Any experiences of constant soiling that isn’t caused by chronic constipation?

[Diggersandunicorns]

My DS is 6.5 and still has never ever ever gone a day without soiling his pants. My DD is 8.5 and she was toilet trained at 2 no problems.

I don’t want to talk about constipation. He’s not constipated and I don’t think ever has been. We’ve done the treatment for that ten times over. He’s been on daily laxido for three years.

We’re now seeing a consultant but it’s very slow going. We have an appointment every two months or so and leave that with new instructions of food exclusions to try but nothing has helped. So far we’ve done a week of enemas, two weeks of dairy free, two weeks of dairy and soy free, two weeks of wheat free, done two stool samples, blood tests, X-ray and ultrasound. None of it has made any difference or identified an issue.

I think it might be a processing issue, as in his body just doesn’t sense the signals. He knows when he’s had an accident but by the smell, not the sensation. But all ERIC, the GP and the consultant want to talk about is constipation.

Does anyone have any experience of long term toilet issues caused by something other than constipation please? What was it? How was it diagnosed? Was there a solution?

2 weeks isn't enough time to trial food exclusions. You need at least 6 weeks. If the allergy has irritated so badly it's causing constant soiling then more like 3-4 months before you might see an improvement.

Any other symptoms apart from the soiling? Any wee issues? Lower body weakness? Other allergy signs?

Have you done a sweetcorn test to see how quickly food is passing through?
You need to eliminate sweetcorn first, until none is showing in their poo. When none is showing, introduce sweetcorn again and see how long it takes to appear. Good gut health it would take between 12 and 48 hours.
If it is taking longer then constipation may still be an issue, even if poo is soft. Could the soiling be overflow due to constipation?
If food is taking a long time to pass through, I would think that the elimination diet needs to be longer than 2 weeks.
If you can absolutely rule out constipation and have then tried an elimination diet, ask for an Occupational therapy assessment as it may be a sensory processing problem

We're going through the same. Doctors always want to rule out physical reasons before considering that it may be sensory. I'm not able to offer any advice as we're also battling (self cleaning is also an issue, and refusing to use the loo when I can clearly see she needs to go and tell her to go). I can offer you that you're not alone, though.

No allergy signs at all. His weeing is fine although he still leaves it to the very last minute which makes me think sensory issues too. He’s been dry at night since he was two. No bloating or anything. He’s as slim as anything and no farting, rashes or anything else obvious. I really don’t think it’s food. He was dairy free four four weeks as we ran the dairy and dairy and soy back to back. Wheat free just made his stools dry, I guess as it pulled a bit of fibre out his diet.

But I have the consultant to unpick all this with. I’m looking for stories from people who’ve identified issues in their own children.

Thanks @Madreamigajefa2

We’ve never got to self cleaning as we still have to put him on the loo daily to make him go and tell him to push again and again till he does a poo. He’s probably said all of five times in his life that he needs a poo, never has the sensation.

Not sure how much longer I can go washing out pants every day!

Former reception teacher here. I taught a child who soiled every day and it was definitely not constipation! It was sensory - she would do it when she became deregulated in any way but would sit with it until one of us noticed (which usually didn’t take very long!) and then would have to be taken to the loo for changing. She was diagnosed with ASD the following year. Not saying that is the case at all with your DC but anxiety and disregulation can be part of the picture.

I taught several other children who regularly soiled and they all had issues with constipation so I can see why the consultant wants to be sure it’s not that first as it’s probably the most common reason. Frustrating for you though.

One of my close friend’s has a DS that was the same - it was a sensory issue that was linked to his (later) diagnosis with ASD.

@CountryGirlInTheCity thanks for the perspective of a teacher. The teachers never pick up on my sons accidents, or at least I think they choose to ignore them and I don’t blame them for that as he’s in yr 2 now, but I’m worried other children will stop playing with him because he smells. He has spare pants in his bag but he doesn’t change himself.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he has some type of ND but it would be mild. His teacher identified him as being a slow processor last year but the SEN department haven’t followed up and I haven’t chased as since going into yr2 he’s flown and all the allowances they needed to make for him in yr1 don’t stand anymore.

What I need to understand is how a parent has pursued alternative diagnoses to constipation. I get 10 mins every two months or so with the consultant so I need to make them count. So far I’ve had to specifically ask for the xray to see if he’s backed up and chase up tests he’s mentioned in passing. I know at our next appointment he’ll say the next step is another disimpaction routine which I know won’t help as he’s not impacted.