Please read my 6yo symptoms and tell me if I'm being dramatic ... or if there's something wrong with him.

[mayaknew]

I'm just going to bullet point them for quickness...

-severe constipation
-loose stools
-tummy pain
-heartburn/reflux
-nausea
-vomiting
-anal fissure
-urgent need to move bowels
-soiling
-spend long time moving bowels... never feels "finished"

All obvious tests have came back negative. Waiting list to see gastroenterology but will be after new year before we see them. I'm at my wits end.

Has he had a good 'clear out' with Movicol or something similar? Soiling is quite common when constipated, it's seepage/overflow around the blockage; but the blockage itself needs to be softened and moved.

Has he had a colonoscopy OP, and been checked for things like Crohns Disease and Colitis?

I have Crohns and some of my symptoms are very similar, plus;

Joint pain
Exhaustion
Trapped wind

Do the symptoms get worse after any particular food? Have you kept a food diary?

Sorry !! I forgot to post his medicine !

He takes 10mls x2 daily of lactulose and 10mg omeprazole x1 daily

Could be compacted stool. Has he had a tummy scan?

Yes he's been tested for anything obvious ... bloods and stool samples taken

No I've kept a good diary and haven't noted anything

Sorry I'm just thinking of more things that are relevant

The bowel issues have been On going pretty much since birth. The rest has crept in over the last year. Getting worse and worse and particularly the last few months have been pretty bad.

I've kept a diary of basically his every move and the only pattern I've really picked up on is that the nausea/reflux/vomiting is worse when he over exerts himself.

I'm sorry you're DC is experiencing this, sounds like all the symptoms my husband had and after all tests coming back negative we eliminated all food and reintroduced foods slowly one at a time. Keep a food diary and note any symptoms. It's painful and boring but it's the only way to figure out what is triggering this if it is food at all. Following the fodmap changed his life as it helped us figure out it was onions he was intolerant to. Sorry to be dramatic but it really did as suffering with these symptoms is hard. Good luck OP and hope the symptoms stop soon

No scan only bloods and stool samples.

They did feel his tummy and said he doesn't feel compacted

Food intolerance(s)? Have you tried cutting out the obvious suspects, like dairy, soy, gluten and egg? Though as pp says, it could be FODMAPS. Or salicylates. Or fructans. Or oxylates. Or anything..... it can be really hard to get to the bottom of (no pun intended!), if it's something unusual.

Also possibly coeliac, has he been tested? Any family history of autoimmune disease? (Thyroid, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, vitiligo etc)

Yup tested for coeliac.

He was tested for coeliac, crohns, helicobacter and milk allergy. Plus his liver/kidney/thyroid functions all tested and normal.

The only thing that came back was "mild inflammatory markers" but neither GP not paediatrician seems concerned about this.

I know you’ve said they’ve felt his tummy but have they scanned it? The majority of those symptoms sound like constipation. Have they asked you to do a clear out using Movicol or Laxido? How often is he going for a poo? And what kind of poo is it (look at the Bristol Stool chart)?

He had been on movicol since he was 5mo but I never really felt like it helped. He was changed to lactulose earlier this year which I think is better.

No they haven't scanned it.

I would agree with the compacted stool. It wasn’t picked up through abdominal examination it was only noticed by my consultant
And I had a lot of the same symptoms

Sorry should add consultant only picked it up after looking at an X-ray I’d had a few days previously

Can you have compacted stool for years?

I agree it sounds like constipation. It can be chronic. How much does he drink a day?

His fluid intake is good. He drinks a 1l water bottle throughout the day in school, a juice at lunchtime then has several drinks at home in the evening.

If he was compacted would the lactulose not resolve that ?

Sorry I just have a gut feeling there's something not right with him. He always looks sort of ... off... I can't put my finger on it just an unwell look.

Mil has crohns and she was convinced he has it too. I wasn't sure that's what it was but I definitely think there's something

Dd had chronic constipation and had all of those symptoms. We got a referral to the bladder and bowel nurse, did a clear out on movicol and then had a year of movicol and sodium picosulfate. She has now ben discharged but still has nerve damage so she cannot tell when she needs a wee.

Dd had it for 4 years before we got proper treatment. The nurse told me it takes years for the bowel to return to normal size.

The only reliable way to diagnose impaction is a plain abdominal xray.

Sounds like constipation with impaction. Some study showed this is rarely picked up by palpating the abdomen. A daily dose of movicol/ lactulose etc wont clear it. You need a disimpaction dose ( v high amount each day for a week or so, basically induces diarrhoea until water passing only) or an enema to clear. Then you go onto a daily maintenance dose for a LONG time ( years even) while bowel recovers.

Ask gp, or google your local children's constipation clinic / community bowel and bladder service.

Steve hodges book 'its no accident ' might help too

Study the ERIC website and google the poo nurses. Watch the whole video. It is really good and might ring some bells.

Yy Eggys, that's exactly what DS2 had. It may be starting again, but he won't drink Movicol even if I put loads of squash in. 😭

Also meant to add that you need to tweak their movicol maintenace dose according to their daily needs wg sometime i can tell mine look bloated, change in BMs so i slightly up that days dose until things move along etc. As a nurse said to me, its an art more than science sometimes.