PDA

View Full Version : Diarrhea for a week (TMI)



lhafer
11-14-2010, 07:53 AM
I have a 4.5 year old. She's been having diarrhea since Monday. She will be 100% fine, then say her tummy hurts and runs to the bathroom. Sometimes she's gassy (which is the pain because when she's not, she doesn't complain of pain nearly as much). It's anywhere from runny/watery to just really soft. It's also been changing colors over the week - but never red/bloody or white.

Took her to the doctor yesterday, checked her for UTI, and all was clear. She can have a good day all day long, and then it hit her in the late afternoon. Or she can wake me (like this morning) at 5 am saying she needs to go to the bathroom.

Nothing in her diet has changed, no new pets, no traveling to pick up a bug, etc. No one else in the family has this. The doc said I need to try to the yogurt with the lactobacillus bacteria in it. She used to eat those daily (a year or so ago) because she had issues with constipation. So we will start those again today.

But does anyone have any other suggestions??? I'm at a loss as to why this is going on, out of the blue. She has no food allergies (that I know of).

Clarity
11-14-2010, 09:59 AM
My 4yr old had a similar situation about 2 weeks ago. She didn't go more frequently, but when she did it was "because her tummy hurt" and her stool was very soft to runny. I just increased her yogurt intake, laid off juices, and added acidophilus to her daily diet. (I mix it with milk and call it "medicine milk" - she has no problems drinking it. Acidophilus is a bit sweet.)
I think it was just a passing virus because dd2 caught it a few days later - it wrecked havoc w/her potty training. :(

annex
11-14-2010, 02:47 PM
Does she eat dairy? My DD has a hard time getting over diarrhea if we give her milk/cheese/etc. It makes it harder for the gut to heal, I've been told. I'd keep up the yogurt with the bacteria, but drop all other dairy for several days-week and see if the situation improves.

hellokitty
11-14-2010, 03:05 PM
Did the doc check her for clostridium difficile, b/c that is the first thing that crossed my mind when I read your post.

lhafer
11-14-2010, 03:51 PM
No he didn't test for C. diff. It would be weird to me if she did have this as she hasn't been on abx, and she hasn't been sick. But that doesn't mean it isn't. He did ask if there was blood in the stool (there isn't) and/or if her stool had a foul odor (which is does, sometimes).

She mainly lives on dairy. She's an extremely picky eater. But she lives for milk and cheese.

If she's not better by early next week, I will take her back in for stool testing. Rule out C. diff and any other nasty little bugs. The other thing is that none of the rest of the family (dad, me, or baby of 8 months) has this. I am diligent about her washing her hands, and helping her clean up, and washing my hands. But still.

catsnkid
11-14-2010, 07:19 PM
Is she stressed? that's the only thing I can think of htat wasn't mentioned.