Colon cleansing for kids?? Please!!!!!!!! More questions at the end...

[hey mommy]

We think we have figured out why C is throwing up so much.. B/c his intestines are so backed up and full of poop that there is no where for anything else to go.

This isn't the first time either.. So we're looking into some kind of colon cleansing for him. I know that Dr. Natura(the colonix guy) has Paranil Jr., which is for kids. I'm thinking of getting that. Along w/lots of water and fiber..

Anyone know of anything else I could w/or instead of it?

Thanks! we're desperate..

ETA that he has a drs appt. on Tues. morning and we are going to finally take him off dairy(the trouble is getting dh on board w/it. He doesn't see the connection). Hopefully this will all help.

[ChristmasGirl]

are you only looking for natural, or would you be interested in what our gastroenterologist has us do with my ds?

I know this is so tough to have your kids go through...we've been at this for awhile now, and it's not fun :( lots of :hugs to you both

[allisonintx]

I'll tell you, with kids, once they get that backed up, the Miralax protocol is the ticket, and then rebuilding the gut flora with natural stuff to keep it moving right.

[hey mommy]

are you only looking for natural, or would you be interested in what our gastroenterologist has us do with my ds?

I know this is so tough to have your kids go through...we've been at this for awhile now, and it's not fun :( lots of :hugs to you both


Anything!!


He's been taking Mirilax(sp?) for the past couple of months and I have noticed a difference. But in the past couple of weeks his poops have gotten smaller and less frequent, and then he started vomiting, etc.. Honestly, it all started when we moved and there was a lot of stuff going on. BUT, this happens every couple of months, w/or w/o stress, so I have no idea what is going on..

[allisonintx]

has he been evaluated to make sure he doesn't have a bowel torsion, parasites or some other 'zebra' causing the trouble?

[hey mommy]

No. He has a ddr. appt. on Tuesday to find out what is going on. I talked to DH about getting the Paranil Jr(which is a parastite killer), but he said not to right now. He wants to just try the fiber first..

I've never heard of bowel torsion, but i"m off to google it.

[ChristmasGirl]

what dose of miralax has he been on? do you do "mini-flushes" on the weekends to get out excess poop that may have built up during the week? doing that is key to keeping them from gradually backing up... to do that, you just add an extra dose in on, say, saturday mornings, so that he'd have 2 doses on that day. the goal is to have runny/watery diahhrea.

at this point, i would say, since you know the miralax is tolerated by him, to give him 1/2 or 1 capful (1 capful is probably better if you're comfortable giving him that much) morning and night for 2-4 days until he has that watery diahhrea. We've gone the enema route with ds, and it is NOT fun...he basically was set back emotionally a few months because it was so traumatic :(

you can also use milk of magnesium (ds is on this since he reacts to miralax)...we use 3-4 tsp. as a dose (he's 40pounds) but it's not supposed to be as effect as miralax

can use magnesium citrate (10 oz bottle)...they told me to give it to 8yo dd 4 oz. every 4 hours until gone, repeat the next day if necessary...not sure about dosing for younger.

let me know if you need more ideas....i know i had a good thread awhile back that people mentioned some good ideas, only right now i've stuck to what i know works since ds' situation can deteriorate quickly back into be backed up.

[ChristmasGirl]

also, we use benefiber right now with dd, we gradually weaned her off the miralax and increased the fiber. got her down to only doing fiber during the week, with miralax on saturdays as a mini-flush. she just got constipated again though, so she's back on miralax.

Is he hoping to get the impacted poop out with fiber alone? :scratch

Are you seeing a gastroenterologist? they honestly are a LOT more knowledgable than the average pediatrician, so if there is ANY way you could see one i think it'd be good to.

[allisonintx]

If you have a perpetually constipated child, you can also put them on a daily dose of chlorophyll in some orange juice (about 1oz chlorophyll to 4-5oz juice of any kind) and it will really help, plus get them a megadose of 'green foods' in the process.

[hey mommy]

We've been giving him the 2T(or was it ts.) that the dr. said to give him.. I never thought of giving him 2 doses on the weekends.. I'll try that.. In fact, he'll get some now and again tonight...

[hey mommy]

Thanks for all the info ladies..

He hasn't seen a gastroenterologist.. I'll see about getting a referral at his dr. appt..

Allison, is there any certain kind to try? Should I do that w/the miralax and other stuff? Do you mean a 'green foods' supplement or actual green foods? B/c the only green foods he'll eat are frozen peas/green beans(but they have to still be frozen. he wont eat them if they defrost at all).

[allisonintx]

Green beans are a starch, not a 'green food' technically.

I'm just talking about the chlorophyll which qualifies as a "green food" I like unflavored, NOT MINT! Any brand will do but I like DeSouzas because it hides easily in juice (except for turning it swamp green!)

[hey mommy]

Green beans are a starch, not a 'green food' technically.

I'm just talking about the chlorophyll which qualifies as a "green food" I like unflavored, NOT MINT! Any brand will do but I like DeSouzas because it hides easily in juice (except for turning it swamp green!)


Thanks..

OOh, I'm a bonehead. What about the Odwalla SuperFood juice? he LOOVES that juice.. http://www.odwalla.com/product1.asp?p=beverages&id=18

[allisonintx]

It's expensive, but it's good stuff.

[hey mommy]

It's expensive, but it's good stuff.


Good to know. I buy it at Costco. 32oz(I believe, maybe more) for $5.99.. In grocery stores it is $8.99

[hey mommy]

Okay, some questions I thought of today while the board was closed.

1.. How does the chlorophyll work? What does it do?

2. How can we get the impacted poop out of there??

NASTY TMI BELOW!!

Today he was better. He had some diareah(sp?) poop first thing this morning(scary way to wake up, btw.. Turn over and see your kid holding a pull-up full of runny poop asking "where does this go??" EWW) and then he had 2 more poops that looked like peanut butter(yeah, made lunch interesting...).. Same color and constitancy. Is that normal??

[allisonintx]

Chlorophyll is green food. Green foods make soft poop. I think that after having impacted poop, the consistancy of peanutbutter is about what it *should* be all the time to teach the stretch receptors in his bowel to recognize fullness without waiting until it's so bad he's puking!

[ChristmasGirl]

TMI...but if it has been impacted, you can still leak around it...so it may look like he's going regularly, but still be leaking around a blockage. dr. can do a rectal exam to feel for a ball, or do an xray to see what's going on. he really needs to empty out before you can be confident that it's gone... I thought i did enough of a cleanse with my dd 2 weeks ago, but xray shows there's still a lot in there :sigh AND, if it's been up in there for awhile-it will smell n.a.s.t.y. :sick

Allison, do much chlorophyll do you use for kids (4yo and 8yo)?

[allisonintx]

About 1oz each day.

Would Colace help soften a ball? It's easy to give and doesn't leave the GI tract.

[joyful mama]

About 1oz each day.

Would Colace help soften a ball? It's easy to give and doesn't leave the GI tract.
would pericolace (http://store.darisimall.com/436030.html) be a better option? I think senna/senakot is pretty effective. colace is, too, but pericolace seems to be a bit better since its both colace and senna :think. We gets lots of children who are 'backed up' at the hospital, and we do miralax and colace, senna on occassion, ducolax and ducoloax and glycerin suppositories. Prune juice (warmed, cold) seems to help sometimes, too, but it sounds like he might need something stronger. The last course of action is generally enemas, and there are several different kinds.

Ya know, a glycerin suppository might not be a bad option :think. They are otc, and they had pediatric ones. it won't be fun, but it will be quick, and the 'digital stimulation' might help him pass the huge ball thats stuck.

:hug. I'm sure this is hard for you all. Fwiw, 'peanut butter' consistency is a good sign.

[hey mommy]

We've used glycerin suppositories in the past when he would hold it in. Now we tell him we're going to have to use one and he runs for hte bathroom yelling "NO i'll poop! I'll poop!!!". and he does. This weekend we've been doubling the dose on Miralax, giving lots of prune juice and stuff, and fruit.. no crackers, etc..

We've tried colace in the past, but it tasted sooo aweful that he refused to go near it. I couldn't even hide in really strong juice.

fortunatly he loves prune juice, so he's been drinking that(he actually prefers the gerber baby apple/prune juice for some reason).
He did a big poop this morning, but it wasn't the peanut butter constinacy. Close though. And it was a lot. More than I've seen him do in months.

[bluedotsmom]

So sorry you and ds are going through this.

You mentioned dairy in your first post. Please, try stopping dairy - milk, cheese, ice cream. It is what finally got my oldest dd over a 2+ year battle with terrible constipation. Most docs will say, no dairy can't cause constipation. But many find this is the case.

You've gotten great info about other things to try, too. milk of magnesia, glycerin suppositories and crying mom & dd were constant at my house. (you can search my user name for some links with the long story if you want.)

So, try stopping dairy and see if that helps as well. Hugs to both of you.

[allisonintx]

Definately consider eliminating dairy if your child has any Native American blood. They seem to be especially sensitive.