Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks UPDATE 4/22

DS has had really bad diarrhea for 3 weeks now. It is soooo bad it explodes through diapers and now he keeps getting these awful diaper rashes. Anyway, the pediatrician said it could be a virus. We brought stool samples to the lab and everything came back normal. We are going for bloodwork today... his 1 year old bloodwork a little early plus some additional tests. There have been no new foods introduced. He does not drink any juice and he is already on Similac Sensitive (no lactose). Besides the diarrhea he is acting normal, eating and drinking a normal amount. He had a fever for 1 day about a week and a half ago, but the next day a tooth cut through, so the ped. thinks the fever was unrelated.
Any ideas what this could be?


Update 4/22
his bloodwork came back normal. They did check for celiac's disease and it was negative. The only thing questionable is his wbc count was slightly elevated... so the ped thinks it may have been an infection and could take 6 weeks for the diarrhea to go away. In the meantime she wants us to try soy formula.

Message edited 4/22/2009 4:57:20 PM.

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

My DS had this when he was maybe around 15 months old. It lasted well over a month...I think for 6 weeks or so. We did the stool samples at the lab that came back normal, bloodwork normal too. We saw a GI specialist and he said that sometimes kids just have diarrhea as their bodies are growing and adjusting to their diet. I think he called it "toddlers diarrhea." It eventually went away on its own. The only thing he told us was to decrease his milk intake to no more than 16 oz a day (he was drinking 18-24oz at the time).

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

I have a possible theory. He had a virus that led to lactose intolerance.

Viruses can cause temporary lactose intolence for babies, and even though he is on the Similac Sensitive, that is lactose free but still milk based so I do believe there is some lactose in there. I could be wrong but my DD is on Sim Sens too and I think the pkg says it is not a lactose free product.

Just a thought. I could be totally off base. I am sorry he hasn't been feeling well.

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

This happened to Ryan and we switched him to soy formula for a few weeks until he got better. Then we switched him back and he was fine.

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

Is he cutting teeth? My DD always got diarrhea when she cut teeth.

The ped gave us samples of Florastor to help her digestive system get on track but I don't think it helped much. It might be worth a shot for your DS.

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

Clover had "toddler's diarrhea" since Christmas and just recently it stopped. It started with a virus right before Christmas. The doctor said it could sometimes last for months. Hers did! Hope he gets over it quickly.

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

Posted by MrsBumbleb

Clover had "toddler's diarrhea" since Christmas and just recently it stopped. It started with a virus right before Christmas. The doctor said it could sometimes last for months. Hers did! Hope he gets over it quickly.

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

I'll ask the ped. about florastor and soy formula. According to Abbott labs, Similac Sensitive is Lactose free but does contain other milk derived protiens, sugars, and fats.
He did just get a tooth, but it was his 6th tooth and we didn't have this problem with the first 5 teeth.
Bloodwork was anightmare today. There was only 1 tech working at the lab so I got to hold an 11 month old still and not let him move his arm... FUN! I am hoping everything comes out normal... we do have a lot of GI issues in the family. My dad has ulcerative colitis, I have IBS, and a cousin has celiac disease.

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

My SIL had this issue w/ my niece; they finally determined it was a wheat intolerance. As soon as SIL stopped her from eating wheat/wheat products/gluten, the diarrhea stopped.

Thankfully she outgrew this in 2 years but for those 2 years my SIL really watched what she ate.

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

have you started the transition to whole milk? baby michael had this for 2 weeks when we dida slow transition. also are you introducing more dairy into his diet?

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

has he been eating MORE fruit? could anyone ELSE be giving him juice?

My kids get that when they drink too much juice, even if it's watered down.

Also, too much fruit will do it or citrus can irritate their systems

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

I spoke to SIL & she said, "I took her to a Pediatric Gastroenterologist and he ordered a few blood tests (celiac, wheat and other food allergies)."

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

I posted about this the other day and no one responded.......My dd has been going through the same thing, we had the blood work and now we have to do a stool sample...she is on nutramigen. I have no idea what it can be and I also have GI issues in my family so im worried. I hope everything is ok with your DS.

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks

Try not to worry too much. It could be nothing at all!

That's interesting about lactose intolerance. I know that wasn't the case with my DS though because he's allergic to dairy so he doesn't get any dairy or lactose in his diet. With my DS we never found a cause and it just eventually went away. Hope that's the case for you!

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks UPDATE 4/22

updated

Re: Any ideas??? Diarrhea for 3+ weeks UPDATE 4/22