8 year old , ongoing pale stools

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I rarely see DS’ poos as he is very independent and manages himself but I realised when he had forgotten to flush this evening that they seem unusually pale when I do spot one. He is hard to talk to about it and has quite a fear of going to the doctor .

He had a stool test (unrelated ) last year and all seemed ok , no giardia or anything , and he’s had a coeliac test before as not growing well and this was negative.

He also has really bad breath and I just feel something in his gut must be wrong and holding him back and he looks slightly malnourished to me despite a huge appetite?

I will book the GP although we are about to go away for half term and now I am really worrying. He looks well in himself otherwise though and has ok energy.

Sorry, I didn’t even ask my question but it would be really useful if anyone had any advice as I will book the GP and is it also worth asking a naturopath as I just wonder how we can support his digestive health

You need to get full range medical tests blood tests maybe endoscopy etc check absorption if he still not growing well.
Get a proper diagnosis

How pale is pale?? I understand that very pale (grey,chalky coloured) can be a sign of endocrine issues. (Pancreas, liver etc). So if I was you, however gross this sounds, take a pic and take the pic along to your gp with a history of weight changes etc too.
These things can be a really worry. But it also might be nothing. My dd has grey chalky poo for a few days and She had blood taken to check for the above but all came back totally fine. The pics I took did help though and made sure we saw the right people
Quickly.
Take care and let us know how it goes.

I would say it has been really quite pale and thank you for such kind replies. Yes I really do wonder now about absorption as his growth is markedly about 2 years behind and I know it doesn’t always correlate but my husband is 6ft 1. He’s seen the GP about growth before but they didn’t suggest or helps and said seemed fine but so many people comment on it!

Ps he did show me a stool tonight and it was a better colour today so must fluctuate! And I’m grateful he’s letting me keep an eye on it as I told him it can be important

What is his centre and is he following it? You can ask for referral to growth clinic.
They will measure for baseline properly run some bloods and ask you to come back in 6 months to check growth rate.it is the growth rate which counts. So ask for referral because it takes time to sed if there is an issue or not.

Thank you so much . That is a very helpful question and i Am cross with myself for not thinking to monitor it regularly; I will check and from memory he was following it but it was really low (like 4% or something) . I don’t know anyone small in my family and I think I would feel much better to ask for the referral you suggest if only for peace of mind that nothing underlying

My dd dropped off the charts. If he following 4th it s ok but if dropping off then needs checking. But gp measure ments can be inaccurate however you know if he falling behind peers..

He’s way behind peers and look like should be 2 school years below . I don’t know about whether he’s still on same centile as away and his red book is at home .
Was it easy to get help for your DD? Growth sounds a complicated thing to help but I am definitely looking forward to seeing a specialist .

Get referral to growth clinic and take from there. They will run all tests.
Fir dd it was coeliac disease but she also had additional growth hormone testing .
The child growth foundation is helpful. You need to get gp to make the specialist referral..you might need to see general paediatrician first as it will ikely be tertiary referral . Push for the referral to growth clinic for specialist checks and in meantime ask gp to run coeliac screen

...because slow growth can be the main symptom of coeliac disease