5 yr. old with constipation...

[LPNGirl07]

Hi, our 5 yr. old daughter has suffered with constipation since she was born. She has otherwise been a happy, beautiful, child. She has always had a hard time "going".  She has had some bright red blood in her stool and a little mucous at times w/ the constipation. When she was about 3 1/2 or 4, our PCP did some blood work & x-rays of her stomach & said everything looked normal - just constipation. She placed our daughter on Myralax & said to give it to her regularly, because there was no risk of dependency w/ this laxative. So we started her on it, & it did work, but it seemed to bloat her stomach & give her stomach pains. Then about 4 months ago, we took her to a pediatric G.I. doctor who examined her, because I didn't feel local PCP was listening to me. The G.I. doctor looked at her labs from our PCP & said they looked normal. She examined her anal area & said it looked normal. She did not however do any x-rays or anything like that. She diagnosed normal constipation, & placed her on the Myralax again. She said to give it everyday as before. When we give it everyday, our daughter "goes" too much, & complains w/ stomach pain. This was the case today as a matter of fact. We do feed her fruits, make her drink water & juicy juice & it seems she still has trouble w/ out the Myralax. Like any other child, she does like fast food sometimes, but I still try to give her healthy foods as much as I can. She is of normal height & weight (42 lbs.) & is caucasian. This has been very stressful on our whole family, & we just want our daughter to feel better soon... I feel kind of helpless... With the myralax she hurts, w/ out it she hurts... : (  So my questions are:

1. Does this sound like normal constipation?
2. Is it safe to give Myralax to a child for several years?
3. Are there any alternatives to the Myralax that would cause less bloating & pain?
4. Does Myralax cause a dependency on Laxatives?

[LPNGirl07]

Hey all,
I posted this originally a couple of years ago, and I'm happy to say my daughter is doing better now. She actually outgrew the constipation! I'm so glad & thankful.My daughter's doctor said she would maybe outgrow it some day, and she did. So don't give up hope!

[toughworkingmom101]

my step daughter has the same problems, i have tried eveything from high fiber diet, enemas once a week and the myralax everyday and that just makes her going like water faucet....pedialax strips, suppositories, even some liquid stuff that tastes like sprite nothing seems to help her continue to go it just works as a quick relief and we are looking for something that works long term so she wont have to use anything and she can just go normally without help or medicine....if you can think of or hear anything else to try please let me know....my email is ***@**** ill keep you posted on anythign that i hear on my end as well, im so sorry for your issues but im really glad i found you i was begining to wonder if i was the only one with a child like this!!
melinda

[ponderousmom]

i dont know anything about the drug, but....if shes been like this since she was born, maybe she has a milk allergy?  some people with milk allergies also cannot tolerate chicken and eggs.  adding fruits and vegetables is a good start, but try taking away some things and see if it helps.

[kilpaddy]

Hi my son used to be bad for constipation when he was younger, you could try lactulose instead it didn't give him any problems, also try prune juice. They are both quite sweet tasting. The blood is most probably from straining when she is trying to go. Has the DR sent a sample off to be tested to see if there is any bugs in it especially with her having mucus in it to? Ask for a 2nd opinion. Good luck!!