plplease help. stool retention/constipation/leaking bowl prob

[smallcat]

Anyone with experience. My dd aged 2 1/2 Endured 6 terrible weeks of leaking bowl - constant smudges of poo - creating a bleeding open wound of a bottom. My dd would scream and cry and kick at every nappy change which was about every 3 minutes to 1/2 hour. Were at wits end took her to hosp and they put her on a rice krispies only diet with rice milk for 3 weeks. Problem continued just a bit less poo. Finally dd so weak and ill from no food we demanded specialist at diff hosp. He immedietly said she was full of hard poo and was leaking poo around sides. Put on poo softner, antibiotics etc then senna to clean out. This worked well for a week - sore bum cleared up as wasnt constantly leaking. Then got so bad with cramps and huge amounts of diorreah (cant spell) i stoped senna for 4 days. Eased up. then saw specialist again and he said bowl forgets what to do so have to stay on senna. Forgot to mentiopn she got put on normal food 3 weeks ago with the fibre introduced 1 week ago. While off senna she started doing normal big poo,s but this freaked her out . started senna again but she stopped pooing and got blocked up for the last week we up ed the dose and the cramps and squits are starting up again. Bum sore. Wont sit on potty. Loads of sceaming. Dont know right thing to do or say or how to handle it. Supposed to start 2 am's at nusury in sept supposed to be potty trained - she wee trained but as she has to be in nappies even thats going backwards. feel so hopeless pleaSE HELP

Hi Smallcat,

Sorry to hear of your childs problems.

This issue is a very hard one to treat, it takes a very long time for a child to 'forget' the painful times that have got the child to the point of holding poo.

The fact that the anus is painful will also make the child hold back even if not constipated.

USe some form of cream on the anal/perianalregion,(also wiping as necessary to keep it clean) to encourage some healing to happen. Any good nappy cream should help somewhat.

When constipation or holding gets to the point that loose poo is oozing out of the child it is called Encopresis. What happens is the bowel stretches to accommodate all the poo that isn't coming out. This can go on and on and on. All that happens is the childs bowel becomes fuller and fuller, with the backlog moving up through the bowel.

The child is sometimes very miserable with sore tummies etc..but not all are like this. Some kids have very poor appetites also.

It can also cause our children to have urinary infections by not allowing the bladder to empty fully if the full bowel is pushing against it.

My own daughter has had encopresis.
Now, 2 years after treatment began, she can still have constipation, but no longer 'soils'

She still needs medication, all our children do, for a long time, it is not to just get them pooing a couple of times, then stop medicine, it has to be kept going.

Sometimes blowing up a balloon can help as it uses corect muscles needed. It also helps entertain the child! as does colouring in, reading to them whilst on pot or toilet, etc, when they are sooo scared, it is for a starter, trying to at least have a 'sit' as fun...not reason to be scared, which they are, particularly when they are sore.

You really need to find a supportive and caring doctor to help both you and your child, like I have said, it is not fast fix. You will need support and guidance.

A wonderful forum that is all about encopresis is
aboutencopresis.com
there is a lot of information to be found there, also wonderful support. There are many of us, worldwide, affected by this problem.

Thinking of you,
Rosebudz.

Thankyou so much Rosebudz - your info and support was really great and ive just spent an hour reading info on the website you suggested. I feel so relieved to have some detailed and intellegent info and somewhere specific to go for advice and support. love and thanks smallcat

Rosebudz - that is a fantastic link. Our dd has encopresis and is on medication for it. Wish I'd known about this link 18m ago.
Smallcat - as Rosebudz says you can't just stop the medication. It has to be slowly reduced. Hugs to you and your dd. It's not pleasant for either of you.

Happy to have been able to point you guys to the site. Feel free to private message me to talk further if you wish.

regards
Rosebudz.

Hi there, My ds also had this problem about a year ago, we had no idea why he was leaking poo as he was six years old and been dry day and night for a good few years. I read all about this site and basically self diagosed his problem then took him straight to the doctors. i was devastated that I hadn't spotted this earlier. The trouble was, he was going to the loo every now and again, but I wasnt aware of his toilet habits. He was rather bad, so they had to get rid of the backlog ASAP with horrendous suppositories and medicine.
We as a family had a horrible, trying time over the next few months, with trying to get him into a routine and helping him with soreness and pain.

Well 9 months later he has cracked it, he goes every day without fail and is extremley proud of himself, to the point that he will tell everyone he has been.

It was a long route and we had to go back to basics and potty train a six year old to do "number2" again.

It was easier with an older child becuase you can explani all about their insides. His teacher at school was great too, as they had a good talk on the body and the workings of the inside and why it is important to flush out the yuck etc... My ds also made up a story of an oompa loompa living iside him sorting out the the good stuff from the rubbish. LOL......

I really hope you get sorted and hopefully continue to get better and better.

Take care

Fintamoo

Smallcat,
You have my huge sympathies.
I have ben there, too with dd who was just 3 at the time.
We ended up in A&E being seen by paeds. They diagnosed chronic constipation and faecal impaction with overflow.
DD was given Movicol sachets and we had a lovely community nurse see us at home for a month afterwards. DD is now ok though we still use small amounts of movicol 6 months on just to keep her regular and pain free. Her condition was caused by an anal fissure.
DD's bum was also shockingly bleeding and raw - I was given a spray to use called Cavilon. It;s a no sting barrier spray and is magic.
HTH and best of luck to you.

Hi, I'm so glad I found this thread. My dd nearly three years old is going through this and just like all of you we are at our witts end. It's not helped by the fact that we have a new addition to the family and so having to feed a newborn whilst sat on the bathroom floor holding my dd hand whislt she sobs is really hard work. Eveings are a night mare as it seems to worsen as the days goes on. She's on a lacutlose solution which worked for a couple of days but we are now back to the beginning. I'm taking her to the doctor tomorrow and having read these threads I feel confident in what I'm talking about.

It reall is heartbreaking and I just hope to god we can get over it quickly. Any advice is much appreciated.

everytime I think I am the only one - i have a look on mumsnet and know i am not not alone after all - i posted earlier this afternoon but it seems all I needed to do was read this. I hope everyone is making progress x x

Dont know if it will work with babies, but i have dont an nvq in care, we where told hot water under bottoms (not to hot, but enough to make there bottom feel warm) can help the elderly relax and help them to pass a hard stool.

I'm pleased to say that dd is on the road to recovery.However it took a visit to A&E, a night in hospital, an enima and a change in medication to get things moving.

The piece of advice I would give any parent whose child is showing symtpoms of severe consitapation and leaking bowel is go to A&E (if your doctor like mine won't listen) and insist on an xray. We saw a great doctor in A&E who rushed her down for xray which showed she was compacted with pooh and left much longer could have resulted in surgery!

We have had to go back to some basics of toilet training for a few days and we are still getting some messy pants but she's now sitting and poohing on the toilet and we;ve managed to help her change her mind set from saying "pooh hurts" to "pooh doesn;t hurt"

Yippeeee my life is returing to normal.

Trust your motherly instincts and do what feels right.

I am so glad to find this thread!

My DS has had constipation since he was a baby, on and off. He potty trained fairly early no problems but then the constipation resurfaced about 18 months ago.

My DS seems to suffer at times of stress, if DH goes away, when we moved house, starting school etc. DS's worst episode was going 10 days with no poo at all, and having an enema the day before we flew to Mexico with him leaking poo for 3 days after. Believe me I am patient but I am also fed up with scraping poo out of pants!

I have to say, my DSs school are not great. He only started this year and has been bunged up a few times and I was told, infront of him, that he has to sort himself out as they have 25 other kids to look after and haven't the time to deal with it.

So we are on day 4 of no poo, lactulose and movicol, a very good diet and DS is miserable and I am feeling pretty fed up too! The Drs prescribed the standard meds but I feel there must be something else someone can do???

I remember being really scared about taking my DD out anywhere. From being a baby until the age of about 3, she would clench her buttocks and scream whenever she needed a poo. Our doctor told us it was behavioura and told us to keep her on lactulose solution. It was obvious that she was in pain, she would go for days without a bowel movement. Socially it was isolating, grandparents were constantly suggesting that she had serious problems and would go overboard with the sympathy. Often DD would poo in the bath as it was less painful. Potty training was impossible, putting her in a car seat was a nightmare. Things changed when she was about 3, i told family and friends to ignore her behaviour and stop with the sympathy (very difficult to do) and i refused to allow the situation to reduce me to tears any longer. Aroung this time dd suffered a tummy upset, and suddenly she could poo with no problem. A very distressing time, easily forgotten and now replaced with a whole new pile of problems....headlice....homework.....bullies...etc..etc

Westcountrylass I sympathise so much. we are on day 6 of no poo - DD has been on lactulose and docusate for ages but just refuses to go. She's 2 1/2. In our case she never complains of pain in her tummy and maybe stupidly that makes me worry even more - that she has stretched her bowel so much. I expect she'll go tomorrow or the next day but it is just so exhausting emotionally.

Any ideas on how to help the parents keep calm would be appreciated!

Hi Jamhead,

you have my sympathy, I know how upsetting and frustrating it is. I was reduced to shouting (before I understood the problem) and then tears. Being a hormonal mother to a new born didn't help but I am a big fan of the "bach flower" remedies.

I took them and gave them to my DD to at least help her mentally cope better. I have a great book called "growing up with Bach Flower" by Judy Howard.(would reccomend to any parent)

Try some rescue remedy and I took Olive (for feeling exhausted mentally and physically and feeling unable to cope)

Some crictics say it's a placebo but hey does it really matter how it works?

If you got to the Dr Bach website there is a list of remedies and symptoms on there.Boots and health shops sell them and usually have leaflets helping you decide on the correct remedy.

Other than that cling on to the thought that you will get through it even though you feel you won't at times.

Good luck