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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Faecal incontinent, vomiting , pain , diarrhoea in a 13 year old

34 replies

braydbrsy · 03/02/2023 12:03

Do I bring him to emergency Dept ?

He has a few years history of these GI problems but also had several anxiety.
His infant history includes dairy allergy/ eczema/ asthma which he grew out of.

He has a history of constipation, gastritis, diarrhoea, abdo distension and pain , constipation and now was faecally incontinent while walking yesterday.
He has also has had anaphylaxis twice due to nuts and has had adrenaline and steroids
The Dr has done bloods for coeliac disease but never an X-ray/ ultrasound or gastroscopy
Do I need to insist on these investigations at this stage .
He is presently at home
, missing more school, with vomiting and abdo pain with diarrhoea also .AIBU to bring him , was to g their time and his in a Friday afternoon or will I wait until Monday and see how he is?

OP posts:
ofwarren · 03/02/2023 12:04

I would take them. They might be compacted and leaking around a stuck poo.

InspectorPaws · 03/02/2023 12:05

Go now and demand those tests. Lord knows how he hasn’t had any scans yet. They almost certainly won’t do a colonoscopy but an ultrasound or X-ray is something that could easily and quickly be done in A&E. Good luck - how awful for him.

Original poster
braydbrsy · 03/02/2023 12:06

Janis. Do you think that this would explain the full history of four years ?
I'm fully convinced he has some sort of twist ir kink in his bowel. Would that sound right?

OP posts:
Original poster
braydbrsy · 03/02/2023 12:08

It's a disgrace he has t been investigated yet

OP posts:
ValerieDoonican · 03/02/2023 12:10

He can't be diagnosed iver the internet but he can almost certainly be diagnosed if you get him to the right doctor. So yes you absolutely need to insist on investigations. Also keep a note of his weight as if he is not gaining/losing they need to take this very seriously as it indicates he is not getting the goodness from his food.

Unfortunately the investigations are not always pleasant (depends what they do, but best prepare him). But his illness is unpleasant anyway. poor kid, and poor you.

ValerieDoonican · 03/02/2023 12:11

I should have typed if he is not gaining weight, or , worse, losing it - sorry that wasn't very clear.

Original poster
braydbrsy · 03/02/2023 12:11

He has put on a huge amount of weight

OP posts:
cadink · 03/02/2023 12:12

I would take him he could get worse quite quickly with those symptoms and not something to wait for a gp for. They can investigate much quicker in hospital. I would class that as an emergency.

cadink · 03/02/2023 12:13

Just to emphasise I wouldn't wait around I would definitely leave now.

ValerieDoonican · 03/02/2023 12:13

Ah OK. Anyhow there are many many things it could be. For isntance apparently diverticulitis can make people horribly ill (not something I knew until I heard about it on Mumsnet). Sadly with this NHS you might have to work really hard to get him seen by a gastroenterologist but there is it, that's what you have to do.

ValerieDoonican · 03/02/2023 12:15

I'd forgotten it was Friday. Yeah, I'd go in now.

InspectorPaws · 03/02/2023 12:31

braydbrsy · 03/02/2023 12:11

He has put on a huge amount of weight

Children can hold kilos and kilos in their bowels if there’s a blockage. It can lead to a prolapse, incontinence, leaking, pain etc. and X-ray/ultrasound should show if he’s backed up.

Original poster
braydbrsy · 03/02/2023 12:33

That's what I thought and even when I hacked for an OGD , X-ray or us before , I was told it was gastritis or some
Such diagnosis.
He has just told me that there has been blood on his boxers now and again

OP posts:
Toddlerteaplease · 03/02/2023 12:33

braydbrsy · 03/02/2023 12:06

Janis. Do you think that this would explain the full history of four years ?
I'm fully convinced he has some sort of twist ir kink in his bowel. Would that sound right?

No. He'd be very unwell if he had that. Sounds more old inflammatory bowel disease. Chrons or colitis. Don't demand anything. Ask nicely!

Original poster
braydbrsy · 03/02/2023 12:34

His abdomen is very distended and despite eating a relatively healthy diet plus some junk, his weight gain and weight in general does not match up with his intake ... although his exercise is limited .

OP posts:
Cheeping · 03/02/2023 12:46

I don’t want to alarm you and it’s very, very, very, very rare in someone so young (almost vanishingly rare) but I had these symptoms when I was diagnosed with bowel cancer. It’s increasingly common in younger people but the NHS guidance hasn’t quite kept up so they dismiss it out of hand in anyone under 40. The NHS also refuse to list weight gain as a symptom of bowel cancer because they think that it’s socially irresponsible because people who are just eating too much or exercising too little might assume they have cancer when they don’t.

Even if it’s not bowel cancer (it almost certainly isn’t). It needs checking. To me, it sounds like he has a bowel blockage causing overflow diarrhoea and vomiting. That may or may not have caused a prolapse and/or haemorrhoids. The weight gain could be from the mass itself in his bowels, from reduced movement due to pain, from swelling, from eating for comfort from the pain, from hormonal changes (either related or unrelated) or from the slowing of his digestive tract.

Please take him and yes, actually do “demand” help. Asking nicely almost certainly won’t get him any help - it clearly hasn’t in the past. There is something wrong. This isn’t normal and posters here trying to normalise this should stop - no one wants to hear that their child is ill but trying to calm OP’s fears by downplaying the severity should be reserved for cases of anxiety, not legitimate concerns for their child’s health.

Good luck OP - hopefully he’ll get the tests/treatment he needs. It may all be resolved with a solid course of movicol/laxido but something needs to be done.

Quinoawoman · 03/02/2023 12:54

This sounds like it could potentially be chron's disease. Only diagnosed through endoscopy /colonoscopy.

Unsure33 · 03/02/2023 13:03

Hirsprung disease?
I would definitely get him seen , then hopefully will be referred for tests .

FrownedUpon · 03/02/2023 13:15

Pay privately for a gastroenterologist if you can. I wouldn’t wait for NHS investigations.

Original poster
braydbrsy · 03/02/2023 13:35

I will certainly
Come back and let you know later on all going well for him. Thanks.
I'll bring hiM now

OP posts:
Lougle · 03/02/2023 14:04

Poor boy, he sounds like he's feeling very unwell. I hope you are seen soon.

uncomfortablydumb53 · 03/02/2023 14:37

Yes I would He's in pain and distress poor boy
Make sure they're aware of his history too

Lilyhop · 03/02/2023 14:41

when my son was 9 he showed many of the symptoms you’ve noted. We took him to the GP and also the hospital. We were also told gastritis pretty much all the time. One time he woke up completely covered in diarrhoea, I had honestly seen nothing like it in my life! GP said to to hospital so we did, and they said it was overflow diarrhoea caused by constipation. We got sent home. Anyway, fast forward 2 years later to feb 2020- my son started vomiting. He was sick 3 times and we thought it was a tummy bug. He suddenly collapsed, and his stomach began to swell. We called an ambulance and he was blue lighted to hospital- basically his bowel died inside of him and caused septic shock, they immediately removed his large bowel, but he only had 1% chance of survival and somehow he did survive- after being in a Coma for 7 days, another emergency surgery on day 11 as his stoma twisted. 6 weeks fighting for his life.
He went down to 19kg, came home NG tube fed and has a stoma.
Since then, we have found out that back in 2018 when he presented to hospital with his medical history and overflow diarrhoea- he should have been given an x ray and that x day would have saved him almost losing his life. It was a few months after losing his bowel that it was discovered he had hirshsprungs disease which is usually picked up in early childhood. We had my other son tested when he started getting constipated and he has it too! But as we know that now, he has meds, regular bowel clean out in hospital and regular x rays and check ups. My son that lost his bowel has disabilities and the mental age of a toddler - is also almost non verbal bar a few words. So he wasn’t able to actually express how he felt.

so please please do insist on a x ray.

ValerieDoonican · 03/02/2023 14:57

Wow @Lilyhop how awful for you all. Your poor son!

Wineandwinelalalala · 03/02/2023 15:02

My sister had many of those symptoms in her teens, was to embarrassed to go to the doctors. She put it down to piles. Years later she had enough. She was diagnosed with ulceratived colitis. I think crohns was mentioned too. She has flare ups but is treated by medication and can’t eat most processed foods.