Digestive issues with DS - at a loss where to turn

[Nevergoodenoughforthem]

My DS is 12 year old. Since he was a baby he’s had very loose stools. It got progressively worse as he got older and would frequently have accidents in school.

Now he’s 12 and it goes in phases, but it’s constant. It’s getting debilitating for him. He can have a week or more of upset stomach which results in missing activities and school.

The last two years he’s also had awful sickness too. This could be due to severe allergies but they both seem to hit at the same time.

Hes been seen by hospital several times and his most recent blood tests showed nothing. GP has now advised exclusion diet, starting with diary for a month, if no improvement then try another and so on.

There is a cluster of autoimmune disease in my family and so I did suspect there could be a link but as I say, bloods came back fine.

I’m not sure where to go from here but we can’t ignore it. He’s missed another day of school today. Any ideas on where as can go for further support/investigation.

Aww that sounds so hard :-(
Does any of the poo contain blood, mucus etc?
it could be CMPA, soya allergy etc
Id deffo try an exclusion diet and see if it helps. If it’s a non IGE reaction then it won’t show on bloods / skin pricks etc.
Youbcould look for a paediatric dietitian. But maybe try the exclusion diet first to save money.
Good luck xx

It sounds like IBS-D (irritable bowel syndrome diarrhoea).

If other stuff has been ruled out then an exclusion diet is the way to go

Has he been tested for coeliac disease? Including checking antibodies - for some people, low antibodies mean a false negative so nice guidelines include checking iga levels as well.
Has he been referred to paediatric gastroenterology?
It is also worth asking for a transit study - this shows how fast the digestive system works. If the digestive system is too fast, food goes through too quickly and nutrients are not absorbed properly. If a fast transit time is suspected, there are options to slow it down (it is basically the opposite of constipation!)