Persistent blood in toddler poo/CMPA

[AutumnHello453324]

My 2 year old was diagnosed with CMPA at a few months old. We have attempted the dairy ladder a few times, last time was 2 months ago. When we got to fresh cheese, he started getting blood in his bowel movements again. We stopped the dairy but he then immediately also accidentally had some soy products which we know also cause a reaction in him.

He has been totally dairy and soy free for almost 5 weeks but the bloody poos haven't stopped. It's several times a day. Just small amounts of fresh bright red blood.

GP wouldn't see us until we are dairy free for 6 weeks but in the past when the dairy stopped, the bloody poos stopped within 2-3 days. I know it takes 6 weeks for dairy to completely leave your system but his symptoms have always previously improved within days!

Anyone else gone through this?

The length of time makes no sense as he is ok with baked dairy, has been ok with it since 12 months. So his CMPA is not even that bad, we should be on the right track.

Could it be something else?

No other symptoms. No fussiness etc. Weight gain is ok.

Just bumping this for you OP.
MNHQ

Has the GP sent stool samples away for testing before, for pathogens or anything to do with Crohn's?

Nope, just said to wait 6 weeks to settle but I'm quite worried.

My DS had problems with blood in his stool at that age. His was indirectly dairy related. The GP didn’t realise this but thought that it was triggered by constipation and one of the veins was a bit sensitive and so kept reopening a the amount of blood was worrying.

We discovered it stopped completely when he came off full fat milk (and now at 7, it looks like he has a dairy tolerance). So I guess it could be something like that and it’s taking a while to heal?

You could ask for a calprotectin test for inflammation - but that can be caused by intolerances and allergies, infections and so on. I think I’d want some tests done or at least some medical advice in view of how long it’s gone on for.

I’d usually expect blood in stool from cmpa/I to have settled by now. Any signs of constipation? As, if so, softening the stool tends to help the blood settle. If no constipation, I’d be tempted to do a faecal calprotectin, as a normal result would give a fair bit of reassurance.