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AB24eva

LIF Infant Member since 3/11 68 total posts Name:

Stool witholding please help:( My 2 1/2 year old has been withholding his stool (not true constipation) it's called encopresis for about a year and a half. We've tried almost everything. We saw a specialist Dr daum on Long Island and really don't think we could work with him. He's kind of well disguistingly arrogant and just talks at you and doesn't listen. He also uses a high dose of miralax which my pediatrician said he would not recommend bc recent studies have shown that it changes electrolytes in body. We've tried all the different laxatives. problem is when we stop he continues to withhold. I haven't tried doing it for a reallllyyyy long period of time bc then he goes constantly and I get nervous he's going too much.

Any recommendations? Yes I did read Dr. Duhamel's book and tried to get a phone consult with him but didn't work out. When I told him I'd like the 15 min. free consult he said I had too many questions and that I would need to read his book and sign up for a hour consult which cost 65$. I kindo got turned off bc he was all about money all of the sudden.

Yes I've tried all the natural stuff too

let me know if anyone knows anyone in New York who specializes in this issue. NOT CONSTIPATION. IT"S WITHOLDING.

Looking for either a GI dr. or child therapist. Preferably in Long Island

Thanks so much

xoxo

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SchizoBride09

LIF Adult Member since 4/08 1210 total posts Name:

M Re: Stool witholding please help:( My dr recommended high dose of miralax , I did it one time and it was enough to make him stop withholding .

AB24eva

LIF Infant Member since 3/11 68 total posts Name:

Re: Stool witholding please help:( thanks. we've tried it many times and it didn't work:(

wingsofsong

My 3 little loves <3<3<3 Member since 1/09 7395 total posts Name:

Maureen Re: Stool witholding please help:( My son (5.5) has been dealing with encopresis for over a year now. We are finally almost in the clear. Our pediatrician recommended Dr. Lazare. She is in the same practice as Daum but she specifically recommended we avoid Daum because of his personality. We had had him on half a cap if Miralax daily for a month or two and it helped briefly, but then stopped working for him. When we first saw Dr. Lazare, she recommended going to a full cap of Miralax every morning, and exlax every afternoon. Shw also said he needed to sit on the toilet 4-5 times a day for 5 minites. We did this for 3 or 4 weeks and then saw her for a follow up. It was working well, and at the follow up, she cut back the miralax to a half cap again and wanted us to continue the exlax until he was going on his own every day. When we followed up again a few weeks later, he was off the exlax by then, and she was pleased with how he was doing. She wants us to continue the Miralax for a while and only use the exlax if he has a day where he doesn't have a bowel movement. HTH! Good luck, it's not easy to go through

maybebaby

LIF Adult Member since 11/05 6870 total posts Name:

Maureen Re: Stool witholding please help:( I don't have recs however, there is something called Mag07. I know it isn't constipation you're dealing with...but this has been used by other parents dealing with this issue with their child. I'm researching stuff on this very topic for nursing school (pediatric rotation) and while time and patience goes a long way, obviously there needs to be extra help through meds as well. I'm sure you give a probiotic too, they are so good for digestive issues of any kind. You're right about miralax...too much may cause an electrolyte imbalance but in smaller doses its ok.



Best of luck!!

Millie3

LIF Adult Member since 7/13 1280 total posts Name:

Re: Stool witholding please help:( My DS was the same and ended up having major issues. The thing that worked for us ( his pediatrician is amazing)! was half cap of Mirilax along with benefiber, every day. We also had to put him on the toilet twice a day. He is older now, still on Mirilax / benefiber and we still at times need to make him just sit on the toilet. It's been a battle for 2 years now but getting much easier.



We needed to use the Mirilax / benefiber combo. Didn't work for him just using the Mirilax. Message edited 10/2/2015 10:18:33 AM.

SummerMom

Now a mom of 2! Member since 6/07 4970 total posts Name:

Re: Stool witholding please help:( My DD did this too. From the time she was a baby, actually, until just before age 4. We had her on a daily dose of Miralax which worked most of the time, but there were weeks that she would just hold and hold - even with the Miralax - until she couldn't walk from the pain of it and she'd ruin every pair of underwear in an hour, every hour, for days. We'd have to traumatize her with suppositories. Ugh. Any time we tried stopping the Miralax, she'd withhold again for 4, 5 days and it would give her so much pain to go, that she'd be terrified to go again the next time. So we kept her on Miralax daily for like 3 years. I didn't love doing it, but we had to.



In her case it was psychological and not a gastro problem. Have you tried looking at it from that angle? It was a behavior, not a medical problem. So we'd use the miralax and lots of fruit and pear juice to keep her as comfortable as possible while we tried to work on changing the behavior. It took until she was older, though, to really understand why not to do it. She didn't stop withholding until she was 4. But we didn't get professional help for it; we just tried lots of strategies from books / articles.



I hope your DD improves soon - it's so hard to see them do this. I cried a lot of tears over it, actually. But she's been *knock on wood* not doing it for about 8 weeks straight now, so I'm hoping for good things in the future...

AB24eva

LIF Infant Member since 3/11 68 total posts Name:

Re: Stool witholding please help:( thanks so much and congrats on her stopping:)))))!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would take him to a therapist but not sure who to use and who has experience with this issue:(



I think I'm going to continue using pedia lax and see maybe one more dr. and then may have no choice but to use miralax and maybe the benefiber everyday for long period of time. I tried both those things but didn't help .

thanks again:)



Salason

♥ Member since 6/05 9878 total posts Name:

Re: Stool witholding please help:( Miralax didn't work for my DS. We saw Daum and he had him on a high dose of exlax. As tough as he was we tried everything and he was the ONLY doctor who was able to fix the problem.

statusquoscreenname

LIF Adolescent Member since 9/07 885 total posts Name:

Victoria Re: Stool witholding please help:( Short answer:

Dr. Sahn at Schneider's/Cohen's.



Long Answer:

First things first, this absolutely sucks! I worked with Dr. Daum for a few weeks/months and when I still felt that something wasn't right I went to Schneider's and saw a doctor in their Gastro pediatric group (dr. Sahn for withholding and then a specialist for celiac disease). He was pretty much confirming what Daum said to do, albeit at a much lower dose of exlax (which even at 8 squares a day, and a capful of miralax she wasn't going with ease).



After prodding my pediatrician to test for Celiac's (my SIL has it and it didn't seem like JUST withholding though she definitely had that too) she came back with positive antibodies. We continued the exlax spiel and after a negative biopsy were kind of ready to throw up our hands until a gastro said "try gluten free, see what happens". Within 4 weeks, she was a new freaking kid. Pooping wasn't a huge deal, things weren't so stressful. And now, less than 5 months later, she poops by herself, no exlax (sometimes miralax to keep any pain issues down), and i could cry with joy.



So I'd say, try and stick with the program of the laxatives if it is making him poop, but do so with a doctor you trust and like. It can take a LONG time, and weaning off slowly is super important. The goal is to poop every day, and if he is doing that, then chill for a bit.



But secondly, I'd suggest getting an allergy blood panel done. Like I said, for us, and maybe no one else, the culprit was lo and behold something super simple and easy and the results were seen within almost a week.



Good luck, and feel free to PM me if you have more questions or need to vent or chat, this is really really tough i know!



