Re: JRA -constipation

[Guest guest]

Thanks for answering Stacia. I had mentioned it to our rhuemy also

and she said that it is one of the side effects, but like you

offered no answers. I keep telling myself I have to keep a journal

of her symtoms and I always forget. I am going to go and buy one

today so that I can have a better understanding of what she is

experiencing. We bumped up her MTX from .5 to .6 last week so she's

had two dosages at .6. Our rhuemy says we need to get to a level

that is equal to her weight asap, but she didn't increase it all

that much. We are only in week 4 so I guess she won't start really

tapering the Pred and increasing the MTX until our next appointment

at the end of the month. If the constipation still occurs I will ask

our doctor about a laxative. Ew.. That totally sucks what the two of

you had to go through. Isn't it amazing what we are willing to do

for our liitle one's! The blood part concerns me. It seems that most

of her large BM's are bloody. I'm assuming she's just tearing or

something, but you are right that it isn't normal.

We'll see...

Alia and Caroline, age 2, pauci and uveitis

> Alia,

>

> Oh that poor Caroline...when Hunter first started MTX and pred, he

> was on 25mg oral MTX and 35mg oral pred and he was in the first

and

> worst flare for 2 months 'til the MTX kicked in a little bit. He

> was super constipated all that time, about 2-3 months. I talked

to

> the rheumy and he said, hmmmmm, but offered no solution. He said

it

> could be the disease itself (systemic) or the pred or...? or.... ?

> or....? At the beginning, I think it was 8-9 days since he had a

> BM. I talked to the pediatrician and he said to try suppositories

> (oh, joy). I did that three days in a row, with no results and

> finally gave him an enema. Finally, an explosion in less than 5

> minutes. I took him to the pediatrician and he said the same

thing

> as the rheumy, but put him on prescription Miralax (laxative) for

a

> few weeks until he was " somewhat " regular and then on milk of

> magnesia for about a month. During the really bad times of

> constipation, he was moaning and screaming as bad as the JRA pain.

>

> On a side note, I think sometimes nerves and anxiety can add to

the

> whole picture, and that is a big unknown and hard to figure,

because

> it's not you who it's happening to. I hope this helps and little

> Caroline gets regular soon.

>

> Also, I think you need to look for a pattern with her MB's going

> forward and continue to look for any blood. If yes, you may have

> some other problem brewing, but I sure hope not.

>

> Stacia and Hunter,7,systemic,iritis

[Guest guest]

Hi Alia-

When my now 5 year old was younger, she had a problem with constipation. She would scream and cry inpain. I would have to have her lay on her back while I pushed her legs back and use a thermometer to help the stool out. She would bleed. Turn out she had a tear and it hurt, so she would hold it and it was a viscous circle. Anyways, there is a stool softener that you can buy over the counter. It is a vegetable product (can't remember the name right now. You would just have to look at the children's stool softener label or ask the pharmacist), so it shouldn't have any interactions with other meds. It helped keep her regular enough so she could heal up and not bleed. It was gentle though, not at all like using an enima and not uncomfortable like a suppository. Maybe it would help Caroline. Poor little thing. When Madeleine would try to pass a stool, she seemed to be in more pain than I was in childbirth. It is so hard to watch and the blood can be scary. I hope she feels better soon.

Take Care.

Therese

Re: JRA -constipation

Thanks for answering Stacia. I had mentioned it to our rhuemy also and she said that it is one of the side effects, but like you offered no answers. I keep telling myself I have to keep a journal of her symtoms and I always forget. I am going to go and buy one today so that I can have a better understanding of what she is experiencing. We bumped up her MTX from .5 to .6 last week so she's had two dosages at .6. Our rhuemy says we need to get to a level that is equal to her weight asap, but she didn't increase it all that much. We are only in week 4 so I guess she won't start really tapering the Pred and increasing the MTX until our next appointment at the end of the month. If the constipation still occurs I will ask our doctor about a laxative. Ew.. That totally sucks what the two of you had to go through. Isn't it amazing what we are willing to do for our liitle one's! The blood part concerns me. It seems that most of her large BM's are bloody. I'm assuming she's just tearing or something, but you are right that it isn't normal.We'll see...Alia and Caroline, age 2, pauci and uveitis> Alia,> > Oh that poor Caroline...when Hunter first started MTX and pred, he > was on 25mg oral MTX and 35mg oral pred and he was in the first and > worst flare for 2 months 'til the MTX kicked in a little bit. He > was super constipated all that time, about 2-3 months. I talked to > the rheumy and he said, hmmmmm, but offered no solution. He said it > could be the disease itself (systemic) or the pred or...? or.... ?> or....? At the beginning, I think it was 8-9 days since he had a > BM. I talked to the pediatrician and he said to try suppositories > (oh, joy). I did that three days in a row, with no results and > finally gave him an enema. Finally, an explosion in less than 5 > minutes. I took him to the pediatrician and he said the same thing > as the rheumy, but put him on prescription Miralax (laxative) for a > few weeks until he was "somewhat" regular and then on milk of > magnesia for about a month. During the really bad times of > constipation, he was moaning and screaming as bad as the JRA pain.> > On a side note, I think sometimes nerves and anxiety can add to the > whole picture, and that is a big unknown and hard to figure, because > it's not you who it's happening to. I hope this helps and little > Caroline gets regular soon.> > Also, I think you need to look for a pattern with her MB's going > forward and continue to look for any blood. If yes, you may have > some other problem brewing, but I sure hope not.> > Stacia and Hunter,7,systemic,iritis

[Guest guest]

Thanks Therese! I will look for that tonight. It is soo hard to

watch them! Poor kids!

Alia and Caroline, age 2, poly and uveitis

> > Alia,

> >

> > Oh that poor Caroline...when Hunter first started MTX and

pred, he

> > was on 25mg oral MTX and 35mg oral pred and he was in the

first

> and

> > worst flare for 2 months 'til the MTX kicked in a little bit.

He

> > was super constipated all that time, about 2-3 months. I

talked

> to

> > the rheumy and he said, hmmmmm, but offered no solution. He

said

> it

> > could be the disease itself (systemic) or the pred or...?

or.... ?

> > or....? At the beginning, I think it was 8-9 days since he

had a

> > BM. I talked to the pediatrician and he said to try

suppositories

> > (oh, joy). I did that three days in a row, with no results

and

> > finally gave him an enema. Finally, an explosion in less than

5

> > minutes. I took him to the pediatrician and he said the same

> thing

> > as the rheumy, but put him on prescription Miralax (laxative)

for

> a

> > few weeks until he was " somewhat " regular and then on milk of

> > magnesia for about a month. During the really bad times of

> > constipation, he was moaning and screaming as bad as the JRA

pain.

> >

> > On a side note, I think sometimes nerves and anxiety can add

to

> the

> > whole picture, and that is a big unknown and hard to figure,

> because

> > it's not you who it's happening to. I hope this helps and

little

> > Caroline gets regular soon.

> >

> > Also, I think you need to look for a pattern with her MB's

going

> > forward and continue to look for any blood. If yes, you may

have

> > some other problem brewing, but I sure hope not.

> >

> > Stacia and Hunter,7,systemic,iritis

>

>

>

> -------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

My son also has a problem with constipation. I've asked the rheumy if it's

from the jra or the meds, but he doesn't really have an answer. It's worse

when he is flaring and I've wondered if it's because his hips hurt and it

hurts to push, so he holds it in, which makes it worse... And so on. I've

had to disempact him several times. Yuck! The pediatrician put him on

Miralax, which helps. I've wondered if other kids with jra have this

problem, and I guess some do. It's hard to know if it's the jra, or a

problem with kids in general. I think pediatricians see a lot of this with

all kinds of kids. (and Ezra, seven year old systemic)