End of the line with treatment?

[CN4321]

Hi all,

My son has had constipation issues since he was 6 months old and is about to turn 10. It also became apparent that he has bladder issues since about the age of 4 or 5 as well.

We are at a reasonably good place with the constipation largely under control with a good routine, diet, water and probiotics however we do get occasional relapses and also treat with occasional senna and the problem never goes away properly.

Added to that he has dysfunctional voiding with his bladder and also leaks every day at least once a day.

We have had three sessions of biofeedback training at the Evelina but not really seen an improvement. We have a follow up appointment next week but I’m just wondering where we go from here. I don’t want medication for the leaking as he already has issues with constipation and I don’t want them to get worse. Are we at the end of the line with treatment?

Had anyone just stopped with it all and did the problems improve? Will this eventually get better?

I really want this sorted before he goes to secondary school but don’t know what to try next.

Any advice or shared experiences will help.

Thanks

[Robinia]

Is he soiling? Or is the issue the urinary incontinence?

[CN4321 in reply to Robinia]

Urinary incontinence but he is prone to constipation which we have to treat occasionally

[Robinia in reply to CN4321]

My son only suffers with constipation so I’m only familiar with that. I would just make sure the constipation is completely under control as I know it can cause bladder issues.

[Teddy500]

Hi, we're in almost the same situation, constipation issues mostly under control with a good diet and 4 sachets of Movicol a day, but still a small overactive bladder, the nurse at the bowel and bladder clinic said this week that there's nothing else she can suggest we try, I did ask about physiotherapy for pelvic floor excercises and she's referred my son (also 10) for that - it's worth a try, he also leaks - usually when his bladder gets to about 100ml and he tries to hold it and goes when it's about 150ml but leaks during that time, but he has to try to hold it to increase his bladder capacity. He's also on 5ml of Solifenacin which definitely helps, I'd prefer him to not have it, but he wouldn't get through a school day without it and secondary school is looming. He wears Tena for Men in his boxers, they're black so with black boxers they are not really noticeable. We're in Yorkshire and they don't do biofeedback so physio is our next think to try. I also give him pumpkin seed oil in his diet which is meant to be beneficial (on bread and crackers before the butter). Not sure if any of this helps? Good luck 🤞