Son (12)...Feeling queasy...

[Mum0fBoys]

My son is only on one sachet of movicol a day. However, if we occasionally mess up and he doesn’t have his movicol for two days he immediately starts wetting again, the GP says this is fine?

We did did impaction regime a year ago. GP refused to refer him. Am concerned.

In addition, my son keeps saying he feels queasy and he looks unwell, then a few hours later he is ok. This is happening for at least a few hours everyday. I have been monitoring this and it has been going on (in and out of school time) for months. We have been writing a food diary and can’t see anything obvious.

Any thoughts would be very gratefully received.

[Laundrymaid]

Hi MumOFBoys

My 12 year old daughter suffers from chronic constipation, virtually since birth and like your son is on a maintenance dose of Movicol.

I read this post as it said 12 year old, and I try to look at all the post for older children!

I then had a look back of one of your earlier posts, and you mention that your son had some abdominal pain in the area just below his ribs. This stood out to me as this is where my son complains of pain which came and went but occurred on a daily basis.

A few moths ago, my son who is eight started complaining of these tummy pains, dizziness (his description of nausea?) became clingy and easily tearful which was just not his normal self. I knew it wasn't constipation so we took him to the GP who knowing his sister's background ran a raft of tests. Much to our shock it turns out he has Celiac/Coeliacs disease - the first in our family to be diagnosed. (Since then my daughter and I have had screening blood tests and we are negative.)

When I spoke to my daughters specialist, he said that if her problems with constipation were food related it is most likely to be caused by Gluten or Dairy.

If you feel that your son is unwell I think you should take him back to the Doctor, tell him your concerns and maybe request some blood tests. From one blood test they can check iron and vitamin levels, if the Doctor thinks it's relevant, they can screen for Celiacs and you can have some peace of mind that you have done all you can do.

Keep advocating for your son, be calm but firm with your Doctor. There is a lot to be said for a mother's instinct and if you thinks he's not right, go in and fight for him!

Sending you strength and solidarity, from one mum to another.

The Laundryymaid xx

[Mum0fBoys in reply to Laundrymaid]

Thanks so much for you reply. Maybe you are more organised than me, but do you ever forget to give your daughter the maintenance dose, and if so, does she start wetting again (maybe she doesn’t have this issue). Only asking as if my son misses movicol for two days he has to go the toilet 2+ times a hour and starts bed wetting too.

Will check celiac/ dairy. I have chronic dairy intolerance so he could be too, I guess.

Back to the GP!

Many Thanks

[Laundrymaid in reply to Mum0fBoys]

Hello, it's taken us years to get to the point where she could have a maintenance dose and I can't actually remember the last time she missed a dose, but that is partly because it is now an ingrained behaviour.

I do remember when she was little and would get sick that missing a day or two of meds - in those days probably lactulose, we would have a week or two of issues. Because of the way Movicol works, I would have thought that the odd missed dose wouldn't be detrimental. If it is having such an impact, check with your son how much he is drinking during the day. Try as I might I can't get my daughter to understand that, the less she drinks, the more likely she is to have an accident! Water, water, water...

Just to let you know, my daughter was put on Oxybutinin to try to settle her twitchy bladder but over time it became apparent the it was better to control the constipation than to give her more meds.

Are you in an area where you can see a different doctor? I find that even with a really good doctor, that some times a fresh set of eyes see things differently. Constipation is not always the diagnosis, sometimes it's a symptom.

[Laundrymaid in reply to Mum0fBoys]

Sorry I just sent that response when I thought of something else. My daughter nearly 13, has had her daily dosage doubled in the last year. She had a huge growth spurt and we didn't even think about her daily dosage until she required her first disimpaction so that's another thing to watch out for!