Are laxitives the anwser?? - Autism Spectrum Message Board

ANGLE8877 · 04-28-2005, 02:33 PM

My 7 year old son was diagnosed with autism about 3 1/2years ago. He has always had problems going to the bathroom, but recently it has gotten much worse. We have been to see many doctors icluding different ped. and a GI. All any one can tell me to do is put him on laxitives. I am worried what the type of outcome this will have on his body in the long run. The other problem is that he has an severe sensitiveness to the texture and taste of different foods. You can count on two hands the number of things he will eat. We have tried the food and texture therapy and it doesn't help him, in fact, it made it worse. I was just wondering if anyone else knows of something that might help him. The doctor says the next step is surgury on his colon. Please Help!!!

EveningLight · 04-28-2005, 03:10 PM

Your last sentence (surgery) got my attention! I said, "no, no, no!"

Encopresis is a condition that occurs after the child has a painful bowel movement. After that, they withhold and fecal material builds up in the colon. New liquid feces can leak around the solid material and leak out Often the child doesn't know it happened and can't control it. Parents are confused as the child IS moving his bowels and they don't realize there is a mass of bm builr up in the colon. Sometimes you can feel lumps in abdomen, and the abdomen can get quite distended. The child can be in pain and they lose their appetite.

The colon is stretched very large. Treatment: clean out the colon, give stool softener (Miralax) and have the child do regular toilet sits--such as after each meal and at bedtime. The goal is to retrain the bowel, have it return to normal size and regain normal nerve function.

Pediatric gastroenterolists treat this condition. I suggest reading up on encopresis and then getting an appointment with a gastroenterologist.

ANGLE8877 · 04-28-2005, 08:01 PM

We have gone to see a GI and this is exactly what he said. My son is on Miralax, however, he either has uncontrolable diarea on the meds or he can't go when he is off. The GI is the one who said that surgury is the next step.

twilken · 04-29-2005, 07:55 PM

Hi. My name is Tami. I have a boy Gavin who is 6 1/2 and almost recovered. WE have done much biomedical and am new to this board so don't know if you are aware of what new research is actually saying. I would, if you haven't already, consider trying a gluten and dairy free diet. The reason our kids get so compacted is that they don't have the proper enzymes to digest these foods. So the undigested peptides sit in their intestines and ferment. They then leak through the gut (our kids have leaky gut due to intestinal yeast, mercury or MMR insult) and attach to opiate recepters causing autistic behaviors. There is so much needed to repair their systems so that they can recover. Good news is, they can recover. My son does not have autistic like symptoms anymore. And at 18 months old, I used to call him my little "stim monster" cause that is all he would do. What he is left with now is something more like ADD. He has friends, can communicate fine, is in a typical 1st grade class with an aide to help if he is having a tough day or just needs extra guidance. We are not done biomedically, but we are very close to being a recovery story. No, I do not think laxatives are the answer. They are only addressing the symptoms of the problems. ANd I definitely don't think colon surgery would address anything except to give his body something else to heal from. I hope you don't take offense to this. I am not meaning that in any way. But I know that hopeless feeling you get when you have no idea how to help your child. I would get in contact with a DAN (Defeat autism Now) doctor in your area. They are the only doctors who are trained in healing our kids. You can also find more info at [ please do not post commercial websites ] Just from experience things that will help constipation is supplementing with cal/mag liquid. I would look into epsom salt baths (not orally but about 1 cup in each bath) that will help to heal the inflammation in the intestines which is one of the reason for the constipation. ALthough this does take some time so don't expect overnight miracles. There are many things you can do. Those are just a couple. If I can be of any help to you, email me at [ please carefully review the posting rules - no emails ]. I hope this is helpful. My prayers for your son's recovery.

Tami

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ANGLE8877 · 05-01-2005, 01:20 PM

Thank you for the insight, however we have tried all the special diets that we have been recomended to. My son' s doctor is a really educated guy, he also is a children's psychologist. The other part of the problem is his severe sensitivity to textures. Most of these senseitivities are involved with food. Concequently, we can't give him most of the foods that would help him to eat a proper diet and have regualr bowels. Again, I do thank you for your insight, and will look foreward to talking to you more in the furture.