What is going on with my 7-year-old son?

[Martin]

hi all,
I am 40 and was diagnosed with Crohn's Colitis 3 years ago. I have been thru all the usual experiences with meds and such, and am now somewhat stable, on colazol.

my son has complained lately on and off about stomach pain. the thing is, given his preference, he would ONLY eat grains and dairy. it is real work to get him to eat other things. I suspect this contributes greatly to his "problem." my wife disagrees somewhat.

every morning, just before leaving to go to school at 8:30am, he goes poop 3 or 4 times. little ones, right in a row. every morning.

but yesterday, he didn't go to school until noon. and then, right before leaving to go to school he went thru his poop ritual, complaining about stomach pain right before it all happened.

about a week ago, he was in a play, and was having severe anxiety about being in it. his poops got much mushier and his stomach pains got worse, and now with the play over, he is doing better.

he goes thru fazes too. for a few months, he'll have fatty stools: floaters. then he'll go thru a time where he has mushy little stools, and has to go often, like he's doing right now.

is this normal kid stuff? or is he IBS-ish? or something else? what should I do?

 

[kello82]

hey martin
well....i guess i would say just take him to the doc. maybe his regular pediatrician? they can order some blood work and see if there are abnormalities there.
i would say if he is complaining a lot, then its time to do something. poor little guy doesnt need to be hurting all the time if it can be helped

but there was a thread about a similar parent's concerns before and a few comments were that kids of this age go through weird bowel phases anyways. maybe it is just normal kid stuff too.

i think its worth it to get checked out though.

good luck!

 

[BWS1982]

Sounds psychological, not in a bad way, I just mean it sounds like it's anxiety related, which is often correlating with IBS (or even IBD I suppose)...a pediatrician may have answers as Kello said. Has he ever been nervous about school or has a change happened lately in his social life or school life that would cause a bit of nervousness regarding school or being around crowds (the play)?

 

[Guest]

hi & welcome, Martin

to me, it doesn't sound too worrying but being a parent myself, i'd rather hear that from a doctor than anyone else.

i suspect it could be a mixture of the natural emotional make-up of your son, and a cause & effect thing.. if he has a 'nervous tummy' then anything like an upcoming school play will hit that area. the foods he's eating could be producing the kind of stools he's having, and as this is his regular diet, so those are his regular kind of poos.

when you say 'grains', what do you mean? like breakfast cereal? and does he have it with full fat milk?

kids don't need full fat products, they can get as much calcium from skimmed milk, and it's also found in green vegetables like broccoli. it may just be that his diet is lopsided, too much of one thing and not enough of another.. or maybe he needs to drink more in his day... but having said all that, i would definitely get him checked out by a doctor just to make sure.

 

[la la]

Hello~ I feel for you and the little guy. I would say take him to the doctor to. My daughter is 14 and has seemed to have the same issues at about the same times of day as you son. My G.I said take her to are GP and make sure there is nothing going on because crohns does have some gentic componets. We took her and the did blood work and put her on an over the counter omeperazol daily to see if that helps. So i guess with your crohns history it would for sure be a good idea to take him in Hope he feels better soon!!