Need to Hear from Moms with a Child with Encopresis

My son had this for at least a year before I found out what it was. I found an excellent pediatritian. He put my son on suppository laxatives for a while. I forget how often and for how long. I do remember that he treated the condition almost exactly as I had read it should be treated. I believe the article I read was this one:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/sick/encopresis.html#
This treatment was very successful, and my son has not had the problem for several years. He's 13 now. I suggest trying different pediatritions until you find one who will treat it satisfactorily.
Hope all goes well! ( :

I've known of several children who have suffered from encopresis, but never a child who has had it for a few years. Have you gotten any guidance from your pediatrician on how to help clear this out? Usually, a course of Miralax and careful monitoring for up to several months is needed.

Your son really can't tell when he's leaking poop – the stretched out colon has gone numb. Sometimes even the urethra becomes involved and urinary incontinence becomes part of the problem, too. That blockage must eventually be cleared out in order for your little guy to lead a more normal life. It seems to me that encopresis that lasts for a long time can eventually change the body's physiology entirely and cause lifelong problems (as can many chronic health issues). Please work with his doctor to eliminate this issue, and eventually the laundry problems will go away, too. Until then, it might simply be a practical measure to get him a dozen extra pairs of underpants.

Wow - I am right there with you. I actually posted something similar a couple of months ago. My son has been on Mirilax for the past 2 months and it is already helping with his feeling coming back and knowing when to go. Even so he also has anxiety issues and last weekend, despite going three weeks with no accidents, we traveled 4 hours away to my parents - not a day went by that there weren't at least a couple 'accidents'......To top it off my parents town is on a boil order (due to recent flooding) and asked to limit, when possible, the use of water - we ended up just throwing out the soiled underwear.....

But, to answer your question: I put a bucket of water, detergent, and OxyClean in the laundry room and if/when there is an accident the clothes go in there to soak. I let them soak for 24 hours then throw them in the washing machine. My son probably has 15 pairs of underwear and there have been times he's run out........and then just goes in his outter pants as you described. It is getting fewer and further between for us, and it was nearly nonexistent, but last weekend was a major setback. I'm sorry - other than explaining the above, which is right where you are, I have no 'advice' - just support!!!!!!!!!!!

What has the specialist done to help him ? my son had encopresis but it is Much better now.

Hi, D.:
If you can find a Narrative Therapist in your area that will help the
family deal with this issue. There was an article written about
a child who had this issue but I can't remember the title or the author.

The Therapist will help you all discover the underlying issues facing you all.

Good luck.
D.

I had a student with this problem in middle school and high school - she wore pull ups because of this. Her situation was complicated by epilepsy - if she had a seizure (petit mal), she also soiled herself, but that wasn't the only time. There is a lot that can be done with behavioral therapy and also nutritional supplementation to heal the bowel. There is a company that makes products to help this situation, regardless of the child's age, and also they provide a lot of support connecting you with other parents to help you work through it.

Unfortunately, encopresis is a condition that can run on for years. We did the mineral oil, laxatives, suppositories, fiber additions -- all the usual.

What worked for us finally was getting our son on a set pooping schedule. He goes every night before bathtime. We used a lot of bribes/incentives at first to go. He was really backed up at first, so we did a "Wow!" bribe like a new Lego set or money (can't recall now which one we used) to help him overcome the fear. Then smaller incentives. Finally, he got used to going everyday and the messy underwear was a thing of the past.

At eight and about three years into this, we still have to remind him to go most of the time, but sometimes he does go on his own.

I tell you, get your son on a set schedule and the nightmare will be over.

You said you have tried a lot of things, but not what those were. Have you tried the miralax? that is usually the most successful treatment. If you have tried it, for how long did you try it and what exactly were the results? It is hard to advise when we don't the previous course of treatment. If you tried it for more than a year, consistently without missing a dose, you need to try something else. It takes one year for a child's colon to reverse to normal size once the blockage is completely stopped. suppositories are another option if the miralax does not work. these also must be done consistently and can be used in addition to miralax. He needs to go at least one time a day for a number of weeks preferably two or more times a day, in order to completely clear out the colon. At this point his colon is so enlarged and impacted he cannot feel anything and likely the soft stuff is leaking around the harder poops causing even more accidents. You need to do this now as he ages the ability of the colon to shrink back to normal is gone. And then he will never be able to control his bm's. And that will really make life difficult for him as an adult. You can get child/adult size pullups for him to wear. And I would recommend doing that, either disposable or cloth ones(snap EZ has great cloth ones), but disposables keeps the work load of laundry way down. Or you could use a mix of disposable and cloth. Either way get working on a solution before it is too late for him. If you have done the miralax and suppositories and a set pooping schedule, and none of it worked, you need to take more proactive action before it is too late.

My son doesn't have this problem, but he still wets the bed every night and we use the good nights pull ups they are made for bigger kids. I know they are expensive but it may help for a while, till you get it under control. They really do absorb alot.
Good luck and hope your son feels better soon.