Re: blood work??

March 17, 2008

, I think my daughters reflux came from miralax.

Kathy

( she was on it 7 years)

blood work??

> My 5 1/2 year old daughter has been on Miralax (1/2 the adult dose)

> daily since she was 2....even with daily dosing we still have to give

> her the full adult dose about a week each month when the 1/2 dose

> isn't strong enough. She was born with anal stenosis (tight anus)

> and at 8 weeks they started therapy of rectal dilation to stretch it

> a little so she was able to poop....they never told me then that

> rectal dilation can make it worse when the scar tissue forms. She

> also has had GERD and delayed gastric emptying to varying degrees

> since birth. Before Miralax she would go days w/o pooping and when

> she would finally go it would be a full day of screaming in

> pain/shaking/sweating/exhaustion....utter hell...before she would

> finally be pass poop the size/shape/hardness of a baseball. We have

> tried many times to lower the dose of the miralax to try to get her

> off of it, but even a pinch less than the nowmal dose and we end up

> back at square one on the adult dose w/in days. I want her off of it

> because her emotional behavior is out of control and I know it is the

> Miralax. I just can't put her through the pain of the constipation

> during trial and error. Is there any bloodwork that can indicate

> whether or not the Miralax is being absorbed? What is the best sure

> fire way to treat the constipation without stimulant laxatives or

> miralax? If anyone can please advis I would really appreciate it.

>

> ------------------------------------

>

March 17, 2008

One way to check for PEG absorption from the GI tract is via urinary

excretion (if it gets absorbed from the gut, the body would typically

send it for excretion via the kidneys). I presume there is a way to

test blood for PEG, but not sure. You could also ask if they'll check

blood serum ethylene glycol - to see if the PEG is being broken down

into ethylene glycol and being absorbed.

As for the constipation - have you tried eliminating gluten? Your

description sounds exactly like my older son's bowel movements were

was since he really started to get into solid foods at about 9-12

months of age (he's 3.5 now) and how my now 14 month old was starting

to get until we went gluten free a few months ago. We had been casein

(cow's milk/dairy) free for the majority of the last 3 years, but only

recently found that the boys and I are gluten intolerant.

The integrative medicine doc we took DS#1 to recently said gluten is

a problem for a lot of her chronically constipated patients.

(moderator of this group) has read at another support group that some

parents are seeing improvement in constipation after going gluten

free. Also, other food intolerances can be problematic.

This doctor agreed that magnesium (and vitamin C) is a good way to

keep things moving. She also said that checking thyroid function in

constipated kids is very important. Has your daughter been checked

for thyroid function? (While thyroid problems can occur unrelated to

gluten intolerance/celiac; undiagnosed gluten intolerance/celiac can

lead to thyroid problems - and a host of other issues)

FWIW, DS#1 had terrible reflux/projectile vomiting starting at about 3

wks of age which eased up tremendously when I took dairy, soy and egg

from my diet while breastfeeding. He still had some reflux, a lot of

flatulence, and some mucus in stools from time to time, and then later

developed the chronic constipation (still had a lot of gas and a touch

of reflux from time to time). I'm guessing had I taken gluten out of

our diets, the residual reflux, gas, and stooling issues may have

cleared up...?? (just speculation, of course).

hth,