Encopresis - Is Anyone Else Dealing with This?

My daughter was a withholder who also was on Miralax every day for a year. The doctors wanted us to do enemas to make her go, but I thought it would just scare her even more. Her bowls would "leak" a lot which was actually the laxative causing bm to drain around a larger bm. We did not know what to do anymore---we tried everything from rewards to getting mad at her. My first question for you is does he eat a lot of cheese or cheesie things and drink milk? My daughter was addicted to milk and anything w/cheese. We have a friend who suggested that we take her off of dairy and try goats milk. Cows milk has a protein in it that is hard for little ones to digest and goats milk is much easier on the tummy.

She's been off of dairy for about eight months and she's doing great!!! We don't specifically read labels for dairy, but we don't give her things made specifically out of dairy. We've also taken her off of cheese crackers. Another snack to avoid is gummie snacks---they are very binding. Peanut butter should also be limited...it's pretty constipating. We still give her some peanut butter, but we also give her almond butter. A great snack for him could also be pecans and grapes---pecans are very high in fiber.

I don't know if this will help, but it has made my family's life better. She may not go everyday like the dr's wanted her too, but she goes every two to three days (which is better than every 7 to 10!) and no more leaking!!! Good luck!

Have you had him tested for Celiac? It's an intollerance to gluten, and can cause bowel movement issues. Other than that, I really don't know! I hope you find some answers and some help soon!!

They usually use the laxatives for the first clean out and to make the children that are withholders go to the potty and not be able to with hold poop. I know that miralaw works very well and it keeps the poop solid. It is very hard to get people to understand encopresis many times I think us parents just need someone to sound off on about it. I have had people tell me my one child who is a withholder is lazy, etc. I frankly have been at my wits end with it as well and it doesn't seem to be getting better if fact some days worse except that he is a withholder and never has a mess at school. I too am researching for help I'd consider a second opinion sometimes and look at the atlanta parents magazine there's an add in it for a group that helps with this issue if I find it here real soon I will pass on the info. My prayers are with you I know it's hard and I too look forward to the poop being in the potty.

No I haven't had this experience, but would get on the internet and research it out very well and then decide if you need to see another doctor. Behavior modification therapy might work for him also. I don't believe for a minute that he is being naughty, so check out the behavior modification therapies. Your doctor might help you to know who does this.

We dealt with encopresis once, but I don't think my situation relates much to yours. I'll relate our experience though in case you can find any grains to help in yours.

My son was 4 and potty trained. He started having trouble "going". He would complain that it hurt and he would sit there a long time trying to go. Then only a teeny bit would come out when he did. Eventually he got so blocked up that the encopresis started. My understanding of it was that there was a blockade of poo there and that little bits would involutarily leak from behind it. We tried glycerin suppositories, but this did not make anything happen. We also changed his diet. In his case the culprit seemed to be milk. Before he would drink probably 4 glasses of milk a day. We cut that back to 1/2 cup max per day and made him drink lots more juice. As well as high fiber cereal like Fiber One and fruits with skins on.

Diet change alone did not remove the blockage though. I had to do 2 enemas with him which cleaned him out. Then he was ona stool softener for a few weeks as he had a fear of going now as it had hurt before.

After he got cleaned out he started going regularly again and the diet change seemed to keep things moving. We still don't allow him more than half a cup of milk a day and generally don't give him any. All dairy we try to keep to a minimum.

So, you see mine seemed to mainly be a dietary issue, not a psysiological one or psychological one. But perhaps there's something you can glean here......

If you've only been seeing one doctor, or one pediatrician and neurologist, I would definitely get some second and even maybe third or fourth opinions! I know this must be a terribly frustrating situation for all of you! Also, while I know nothing about different neurological issues, I would be very hesitant to take the advice of constantly using laxatives and enemas (I see that you quit doing the laxatives, and that's probably a good thing). Even natural ones should be used only when really needed because they can really mess up a person's natural function and cause life-long problems. I think this advice alone would send me to another doctor.

Hi B.,
It sounds like your son has a lot of neurological issues that could be corrected by chiropractic care. I am a chiropractor, I believe treatment would greatly help him or if not, the chiropractor could steer you in the right direction. I agree with the other post about the laxitive, this can really damage a child's body. I would certainly look around! If you are not familiar with chiropractic care with children, please feel free to ask me anything. I will offer any advise I can.Keep in mind, because he has what can be a 'neurological' issue, the soiling may be completely unvoluntary for him. This is a very deep issue that he needs relief from soon. Best of luck to you and your family!

Hi! My son had this, but it turned out to be costipation....From teachers not allowing him br time at school!!!!! grrrr....Went to an AWESOME doc as folloes...
Dr Larry Saripkin at Children's Center for Digestive Health,993-D Johnson Ferry Rd Suite 440, Atlanta PH# ###-###-#### or ###-###-####. He is very busy, but an excellent physician. I am confident he can help you. They are a group of 10 dr's, but we saw only him. Let me know if you have success....

I agree with Julie B-take him to some other DRs and see what they say. I looked up encopresis on WebMD and it sounds more like something a depressed child might do. Just go out and get a second and possibly 3rd opinion on your son and go from there as to what to do for him.

Good luck!
S.

ADD-ON......
Oh, and don't put him on any type of laxatives either!! It will only mess up his system even further and from what I've read about DRs putting kids on the stuff called Miralax or what ever, they leave them on it way too long which causes their bodies unable to function without it because their intestional system become dependant on it!!!

See if there is a Brain Balance practice in your area. They will do all the necessary tests to get his brain back in order. It includes neurological, nutritional, testing, etc. Also, a neurological chiropractor can work wonders. Good luck. BTW, was he vaccinated anytime within a few weeks of his seizure/loss of awareness episodes. If so it could be a reaction with can be helped by a homeopath, through nosodes. There are other ways to help counteract these effects too. Look at the E.C.H.O. Foundations website, they have some good resources.

http://www.soilingsolutions.com/?gclid=CMaqyvyXx5QCFQN2sg...

http://vsearch.nlm.nih.gov/vivisimo/cgi-bin/query-meta?v%...

I totally agree with "MJ" the chiropractor who answer below. This could be a neurological problem and Chiropractic care can possibly help him.
To locate a local pediatric chiropractor go to: http://www.icpa4kids.org/locator/index.php

Good luck, be patient!