New here and need advice!

[Lorna1989]

Hi everyone I have just joined this community after noticing it mentioned on the ERIC website. I'm struggling to manage with my son's bowel issues and don't know where to turn now. Sorry if this post ends up lengthy!

So my son is 4 and a half years old now and has struggled with constipation since he was 6 months old. As soon as I started weaning him our problems began! He had occasional constipation initially that I managed with fluids and diet until eventually it became a constant problem and I went to the GP. He started on lactulose as and when needed until eventually he had to take it continuously. This helped until he was approx 2 years old then it just seemed to stop working and he was changed onto movicol. Not long after this change he appeared to need it less and less until eventually he was managing fine without it. Just after he turned 3 I potty trained him and he mastered poos on the potty before wee. He was constipation free for around 10 months.

Fast forward to around a year ago and problems returned in a different form. As a baby he would visibly strain and cry from the pain of being unable to pass a bowel movement but now the visible symptom is soiled pants. Initially just a few marks in his pants and so he went back on the movicol. However I cannot get the dose right, one a day makes no odds (after a high dose to clear blockage) and 2 a day makes him so loose he cannot control it at all. He doesn't visibly struggle but he doesn't go regularly at all.

The current situation is he started school in September and at the moment the problem is the worst it's been for years. He soils several times a week, often what seems like a whole bowel movement. Usually at school but does happen at home too. Every day he comes out of school with a bag of soiled clothes it breaks my heart. I worry they think I've just not potty trained him and I assume they don't particularly like having to clean him up most days. It's like he literally cannot feel anything until the motion is already out. I'm at a loss and don't know what to do next. Thanks for reading if you got this far!

[Chocolate-chicken]

Hi, my daughter is the same age and we're having issues with wee, so I can't help with the constipation... However, I would really recommend having a chat with his teacher about it. I had the same worries as you about what the teachers were thinking etc and they were so incredibly helpful and lovely about it, it really made me feel better about it all.

By all accounts toilet issues are more common than you'd think in reception and so the teachers appear to just take it in their stride really... I'm sure someone here can help with the other issues though, I only discovered this forum a month or so ago via Eric, and it has transformed my life. Good luck xxx

[squizita]

It could be nerve damage or stretched guts - so he can't feel it. My daughter (3) had that. We kept her on a pretty high dose of movicol for ages and the feeling slowly returned, meanwhile we trained her to sit and try 3 times a day at set times - just in case the feelings didn't come back properly, at least then it would get squeezed out into a loo.

A pediatrician advised us to do the above and maintain long term.

[Lorna1989 in reply to squizita]

I need to get him into a routine of trying to go but he's reluctant at the moment to sit there for more than a minute. Might have to distract him with a book or two. It's hard because I don't want to moan at him so I try not to be negative but all I get from him is that he never feels it coming. He manages to go to the toilet for a poo without issue at home sometimes but not all the time, however every poo at school is in his pant. I'm worried other children will be mean to him about it.

[Ste6106]

Hi,

We’ve just been through 18 months of our little boy soiling and not knowing about it, and he started school in September. We we’re so worried about the school thing but the teachers were brilliant. He had lost sensation and was given Picasodium Sulphate alongside the mivicol. We struggled to get the dose right for a long time, too much, too little etc etc, our problem was we were not administering it correctly after some poor advice from the local nursing team, we were not dissolving the movicol in water and then adding that to drinks, food, etc etc, we ate at a point where he has half In morning half at night and picasodium sulphate before bed, after a couple of weeks he suddenly became aware of his movements and started to go to the toilet, he’s been fine now for the past month, also we used pads in his underwear instead of pull ups

We had 18 months of worry and tried everything there were lots of tears and anger, stick with it, it does get better

[Sallyk42]

If he messes at school but uses toilet at home do you think it could partly be emotions causing it. Fear etc, I would Def talk with his teachers if only to put your mind at rest.

There are so many people that's children have issues with soiling at school. You are not alone. My grandson wets without knowing and he's been school for a year. He wears pull ups to bed that are soaked evert morning. He is under urology now and has tablets but still does it. The Dr said for boys it can be anything up to 10 yr old before boys are clean. I would imagine it's for both soiling .

I totally get your worry and not to let him realise your worries or things could get worse. What do Dr's say xx

[Lorna1989 in reply to Sallyk42]

I think there's definitely another factor at school such as he doesn't want to have a poo there etc but it happens at home too. He's going through a particularly bad patch at the moment.

When he's not soiling he will have a poo one day and then it can be 3 or 4 or 5 days until the next one and the ones he does manage to do on the toilet are huge! I always think they're going to block the loo and I feel like this can't be right either.

When I go to the doctors they tell me to disimpact him then reduce down and get him to sit on toilet regularly. Increasing his movicol makes his bowels move but that just means more mess in his pants, he's not able to get to the toilet in time to do it so it's like it makes the problem worse even though I know it's necessary. I'm so stressed out with it all now. All I do every day is worry about whether he's soiled his pants at school.

[Sallyk42]

I so understand. Mine is me. Everytime I unpact I end up in a mess. It's horrid but when I stop or reduce movicol it constipate again.

Ifeel for you honestly and your son. The pain with impaction is horrendous so I totally fear it, even to the point I stopped rating for four days and I must say felt better than ever.

Is there a medical reason why he impacts hun? X

[Lorna1989 in reply to Sallyk42]

The only diagnosis I've gotten for him is chronic constipation but no known cause. He's come home today for the third day in a row with a bag of poo filled pants. I'm at my wits end and have cried since he got home. I don't know how to solve this any more. I don't want to take him to school any more.