Comments on: Constipation in Down syndrome

By: Jacinta

Jacinta — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:35:47 +0000

My daughter started having constipation problems at 18 months, I went online and researched for a possible cure/relief.
One parent suggested a change in diet – no diary products, no white rice and no bananas. They also advised me to put my daughter on a high fibre diet. I had nothing to lose, I did not want to use any drugs or suppositories etc….. I wanted to go as natural as possible.
After a few weeks, it worked wonders for my daughter …. no more screaming to use the bathroom. She is now four years old and I still monitor her diet and she is as regular as my other kids. Thank you to the parent who offered this alternative remedy. It worked for my daughter and me!!!!

By: Miriam Kauk

Miriam Kauk — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 12:29:57 +0000

Can you daughter swallow pills? If not, teaching her to swallow pills is worth the effort! Here is an article on this site about taking pills and otherwise getting nasty supplements into the kids. CLO comes in citrus flavors that are not nasty at all, imho. I like the lemon flavored. My kids balk at the texture (a mouth full of oily) rather than the taste. So stirring it into a small amount of food can change the texture. If CLO has a strong fishy taste it is rancid and should be thrown away. CLO also comes in gelcaps.

By: Kendall

Kendall — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 05:11:51 +0000

Hi, thank you for a great website. We have a 14 year old daughter , Melissa, who has DS. She has always had large, hard stools but usually she doesn’t complain much about pain.

I have used the psyllium fiber laxative with some success. There are many ideas here that I would consider trying but I don’t think it would be easy to get Melissa to take many of them. I’ve heard that cod liver oil is great for health as well as constipation. However, it tastes bad. Melissa is very stubborn and would spit it out. I would expect that if I tried to hide it in her food, it would make the food taste bad.

Does everyone hide the constipation remedies like Prosac, magnesium, vitamin C, Nutrivine – D etc. in food? What type of vitamin C is good to use? I’m sure Melissa would like the chewables but I don’t know if they are very good for kids.

By: Jess

Jess — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:47:38 +0000

Thank you Liora, Pam and Tina for all of ur suggestions. I have made an appointment with a doc the next town over. Keep ur fingers crossed we get to the bottom of this !!!

By: Liora

Liora — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 08:48:50 +0000

sorry, I forgot to say that my comments were for Jess, not the OP! sorry!

By: Liora

Liora — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 06:04:39 +0000

Prozac helps serotonin which helps the intestinal motility (among other things)

Of course flax seeds ground up with prune puree in foods can really unstick things. But I agree with the pp that this should be seen by a real gastroenterologist as this sounds like it could be an impaction.

By: Pamela Feres

Pamela Feres — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:33:29 +0000

Hello JESS!

I have two boys with Ds. One is 4 and one is 20. My 20 year olds has major issues with pooping. Recently I found out Jonathan my 20 year old pees 4-7 liters in a day! So not much liquid left in his body for helping his poops! Jonathan only drinks about 3 liters in a day! Forty doctors later still no answers for Jonathan BUT we feel it is a metabolic disorder! My younger son pees excessively too! he is still in diapers so I really do not know how much he pees in any given day. Just that he can soak diapers houlry at times. I also had about 20 families tell me their child with DS peed excessively too. I believe with some of our kids there is something else going on. I will be able to see a doctor who is specialized in working with kids with DS. We are praying to find answers when we go in September 2010. In the meantime we use calm which does help somewhat. Kids that pee too much pee out all their minerals. So I make them a drink called endurlyte to help replace the minerals. Hope you find a solution soon JESS!

By: Tina

Tina — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:43:14 +0000

Jess, I agree with Sherry, I would see a specialist. See if it’s celiac. Also, does she drinks a lot of liquids? Lack of that could cause the constipation. If she doesn’t have reflux, you might try digestive enzymes, they help a lot in breaking food up and getting it moving. Try epsom salts baths, the magnesium might help. Our daughter has a lot of fiber in her diet, and that has kept things moving! It’s hard to get fully potty trained when it hurts so much. I certainly wouldn’t want to do it. And for some who have used low dosage of prozac, it has helped with constipation and the whole lower GI. Hope you get results.

By: Jess

Jess — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:48:04 +0000

@ Sherry Thanks Sherry. It also always smells the same. No matter what she eats. I’m just worried there is more going on than just what we can see and fix with simple remedies. The lactulose has enabled more to slip out than before but she still wont relieve herself by pushing it out. She’s associated it with pain so she’d just rather hold it all in than attempt to go herself. We have our regular GP she see’s but I believe we need a specialist who deals with these issues in DS children. We’re in NW indiana, I’ve searched online and cant find a listed doctor who deals with this. Any suggestions anyone?

By: sherry

sherry — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:04:55 +0000

I’m not a medical doctor just a mom of a 21 yo with DS, Autism and GI problems. In my opinion this child needs to see a gastroenterologist asap. The poop is having to travel around an impaction I would guess which is why laxatives are not working and why you are only seeing smudges. It’s possible to eventually see actual diarrhea coming out around an impaction also.