HELP!! My 3 yr old has massive D

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:21 pm

My 3 yr old complained of a tummy ache after daycare today and had massive, watery D every 2 hours ever since, even after she fell asleep. She's awake now after filling a diaper before reaching the toilet. She had D in her pants at the dinner table too, despite being 110% potty trained. I haven't seen D this bad and weird-looking in ages - it's orange and green, full of mucus, greenish gel and lots of clumpy strands. A few carrot bits and totally undigested food from her lunch are mixed in too. No fever, no vomiting, although every sip of water makes her look alarmingly nauseous. She says it makes her want to puke. I know I should be a pro at this by now (she had E.Coli with bloody stools for a month in January). Still I question my approach. So my questions are:

1) What can I add to water to make her drink more and hydrate her? Would sea salt and a little apple juice be OK?

2) I refuse to give her regular pedialyte because it contains Splenda. Can I add a little juice to non-flavored Pedialyte instead, or will the juice always make her worse? Which juice is best? White grape? Would Gatorade be OK or too much sugar? Any other oral rehydration supplements or beverages you recommend?

3) Should I try to get a stool culture ASAP or will the pediatricians expect me to wait it out a bit first?

4) How much dehydration is cause for visiting an ER for IV fluids? How can I tell we've reached that point, short of her practically passing out?

5) I am offering only GF/DF foods. Will adding oils (olive oil, Earth Balance) to rice noodles make things worse? What else can I dress them up with to add flavor?

6) Any suggestions of D-safe foods for kids who are otherwise addicted to sweets? She won't eat bananas, not sure about apple sauce. Is maple syrup or honey any better than sugar for D?

No one else in the family is sick, and she's only been back at daycare for one day since last Tuesday. Should I suspect something we ate days ago (that the rest of us were able to fight off)? Any chance the pizza lunch provided by the school at noon could cause this so quickly?

I am totally PARANOID about D in my kids. I worry that each bout will lead to IBD and/or celiac someday. Am I crazy???

Polly · Post by **Polly** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 8:00 am

Hi Z!

Of course you are paranoid about D in your kids! They are at risk for IBD with your history.

My hunch would be that the likeliest diagnosis is a GI bug that she picked up at daycare. Did you ask the daycare if anything is going around? You are right to be concerned about dehydration, since the younger the child, the more quickly it can occur. Signs to look for are reduced urination, sticky/dry mucus membranes, reduced skin elasticity, irritability. You might want to check out the info on Dehydration and Electrolye Imbalance - I think it's in the newbie forum at the top of the Board. There are suggestions for rehydration fluids there. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about Splenda just now, especially if pedialyte or pedialyte popsickles, for example, are something she will take in.

Check with her ped., but they'd probably wait a while longer to culture. Just push those fluids for now. I'd skip the oils, since they can cause D. How about cooked rice cereal with some applesauce or maple syrup stirred in? Good luck and keep us posted.

Love,

Polly

Post by **tex** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 11:23 am

I can't add much to what Polly has posted, (I agree that daycare centers are hotbeds for exposure to viruses). Here's a link to the post about dehydration and electrolyte balance that she mentioned:

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=992

Concerning your question about sweets, honey contains a lot of fructose, so IMO, maple sugar is a better choice. In fact, it's the only type of sugar that I could tolerate in any quantity when I was recovering.

Tex

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Wed Dec 01, 2010 11:42 pm

Well, after keeping her home on Tuesday, there was no diarrhea, no pooping for 2 days now. So she went back to daycare and got sent home this afternoon with a fever. Turns out two other children and a teacher at her school are out with fevers, and some of her classmates are acting lethargic too. Mystery solved, I guess. My theory is that she ingested the viral/bacterial pathogen at daycare on Monday (she was out most of last week for the holiday) and the D was her body's desperate attempt to get rid of it. Too bad it didn't work - it incubated and now she's sick with non-specific symptoms. No D, no vomiting, no runny nose or cough, just fever and non-specific pain/discomfort so far. She's crying on and off in her sleep right now...

Unlike my son who NEVER, EVER gets sick, my daughter seems to pick up anything and everything that is going around.

Time to put my nurse hat on, and figure out how to split the day with my husband who's job is more important than mine.

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 11:17 am

UPDATE:
After complaining of mouth pain, I realized what it was - strep throat, 3rd time this year.
I took her to a Minute Clinic first thing this morning and learned that strep is very active in the area. Since she can't have penicillins and strep is growing resistant to Zythromax, she got clindamycin. I hope it's not too rough on the GI tract.

Post by **tex** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 12:54 pm

I'm glad you were able to figure it out. Strep seems to be a fairly regular problem for some kids.

I hope the clindamycin works without any unneeded side effects.

Thanks for the updates.

Tex

CAMary · Post by **CAMary** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 9:43 pm

Just popping in to say clindamycin is a worrisome antibiotic for causing c-diff...so if you can get her to take a probiotic, or if you can get her to eat live culture yogurt you might see a preventative benefit...

I wouldn't wish c-diff on my worst enemy...

Mary

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 2:07 pm

The saga continues. My daughter developed an angry red rash over the weekend starting on her extermities and face, then spreading over much of her body. She had completed day 7 of the clindamycin. Her ped said to discontinue the antibiotic, give antihistamines, and come in on Monday. Well, she vomited twice in the middle of the night Saturday, which made me think the strep was back. Sure enough, positive throat swab today and she's starting a new 10-day course of Cephalexin. This is the LAST antibiotic approved for kids that is available to her. If she reacts to this one, we'll be consulting an ID doc and talking about adult antibiotics like Cipro and Levaquin. I had a nice cry in the car over this. I'm very informed about health issues, but I feel sad and overwhelmed about this. I wish I could just drop her off at a hospital and let someone else take care of this!! I fear we're headed for tonsillectomy by next year.

No wonder I can't get my LC into remission. Too much crap going on all the time!

Linda in BC · Post by **Linda in BC** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 3:16 pm

Aw, Zizzle, it's totally understandable for you to feel that way. It's hard enough to deal with little ones' illnesses but when we also are dealing have our own health issues, it can be overwhelming. And when it keeps happening ...Third time for strep this year! My goodness... I am sure that is disheartening. I 'll be sending wishes and prayers your way that the new antibiotic works.

Linda

mbeezie · Post by **mbeezie** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:05 pm

Zizzle,

Sorry to hear your little one is having such a rough time. Keeping my fingers crossed that the cephalexin works. I can only imagine how stressed you are about this. Habg in there - it will get better.

Hugs,

Mary Beth