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My son has had what I believed to be chronic constipation since birth.
We have gone through many doctors and two pediatric gastro. specialists. At age five, my son had a colonoscopy and endoscopic procedure in which nothing (such as Crohn's or Hershrprung's) was found. For this I was thankful, however we are still not satisfied with the chronic withholding theory.
Over the last seven years, we have tried mineral oil, senokot, and miralax - none which have been that effective.
My questions are:
When I think of constipation, I think of the stool being hard, however my son's stool is not hard. He just goes only every 3 to 4 days (or more) and it is difficult. When he goes it isn't really hard, but there is a lot of it! Does this sound like true constipation?
We have not had the barium enema done. Is this a worthwhile test since we have already had the endoscope and colonoscopy?
Finally, could it just be a muscle issue? Is there such a condition?
Meanwhile, I will take the mineral oil WITH THE METAMUCIL advice and give that a try.
thanks
mary
In Reply to: 7 year old with "constipation" posted by mary on April 05, 2003 at 18:08:11:
Please address the diet first. Educate yourself on what foods are constipating- breads, flour, meats, crackers, white rice, potatoes, milk, most white foods. Eliminate or seriously reduce them in your child's diet. Replace those constipating foods with LOTS of vegies, salad, fruits-especially figs, prunes, raisins, grapes, apples, pears, peaches etc. Do this with EVERY meal. Metamucil and mineral oil, senekot etc., won't do anything useful unless you change the kids diet. You've tested for everything else under the sun and found nothing. Why is it so hard for you to change the diet? Do youself and us a favor and do this protocol and come back in a month and let us know how your 7 yr old is doing. It's the DIET DIET DIET DIET......sheesh :)
In Reply to: Re: 7 year old with "constipation" posted by maryohmary on April 06, 2003 at 03:47:15:
Might try probiotics also. Does your kid like yoghurt?
In Reply to: 7 year old with "constipation" posted by mary on April 05, 2003 at 18:08:11:
Hi, Mary.
Listen to Maryohmary and proboitics.
It is going to take a year or so to retrain the colon to go on it's own. Your son will thank you for this when he is an adult.
The combination of the MO and fiber protocol will do this admirably but you need to be careful with the fiber since he is probably not witholding and you would not want to embarrass him with an accident. Increase it more slowly than recommended for witholding but aim for the same goals. You DO need to encourage him to always "go" when he has the first urge!
In Reply to: Re: 7 year old with "constipation" posted by Walt Stoll on April 06, 2003 at 11:38:01:
I wonder if his colon is sort of "stretched out" from having large stools basically his whole life. Then you get a cycle of continued large stools due to the shape of the colon (stretched out vs. elongated.) Anyway, that is what happened with my kids because they withheld stools. With medicine (Miralax) and once we improved the diet, their stools are now much softer and skinnier, so the colon has returned to the correct shape. One warning, though, as stools got softer & skinnier, but before colon had time to readjust, my kids had very little time to get to the bathroom after feeling the urge. It seemed almost immediate for the first week or so. Just sharing my experience, I'm not a doctor and know I didn't explain this very well. I do feel for you though, and wish you well. There is some great information on this site.
In Reply to: Re: 7 year old with "constipation" posted by Linda on April 06, 2003 at 19:40:27:
Thanks, Linda.
You are describing EXACTLY what happens with this symdrome.
The colon gets stretched out and it can take years of management for it to regain it's normality. In the meantime it IS more difficult for the individual to control the stool.
Perfect!
Walt
In Reply to: Re: 7 year old with "constipation" posted by Linda on April 06, 2003 at 19:40:27:
Thanks, Linda.
You are describing EXACTLY what happens with this syndrome.
After many years, the colon gets stretched out and it can take years of management for it to regain it's normality. This is one reason why it is important to resolve this early in life. In the meantime it IS more difficult for the individual to control the stool.
Perfect!
Walt
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