Can anyone advise?

[Curlyoddsocks]

Hello all! This is my first post so please bare with me.

My son who is 5 has had difficulties pooing for about a year . First it started as only going on a set day and he would hold it until that set day . Over the past 6 months we have been to the doctors because he wont actually pass stools . I think its about once a month but he has leakage constantly and has done for about 6 months.

At first I thought he was just being too lazy to go and too busy but as it went on (about a month in) i realised we have an actual issue and got medical advice . We tried lactalose for about a month with no results at all and have been back to the drs today. We have been told we are in for a long term issue because his leaking is quite severe. We have been given movicol and strict instructions on how much and when to take it and have been told to get to a point where he is completely empty then slowly lower it to where he has tooth paste consistency poop to give his bowel time to shrink back to normal size and the nerves and feelings to come back, and then its retraining him to poo.

We have also been told to access the school nurse for incontinence.

My question is; are there any tips on how to go about this emptying him completely? It was suggested to keep him off school because it's going to get messy for a few days . Would a child nappy be a good idea as were going through 6-10 pairs of pants a day at the moment . Does anyone have a similar story with a good ending ? Any help would be amazing because it seems no one I know is going through anything similar .

Thank you for reading

[Hidden]

Hi, I was reading your story and it does sound like a serious issue. I cant really help as to how to stop it, since I'm only 15, but I can recommend nappies to maintain it. I have been wearing nappies for a few years, due to chronic bedwetting and the occasional mess. If your son is really going through 6 - 10 pants a day, a nappy would be a very helpful maintenance. Although they are seen as childish, or babyish they are really for anyone with a problem consisting of an incontinence. You should try talking to his school nurse about diaperings, and possibly consider pull-ups before diapers; only if you can trust your son to diaper himself. Again, this is not a solution, but only a maintainence. I'm sorry I cant really help much, but I recommend at least trying out the idea of nappies.

[Curlyoddsocks in reply to Hidden]

Thank you very much for taking the time to read and reply.

I have had a chat with him about some "special big boy pants" because he thinks of nappies to do with his 3 year old brother . He seems keen about giving them a go while we flush everything out his system so that's a good start!

Also showed him the videos on here for kids to try and get him to see that it's nothing to be embarrassed about and it's ok. Have a meeting at the school with his teacher (who is amazing and kind. He has a special peg at school for spare clothes etc ) to go through a new routine for toileting and getting them to refer us to the school nurse .

Just hoping that we can battle this together instead of battling each other on It !

[Wagamama]

My son had huge problems with soiling and withholding and it turned out to be milk and wheat and sweetcorn intolerance. I cut It out and the long messy problem completely resolved within 3-4 days.... he’s had boughts of mild set backs after illness but overall he’s doing so much better.

I’ve found that Movicol (whilst good stuff) actually caused soiling in my daughter if she took more than she needed. Just Something to watch for.... hope you find the answers for your little one

[CN4321 in reply to Wagamama]

Sorry to jump in on your post curlyoddsocks! Can I ask Wagamama how you discovered the intolerances? Did you son have bladder issues as well or just bowel? My son has both and whilst the doctors always give medication to help I feel they never look at the root problem (which I'm desperate to find out)

[Curlyoddsocks in reply to CN4321]

No worries!

I noticed son went himself without realising this morning but drs did say it could be where hes so blocked up it puts pressure on everything else .

Son just never liked do poo . He used to laugh and say he only goes on fridays and he hated the feeling of it so just kept holding it to this extreme we are where we are now .

Although I am going to be monitoring it closely as his dad has IBS and we have chrones in the family

When smallest was born we thought his stomach issues were due to allergies . He was very poorly and have to have allergy testing done through the children's hospital. He showed no allergic reaction and was diagnosed with just severe reflux and colic .

We were advised to take out certain foods from his diet and see if there was a change in toileting. Not sure where that helps x

[Wagamama in reply to CN4321]

Yes he was CONSTANTLY, constantly wetting himself. I would change him up to 10 times a day. He had tantrums, meltdowns and was totally irrational over it all. He refused to let me change him and denied he was wet, had soiled or even need the toilet. I honestly believe he didn’t realise he was dirty and had zero control over it because every now and then he’d say he needed a poo, then DID a poo on the loo, and literally 10 minutes later, soil and wet himself again !! 🤷‍♀️ thats not normal. that’s when I realised it’s not normal so there must be a cause. I spoke to his consultant and told him I’m sure it’s dietary and I’m going to try as not doing anything was going nowhere and very stressful. I’d basically had enough. Consultant was reluctant to agree (although he did)but I figured there’s no harm in it so I went out and bought a whole load of gluten and dairy free things and within a few days, his wetting and soiling has stopped!

[CN4321 in reply to Wagamama]

WOW! It doesn't sound exactly like my son but I'm wondering if it's worth a try. My friend is training to be a nutritionist so I might ask for her advice. Thanks so much for the quick reply

[Curlyoddsocks in reply to Wagamama]

Ah thank you !

Will see where we go from here over Easter and hope we get somewhere

[h3ff3r]

Hello

Has your doctor prescribed a stimulant ? Either senna or sodium picosulphate, this stimulates the intestines to push the poo through , my GD who is nearly 8 has been having these problems for several years , recently started the senna which has made a difference.

[Curlyoddsocks in reply to h3ff3r]

Hiya . No they haven't given him anything other than movicol first to see if we can manage it on that