Advice to help my teen son

[bepositive247]

We travelled to Egypt in December and since then my 15year old son has had a stomach bug that he can't seem shift.

Every single time he eats anything and I mean anything at all, he needs to go to the toilet.

He has had blood and stool tests that have come back all clear. I am at a complete loss about how I can help him.

He is taking Buscopan, has tried Imodium too and nothing is helping.

Can anyone help with any advice please?

That sounds awful for him.
Have you thought about his gut health? A good probiotic might help. I've heard that Kefir (chilled aisle near yoghurts) is supposed to be the best. Hope he improves soon.

Thank you for replying.

It is really getting him down and I don't know how to help anymore.

Thank you for your suggestion. I will try Kefir. He has tried the probiotic yogurt drinks which haven't helped yet.

Do you know if they tested for parasitic infection?

A friend's DD's chronic digestive problems was eventually (after more than a year) diagnosed with an unusual parasite she'd picked up on her gap year travels. She'd had loads of tests and even a short stay as an in-patient and yet it still took ages to diagnose. She is healthy and parasite-free now!

(Sorry about the appalling grammar on that post - I should have read it back before posting!)

Back to the drs. Ask for more tests.
Also keep a food diary just in case it’s anything food related, and if it’s not then it can be ruled out quicker.

Thank you for your suggestions. This will help me go back to the doctor with some more suggestions. I'm sure the doctor is sick of me now too.

I will ask him to keep a good diary too. Even though it is after meal or snack he's having, but there's no harm doing that

You need prebiotics, not just probiotics. The bacteria don't just need to be put in his tummy but looked after. Bimuno is good and is just a powder that can be put in a warm drink as it's the food for the bacteria not the actual bacteria which heat will kill. Avoid dairy too. Sometimes it can re trigger a bug.

There's a program on tv at the moment called Know Your Sh1t and last week they had a woman on who had had food poisoning from eating something in Iceland years ago and never been the same since, I can't remember exactly what they recommended but she got sorted, you could watch it on catch up

Does the doctor know its since he travelled to Egypt?

Yes, the doctor knows he's travelled to Egypt.

We all suffered some discomfort in our stomachs, which cleared after a few days. His problem has continued for weeks now and it's got to a stage where it's starting to cause him anxiety and he's not eating at school or whenever he isn't at home

Thank you for the suggestion about the TV show. I will watch that on catch up to see if I can get any useful information from there to help him

Keep going back to the GP.
It's not clearing up.
It's affecting your son's quality of life now.
Don't worrying about annoying your GP, they are getting paid to do their job.

Thank you for your advice.

The doctor left a message yesterday and they suggested he try taking Imodium to ease his symptoms.

I'm not sure if that's the solution to this.

I have left a message to ask them if can have more tests

Get a good quality probiotic and prebiotic supplement. I'm pretty sure boots do some. Yogurts don't have enough added to really sort your gut out I don't think. Immodium will probably slow down his bowel movements but it's unlikely to sort the source of the problem.

Did he ever get antibiotics? If not ask for a weeks worth of Metronidazole even if not IBD it could mop up excess bacteria in the gut then try use enterosgel until full recovered.

I know he has had tests but it does sound parasitic to me. When my ex and I went to Indonesia he picked up something called giardiasis which he struggled with for ages until a doctor cottoned on and gave him the right stuff. Sounds very similar to your son’s symptoms. I hope you get answers and he’s better soon.

I had this many moons ago after travelling in Spain and eating veal. Was ill off and on for about a year - projectile vomiting (literally hitting the opposite wall!) and terrible stomach cramps. After going back and forth to the doctors they made me take a barium meal for tests (is that even still a thing?) as they thought I had some sort of parasite. The barium meal <ahem> cleared me out and the symptoms stopped so I can only assume the parasite was evicted. Your ds sounds similar to how I was so it's well worth insisting on tests or treatment similar to what worked for me.

Erm, the doctor didn't just be saying take more imodium. They should be looking for the cause and not just treating the symptoms and hoping it will magically sorry itself out.

I assume he is washing his hands really well after each time he goes to the loo, as otherwise he just going to keep reinfecting himself and eventually you. He's taking lots of water to make up for the fluid loss? And he'll need salts to make up for the nutrients he's losing. Pre and probiotics won't be able to stay in his stomach long enough to do any good really.

This week sound out there, but I had similar in Jordan and was advised by the locals to drink chamomile tea until it was cleared and that got rid of it.

Maybe - and check on this - he could do with a pure liquid diet for a day or so. This might reset his stomach.

*will not week
Shouldn't not didn't

Mumsnet needs to build an edit function rather than a vibrator.

I would ask for a referral to UCH tropical diseases clinic. He may have picked up something that usual tests won't pick up.

Might be worth cutting lactose out of diet.

Came to say the same as @Clymene he needs to be investigated for a tropical disease -

In other countries, like Australia the GP's know more about bugs like giardia have a look at those symptoms and if it fits ask for specific treatment alongside the referral if no better.

Regular diarolyte/electrolytes will be important for him too -

Thank you to everyone who has come back with all your helpful advice. I really appreciate it.

I have asked for another appointment to speak to the doctor and have been told someone will call me back early next week.

I have made a note of all the advice and will push for extra tests to be done and suggest the medication that was mentioned in a previous post.

He did eat meat while we were away, but I assumed that an infection would have showed up in the stool sample. It seems he needs a specific test to check for the parasites problem.

He does wash his hands well and uses gel too.

He is due to go on DofE expedition in a couple of months but he is now anxious about it and has spoken about pulling out as he doesn't think he is going to manage the long days or the specific foods they have to eat. But that's in the future and I'll worry about that closer to the time.

Thank you all again