faecal impaction misdiagnosis and link to low iron levels

[impactionandiron]

My son aged 6 has finally been diagnosed with faecal impaction and put on movicol. This was missed by the paediatrician for a long time due to his only having overflow and no obvious straining. Over the last couple of years we were throwing away 6 pairs of pants a day due to soiling and there were as many wetting accidents. This was affecting his behaviour and friendships and generally impacting on his whole life and obviously affecting the rest of the family too. It was only found when I sought a second opinion requesting an x-ray.

Does anyone have any experience of this condition and especially the difficulty with diagnosis and the strain this puts on the child and family??

My son has also been found to have low iron levels despite the nutritionist reporting that his diet contains enough iron. Can anyone suggest why this might be as the coeliac blood test has reported negative. Could the faecal impaction have affected iron absorption??

All help and support greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

I have dual posted in health and potty training but if you think I should have posted elsewhere please advise.

I'm not a dietitian, but wanted to suggest that iron is best utilised if taken with vitamin c, as this helps its absorption. So including orange juice or vitamin c rich fruits and veg with his iron rich foods at each meal will be more useful. He could also be prescribed a paediatric iron suspension as a supplement, but maybe that will constipate him more!

I do think personally that a slow gut transit might affect the absorption of nutrients to some extent, but that is my opinion and not expert.

I admit I have never had to cope with this but do appreciate how difficult it must be for you all.

As an aside, I'm sure I read somewhere that exercise helps improve peristalsis, particularly running and climbing where the abdominal muscles are worked a lot.