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Allergies and intolerances

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Original poster

ds always has loose stools

16 replies

Iggly · 10/10/2014 22:28

My 5 year old always has loose smelly stools - no matter what he eats as far as I can tell. He gets tummy cramps and then needs to go quickly. I cant remember the last time he did a normal poo.

I took him to a paediatrician who guessed it might be lactose intolerance (I've certainly noticed it is worse if he's had say too many yoghurts) but it still happens even when he's had hardly any dairy. This seems to be getting worse - before it I cut down dairy, it would subside but now all his poos are like this. Some days he doesn't go at all, other days it is loose and he has tummy aches.

He is also hungry a lot, always asking for food - so much so that I'm not sure he is hungry. He tells me his tummy hurts for food - maybe it is low level tummy ache? Sometimes he seems quite thirsty too.

Anyway, I'm going to go to the gp and push for help as it isn't fair on him but I wondered if anyone could hazard a guess as to what this could be? Coeliac crossed my mind as dd was tested for this - apparently it came back borderline (just a blood test) but as she had no significant issues/symptoms, they said to just bring her back if she had tummy trouble.

Sorry for the ramble, this has been playing on my mind for a while!

OP posts:
isitnearlytime · 12/10/2014 13:48

Would be interested in your replies as I have a nearly 11 year old who has always had loose stools/ diarreah, although his aren't particularly smelly and he rarely has pain. We were once told by our GP at age 2 following a blood test that he was lactose intolerant although removing it made little difference. We then saw a paed who said he wasn't and after doing general blood tests plus celiac blood test said he had toddler diarrhea! When he hadn't grown out of it by age 6 we went back. The tests were repeated and this time we were told it was "squash drinking syndrome" as there was an improvement when we restricted squash. It didn't last long though and I resigned myself to it being normal for him. I've only just taken him back to the GP as at his age sense he's embarrassed by it. We're now awaiting results of stool & blood tests.

Is your son underweight? Mine has always been an appropriate weight and size for his age and is otherwise fit & healthy so is presumably absorbing his food ok. I wonder if it could be fructose as he eats tonnes of fruit and veg.......

mawbroon · 12/10/2014 13:56

I think lactose intolerance is quite rare, but it is also possible to be intolerant to the dairy proteins and using lactofree products make no difference.

When ds1 was intolerant, I found it took about 9 days completely off all dairy before his poop was more normal.

pashmina696 · 12/10/2014 15:50

agree dairy intolerance more likely - best to see an allergist and go through an exclusion diet with help from a dietician.

i am currently doing this with my DS2, who always got diarrhoea with milk or if he ate too much dairy.

Original poster
Iggly · 12/10/2014 20:23

He's been allergy tested for dairy - nothing. I might try dairy exclusion for two weeks.

Today he had loads of strawberries and juice - minimal cheese, no other dairy. Sloppy poo...

He isn't underweight - if anything he's slightly overweight because he eats a lot. I think he has low level tummy aches which he interprets as hunger (he's said to me before his tummy hurts for food) so something is up.

OP posts:
mawbroon · 12/10/2014 20:47

DS1 seems to be really hungry all the time. I do wonder if he's not absorbing the food properly leaving him hungry Sad

Roonerspism · 12/10/2014 20:49

My DD had this and it was gluten.

If you decide to restrict gluten, get the coeliac test done first as your child needs to be on gluten for 3 months before the test is accurate.

We took DD off gluten and her diarrohea and tummy ache cleared within a week.

ThreeAndDone · 12/10/2014 20:52

Sounds like my DS2 who has a number of allergies (cows milk protein/Eggs/nuts) which are all excluded from his diet obviously but he still has the poo situation. He has just been tested for coeliac disease and we are awaiting results but it looks likely. He's always hungry too

Purpleflamingos · 12/10/2014 21:01

My ds is like that when he eats potatoes/potato starch.

He's getting a little better as he grows older but prefers maize crisps and we have mostly cut potatoes out- extra yorkshires on a roast dinner, pastry 1-2 a week, bread served with other meals and lots of rice dishes, casseroles with lentils and pearl barley.....

The first consultant we saw surprised me with this diagnosis when we were talking food refusal. Sadly her replacement has dismissed the diagnosis and discharged us. But we've had no tummy aches since.

Original poster
Iggly · 12/10/2014 21:10

I do wonder if he's not absorbing the food properly leaving him hungry

Me too! My dd was tested for celiac - they said borderline but as no obvious issues (beyond slow growth), only come back if more tummy problems.

So I'm going to have to take ds to the gp.... It is hard because I've been having battles with medical staff since he was a baby and it took four weeks of me visiting the gp weekly to get him properly diagnosed with reflux. He also had a terrible time when we introduced solids - I shudder to think of it now!

OP posts:
pashmina696 · 12/10/2014 22:33

A delayed allergy cannot be tested for, my DS2 would also come up -ve for dairy - it affects the gut with him, plus some eczema and sleep issues. I have been told it takes several weeks (4-7) for the gut to recover from the dairy, certainly my DS2's sleep and eczema improved really fast but his poos are still not perfect and we have been excluding dairy since the 1st september. He saw a paediatric allergist and we are under a dietician.

glutenfreecake · 13/10/2014 08:55

hi Iggly, I would definitely take your son to the GP and ask them to do blood tests for coeliac. The fact that your daughter had borderline results (what did they mean by this btw) and his symptoms are highly suggestive for coeliac. I've been coeliac for 17 years, and my daughter was diagnosed last week, she had totally different symptoms to me, and we'd been to the doctors a Lot before she was tested, GP's don't test for coeliac often enough because they think it's rare, but it isn't.....

isitnearlytime · 13/10/2014 09:11

We're awaiting the results of my son's THIRD coeliac test at age 10. Was previously tested at 2 & 6. Don't think it's that in his case although I believe it's possible to get false negatives but at least our gp is being thorough.....

glutenfreecake · 13/10/2014 09:17

negative coeliac tests can be due to IGA deficiency, in which case the test results won't be accurate, the GP can screen for this, there is advice on coeliac.uk website about it.

isitnearlytime · 13/10/2014 09:29

He's been tested for IGA defiency twice too! (Negative)

Original poster
Iggly · 13/10/2014 10:37

The fact that your daughter had borderline results (what did they mean by this btw)

DH took her to the appointment and can't remember Hmm Angry basically I think whatever the marker is they're testing for, it was slightly raised?

Yes, I'm getting an appointment today! Hopefully the gp will take it seriously.

OP posts:
glutenfreecake · 13/10/2014 11:00

finger's crossed you get some answers "isitnearlytime"
Iggly good luck with the doctors appointment,( I'd be tempted to get your daughters test results repeated too). I'm disappointed your paediatrician didn't suggest testing, lactose intolerance is frequently caused by ceoliac due to the damage to the intestines.

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