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Dr. Stoll:
I just discovered you web site and after reading the archives I plan to start the mineral oil and fiber protocol tonight.
I have a non-verbal 10-year old with autism who is suffering with chronic constipation and GERD. He is not growing and weighs only 48 pounds. He is so skinny and pale. For the past 3 years he has been on Nexium (we stopped it in January of this year). His stools were green for past year until we stopped the Nexium and did a round of Sporanox. The Sporanox seems to help his constipation, but when we stopped the drug it came right back. I know he has leaky gut syndrome. He had chronic ear infections as a baby. We have been using Miralax for the constipation since March, but it really has not helped.
Lately, when going to the bathroom he screams and becomes very self injurious from the pain he is in. He also bleeds a little from the rectum. Will the mineral oil and fiber take care of the bleeding from his rectum or do I need to treat that separately? Please help. I feel like his problem is so out of control I don't know where to start. The four GI specialists we have seen have not been any help. Thanks.
Sue
In Reply to: Constipation and anal bleeding posted by Sue [1926.20] on July 12, 2004 at 08:28:56:
My heart goes out to you. I have an 8 year old with autism (underweight also) and we went through the stool withholding hell for YEARS. It takes tremendous effort to solve it with these special needs kids. Kids with autism, especially if they have low tone, seem to suffer digestive problems. I remember the pain, the screaming, the tears and the terror very well. We often resorted to a suppository which was also traumatic, and even had one visit to the ER with compaction. I have BEEN THERE.
PLEASE if you have not already, research and look into doing eliminations of casein and/or gluten - SO common are these dietary sensitivities in autistic children. Go to http://www.gfcfdiet.com/ and http://autismndi.com/ and read everything. THIS alone may be the WHOLE PROBLEM for your son. Don't assume he's not "allergic" because he eats these foods every day, because in fact they may be the very foods that are causing him not to thrive, and making his bowels sick. Find a knowledgeable holistic practitioner (a chiropractor who is skilled in AK and knowledgeable in diet would be excellent) to help you.
The mineral oil/fiber protocol WORKS, but you have to follow it faithfully, consistently, and give it in sufficient amounts. Don't be afraid of the suggested dosages in the archives - because these are NOT laxatives and cannot cause dependency! My son refused the mineral oil and I could not risk him inhaling it so that wasn't an option for us. We did Lactulose for over a year and then Miralax for almost a year, but I knew these would not be the ultimate solution because they are laxatives, and he needed to get his body going on its own without them. (If your son will take the mineral oil - USE IT - it will work along with fiber).
To work off of the laxatives, I gave him Fiber Choice chewable orange wafers in the daytime and Metamucil Fiber "cookies" in the evening with a glass of (diluted) juice with buffered Vitamin C powder stirred in (the C also loosens stools and has the added benefit of enhancing the immune system). These he accepted. But that is only half the battle.
The most IMPORTANT thing was getting him to drink plain WATER (which he refused before). I had to get real tough to do it. I started off with a little Dixie cup and only put in 1/2 inch of water, sat him at the table with it, and told him he could not get up to play until he drank it all. He was so defiant in his insistance of not liking water, that it would take him over an hour just to finish that tiny amount. But I stood there and never gave in. Slowly I increased the amount, and slowly he came to know that there was no getting out of it. Within about 3 weeks, he was drinking a full Dixie cup of water without too much stalling (taking maybe 5 minutes). From there I switched to small water bottles (8 ounces) and would draw lines on them - telling him he had to drink to "this" line before noon and finish the rest before dinner. Now, he is expected to drink a 24 oz bottle of water EVERY DAY, and he does it without a fuss.
It took about a year AFTER he started drinking this amount of water each day, to re-train his bowels to "go" without all the Miralax, Metamucil, Vitamin C powder, and Fiber Choice tablets.
We set up reward systems and "poo poo charts" (with stickers) - anything and everything I could think of. It is VERY important to sit him on the pot right after each meal because that is when his body will be most "willing" to go, and it greatly assists in bowel training to get him to sit (not strain!) after every meal.
We got a book for his Leap Pad electronic book called "I know where my food goes" which explained how food moves through the digestive tract. This helped give him visuals of what we were focusing on, and why it is important.
Diet is so important. I gave him lots of broccoli, blueberries, apples, asparagus, etc... he is a pretty good (though slow) eater.
If we can do it, you can do it! Now he is off everything and goes almost every day without any pain or fuss. We finally WON. This is so important, that it has to be your FULL TIME job until it is solved.
http://www.gfcfdiet.com/
http://autismndi.com/
Blessings! *+* KMD *+*
In Reply to: Re: Constipation and anal bleeding - I have BEEN THERE posted by KMD [517.155] on July 12, 2004 at 12:59:22:
I forgot to add, the rectal bleeding is likely from hemorrhoids from straining OR from an anal fissure (a tear that keeps opening every time he goes). The only way these heal is by correcting the underlying problem and making sure EVERY bowel movement is easy to pass, soft and lubricated and requires NO straining.
Also forgot to tell you to look into magnesium for him, do not give him mag oxide but give him a high quality source that is truly absorbed such as glycinate, ororate or aspartate. OR ... look into topical magnesium (so easy, just rub it into his skin).
For intracellular magnesium testing, contact the Great Smokies Diagnostic Labs (800) 522-4762 www.gsdl.com or the Meridian Valley Labs (425) 271-8689 www.meridianvalleylab.com
Dr. Bernard Rimland did extensive studies on high dose Vitamin B6 and magnesium therapy for autistic children. He developed a specific supplement formula for this called Super Nu-Thera and with very good results. We used this for a time when my son was young and it definitely made a difference. To order see http://www.kirkmanlabs.com/articles/feature.html
To read about this see http://www.autism.com/ari/ and http://www.autism.org/
*+* KMD *+*
In Reply to: Constipation and anal bleeding posted by Sue [1926.20] on July 12, 2004 at 08:28:56:
Hi, Sue.
When both of you see that your rectal bleeding problem, not helped by the "experts", has cleared up in just 4 weeks, you are going to be angry.
You might also try whole foods and omega 3s for the autism to see how much function this simple change might do is the same tims span.
Walt
In Reply to: Re: Constipation and anal bleeding - I have BEEN THERE posted by KMD [517.155] on July 12, 2004 at 12:59:22:
Thanks KMD.
Persistance and knowledge are the answer to so many things.
Walt
In Reply to: Re: Constipation and anal bleeding - I have BEEN THERE posted by KMD [517.155] on July 12, 2004 at 16:22:05:
Thanks for all your comments and support. I should have mentioned that we have been doing a GF/CF diet for about 3 years. He does eat a lot of veggies, but I have limited his fruit because of his yeast issues. I just recently started supplementing the magesium, but I don't think I'm giving him enough (300 mg daily). I will defenitely post a month from now and let you know how it's going. Thanks again.
In Reply to: Re: Constipation and anal bleeding - I have BEEN THERE posted by sue [1926.20] on July 13, 2004 at 06:56:55:
not all sources agree on what contains gluten- are you avoiding wheat,oats, rye, and barley (which is in a surprising number of things?
Constipation can also be helped with more fat, more water, more juice (diluted if he doesn't like strong flavors).
A good product is from 1-800-herbdoc or www.herbdoc.com,intestinal formula #1, if he can swallow veggie caps, or, if liquid is preferred, intestinal formula #3-really effective-it's about $18 a bottle, but the dose is tiny, so it lasts a long time.
In Reply to: Constipation and anal bleeding posted by Sue [1926.20] on July 12, 2004 at 08:28:56:
Hi: Thanks for the suggestions. My son does not get any oats, barley wheat etc. His diet mostly consists of brown rice, Quinoa, chicken, lots of different types of veggies, and small amounts of fruit.
I looked at that herbal formal. I noticed it contained senna. Is that considered a laxative? Is it ok for him to be on that long term?
Thanks.
Sue
In Reply to: Re: Constipation and anal bleeding posted by sue [1926.20] on July 14, 2004 at 08:02:40:
Sue,
Senna is a laxative.
Walt
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