diorhea question again....

[mommycat]

DD, aged 4, has been out of school with runny bottom quite a few times since the year began. We have been to the GP and she's had a stool test and it came up nothing wrong.

(Re: stool tests, I had about 3 in 1991, all clear, and was then hospitalised for amoebic dyssentry on my liver - because they had not found the bug it had moved to the liver and formed an abcess - but DD has not been abroad and neither have I, not to anywhere outside Europe and the US. I have not had anything since 1991. )

Anyway. Only one of those occassions did DD have a fever or any other symptoms of being sick.

I wonder if it is the school food, or an allergy, or if we should demand a referral to see a pediatrician, or go private, or what? DD seems to get this about every 2 weeks, always mid week, and did not get it on half term. So I wonder if it is school food? She asks for a pack lunch but she has never been a great eater, and I'd like her to try new foods rather than eat jam sandwiches 3 times a day.

Any advice welcome...

What does she eat now?

Does she eat lots of fruit or drink lots of fruit juices?

If her doctor is not going to do anything about it, i'd seek a second opinion. Why don't you get your local health visitor to refer her to a dietician? It can be done.

Doctor's tend to look on the outside, not whats really going on inside.

Does she eat lots of sweets?
Does she get enough fibre and water?

You can try giving ger dioralyte for children to replace salts lost.

See if that works. But only do what the instructions say as there can be adverse affects if carried on.

I would get her checked out for IBS, irritable bowel syndrome.

Take a look on the NHS Choice webside, under child health and diarrhoea.

Hope this helps
x

Thank you. DDS does eat a lot of fruit. And will often refuse carbohydrates. For example tonite she would only eat some meat, cheese and yoghurt. At other times she eats only jam sandwiches or plain pasta. She does have some vegetables but like most kids, they are not her favourite.

We use the diorlyte when she has runny bottom but not other times.

I do wonder if it is dehydration. DD has never been a good eater. If she has a drink before a meal she won't eat a thing. So we sometimes forget to offer a drink after a meal. and we don't give drinks too close to meal times as it would spoil her appetite. I have to remember to give more drinks (juice or water, we try to avoid sugary drinks)

Thanks

I would ask for a referral to a Paediatrician. DS was slow in gaining weight and we've just found out he's anaemic! Am a bit puzzled why it wasn't picked up earlier.

Anyway, don't try and diagnose it yourself -- I went crazy trying to figure it out with DS and then the Paed pointed out that I wasn't trained in clinical matters! He said it in the nicest possible way