The Back Story (pun intended)
Last summer, I again witnessed the drawbacks of medication when my then three year old had an exceptional case of constipation.
We had never experienced something like this with either child. It was a Wednesday in June in 2024 when it started. My daughter started complaining of a tummy ache and asked for a massage. Usually, this does the trick. This time though, she continued to cry for hours. We feared she had swallowed something given the apparent severity of her pain and she still had a healthy appetitie. So, my husband took her to the emergency room. Fortunately, she had not swallowed a toy, as we feared. An x-ray confirmed that she was very constipated. We then realized she hadn’t eliminated in a couple of days. We recalled that on Sunday she had eaten a lot of almonds without having enough water. This had caused the constipation that we would then all struggle with for the next 10 or so days.
The emergency room doctors recommended Miralax and suppositories, which we gave her for the following days. She was still in pain though and all she wanted was to be massaged for hours.
Fun Times on the Cruise
Her pain seemed to ebb and flow so felt we were getting close to resolution. That Saturday we left for Florida, hesitantly, for a family cruise to the Bahamas with my parents and sisters and their families. The second day into the cruise, the pain and crying came back. We continued to give Miralax and suppositories to force her to eliminate since she refused to even try. We were exhausted, exasperated, and worried and she was scared of the bathroom.
That Wednesday, one week since the emergency room, we asked my brother-in-law, a physician, what we should do. He suggested we see a doctor in the Bahamas when the ship stopped for a day break. It had been such a stressful trip so far, as the recommended things were not working, so were on board.
A Miracle in the Bahamas
It was a runaround on the island going from one doctor’s office to another finding a physician that could help. The people were so kind, they would drive us over to another place or walk with us. We were, of course, worried about our daughter, upset about missing time with family, and about how this had affected the trip but we felt so cared for by strangers.
When we finally landed at an office, we saw a family physician, who was absolutely amazing. Not only was Dr. Rochelle Williams knowledgeable (her specialty was in GI issues). She was compassionate and understanding, didn’t rush us, and answered all of our questions. She informed us that MiraLax can actually cause stomach cramping thus further making pooping scary for a child. That made so much sense given my daughter’s reactions. She advise us against getting another x-ray given our daughter had one a week prior and it would expose her to more radiation. We so appreciated that!
Many times, in the name of money, doctors recommend interventions and procedures, sacrificing what is best for health. She and her resident shared how profit fueled and litigious America is and how the Bahamian medicine is not profit focused. She also prescribed two medications, one of which was a pain reliever. They cost us next to nothing. We gave our daughter the medication once or twice and it enabled her to get active again and by Friday she had her big BM 😊 No more Miralax and suppositories since our appointment. No more crying and writhing and we got a break from a lot of massaging, which seemed to be the only thing that helped her pain.
Lessons Learned
We shared the good news with our family who were also concerned for her health. We were immensely relieved and learned a few big lessons.
First, we would make sure she was always drinking enough water with snacks, especially almonds.
Second, we would tackle the issue early on with massage, homeopathy and other natural medications like castor oil.
Third, we would avoid suppositories and Miralax which can be counter effective and needed a pain reliever to calm things down (think of the effect of pitocin to induce labor and the additional pain it brings).
We would go back to what we knew and try to prevent it from getting worse as did for my daughter.
Here is a video I did on how to support your baby with constipation relief that is not severe:
