F/U to my constipation post..they sent her to the ER
Ugh this is by far the hardest parenting thing I have faced. She sadly does this to herself, holding in poop at all costs. She has been tested to make sure nothing is wrong (thyroid, chrons, celiac, etc - she is fine) The took an xray and saw she had a small bowel obstruction. They tried a milk of molasses enema twice which didn't do it, so they gave her a "twilight" sedation and stuck a NTtube in her nose to push the obstruction out. Once they got it low enough(?) they used another milk of molasses enema thing and yahtzee out it came. I have never ever in my life seen someone poop that much at one time. We are being observed now and hopefully will be able to go home soon. I just really hope we can get to the bottom of this now. Even after she went the first time and got a good amount out she still tried to hold it in again. (Sorry on iPad - bad formatting, typos, etc)
{Ava 5.16.06} {Ella 12.29.07} {Drew 2.9.10}
Re: F/U to my constipation post..they sent her to the ER
do you think the experience will help or hurt the withholding issue ?
oh my goodness poor thing.
is it possible she has a food intolerance that's not coming up on the tests? I know 2 people who have had chronic constipation in their kids with 'nothing wrong' on the tests but it resolved with a dairy free diet. I know she was milk allergic as a baby, right?
Glad your DD is on the road to recovery, for this go-around, at least. I know how awful it is, DS had horrible constipation for 18 months. Our pedi always told me I had to give DS enough Miralax so that pooping would be beyond his control. He also said to keep it up long enough for DS to forget the last episode of withholding.
Last June, we found out DS has an under reactive central nervous system. He doesn't register pain or many other sensations. We started OT to retrain his brain to recognize different stimuli and I noticed a difference in his bowel movements almost immediately, although I didn't immediately connect it to the OT. I went from giving him 4Tbsp of Miralax a day to 1/2 tblsp every 2-3 days durring the first month of OT. I used up the botle of Miralax within 2.5 months of starting OT and I have not had to buy any more in the 5 months since running out. In hindsight, I don't think DS was intentionally withholding, I think his brain just didn't register the sensation of having to poop. It was just pure dumb luck for us that retraining DS's brain to recognize other sensations also helped fix the constipation issue.
This was my daughter and she was holding it back because she had been conditioned to because it hurt her so bad her whole life that she jsut stopped going. She was tested and everything came back clear....I think I replied on one of your earlier posts that I have taken her off all dairy except yogurt. Problem solved. I feel so badly for you and your DS, I hope you can get it worked out.
{Ava 5.16.06} {Ella 12.29.07} {Drew 2.9.10}
Is there any anti anxiety med or something that could help her get over the hump and stop holding it? Or maybe cut out the dairy completely if it used to be a problem?
Miralax helped us when DS did that, but your situation is obviously way more extreme. :-(
DS - December 2006
DD - December 2008
Holy ***!
pun totes intended!
I hope you guys are home soon and she develops a better relationship with her poopies!
Hugs!
~Lisa
Mum to Owen and Lucas
David "BD" 2/8/07 Spencer 9/12/11I have a fringe friend whose 5 year old would hold it too. He held it for so long that every once in a while he'd go and it appeared he was having diarrhea, but really it was just the liquid that was able to make it around and out. He held it for so long that he stretched his intestine (?) and lost all sensation in that area so now he has no idea when he has to go. He's in therapy to fix his bowels and had to wear a diaper for a long time. That in itself has devastated the poor kid. She's just a fringe friend so I don't know all the details, but if left alone for too long it can be really bad.
Hope she's feeling better soon.