HealthCareMagic is now Ask A Doctor - 24x7 | https://www.askadoctor24x7.com

Get your health question answered instantly from our pool of 18000+ doctors from over 80 specialties
159 Doctors Online

By proceeding, I accept the Terms and Conditions

Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

HCM Blog Instant Access to Doctors
HCM BlogQuestions Answered
HCM Blog Satisfaction

Child Treated With Enemas And Laxative For Constipation But Still Have Stomach Pain And Swollen Belly

My daughter is 7 years old and for the past 2 years she has suffered with constipation. I have told her pediatrician and she has been since recently in nov 2013 and just feb 19 at the Children's Hospital in Columbus at the Gastroenterology department. My question for you is she has used enemas, sennonex laxative, duculax pills and suppositories, miralax 17 grams twice a day and has done 4 bowel cleanser with miralax and duculax two pills. She is no better from the initial first visit at children's. She has a swollen belly, she complains of stomach pain, she vomits a lot so much she has been prescribed Zofran for over 3 months now.She cannot sleep well, she is always tired, she lays in bed because she hurts so bad and doesn't want to move around. In the past 3 months she has been in the hospital for getting dehydrated and she becomes really pale looking, I 've took her to her pediatrician and he says he will put her in the hospital give her an IV, anitbotics and by the next morning she is feeling better.Her white cell count go downs and a few weeks later she goes through the same routine.She has done this dec, jan and feb where she gets really sick and the doctor puts her in the hospital for a day.I don't know if the constipation is doing it but I have told the G.I doctor and given him her medical chart. When we went to the last G.I visit the doctor said he wanted to increase her mirlax to 2 capfuls twice a day and if that didn't help to go to 2 1/2 capfuls twice a day plus do another bowel cleanser.She gets very sick from doing the bowel cleanser and they barely get anything out. I have told the doctor this but he insist on increasing her medicines and her taking another bowel cleanser.He said she was on low doses and he needs to increase them before he will do any other treatment or testing. I am wanting him to do testing because she is not getting any better and he says it's not to that stage. I need some help my daughter is getting worse and the doctor won't listen to my concerns. I have changed her diet she is eating lots of fiber, very little process foods, drinking lots of water. She takes a fiber supplement , she doesn't eat any foods that have dairy because he said she was allergic to dairy.She has had several x rays on her stomach and the x rays have shown her stomach is full of stool.She has done enemas after the x rays and nothing comes out. She has missed a lot of school because she is to sick to attend and this condition is literally taking over her life. Do you think this is the right treatment plan for her or should the doctor be doing something else? I am very concerned and the G.I. doctor seems to not listen to my concerns? Also when she was first born, she was born at 37 weeks, she didn't have any problems breathing and everything seemed normal. I tried to breast feed for almost a month, but after she had to be switched to formula. After she started formula she began projectile vomiting after she would eat. I took her to the pediatrician and he said he would change formulas. She first was on a milk base than switched to soy based. She still continued to projectile vomit, so he gave her medicine for acid reflux. She took that medication until she was eating solid foods and not longer on any formula. We didn't know she had a dairy problem, when she was little the food allergy testing was done in nov 2013 and it only came back as though it was barely high.Her allergy doctor told me he didn't think the milk allergy was causing the constipation because it wasn't high enough to be a true allergy. The G.I doctor said to take her off from milk because he thought that was one reason her stomach was irritated. When she was just a few months old she did have a test done where you swallowed a solution and they checked her stomach to make sure the food was going through since she was projectile vomiting. The test came back fine, the doctor looked at her with some sort of machine and it showed the food was going through. Her pediatrician never found the cause for the projectile vomiting and she was kept on soy formula and acid reflux medication until she was about 15 months old.I have no idea if that is related to her having stomach problems today or not.
Wed, 26 Feb 2014
Report Abuse
General Surgeon 's  Response
Namasthe
Welcome to Healthcare-Magic
Greetings of the day


Majority of the cause of constipation in children is related to diet factors. Its more common among those children who have the following
1. Diet mainly consists of milk based feeds
2. Decreased intake of water
3. improper weaning diet

I would suggest you the following which will definitely help

1. Reassessment of symptoms by Pediatric Surgeon: Who would like to rule out fissure in anus or Hirschsprung's disease as cause of symptoms
2. Ensuring adequate intake of water: One cup of plain water 1 hour before and one hour after feeds will ensure adequate intake of water which will help in making the consistency of stools soft
3. High fiber diet: 2 serving of vegetable salad and citrus fruits a day will be very helpful in ensuring adequate fiber intake

In case you need any further assistance, will be glad to assist you.

Wishing you happy and healthy life

Take Care

Best Regards
Dr Deepak K K
MBBS,MS,MCH
I find this answer helpful

Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.
Disclaimer: These answers are for your information only and not intended to replace your relationship with your treating physician.
This is a short, free answer. For a more detailed, immediate answer, try our premium service [Sample answer]
Share on
 

Recent questions on Milk allergy


Loading Online Doctors....
Child Treated With Enemas And Laxative For Constipation But Still Have Stomach Pain And Swollen Belly

Namasthe Welcome to Healthcare-Magic Greetings of the day Majority of the cause of constipation in children is related to diet factors. Its more common among those children who have the following 1. Diet mainly consists of milk based feeds 2. Decreased intake of water 3. improper weaning diet I would suggest you the following which will definitely help 1. Reassessment of symptoms by Pediatric Surgeon: Who would like to rule out fissure in anus or Hirschsprung s disease as cause of symptoms 2. Ensuring adequate intake of water: One cup of plain water 1 hour before and one hour after feeds will ensure adequate intake of water which will help in making the consistency of stools soft 3. High fiber diet: 2 serving of vegetable salad and citrus fruits a day will be very helpful in ensuring adequate fiber intake In case you need any further assistance, will be glad to assist you. Wishing you happy and healthy life Take Care Best Regards Dr Deepak K K MBBS,MS,MCH