Disimpaction day 8 - not sure whether to stop.

[Pandawanda]

My son is on day 8 of disimpaction regieme. He is almost 12 so was put on the adult sachets and regieme. Not sure it makes any difference but he has hirschsprungs disease and had an op when he was a baby and has been on movicol since he was 1. Yesterday his stool was watery and I thought today would be the day we'd be able to start reducing. He even had sweetcorn and black beans in this mornings stool and that's what he ate last night. However today he has had thicker stool. It's even got thicker as the day has gone on. I'm really not sure what to do. Any ideas? Plus the last 2 evenings he has had really bad stomach pain with really loud noises and then passing lots and lots of gas which eventually got rid of the pain. Thank you for any input.

[Ironman3000]

Keep going. Happened exactly the same way with my daughter, took to day 17/18 before we got to the endgame. Her pain/ cramping was awful so GP didn’t want to start a stimulant because it would make it even more painful and she was still passing poo so the Movicol was working, just not yet cleared everything. We were told to alternate paracetamol and ibuprofen at regular intervals and her pain improved a bit. Hot water bottle and/or heat pads really helped her. She’s 12 too. The pain doesn’t disappear overnight either, the bowel is so stressed that it hurts when anything is passing, even after successful disimpaction, GP has given her Buscopan to reduce spasms and it’s really helped, but it could mess with the disimpaction so it’s an option for when it’s over. It’s murder but keep going, he’ll be better for it and if you stop you’ll only end up back to the start at some stage. Good luck 🤞🏻👍🏻

[Pandawanda in reply to Ironman3000]

Thank you so much for your reply. It's so helpful and encouraging to hear from others experiences. I'm glad your daughter got sorted 😊

[BrumMum1]

I was told that stomach cramps are bound to happen due to the movement of the bowel. It's been "silent" for a long time because of constipation.

I was also told that some children never reach "rusty tea" stage as it depends on what they're eating and drinking. 2 consecutive watery poos should be evidence of disimpaction.

During disimpaction there's a mix of types of poo as it may have been stuck there for a while.

There's also the chance that if he's drank less one day, the consistency of the poo may change.

While sachets work, suppositories or enemas are also a way to remove blockages lower down, which may speed up the process slightly. They are invasive, so you'd need to make a judgement call on whether they're something you'd be willing to administer/he'd be willing to allow.

Personally, disimpactions going on for weeks at a time can be so so challenging for everyone...and wearying.

All the best .

[Pandawanda in reply to BrumMum1]

Thank you. It's so confusing. Again he had watery stools and I thought we'd be able to start reducing again but the next day, which was yesterday, he had thicker stools again. Like you said, maybe he didn't drink as much. When I say water, it was like dark brown water, is that OK? It wasn't a clear colour. The cramps have stopped now, I worked out that it was when he'd eaten beans, lentils etc, which can make you gassy anyway.

The hospital did offer him an enema the first time but he didn't want it. I think he'd opt for that if there was ever another time as he's missed so much of his activities he goes to. He's so fed up now. I feel like maybe we should stop but worried it may not be fully cleared. It's so hard to know isn't it! Anyway thanks for your help, much appreciated 😊

[BrumMum1 in reply to Pandawanda]

It's confusing and upsetting, but once it's done, he'll be far better.If you're unsure if he's "clear" you could consider slowly reducing by either 1 or 0.5 of a sachet for 3 days and monitor the poos.

If he's eating lentils then you'll never get a "clear" water colour. In fact, you'll never get a "clear" colour if he's eating and drinking well.

Give ERIC a call or email them to get some advice as well.