Fiber or no fiber? That is the question!

[Farmwife]

I'm patiently waiting by the phone for the GI nurse to call back.
Grace we believe is impacted. Miralax is not working like it should.
This is months of fooling around with this.:thumbdown:

Grace's stomach pains are now happening after she eats. She's also having right side back pain. Among many other things.:yfaint:

My Question to you all is should I still be giving her psyllium husk fiber to help bulk up her stool or should I stop?
It's a race. We'll see who replies first! You guys or the GI nurse!:smile:

Thanks so much for the replies.
Farmwife

 

[Tesscorm]

Re the back pain that I mentioned earlier to you... Stephen's back pain was mainly (but not always) on the right side before he was diagnosed and would run from lower to upper back (again, sometimes only lower back, sometimes full length).

No advice re the impaction.

 

[hannah-rose]

If you're already clogged up fibre wont help, you need osmotic laxatives to 'wash' everything through. Try lactulose. It's like rocket fule! But really safe and gentle as it's all natural sugars. You take loads of it and it does no harm but it seriously gets things moving and it tastes ok too so kids shouldn't have too much of a problem with it.

 

[Farmwife]

Thanks hannah-rose. I'll see if we have it in the US.


And just to let you know you did beat the GI nurse.
I still haven't heard from her!!!!:shifty:

Farmwife

 

[Mom2oneboy]

Is she passing any stool at all?

 

[hannah-rose]

Lactulose is used in the treatment of chronic constipation[2]. The metabolites of lactulose draw water into the bowel, causing a cathartic effect through osmotic action. It is safe for people of all ages, except for those in a very small percentage of the population that are galactose intolerant. The standard dosage[3]. is one teaspoon for each year of age up to age 16. For adults, the dosage is that which causes an urgent daily bowel movement that cannot be ignored or resisted. The dosage may have to be increased over time to produce the desired effect because the laxative effect can decline with daily treatment. It can be taken safely for decades [4].
Lactulose works by increasing the water content and volume of the stools in the bowel, making them softer and easier to pass.

That's from wikipedia. I get constipation and I use Lactulose at the first sign. It's way more effective than Laxido (which I think is the same as Miralax), I'm from the UK so it's different over here. The Laxido is too gentle. I take about 5 teaspoons of Lactulose before bed and it definitely sorts me out for the morning!

Drink lots of water with it, lots and lots, to wash everything through and make everything as soft and easy to pass as possible.

Hope she's ok!

 

[Farmwife]

Thanks again Hanah-rose. That's what she using now. Up to adult doses.

Mom2oneboy- Yes she still has stool coming out. Either liquid or soft. Not much of either.


FYI- No call from nurse and of course they stop answering the phones at 4:30.
Monday will be the soonest I can call, AGAIN.
Right now she still happy. Pale and tired looking but happy.

 

[Mom2oneboy]

Bless her heart! Hope you get a call back today. I see I'm not the only one that has a "gift" of things happening right before the start of a weekend! Hope you have a decent weekend in spite of it.

 

[Sascot]

Wish I had the answer for you but I am just as confused about fibre. I was told to avoid to much of it with Crohns but loads of people seem to take a fibre supplement on the threads I am reading. I use Lactulose for my daughter as well, and my mom uses it too, so may be worth trying it if they have it in the US. Good luck trying to get the right "formula"

 

[Suzysu]

Poor Grace - I can't believe the GI nurse didnt call you.
I think the fiber and constipation thing is that daily fiber should help reduce the chances of impaction but once there is an impaction it wont necessarily help as Hannah-rose says.
I am a little confused re the whole fiber thing too!
Hope you have a good weekend and Grace improves. xx

 

[bangarang]

Fiber from psyllium husk/seed, cold milled flax, chia seed are all fine. Tho I'd recommend chia over all of them, then psyllium husk if you can't find chia in the store. Just need to start slow and make sure she drinks plenty of water. This is what worked for me and my constipation.

 

[kimmidwife]

I cannot believe they didn't call you back. That makes me so upset. About the fiber I am not sure but if she is impacted I would probably stop it. Lactulose is fantastic. My dad uses it for chronic constipation. I think he orders it online. Doesn't your doctors office have an answering service? I would call them.

 

[crohnsinct]

So you called them first thing this morning and held while the nurse got an answer for you right???????

 

[Farmwife]

YES I called and.......................................they said I can talk to the nurse or doc when I come in tomorrow to pick up her lab results. :smile:
I want her retested for her LDH. If the levels are still climbing then we have a bigger problem and maybe we can start to see a pattern here.
However LDH shouldn't still be climbing it should have start to decline by now. We'll see.
My dear hubby still doesn't know if he wants to switch docs. I know don't get mad at him. :ymad:
He's just use to things a certain way.:yrolleyes: So I don't know what the further holds for the GP. :confused2:
The new GP is keeping her as a "secondary patient" right now.
Meaning the old GP is still the primary GP.
But..........We can still see the new one. Insurance will pay for it because he is considered a spec. doc because of the Internal Medicine for pediatrics.
I guess I'll have to see what happens tomorrow.

Grace is fine right now. No belly pain for 2 days. Just pale and not eating like a horse. The bump I think is nothing to worry about I hoping it's just a skin tag in that area. It doesn't hurt when she goes to the bathroom YET! Her stool is still runny to pencil thin strips. When she goes now it's almost explosive. We had to run the the restroom yesterday. I did STOP the fiber for right now. I'm going to call the GI tomorrow IF the GP doesn't want to do more blood test. I think they'll do one for us. :ghug:

 

[Suzysu]

All the things you guys are going through, I think if they would do a colonoscopy, gastroscopy and MRI under the same GA then maybe it would be good to go for the whole lot to try and find out once and for all what is going on with her. Sending good thoughts your way xxxx

 

[crohnsinct]

HA! Suzy agrees with me! I knew if I hung around long enough I would find someone who saw things my way.