Constipation too?

As you may have seen from my other thread, my 9 yo DD has been going through tests to figure out if she has IBD. During these past 6 weeks, she has had mostly looser, more frequent stools along with her other symptoms. During a bad bout of nausea, the doc suggested I try a low dose of Zofran, which helped the nausea but I know can be very constipating (it is on me anyway). I only gave her one dose but she didn't poop for a few days after that. Then she had a wicked day on Thurs where she couldn't stop pooping (10+ times in a few hours). Since then, she's been constipated again. She's doing Miralax to help her move.

My question is, can constipation happen with Crohn's too or is it strictly a prolonged medication side effect (even though she seemed to empty her bowels after the med's side effect wore off)?

For nausea, try making some ginger tea for her. That is a natural way to stop the nausea and it helps heal the belly. No side effects either.

I would highly suggest letting her put her head on your lap while you rub her belly in circles (right side up over navel, down left side and around to right again). Do for at least five minutes. May first be sore and feel hard to you, but as you do it and it builds heat, the belly will get softer. That means you are moving things along. This helps the circulation in the digestive tract. She will love it and find it quite relaxing and stops the pain.

My two year old niece used to be highly constipated when given raisins (mother-in-law did not believe in allergies and kept giving them to her), and it hurt for her to have a movement. I did the belly rubs and the little darling was so excited that her belly felt better and then she "moved" and it did not hurt. She thought I was the miracle doc. She is 10 and still loves her belly rubs.

At the very least, it is a comforting thing for you to do for your child and a little bonding moment where you can give them some relief. Hope it helps!

My 10 year old daughter was *unofficially* diagnosed in 2009 at 8 years old. She has had problems with constipation as well. When her belly really hurts, we use a warmed up rice bag. She puts it on her belly and the warmth seems to really help. Some people use water bottles as well. I made our rice bags and she uses them all the time. She actually sleeps with one every night. They are very easy to make, and they are very comforting.

My daughter has been having lots of constipation since this began. I commented on my own post a few days ago how she mentioned she was doing backbends in the bathroom at school, which happened to be because she was hanging out in the bathroom bc she was constipated & hoping if she waited a bit longer she would be able to take a poo!! lol

She gets a bad 10-12hr rush of diarrhea, then 2-3 days of no BM at all, then maybe a few days of regular BMs, then back to constipation which means a few days at a time with no BM & hard ones that she really has to work for when they do happen... then every 10 days or 2wks, another lovely day of vomiting & diarrhea.

My daughter is like that at times. Other times, she can go from normal, to diareah to constipation (in any order) in one sitting When she was a baby, she had really bad problems with constipation. Now, it can go from one extreme to the other.

Yes, constipation can happen with Crohn's!

Neither of my children had diarrhoea with their Crohn's, which is located in the ileum and Sarah tended to constipation.

Generally the higher you go the more likely you are to run into problems with constipation because of the size of the bowel. Any prolonged inflammation that leads to swelling and/or scarring is going to narrow what is already not a large tube, hence the tendency to constipation.

Dusty. xxx