AIBU to be annoyed after an unnecessary late-night A&E trip?

[Avie29]

Hi all just a quick one, so 6 days ago i rang the Dr as my 2yo was constipated, she hadn’t gone for 5 days atleast and kept trying but nothing 🤷🏻‍♀️ and was prescribed cosmocol 1 sachet a day by dr which she drank really well, 4 days full amount, she didn’t have any yesterday as she was being sick, yesterday evening i was rubbing her tummy and noticed a hard lump (this was day 10 of no poop) so i rang 111 and got a call back from out of hours dr (10pm) and was told to take her to a&e that evening, so we packed a few things and drove 40 mins to a&e and arrived about 11pm, we then waited around until gone 3am only to be told “ oh just up her dose of the cosmocol each day up to 8 sachets until she goes” AIBU to be so bloody annoyed that either dr i spoke to before going to a&e could have told me that!? And saved us waiting around for 4 hours! And not getting home till just gone 4am!

Yes and she’s taking the necessary steps to resolve her concern. She’s not just ‘whingeing on mumsnet’. That was you just sticking the boot in by saying that.

It is quite serious so I can see why you were sent in. Did you get seen by paediatrics or general A&E? We found you'd get very different reactions from Paeds than you did normal A&E.

Hi op, why is the flavour stronger now? If you are using two sachets you should be doubling the water used, so the flavour won’t change but the size of the drink will.
its the water that loosens the impacted poop so it’s important to use enough

i would call the GP tomorrow. Sadly some a&e docs will turn children away when other won’t, it depends who you get and often what else is going on on the ward etc. it does sound like she needs seeing as she is vomiting too. If the vomit is green take her straight back in. Good luck

Some of them are flavoured (lime, lemon), others have no flavour.
The OP could put a little squash in them to make them taste a little better.

Or coffee grain type. That can be the poop making it's way back up.

It sounds like the OP is still using the original prescription and has requested flavourless next time. As @Timetochillnow says it shouldn’t be a stronger flavour, just more of the same she’d drank well previously

Thank you.

This sound correct to me…..

Please insist on being seen properly. Ask for an X-ray or ultrasound. They need to confirm that the lump is in fact pooo and not something more sinister blocking her from actually pooping. Don’t be fobbed off.

As i have said, she herself is perfectly fine, the doctor (who was a paediatric doctor) actually asked what prompted us to come in as she seems good and i told him it was because i found the lump rubbing her belly, so she isn’t really suffering else i would not have been sent home.

The vomit was normal coloured and was probably due to a tummy bug tbh as her brother was being sick a few nights before.

Sorry i didn’t explain that well, i mix up the sachets with 62.5ml of water each (125ml) so there is less room in her cup to dilute it down so it tastes stronger, but i was being a bit daft- half way through struggling to get her to sip it i decided to split it into 2 drinks 🤦🏻‍♀️.

Yes and i was told she ideally needs to drink it in a short space of time, just the water to mix the sachets is 500ml without diluting it down (it tastes like squash made with saltwater) so its no wonder she doesn’t like the taste.

Yes Dr Birdarm 🙄

There is no way i would be fobbed off, trust me i know my children and if i thought it was more serious than poop blocking her up i would still be in hospital, i have had doctors try to fob me off and it nearly cost me my sons life, it was only me insisting and going back to a different doctor that he is here today.

My kid went 13 days at a similar age.

We were told something like up to 12 sachets of Movicol paediatric a day until it shifted. OBVIOUSLY he wouldn't drink the bloody stuff at all, never mind 12 sachets.

When it eventually came out it was a solid round boulder, the poor kid.

Yes she has been a bit constipated on and off but has always managed to poop in the end- this is day 12 the longest she has gone, thankfully we are managing to get the cosmocol into her, i managed to get her first sachet today into her already (she always comes in first thing and nicks my water on my bedside table) it had cosmocol in it this morning 😉 lol.

12 days of no bowel movement and she’s been eating completely normally and completely herself? Going to nursery? How’s she sleeping?

She doesn’t go to nursery, and yes she has been eating (apart from when she was being sick) and drinking fine, she still gets up in the night anyway but no change there either, if i wasn’t keeping track of her potty training i wouldn’t have noticed anything was wrong, but like i said she has been on and off constipated so i keep an eye on how often she poops otherwise i would have no idea anything was wrong.

Just an update, after 5 days on 1 sachet (as prescribed by the first doctor) 1 day on 2 sachets and today on 4 sachets she has finally pooed! And is now having runny poo, as per doctors advice i will be giving her her 4 sachets again tomorrow until it runs clear/tea coloured and then back to 1 sachet for a couple weeks-month to make sure she doesn’t get bunged up again.

As a former nurse, I think it is usually better to err on the side of caution, so going to A&E, and seeing a doctor in person was the best thing to do, @Avie29. As others have said, the lump, the constipation and the vomiting could have pointed towards an obstruction in her gut, and, if not diagnosed and treated in a timely way, this can cause real problems.

I do appreciate that it was frustrating to have such a long wait, only to get advice you could have been given over the phone, but that is hindsight. Better to go to A&E and feel you have a wasted trip than not to go and end up with a full blown emergency.

Once this is resolved, are there things you could add to your DD’s diet, to help prevent this in the future? Would she drink prune juice, or eat prunes, for example?

Mine was like this too. Off and on for years. Cosmocol will clear it eventually though. Just takes time for all tbe impacted poo to soften enough.