Faecal Impaction in 6 year old , feel like getting not enough help

Faecal Impaction in 6 year old , feel like getting not enough help from GP.

Our son has been like this for years now.

I took pictures of our son into the GP and she said to up the dose to 1 sachet of Movicol each day , before that that was every 2nd day.

We have tried 1 a day for months and he is no better.

It is so distressing for our son, and we are so distressed for him.

We went to see the GP to seek more help for him and she said we could maybe get a blood test ! IF he would let us pin him down

We dont know what to do.

I have read the leaflet inside the box and read some posts on here and some people give 12 etc ... whereas we have only ever been told to give 1 a day.

Any advice welcome

[SallyandPaul]

He needs more for disimpaction and then one a day as a maintainence dose. Have a look at a you tube video by the pooh nurses called tackling constipation and soiling with macrogol(movicol). Good luck xx

[Hidden in reply to SallyandPaul]

We have asked and asked and she said and its prescribed as 1 a day. We are demented its such a shame for him. And h is nearly 7 and it affects his life so much !!

I have seen that video.

So do u mean just up dose of out own accord ? As I say he is only on 1.

At the mo he is meant to be on 1 every 2 days but we have put back to 1 a day.

He hasnt had a poo since tues 😭

[Alicass]

Hi

I feel for you I really do. My son has been constipated for a long time and his Paediatrician has been useless and very unempathetic.

I threatened to complain about the Paediatrician and then we got some action. My son was admitted to hospital (to be unblocked for about the third time) back in February. 10 weeks later we're still following the daily plan which the Play Therapist put in place whilst he was in hospital. He's also on 7ml of Senakot a night and has been for a year.

I have to say we think it's working but we're​ not counting our chickens just yet as we've been here before several times.

The daily plan involves my son sitting in the toilet 5 times a day (20 minutes after each meal for only 5 minutes and when he wakes up and before he goes to bed). He has his feet on a stool so his muscles are working properly rather than clinging to the toilet and he blows balloons, whistles or bubbles. It looks as though we've made some progress although why we weren't told about this months ago is beyond me.

The first GP we saw about my son's problem said 'some men are still wet when they join the army' and this was after 18 months of trying to get my son dry. You can imagine what I thought of that and I did put a complaint in. We were referred to the Health Visitors by this GP who were useless and didn't have a clue.

I would get a different GP involved and go from there.

Good luck and keep fighting for your son.

Xx

[SallyandPaul]

Hi yes definitely up the dose by one sachet a day until it's very runny should be liquid really. I think my daughter got to five but it can take more. Try to get to the high dose over a weekend. Actually this bank holiday weekend might be helpful. I was also told that it takes 36 hours for movicol to take effect.xx

[Hidden in reply to SallyandPaul]

Yes it would be .... if at home.

Our other child is going to a footie weekend as soon as school finishes and we are all going so may be tough to do. Will say to hubby as we still could as we take lots of pants and clothes for him anywhere we go anyway.

Why hasnt dr told me this though ? Its deplorable !! 😠

[SallyandPaul in reply to Hidden]

Oh bless you I know it's literally a right pain in the backside!!. It's so difficult to get the dosage right even after disimpaction( which needs doing every so often.) Our daughter (8) seemed to really be improving then statrted having reflux so a bit sick once or twice a day ( only ar school). GP said this is also caused by the constipation so given dulcolax. Well after two days of that the poor child was in a right state no control at all!! So we either have reflux or constipation can't win. Xx

[Allyem1976 in reply to SallyandPaul]

Hi can I ask you about reflux? When my daughter gets anxious about her constipation she vomits. Normally just water or bile. But then I can't give her the dose of Movicol and we get stuck in a vicious circle where she then has to go to hospital to get disimpacted with an enema. Is the cause of your daughters reflux the constipation or the anxiety and stress and how do I stop this? I am at the end of my tether!

[SallyandPaul in reply to Allyem1976]

We did think about anxiety and stress but pretty sure it was the constipation. You can still give her the movicol if she has reflux. Does she have senokot? We found that helps a lot x

[Allyem1976 in reply to SallyandPaul]

I can't give her any fluids Movicol included the whole time she's vomiting as she won't keep it down. I tried Califig but again she can't keep it down. I'm not entirely sure if she has anything to shift as she has been going type 6/7 poos. My concern is there is a type 4/5 poo formed in there but it's not shifted but how do I know unless I take her to a & e?? Just don't know what to do.

[SallyandPaul in reply to Allyem1976]

Sorry this is alate reply but we've been out all day. Do hope things improved over the day but I'm afraid I don't have any other suggestions my lovely, only a& e x

[SallyandPaul]

Ps a lot of GPs don't understand this issue properly!!

[Georgina1475 in reply to SallyandPaul]

clearing out takes time as the dose increases gradually. wouldn't try this and not be at home as the whole thing can be really really messy and uncomfortable for you both.

I would call the GP and ask for a telephone consultation and tell them that you need to do a disimpaction.

I have made sure my son has nappy cream on when we clear out as it can be very acidic and really smelly.

I feel for you as I've been where you are many times. We now take a maintenance dose and things are looking up.

[Hidden in reply to Georgina1475]

I am going to take him back to dr . And go to a diff 1 . As usual 1 isnt helping us .

[Hidden]

Have made an appt with a diff dr to see IF we can get anywhere. After reading lots on here and online , we cant understand how our son was told 1 a day for a few weeks then 1 every 2nd day then every 3rd and 4th day etc etc ...

When we took him back a few months dr said he may be on this for years so give 1 a day !!!

But that cannot be right IF not helping him one tiny bit.

[Luella19]

I agree with others, it's sounds as though you need to up the dose until you get very soft poo. And then go to a dose of one a day and see how that goes, may need to use more or less, even 1/4 or 1/2 sachet up or down can make a difference. I have spoken to many GPs over the years and had conflicting advice about movicol. They were all very sympathetic and helpful but it was not really helping us deal with soiling issues.

I think you have done the right thing asking to see a new GP.

Once we got the the paediatric doctor at the hospital he added senokot to use with movicol and that was a great help for us.

My daughter poos normally now at least every other day and takes no movicol or senokot anymore.

Took finding the right dose of laxatives, regular (strict) toilet sitting after school and after dinner and lots and lots of patience...

Best wishes x