Hi - my daughter has been complaining of severe abdominal pain for the past six days. It was initially diagnosed as a bad case of stomach flu, but when it did not subside after a couple days we had x-rays done that showed severe bowel impaction. We had NO idea because she had a BM on Sunday which seemed completely normal and then the abdominal pain was really bad on Monday. Because she does go frequently, I never guessed she might be constipated. Yesterday in the ER, they gave her an enema which produced only a small amount of what I call brown water - nothing solid. They gave her Magnesium Citrate to drink at home yesterday afternoon and that again produced only liquid - and it took about 9 hours to do even that! This morning I gave her a Fleets enema (per doctor's suggestion) and again only the liquid. The ER doctor said her colon is completely, solidly impacted - my husband saw the x-ray and couldn't beleive it! The problem facing us is what do we do now that these remedies don't seem to be working. She says her pain is still there although better - her spirits are better too, but I know all that stool is still in her and we have to get it out somehow. I think the worst of it is too far up for the enema to help and too far down for oral remedies to work. We are at a loss and as I wait for the doctor to call back I'm trying to think of any home remedies that might do the trick. I'm grateful for any ideas!

Thank you!

Hi! My 11 year old son went throught the same thing from the ages of 3-5. We tried a lot of things with nothing that produced very good results.Finally we were told to use mineral oil and amazingly it worked wonders!!! I gave him 2 tablespoons of the morning and 1 at night. I would mix it with orange juice. It took a few days to work, but it did the trick. Good luck!

Also check to see if she may be lactose intolerant. My son had exactly what you describe and our doctor told us 'his plumbing is backed up.' That doctor was no help because in the end I was the one to figure out 'why' his plumbing was backed up. He was about 5 when it started and it took us a few months to figure it out. Payback for the doctor though was when my son was real bad and I gave him an enema at home and then proceeded to take him to the doctor's office. He was screaming and crying so much in the waiting room - they finally brought us back - only to make us wait longer. I kept asking my son if he wanted to try to go and he'd say no. Then he said yeah, and didn't make it to the bathroom. I could not believe how much came out of him - it was extreme. Luckily for the nurses, the hardest stuff fell in the hallway. Now he takes a lactaid pill (chewable) right before any dairy (pizza, ice cream mostly). Try the mineral oil to clear her out, then try lactaid with any dairy and see how it goes. The lactaid will not hurt her and you may be amazed at how much it can help (if it is indeed the problem).