24 hours - no poop

izemmom

New member
Can some moms and dads of tell me your experiences with your cf kids not having bowel movements for 24 hr. or longer stretches of time? Here's what's up with us right now...Emily has been doing just great! Yesterday, all of a sudden, she vomited right after having a bottle. She hasn't done that in months. she had taken the whole thing pretty quickly, so I though maybe she was too fast and it upset her tummy. NO big dieal. We washed. Waited, tried solids a while later. Ate great! Vomited. They were all foods she's had before, had her enzymnes in the usual amounts. She was happy, but sleepy and sletp comfortable through her pt/nebs. She woke up at about 10:30 pm, still acting happy, but vomited (all over Daddy's face <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif" border="0">isgust<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0"> She did have a temp of about 99.8. I thougth maybe she picked up a bug. Then it clicked for me that she hadn't had a bm all day. She will usuallyl have 3-4 "good" ones in the morning, but she did't yesterday. She was a daycare and they recorded only "WET" on her sheets, no bm. During hte next hour, she was very uncomfortable. She was doing hte scream/cry in pain thing and writhing. Her tumlmy did feel hard to me, but she was squirming so much, its' hard to tell.

So, at 11:30 p.m. I called the cf clinic. After all, I have been told and have read that if t here is no bm in 24 hours - CALL ASAP. The pulmononlgist on call was not helpful at all, in fact very rude. He actid as though I shouldn't have called since "I can't see her symptoms over t he phone." I asked at what point to do take her for an x-ray to see if there is any blockage and he rewsponded "That's up to you - how bad does she seem?"

Emily did settle down and slept, fitfully through the night. I kind of interpreted from the jerk on call that it wasn't emergency status. So, we are calling to talk to our docs as soon as t he clinic opens, and waiting - still - for Emily to poop.

Sorry this got so long - What do you guys do in situations like this?
 

ashton2005

New member
Hey hope she is feeling better this am.. my ashton has done this and im to give it 24 hours then take him in or call the peds or GI dr.. if shes vomiting and her tummy is hard there sounds like a blockage possibly.. im sure that you thought of that im just telling you wht my GI dr wants us to do let us know what happens..
 

Ratatosk

Administrator
Staff member
We had constipation issues a few times with DS. Worst time was about a week or so after we switched from formula to whole milk/cream. He never had a fever, but he would cut down on his eating, a couple of times he vomited. We now know the signs and if he hasn't pooped and he's uncomfortable, cranky we give him a tsp of Milk of Mag twice a day to get things moving.
 

folione

New member
At Emily's age, I'd say that the combination of vomiting plus no poop means call a non-jerk Doctor. You might also take her to her pediatrician if it can happen faster than the CF clinic -it won't take a CF Dr. to feel her gut and tell you if it feels backed up. The pediatrician can also be useful because they can tell you if there's a stomach bug going around.

I hope she's feeling better soon. My 3 year old skips a day now and then and it always makes him uncomfortable -but never vomit...
 

Ratatosk

Administrator
Staff member
When DS usually did vomit, it was usually because we realized that DS hadn't pooped in a while for us and we'd assumed he had at school/daycare. His tummy was usually a bit harder, sometimes he whimpered that his tummy hurt.

Call or take your child in and they'll be able to figure it out. The first time DS was constipated, I was so concerned it was an obstruction and the nurse when calling back with the results kinda snickered at me that it was JUST constipation and told us to give him some Milk of Mag. Wanted to say, walk in my shoes lady -- kid spent the first couple months of life in the NICU recovering from bowel surgery, I'm a new parent.

Usually when DS has gotten a stomach bug he vomits non-stop for several hours, then the runs out the other end and THEN constipation as he's recovering.
 

izemmom

New member
Just wanted to update you guys on Emily.

I ended up calling out pediatrician since I was getting no response from the cf clinic. Right after I made the call, she started pooping - thank goodness! I called back to see if they still wanted us to come in since things were pretty much back to normal. Our pediatrician actually called me herself to say, "Bring her in anyway, you and I will both sleep better tonight if we take a few minutes to check her out." Now THAT"S a good doctor!!!

Anyway, the check went fine. Emily definately work it all out of her system over the course of the afternoon. The pediatrician was pretty much outraged about what I had been told by the on-call guy the night before. She said that any cf infant that present with those symptoms should be directed to get to an emergency room ASAP. Even though Emily's body knew what to do and eventually got the job done, our ped. (And, I found out later, our actually pulmo and dietician agree with this...) considers what Em had to be a blockge that should have at least had a chek, if not some assistance (Enema, suppositiory...).

She's back to her normal happy self. And, by the way, we had our second normal culture...no PA two times in a row!!!!!! YAY!!!
 

kayleesgrandma

New member
Tamil, what a jerk that on-call guy was--you need to make a complaint. Kaylee has had constipation in the past and has worked thru it within 24 hrs. If there's a significant amount of vomitting I'd worry about dehydration which will contribute to constipation further. Glad everything worked out.
 

JazzysMom

New member
I treat constipation like infections with my lungs. Each time there is an episode, you become more vunerable. The lungs become damaged & the intestines become prone to blockage. Constipation in general is not a "laughing" matter now when a CFer has it, its even more serious. You know the signs & you know what to do in the future! Forget the Jerk of a Doctor!
 

Ratatosk

Administrator
Staff member
The doctor was such a jerk! Every single baby/health book says constipation, plus fever = taking your child in! And with CFers, there's always the increased chance that it could be a blockage. I suppose you'll just need to be a bit more vigilant in the future and stock up on teeny tiny baby suppositories <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

So glad she's feeling better. L
 
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