Chronic Diarrhea

[treeinthebreeze]

Sorry for long post .... My ds aged 5 1/2 suffers from chronic diarrhea. Born at 3.2kg, no complications at 39 weeks. Within 24 hrs vomited a load of bile so they though twisted bowel, admitted to special care and fed through nose, he managed a poo so problem resolved. Going forward for the next 6 months very bad reflux, pain, back arching, on one occasion sick blood. Just about managed to get through it with Gaviscon although thought we should have tried something stronger. Then reflux improved when weaning but skin problems started - very bad eczema. Dr did blood test and advised removal of wheat, skin problem cleared up. Nappies always soiled frequently and always runny. Weight gain always slow and fluctuated between 2nd and 0.4 centile. Lots of bad chest infections and viral induced asthma in first few years - then got a regime of inhalers that now stop these bad episodes. Diagnosed with egg allergy due to immediate reaction. Then started to potty train at age 3 - not easy as still loose stools. Dr said Toddler diarrhea, nothing wrong with him just deal with it. I was not convinced because as he was getting older it got worse not better. referred to hospital consultant. He did tests - no underlying constipation causing the diarrhea, confirmed non IgE mediated allergy to wheat. Tried exclusion of dairy and soy as well - no difference. Colonoscopy and endoscopy with biopsies came back clear - no inflammation. Stool elastase came back clear - no problems with pancreas. Saw a geneticist - no concerns. No behaviour problems. He takes 15ml of imodium a day and still has problems with diarrhea - soiling of pants daily. ds eats a very careful diet with no gluten or egg. We avoid any additives, strange ingredients, processed food. he eats a high calorie and fat diet (has daily prescription high calorie milkshake as weight still on 2nd centile) and very little fruit juice. Dr says he is not sure what else he can suggest. I don't know what to do now. Anyone else out there with similar issues? Any ideas of what could cause this?

Couldn't read and run, could it be the high calorie/fat content of his diet?
Sorry I'm not much use, sure there will be someone else along soon.

Has he been tested for coeliac? Could it be lactose intolerance?

Sorry, seen you are excluding wheat already. Have you seen a paed gastroenterologist? Sounds from the tests you have. Do they have any other diagnoses to exclude?

The dr said there was only so much he could look for with the tests available to him at the hospital. He was not sure what else it could be .. I thought this could be a good place to pick people's brains as my ds can't be the only one with this type of problem. Will be going back to see the dr at some point and thought I would try and do a bit of research myself too beforehand - naively i just thought the dr would be able to diagnose the problem and we could deal with it ... but clearly not.

Coeliac disease has been ruled out - I thought it was this to start with too.

I'm surprised you have never been told to try cutting out dairy, but then I'm not a doctor. It also seems strange to me he is on a gluten free diet despite him not having signs of celiac and it may just be coincidence 're the eczema. I don't know who you've been seeing, I would want to see a real specialist in this area and if I had already get a 2nd opinion.