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Can a toddler have IBS? Sorry long post!
Hi, my daughter is 2 and half and has problems going to the toilet since last August when she had a very bad dose of sickness and diahrrea. The virus went but the diarrea stayed and it was very distressing for her because her tummy hurt so much everytime she went for a poo. After a month i went to the doctor who took a sample to test for lactose intolarance and in the mean time i was told to keep her off milk, cheese yogurts etc and just give her soya. I did this and it did improve slightly but the results came back negative and so i found out that her stomach lining could have been weakened through the sicness and diahrrea bug she had and this can cause temporary lactose intolarance. So i kept her on soya for another 6 weeks or so but she'd still get diahrrea just not as much. I slowly put her back on cows milk (semi-skimmed), again she was ok for a while but still had the diahrrea sometimes. Then at christmas she got constipation really badly and it took us ages to get her to for a poo again properly, i changed her diet to see if it was anything she was eating but then she just got diahrea again! She was making herself ill by holding it because she was so afraid of it hurting but that obviously gave her really bad tummy pains. We put her on lactalose (sp?) which she had for a few weeks and when she went for a poo we told her she was agood girl and made a fuss. She now goes again but it is either very smelly diahrrea with a bad tummy ache or constipated with pain. I feel so sorry for her, but i have tried changing what she eats etc but it doesn't seem to help which makes me think it could be IBS. This is making potty training almost impossible as i can't have her stopping herself doing a poo because she doesn't want to go on the potty because she gets chronic pain-so bad at times she can't walk around. My doctor was useless after her lactose result came back negative, he obviously thought there was nothing wrong. I'm really quite worried now. Can anyone offer any advice about this or IBS (i don't have IBS)? does anyone know how i can ger her referred to a pediatician?
Sorry for the long post but really am stuck on what to do
Thanks x
Sorry for the long post but really am stuck on what to do
Thanks x
0
Replies
Every few weeks though she would get a flare up on the same rash then go throgh the cycle off holding herself at the slightest bit of pain. After another month of this we returned to the doctor only to be given lactulose which didn't seem to do much as it just a stool softener and more cream not an explanation as to why she had it in the first place, we were worried she was damaging her bowels by doing this. On the next visit we were given sachets of movicol to try and help her go to the toilet in one go, this helped but didn't cure the problem. After another month we finally saw a more considerate dr who really wanted to help, he sent a letter to the paediatrician with his concerns and could see why we wanted to solve the problem not just treat it when it occured.
After 2 months we saw the paediatrician who sent away swabs, turned out she had a virus in her system which made the rash flare up every few weeks. This has now been treated and so far has not returned but she is left with a fear of having a poo still. She will wee in the potty but will hide to poo or hold it all day until she has a nappy on. Even with a nappy on she won't tell us she's been and will put up a hell of a struggle to avoid being cleaned. The paediatrician said to phone him in a few months if she is still doing this as the hospital have a bowel clinic where they can give us help with her controlling her bowels and tips on how to help her. It sounds like something like this might help your little one.
I know what my dd has is a bit different to yours but at least we managed to get somewhere with the doctors and got a referral. It took lots of trips to the doctors before they would help us rather than just prescribing cream. I would go again and demand a referral to a paediatrician as the wait to see them can be quite long. Sorry I seemed to have waffled on a bit here but I hope this helps in some way and I really do feel for you.
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I am going to see the health visitor tomorrow for my 11 week old dd and i will ask her for advice about this.
I hope your dd rash stays away, thanks again for your reply.
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I'm going to phone the doctors tomorrow but i may not beable to take her until next week as i have to get a bus there and she won't walk when she is so ill (i don't have a double push chair). I am going to make sure he knows how upsetting this for her and how ill she gets and make him refer her and hopefully we'll get somewhere with it as she can't go on like this.
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I know how you feel with Emma getting so upset, now they're a bit older and more vocal they can express how they're feeling more. Megan used to scream "stop it mummy, you're hurting me" when I tried to change her nappy. Quite a few times I would cry when she was out of the room. Like you I also have another lo which made dealing with her problems harder at times, mine is 5 months now - not quite as young as yours.
I hope you get your referral and I hope that Emma feels better soon. Best of luck for your doctors appointment and remember to explain everything right from the beginning in order to give them the full picture.
Let me know how you get on and I hope Emma begins to feel better soon.
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How has Emma been this week? Any luck with seeing the doctor and getting a referral?
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Thank you for asking how it went. Hope everything is ok with you.
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Thank you for replying its nice to know some people care even if the bloody doctor doesn't!
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Thanks again for your replys
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