Can anyone help me with what may be wrong

[Anonymous]

My nephew has been in the hospital for 3 weeks now and they dont know whats wrong with him…. here is his symptoms..

vomiting
constipation – bad – meaning he was soooooo backed up they had to put a tube down his throat to losen the stool
not eating
weight loss
stomach pains

They did the scope down the throat today and said his insides are sooo infamed that they are almost to the stage of bleeding.,..

hes only three and the docs have no clue what it is?

anyones kids have these symptoms and what was it?

[Anonymous]

Hi Angela,

I’m so sorry to hear about your nephew. Maybe I can help a bit. Both of my kids have bowel disease, with my daughter’s being quite severe. I have experience with all of the symptoms you mentioned.

From the sound of things right now, he’s likely impacted. If there is an impaction causing blockage in the bowel, then he will most definately show signs of constipation and will end up vomiting as his stomach and upper GI contents are unable to go down through his bowel. This happened to my daughter last summer. Right now, they must get the blockage cleared. He may need enemas to help clear it from below and also laxative agents to clear it from above. Miralax can be helpful. So can magnesium citrate.

Is he taking any medications for his GI issues? With bowel inflammation, he will definately have a lot of belly pain, and perhaps reflux pain. This can definately interfere with his willingness to eat, as eating may be very painful. He may benefit from a PPI, if there is evidence of reflux on the scope (esophageal erosions, ulcers, etc.). From the sounds of it, he may also benefit greatly from anti-inflammatory agents similar to those used for Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. Once we started my daughter on these meds, it was incredible how much better she was.

Can I ask you a few more questions: Does he ever seem to press his belly against things, like over the edge of the sofa or over the edge of the coffee table? How is his sleep? Does he prefer to sleep on his belly with his knees pulled in under himself? Does he ever self-injure (hit himself, bang his head, bite his hand/fingers, etc.)? Does he have sudden unexplained meltdowns? These would all be signs of bowel pain, that needs to be treated. What city is he in, and is he being seen by a pediatric gastroenterologist? If not, then he needs one.

I hope I can help….

[Anonymous]

He doesnt seems to lay against anything….as for miralax hes on that, and they gave him a iv drip of go lightly… that worked but as soon as he got home two days later he was sick again… hes suppose to be on miralax for a yr the doc said but thats not working…. what disease it it called?

[Anonymous]

It’s hard to say what exactly it is, but likely something related to Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. There isn’t a good name for it when it happens in young children, as up until the last 10-15 years this kind of condition was mostly unheard of. My daughter’s is basically described as a severe enterocolitis. My son also has a form of autism spectrum disorder, and since this type of bowel disease is VERY common in autism, his is classified as autistic enterocolitis. Interestingly, as we heal his GI tract, his autism symptoms greatly disappear.

My kids benefitted tremendously from high doses of probiotics to help balance the GI flora. They were also put on prescription medications to help with the inflammation. This is where it would be good to have a pediatric gastroenterologist on board. Is he on anything to help with the inflammation and pain? That is essential to try and help the tissue heal. Otherwise, he will continue to have ongoing problems.

Our ped GI first put the kids on a form of steroid to bring down the inflammation and to help the tissue heal (this also helped tremendously with their pain) – prednisolone and/or Entocort are common ones. Once inflammation was down, he then transitioned them onto a non-steroidal agent (usually a form of 5-ASA, like Pentasa or sulfasalazine) to prevent recurrences/flare-ups. My daughter also needed Prevacid as she had serious signs of reflux damage (esophageal erosions, esophagitis, gastritis, duodenitis, ulcers).

For the constipation, I prefer magnesium citrate as it is very safe to use every day and very effective. I rarely use the Miralax – only if in a dire situation. It’s not ideal in those with severe bowel inflammation, as it could then cross over into the blood stream and cause unknown problems.

Digestive enzymes can also be helpful. Significantly inflamed GI tissue will not be able to produce adequate amounts of digestive enzymes. Then if food proteins are not being broken down properly, they will further aggravate the already inflamed tissue.

MFPIx22010-04-23 11:48:42

[Anonymous]

Another thing the doctors should be looking into, and hopefully already are, is Celiac disease. Hopefully they did biopsies when he had his scope, so this should reveal if Celiac disease is the problem. If that is what is it, then he would need to be on a gluten-free diet and the tissue will heal nicely once gluten is completely removed.

[hellbennt]

this link,
‘Probiotics, Brands Used’ also should have some links to digestive enzymes
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8970&PN=1

[Anonymous]

i was going to suggest celiac disease also, i have 3 children with this disease.

[Anonymous]

Have they done any enemas? Have they talked at or looked for Hirschprungs? I’m guessing they already have tested for this? It causes the colon to be really tight in areas. Sometimes, so tight, the babies will vomit feces back up. It’s pretty rare, but easy enough to test for.

[Anonymous]

I meant like barrium enemas?

[Author]

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