As a parent, how do you deal with the frustration of encopresis? What helped, what didn't (I am not talking medication or laxatives, I am talking attitude...)? How does your child deal with it? Problems in school? Problems with friends?
How does your child react to having to take laxatives or enemas?

We are in a bit of trouble as both me and my daughter (7) are fed up with it. I am fed up with the accidents and the teacher wanting to talk to me again, she is fed up with her accidents and with me telling her to go use the bathroom or go clean herself.
She is seeing a therapist to help her with her selfesteem and control issues (she is, like me, a bit of a control freak and this soiling makes her anxious because she can't control it...) We (husband and I) see the therapist too, and exchange ideas. It helps, but right now I just want to scream!

L.

Hi i have a 9 year old son and I am so frustrated with hid "bowel problems" that I turned to here to see if it was a disorder or him just being lazy or to busy playing and in the last 2 hours I have found out about this encopresis.
And now that I think back to the look on his face when I found something in his underware or him covering up an accident I now am begiining to understand this more if you have any advise you can share please i am desperate to get him help. Also he is on ritilan do you think that has anything to do with this problem>

ijenn74@aol.com

Hi eijenn,

Just start by searching on this board for soiling or encopresis. It isn't a very common problem, but it isn't completely obscure either! About 3 to 5% (depending on which study you read) of children have this, more boys than girls.

The soiling comes from poop leaking past the constipation, sometimes children with this problem even get treated for constipation which makes it all much worse.
You need to get your son checked by his pediatrician, and if you cab skip this step and go directly to a pediatric gastroenterologist it would be even better!
Most likely his treatment will start with a cleanout by using a large dose of bulking laxatives or a stimulant laxative, and then he might be put on a laxative like Miralax. BUT it might also be, if his case isn't severe (e.g. if you can't feel an impact of poop) that you get a high fiber and high fluid diet. Be careful with this, because in rare cases the fiber makes matters worse.

Not all children react very well to stimulant laxatives. My daughter for example will throw up and double over from pain, but no poop is produces: it just gives her extremely colicy intestines! I usually use magnesium citrate (OTC) which works really well.

We are doing a little bit better, just did a clean out and she has been accident free for three days! Huge relief!
Visit the board often, it is a nice way to vent and help!

L.

My son never had issues at school. He became such a pro at holding, that he didn't even "leak" at school. I don't know how.

Yes, it was frustrating, and embarrassing, and drove us all crazy. Once I finally understood what was going on, the "plug-ups" and the "leaking" around it, I tried relaxing. He would still hide his dirty underwear at times. I would just throw them away if they weren't washable. For years all his underpants were stained.

As he got older and the control and problems lessened, we moved on to dark colored boxers so stains weren't an issue.

We seem to be having great luck with a gentle daily "bowel cleansing" product which consists of an herbal formula in the morning and a "pooping" formula in the evening, no senna or harsh stimulants. When his 2 months of this is up we will try moving on to the even more daily product.

So far so good...that's the best I can say at this time (son is age 11, has had this since about age 3.)

I would be interested in hearing from adults who had encopresis symptoms as a child, what they remember, and what they feel may have helped. I do believe just growing up and becoming aware makes a big difference also.

Annie,

I remember "liking" to do big poops. I remember not wanting to go to the bathroom because I was so busy drawing or playing or whatever and I developed a way of sitting on my heel that would make it possible to hold my poop for a long time. I also remeber my mom being very frustrated with yet another dirty undie. It "stopped" when I was going to first grade as my mom threathened to take me to school in my bare bottom, I figured that would not be a good way to start a new school (lol). I still had small accidents but never in school. I think I only grew out of it when I was about 9, but I am not sure. I asked my mom, she doesn't remember when it stopped. I never got any medication or laxatives.
The girl next door had the same problem and she ended up in hospital a couple of times. She is 46 now and still has trouble with constipation!

I believe (or hope?) that growing up will take care of part of the problem. Maybe the psychological side of it (I guess when you grow older you develop a better sense of what is acceptable and what not. But maybe I am wrong here and maybe that only causes these kids to hold it even more!), and maybe a willingness to tackle the physical side of it better. The fact that we have some 11 year olds on this board with this problem scares me a bit, because mine is only 7 (she had had it all her life).

And even though our frustration is worse everytime we have a relapse, we come out of a relapse better, simply because my daughter is older. It makes it easier to explain the frustration...

L.