At my wits end

My son is 7 and since we started potty training at 2 and 1/2 he has never been totally clean, he finally had scan and xray and was then put on movicol and picosulphate for constipation, over 12 months later and lots of accidents, tears and stress I asked if he could be re scanned and was told rectum loaded, completed disimpaction regime and now on 2 sachets of movicol and 3.5ml picosulphate but still soiling, don't know how much more we can all take!

[Alicass]

Hi

I totally empathise with you. We've been through the same with my 6 year old. Started potty training in June 2014 and we've only just got rid of the constipation. (Saw the Paediatrician last month). Had lots of soiling and urinating. It's been frustrating and very stressful for the whole family and the school.

My son is still on 2 sachets of Movicol and 9ml of Senokot. He's been on Senokot for nearly 2 years now. He's also had a few doses of Picosulphate and a hospital admission last February.

Something that helped us was putting our son on the toilet 20 minutes after every meal with his feet on a foot stool and them blowing bubbles, balloons etc for 5 minutes. We've been doing this for nearly a year although only twice a day for a while. It's really helped him to poo. He doesn't have blackcurrant, apple or a lot of fizzy drinks either.

Our journey has been a very long and stressful one. Nobody can imagine what it's like until you've been through it so I totally understand what you're going through.

Keep us updated and keep going. You will get there. I didn't think we would but fingers crossed we're finally nearing the end.

Xxx

[CN4321]

Hi,

I don’t know how much I can help, but I just wanted to let you know you aren’t alone here, my son has been constipated since he was 6 months old (he will be 7 in two weeks) and our story sounds pretty similar to yours except it was diagnosed earlier. He has been on movicol since he was a baby and on senna for the last 8 months or so.

The last week or so we have had a slight turning point, he suddenly seems to be drinking his water every day without us endlessly hassling him, and I’m getting up earlier to allow some stress free 10 mins on the toilet which has helped enourmously. He takes his iPod and manages a poo most days (which usually means he will be clean for the rest of the day).

For my own sanity which is a huge part of the whole thing I have found this group to be really helpful - knowing you are not alone really helps and I’ve picked up loads of tips. I’ve also been meditating and trying to get to bed early much more this year - it is a wonder how much better I react to everything when I’m not as tired and a bit more relaxed.

Stay strong, things will improve and look after yourself as this is a really tough thing to deal with.

Good luck

[Hidden in reply to CN4321]

Thankyou, yes it does help to know you aren't the only ones going through this

[Trascal]

Agree with the other comments and totally sympathise with what you are going through. We’ve had similar issues with my daughter who is now 6! The toilet routine after a meal and using a party blower has helped massively! We do the routine after breakfast and dinner each day and have been doing it constantly since May last year!

We’ve also made changes to our daily routine i.e getting up earlier in the mornings so my daughter has plenty time to have breakfast, do toilet time and not been rushed - this has resulted in less soiling accidents during the day - it took a few days to get the toilet routine established but worth it now.

I put an update on my page a couple of weeks ago with some hints/tips that have been working for us - we are still on the journey to cracking it for good but have a read and you might find something that improves things for your son

Good luck

Xx

[Hidden in reply to Trascal]

Thankyou, how do I view your page?

[Trascal in reply to Hidden]

Hi I think you just click on my user name - if it doesn’t work let me know and I’ll try and copy/paste the post to you 😊

[Hidden]

OK thanks x