Constipation

[MyTwinGirls]

My DD is constipated (chronic) and also has a current UTI and takes movicol daily. Today she’s been at a friends house and came home saying when she try’s to go and force to poo she has sharp pain and unable to poo but still has the feeling.

we keep a bowel diary on her phone although I don’t check it unless she has issues she hasn’t had a poo in 4 days (not unusual) but the pain is definitely new thing. While I don’t think going to the out of hours GP is necessary I’ll definitely contact them tomorrow and get paediatric GI team. We have checked there’s no blood when wiping or any current signs of piles

If she's long-standingly constipated does she need to go up on her laxatives? The stool may be harder than usual and therefore more painful, so softening would be the starting point. I'm not sure you would get much extra out of paediatric gastroenterology specifically at this stage over a GP or general paediatricians (other than a very long wait for an appointment). If she is going up to 4 days in between stools, there is a case she needs a higher dose of maintenance so the bowel gets a chance to relearn its stretching (aiming for soft stool more or less every day).

If she’s not going for 4 days then it sounds like she needs more movicol. How much does she take?