I’m really hoping someone might have some advice or reassurance because I’m at my wits’ end with worry.
My son has always been very regular with his poos — one big, normal poo a day, very predictable and consistent. He’s never had diarrhoea before.
On his first day back to school in September, he had an accident in school (sorry if this is TMI). It was diarrhoea, and it went unnoticed for a while. He had a couple more loose poos that day, but wasn’t unwell in any other way.
After that, things went back to normal for about a week, but around four weeks ago, the diarrhoea started again. It’s mostly small amounts in his pants during the day, though sometimes he has more typical poos in between.
At the moment, it seems to happen almost daily, especially after school. He can be fine at weekends (though there have been a couple of incidents), but during the school week, he often urgently needs to go straight after school, and it’s usually diarrhoea or very soft. This can happen a couple of times in the evening too.
We’ve been to the GP a couple of times — stool sample was fine, tummy felt fine, and nothing obvious has shown up. They suggested trying to cut out milk for a week or so, but he barely has any dairy anyway. I’m not convinced it’s an allergy as it came on so suddenly after starting back at school.
Has anyone had anything similar happen? I’m wondering if it could be stress-related, or maybe something like overflow constipation? He has months symptoms other then tummy/leg aches. ’m really hoping half term will show if it’s school-related, but at the moment it’s happening daily and I’m feeling so anxious about it.
I also suffer from emetophobia and I’m a single parent, so this has been really triggering for me. Any advice, experiences, or reassurance would be so appreciated. ❤️