Blood and mucus in nappies

[CoffeeandWalnutCake]

Hello everyone! My 2 year old has always had bad eczema flare ups, but a few weeks ago he also started having blood and mucus in his poo. On reflection, his nappies have always been loose and quite stinky! Got referred and saw paed consultant last week who told me to go dairy and soya free. First few days, we saw huge improvement-much more normal nappies and no blood, plus much better skin.

But we've now had a couple of nappies that are bad again. I'm being really really careful with hidden dairy and soya, but I guess there is something else causing it too? He has blood tests booked for Wednesday, but not holding much hope as heard they often don't really give a clear answer. I thought maybe it takes a while for milk proteins to leave the system? Could this be why the nappies haven't totally cleared up? If not, does anyone else have and experience of the mucus/blood symptoms and do you know which food could cause them? Feels like it's three steps forward and two steps back ??. Thanks for reading!

[jwpetal]

I would suggest that you call the consultant to discuss if it has been more than 2 weeks. Did he give you a follow up appointment? We are on a similar journey with our daughter, who is 5. It does take awhile to leave the system. We were told 2 weeks to see a difference. We started with avoiding lactose. We never had a heavy dairy diet because she always refused it and her brother was allergic to it. However, though she improved, her problems did not go away 100%. We are now on a dairy free wheat free and gluten free diet. Though it sounds drastic the difference has been amazing. We have done this under the consultant and the dietitian. We have to do it for 6 weeks and then see the consultant again.

[CoffeeandWalnutCake]

Thanks for the reply. It's going to be two weeks tomorrow since we started the dairy and soya free diet. The last couple of days, the nappies have just been getting worse. We are about to go on holiday, but as soon as we are back I'll try and get in touch with the consultant to see what she says. I wonder whether we will be going down the wheat free and gluten free diet too!

Blood tests were done today, I'm hoping it might show something up? I just wish I knew what was causing this, I just want to make him better and feel terrible that I could be giving him something that is making him poorly.

We have a follow up appointment with the consultant booked for the end of June (she wanted us to do an initial 8 week exclusion).

Best of luck with your daughter-really good to hear that the latest diet has made a difference!

[tinkerbellvspredator]

Hope they have included a coeliac test, do not go gluten free before having one.

If it is coeliac the dairy can be a by-product, as damage to the gut can cause lactose intolerance.

[CoffeeandWalnutCake]

Thanks, yes, they did include a test for coeliac. Still waiting for blood test results. I'm sorry to say that after 5 weeks, dairy-free has made no difference to the symptoms. I think this is going to be a long road.