salt, you'll want to find an iodine supplement. And yeah...cc issues from those, too. :-P I ended up with liquid iodine drop supplements, myself.

And a brief word on the grains. Some celiacs seem to have issues with quiona, and no one knows why. However, if your little one reacts to more than two of the other grains, I'd start thinking about gluten cc rather than the grains themselves, actually. A few people cannot tolerate the gluten cc levels of almost all grains.

Truly hoping that you can figure this out quickly for your midget. And I'll pass on what my dietician said to me when we were still looking for foods: it's going to be like cooking from 60 years ago for a while. Making everything yourself, using more fresh herbs instead of spices, plainer fair unless you want to do a LOT of work.

I'll tell you honestly, it was a pain in the butt. But it did help us track down a lot of problem foods and cc issues in our diet, so I'd say it was worth it.

Take care, and good luck to you and your family.

[mommida]

Really good advice.

Start working with a pediatric gastroenterologist. If there is a potential problem with a "food trigger" you need to find out, now. Your little one is so young you need to make sure there is not a congenital defect.

Get the Celiac panel done today if possible (you might not have been gluten free because of the oats?)

Food journal may be a huge key at figuring out what is going on here. List food amounts, all ingredients, time ingested, all B.M.s with time and description, mood check/symptoms, and remember some reactions can be as long as 12 days after "trigger".

An elimination diet would probably elinate the top 8 (wheat, soy, fish, shellfish, eggs, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts) gluten and peas. From what I have read corn might be very high on the list to eliminate as well.

Heaven help you there are some brands that could really help you out like Enjoy life, Cravings place mixes, and The Allergen Free Baker's handbook. A quick search on "non-food" items for kids with food allergies might help carry you through such a strict elimination diet.

[norahsmommy]

well I took her to the doc today. She hasn't pooped since friday and its now Thursday evening. I had been trying to get an appointment with our pedi so I could get a referral to a pediatric GI but he apparently is on vacation or something so I had to see the nurse practitioner again. She prescribed a stool softener and sent us to have dd's belly x-rayed. I told her my concerns with the specific foods that seem to trigger the constipation and that I felt there was a food I was missing that causes her to be constipated still. However right now they are just concentrating on getting her regular and THEN will look at why its happening. The available doc that called me with the x-ray results is one i particularly dislike because he was VERY wrong when it came to a diagnosis with my older 2 kids and myself. We suffered for 4 months because of the mistake he would not admit he made. Anyway HE called and asked me if she is drinking enough. I said yes, I always have a sippy cup or 2 available for her to drink from whenever she is thirsty and she still nurses. I know she is getting plenty to drink because she pee's up a storm. He then said that kids are usually constipated due to lack of fluids. I told him she gets lots of fluids and NO binding foods and I felt it was more than just 'not enough fluids'. He then said, "constipation is typically caused by lack of fluids, do you run a humidifier in her room?" I said no but we have one for the house and again stated that she wets heavily many diapers a day so she is getting lots of fluids and he said the same thing AGAIN about why the typical child is constipated. Sort of like a recording. It was irritating. So we are clear on why HE thinks she is constipated. I disagree. so we will see. No one was willing to refer us to a GI. They didn't think it was necessary at this point. so I am a little frustrated. I feel like constipation is a SYMPTOM not the main problem and by giving laxatives and softeners we are just masking the symptom, not finding out the cause. I gave her the stool softener tonight and she threw it up. So we will try again in the morning. I wasn't sure she got it all out and I didn't want to double dose her. we are supposed to go back on Monday for another x-ray and follow up appointment. The doc I talked to on the phone said after she is finished with the prescription stool softener to use 1/2 cap full of miralax 2 times a day, every day. Then if that isn't working to up it to 2 full caps every day. He also gave NO indication of when this would stop. It has me beyond frustrated.

[Jestgar]

This may be totally up to you to find a solution. have you tried taking her off the major allergens (soy, corn) that she's been eating, and also changing your diet to remove the allergens?

[norahsmommy]

This may be totally up to you to find a solution. have you tried taking her off the major allergens (soy, corn) that she's been eating, and also changing your diet to remove the allergens?

I stay away from all the foods I keep away from her. We have not eliminated corn. Perhaps I should try that. I did (this week) cut out the soy yogurt and the pediasure to see if that helps but so far there is no change. The doc that called me today just frankly made me increasingly angry. I really can't express how miffed I am at him. He just chalks her constipation up to lack of fluids which is RIDICULOUS because he has never even seen her and she gets tons of liquid. She pees constantly. Its not that. He suggested putting a humidifier in her room.

[salexander421]

You have gotten some really great advice already just wanted to add, the things I would change are...check your spaghetti sauce, envirokids bars (pretty sure they have hidden dairy/casein), and probiotics for hidden dairy/casein. Maybe limit to just one type of meat and see if any of those is causing a problem. For the longest time the only meat my little one would tolerate was ground lamb. What kind of gluten free crackers? Most I've found have dairy, soy, or eggs in them. Could be a problem. What kind of rice cakes? Could be cross contamination. Hope this helps! It's so hard when doctors are not on board but they should not have the last say. We know our children best! Just keep playing detective and you'll eventually get it! If you haven't already done this google "hidden casein". That was a big problem for us, we didn't just eliminate dairy but all casein in general.

[T.H.]

The doc that called me today just frankly made me increasingly angry.

You should be, from what you're saying.

I had that experience with an allergist. He made a diagnosis which involved not listening most of what I said and not believing the few words he actually listened to.

If it's at all possible, I would get a new doctor. This one is not changing, and really, no one wants to put their child's health in the hands of someone who doesn't even have enough information to make a diagnosis, but continues to do it anyway. That's not only frustrating, it's really dangerous for your little one, you know?

[Dixiebell]

Hi norahsmommy.

My son had severe constipation as well. The Dr. finally sent him in for an x-ray and that is how we found out. He took miralax daily for at least three months untill we finally saw good results. At one point we cut the full dose to 3/4 and then had to 1/2 the dose and then to 1/4 of the dose because he was having leakage while he was at school. Finally things starting moving and what came out, I could only describe as 'alien like'. It scared me so much. I would call my daughter in to see (she is eight years older than him) so that I had a 'witness', because it felt as though people thought I was making all this up. He was gluten lite at this point. Finally his father got on board, after many arguements, and my son and I went totally gluten-free. Things did get better and we have since cut out dairy too.

My opinion would be keep to her on the daily miralax so her stool will get softer and hopefully easier for her to pass.

[domesticactivist]

I don't have the answers for you but I wanted to tell you that rice flour products (a staple of gluten-free packaged products) constipate me horribly and might be worth avoiding. I'd also get a new dr right away.

[ChickenFeet]

Hi, I am new to the whole gluten-intolerance/celiac thing, but my experience has been a little, tiny bit similar to yours.

At age 2 1/2, my daughter started to show signs of autism spectrum. It was very frightening for me because it was like she was a different child than before. She also had a brief spell of not absorbing fats. I took her to a specialist for the fats thing and he blew me off saying she was just having a passing virus since the steatorrhea had cleared up. Low and behold it returned two days later. Then it went away again. Shortly before her third birthday, I started her gluten-free hoping that it was food and isolation (I was not allowed to drive at the time due to a misdiagnosis of epilepsy; since then I very little trust in doctors). A while after Thanksgiving, she had her first bladder and kidney infection. Because of the UTI, she had to have testing for kidney reflux and was found to have a grade three to one of them. She also has bad constipation. She goes 2 to 3 days without pooping and when she finally does, it is a very small amount. So she was only gluten-free for a week before the kidney reflux diagnosis messed it up. The kidney specialist insisted she was not getting enough fiber or fluids and put her on a special anti-constipation diet. (The constipation numbs the bladder so that it cannot sense fullness and does not empty properly therefore increasing the reflux.) We have always used whole-grain wheat pastas, breads, snacks, etc. so that was not an issue for the diet. In addition, we were also told to eliminate carrots, bananas, all rice and rice-containing products, corn and corn cereals and breads, all apple products, all processed juices, and cut down on the dairy. So, naturally, there went the gluten-free diet because all of the gluten-free alternatives are rice or corn based and low on fiber. I thought at the time that her kidneys were more important than her behavioral problems so I did what they said, adjusted her diet, and increased her wheat consumption. Her behavioral problems are for the most part gone now since my misdiagnosis has been cleared and can get us out of the house, but she has shown signs of OCD (I have had it since age 4) and hyperactivity and pure anxiety ever since. We have gone gluten-free now for a week despite a negative test and she is a lot calmer, does not tell me her "bones hurt", poops a few times a day, and does not complain of hunger as much. I had her tested for gluten issues a week ago because she apparently did not grow this past year. She has fallen from the 60th percentiles for height and weight into the 25th. Her pediatrician is not worried about it because maybe her measurment last year was incorrect and said that we will check again next year. I am sure in his heart of hearts he thinks I am just another crazy mother trying to diagnose her kid with a food issue now especially since the test was negative and I am still doing the gluten-free. Even if I find that it does not make a great difference with her over time, I am going to keep doing it because I feel so much better and so different (less stomach pain, bloating, NO headaches, I am no longer constipated, etc.)

Anyway, to address your concerns, my daughter cannot have yogurt AT ALL. It constipates her more than anything else she eats. I don't know what it is about it, but she loves it and can't have it. Apples and applesauce and apple juice definitely make her worse. We have also switched from cow's milk to goat's milk. It is expensive, but so worth it. There are sooo many benefits from goat's milk; look it up online. The crux of the difference between the two and digestion is that goat's milk forms a smaller curd in the gut so that you can digest it more easily. I do allow her to have cow's cheese and ice cream from time to time, but only goat's milk for drinking. Most of her cheese intake is also goat. She does take a daily children's chewable multivitamin everyday because children whose primary source of milk is goat can develop folate/folic acid deficiencies. The specialist's high-fiber, high-wheat diet has done nothing for my child but make things worse. The goal of the thing was to have her poop 2-3 times a day, large, long soft pieces. We have been at this for almost a year and nothing has changed and oddly she went for a couple weeks where she did have ideal pooping habits, but then I allowed her to have some yogurt and it ruined everything. Maybe it is the type of bacteria or something? Another little boy whose mom I met at a park had the same condition as my daughter, but his specialist also advised them to avoid sweet potatoes saying that they can cause constipation. She also found that pear juice (Gerber) made her son poop. We were told to avoid all juices and to make her slushes and things from fresh fruit at home so I was leary of trying it on my daughter but it helped a little bit.

We are coming up on my daughter's second yearly kidney checkup and specialist visit and I know they will fight me on the gluten-free diet thing especially since her single blood test which only checked for one antibody by the way was normal. But I am going to give her a piece of my mind. Their diet has accomplished nothing and I am going to give this gluten-free thing a fair trial.

[raeskids]

I am so sorry.

My son, Samuel, was just diagnosed a month ago. He was terribly sick, and one of his initial symptoms was constipation. He was also bleeding in his stool. They kept telling me kids just get constipated and on and on. Before we ended up in the hospital Samuel was sleeping most of the day and could hardly walk without falling.

We ended up going to the Children's Hospital ER.

I was stuck in the cycle of pediatrician offices. A different pediatrician heard our story (she is NOW our pediatrician) and recognized that Samuel was very sick and told us to go to the ER so that we could get in the system and see a GI Doctor immediately.

Even there, it still took some time to convince the doctors that he was sick. The nurses, however, knew immediately that something was very wrong. Once he was admitted he saw a GI Doctor within the hour. I asked him if an abdominal xray ever shows no stool -- and he told me no -- and then I asked if that is an accurate way to diagnose constipation since there is always stool in the image. Interesting.

Anyways, he had a biopsy within that week. However, four days later ended back in the hospital for four days in celiac crisis.

I am hoping that you can get a doctor to LISTEN. I think that my Samuel was constipated because his body was absorbing almost NO nutrients (we found out on the biopsy) so it was a way of slowing everything down.

Hoping for solutions for you.

[Anya]

Hello there, our daughter (now 23 months) had the same issues as you are describing. Severe constipation and huge drop in percentile once we started her on solids. When she turned 1, the constipation turned to bloody diarrhea because she had a c.diff infection. It did not resolve until 9 months later and she had to be on many rounds of antibiotics.

It is extremely important to keep your child regular and looking back at our case, I made the mistake of not using Miralax sooner. Our GI prescribed Lactulose, which is a sugar that only fed the bad bacteria and contributed to overgrowth. I was against Miralax initially, because it was not "natural", but now I know that Miralax is very safe, all it does is pulling water into the gut.

You have sweet potatos on your list of foods. That was a HUGE problem for us. It created even a "white plug" for us, which plugged her up for 10 days! I know now that sweet potatos are very hard to digest, since they are a very complex carb. A book called "simplyfied carbohydrate diet (SCD)" talks about it.

We went glutenfree 3 months ago (in addition to being dairy free) and it resolved the constipation issues. We continue to use the Miralax however, because our daughter is still trying to hold back. It is learned behavior from the constipation times. We are just making sure that the stool is very very soft. I also include prunes a lot in her diet.