advertisement
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-17-2008, 07:44 AM #1
Motors Mommy Motors Mommy is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Sealy, Texas
Posts: 405
15 yr Member
Motors Mommy Motors Mommy is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Sealy, Texas
Posts: 405
15 yr Member
Default Constipation and Autism

Is constipation common for kids with Autism?

My 4 yo has never had a "normal" bowel movement in his life! He will go for days w/o anything or just a "smear" in his diaper. Then the sever cramping hits followed by screaming and clenching of his butt cheeks. needless to say this doesnt help.

Our doctor put him on miralax which makes it like pudding/fudge consistency but still no where near a normal amt. This is really hindering potty training.

The doctor suggested trying the metamucil wafers. He had 2/3 in 3 days. nothing. I also have IBS so I tried them 6/day for 2 days. OMG!!!!! Its like cement in my colon. No wonder he is so bad off. he continually screamed help me last night. we tried all the tricks, warm bath, lots of fruit, his special juice, gatorade, including a suppository ...nothing!!!!

Calling Dr. this am.

any suggestions appreciated. Ty: confused:
Motors Mommy is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 04-17-2008, 07:35 PM #2
misshayleesmom's Avatar
misshayleesmom misshayleesmom is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: windsor ontario canada
Posts: 305
15 yr Member
misshayleesmom misshayleesmom is offline
Member
misshayleesmom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: windsor ontario canada
Posts: 305
15 yr Member
Default

My dd is the same way, she's 8.
She will get so backed up that when she finally does go she will bleed.

So ped put her on lansoyl, you can get it here in Canada, not sure about the U.S. It's like a jelly and she loves the taste.

Her poops are huge, i'm surprised she doesn't tear.
I'm getting so more for her since ped wants to up her dosage.

I hope this helps.
misshayleesmom is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
"Thanks for this!" says:
Motors Mommy (04-17-2008)
Old 04-18-2008, 12:28 AM #3
RathyKay RathyKay is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 144
15 yr Member
RathyKay RathyKay is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 144
15 yr Member
Default

We are seeing a DAN! doctor. My son is not technically autistic, but he has some quirks and has responded very well to the "autism diet," so we're trying to see what other things are available to help us. Anyway, when things got very bad constipation-wise for Tom, I called our DAN! doc. He had us use magnesium citrate (for Tom, it was 6 oz because he was 6 years old. For your son, maybe 4 oz because he's 4?). You also give the same amount of water. Once it's all gone, you wait 1/2 hour and then give an enema. Mag citrate brings liquid to the colon and it will help dissolve the stool in there. Then, the enema comes from the other end to encourage everything to flush out. We were told to repeat this as many times as needed until all we got was liquid stool. That first time, we did it 4 times until things were "clear." (We actually got liquid stool the first time, but I knew he was still backed up, so I repeated it until the blockage came out and everything was clear after that.)

Once you get him clear, you need to track things. Do not let him get backed up so much. Part of what happens is that it hurts to go, they try to avoid it, the colon gets bigger and bigger, because the colon is bigger they don't feel the urge as often, it hurts to go... a bad cycle. Anyway, we were told to repeat the mag citrate / enema at the first sign of trouble. Don't wait for it to get bad. It takes time for the colon to shrink to a more normal size.

A few other things...
*We found that some of the artificial sweeteners (manitol, sorbitol) that were in some of his supplements contributed to the constipation.
*Fruit (and fruit juice) does not help Tom's constipation. While it does seem to soften the stool, it also feeds the yeast in his intestinal tract, and the yeast make it harder to push the stool out. Tom seems to do better the less fruit he consumes.

Last, I'm not sure what kind of diet you're feeding him, but dairy is known to be constipating. We've gone pretty Paleo (caveman) in our diet, and Tom is doing much better, in more ways than poop.

Good luck.
__________________
Mom to Samantha (10), Claire (9), and Tom (7). Tom is developmentally delayed with poor vision, lousy fine motor skills and epilepsy. His seizures are pretty well controlled through diet - dairy-free, gluten-free, rice-free, and coconut-free.
RathyKay is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 04-18-2008, 06:47 AM #4
soxmom soxmom is offline
Magnate
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: massachusetts
Posts: 2,740
15 yr Member
soxmom soxmom is offline
Magnate
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: massachusetts
Posts: 2,740
15 yr Member
Default

How about some mineral oil in some juice. Put in a couple of teaspoons.
I used it when my 3 year old was potty training and was withholding
because I had taken his diapers off. Worked like a charm.

Sox
soxmom is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 04-23-2008, 03:30 AM #5
wallyw1 wallyw1 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: NE New York
Posts: 20
15 yr Member
wallyw1 wallyw1 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: NE New York
Posts: 20
15 yr Member
Default

I hope one of these would be helpful:
http://www.fruit-eze.com/

Enemeez may have age recommendations, not sure about young children:

http://www.enemeez.com/

Our 41 year old son (non-verbal autism) had the same problem all of his life.
The enemeez really helped.
wallyw1 is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 04-25-2008, 09:30 PM #6
minymo minymo is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 101
15 yr Member
minymo minymo is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 101
15 yr Member
Default

I found out that consistently drinking enough is crucial and that children tend to go as soon as you put them in a hot bath.
minymo is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 05-31-2009, 03:06 PM #7
EYECAN EYECAN is offline
New Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Posts: 2
15 yr Member
EYECAN EYECAN is offline
New Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Posts: 2
15 yr Member
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Motors Mommy View Post
Is constipation common for kids with Autism?

My 4 yo has never had a "normal" bowel movement in his life! He will go for days w/o anything or just a "smear" in his diaper. Then the sever cramping hits followed by screaming and clenching of his butt cheeks. needless to say this doesnt help.

Our doctor put him on miralax which makes it like pudding/fudge consistency but still no where near a normal amt. This is really hindering potty training.

The doctor suggested trying the metamucil wafers. He had 2/3 in 3 days. nothing. I also have IBS so I tried them 6/day for 2 days. OMG!!!!! Its like cement in my colon. No wonder he is so bad off. he continually screamed help me last night. we tried all the tricks, warm bath, lots of fruit, his special juice, gatorade, including a suppository ...nothing!!!!

Calling Dr. this am.

any suggestions appreciated. Ty: confused:
Have you tried cutting out milk and all dairy products? You might also want to check out osteopathy......................
EYECAN is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 06-05-2009, 05:42 PM #8
kicker's Avatar
kicker kicker is offline
Grand Magnate
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Ellicott City, MD
Posts: 3,834
15 yr Member
kicker kicker is offline
Grand Magnate
kicker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Ellicott City, MD
Posts: 3,834
15 yr Member
Default

1-2X a day I have Benefiber in a beverage, Fiber One (51% of day's fiber)with Cranberries every other day, Eat my apricots every so often. I have MS constipation but wow, have gotten improvement. Drinking water and fluids always good for everything
If he's impacted, pooping hard big balls, maybe see a colonologist or whatever they call them.
__________________
Kicker
PPMS, DXed 2002 Queen of Maryland
Wise Elder no matter what my count is.
kicker is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 06-17-2009, 05:59 PM #9
Piper Piper is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 8
15 yr Member
Piper Piper is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 8
15 yr Member
Default

My 4 yo dd does this, miralax has worked for us. I think it is common in autism.
Piper is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 11-17-2009, 10:55 AM #10
loriemarie loriemarie is offline
New Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 1
10 yr Member
loriemarie loriemarie is offline
New Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 1
10 yr Member
Default

My 5 year old is the same way. He was put on the miralax a couple years ago. It was way too strong for him. He was having accidents all the time. The thing that works best for us is the glycerine suppositories. They usually work within 10-15 minutes. It doesn't make it any softer, but it gets it out. I recently tried the pedia-lax fiber gummies, but no sucess with those yet. He only goes about once a week, and usually needs the help of the suppositories. It's awful!
loriemarie is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Opiod Constipation sallymander Peripheral Neuropathy 27 04-08-2008 03:02 PM
Drugs causing constipation Brian Peripheral Neuropathy 4 06-11-2007 05:07 AM
Constipation Help rsdno Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD and CRPS) 0 04-01-2007 03:46 PM
Constipation! Junie Chronic Pain 28 11-17-2006 04:35 PM


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:06 PM.

Powered by vBulletin • Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

vBulletin Optimisation provided by vB Optimise v2.7.1 (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
 

NeuroTalk Forums

Helping support those with neurological and related conditions.

 

The material on this site is for informational purposes only,
and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment
provided by a qualified health care provider.


Always consult your doctor before trying anything you read here.