The very first time we met the boy he was sick. ?On that visit he decided to share his lovely germs with us resulting in the second worst case of sick I’ve ever had (worst being Swine Flu in the Spring of 2009). ?Since then the child has rarely been sick. ?He’s had a few colds, thrown up on me 3 times and we did have one multiple trips to the ER for a very nasty ear infection. ?With the ear infection he was prescribed antibiotics, but other than that nothing. ?The child is never sick.
If you will recall we did take the boy to the doctor in late April because of his significant hearing loss and continuing hacking cough. ?The doc said he had an upper respiratory infection and prescribed him antibiotics. ?This would be only the 2nd time since living in the US that the child has had antibiotics. ?We have no clue if he was ever given any in Russia. ?We doubt it.
Well… we give the child the medicine and things start to improve. ?Then Mother’s Day happened and we assumed it was just a flu. ?The Wednesday after Mother’s Day my mom was the recipient of a sick child. ?Again, we thought it was just the same flu settling in his intestine. ?He was fine the next day. ?There was also some speculation about some possibly bad orange juice.
The next week there was another potty emergency. ?The next week another. ?The following week yet another. ?We were starting to think something might be up. ?My mom mentioned that she thought it was because of the antibiotic. ?But that was weeks ago. ?I know antibiotics can cause intestinal trouble, but nothing like this.
The boy stayed the night with my parents last week and had another potty emergency. ?We all agreed that this had gone on long enough and something had to be done. ?Last Friday I took the boy to the doctor and he listened to us and the boy’s abdomen intently (have I ever mentioned how much I love our pediatrician?). ?There are two issues that could be at stake here and all of this is because the boy never gets sick.
The first is that the antibiotics (which were not heavy duty, but rather run of the mill) upset the balance in his intestine causing minor lactose intolerance. ?This helped explain a lot for me since I’m lactose intolerant and spent the large majority of my childhood with a bottle of penicillin parked in the refrigerator. ?The other issue could be a case of Clostridium difficile. ?Either way we are treating him for both.
The bottom line is that because the boy hasn’t built up a natural resistance to antibiotics they have severe side effects. ?Problem is that diagnosing what is exactly the cause can be rather difficult. ?For the time being we have eliminated 99% of dairy from his diet (yogurt is still ok) and he is on Flagyl (which is a horrible giardia medicine). ?All of this is in an effort to save his intestinal tract from long term damage. ?The good news is that it doesn’t slow him down at all and he doesn’t appear to be in any pain. ?So far we haven’t had any accidents, but it has only been 4 days.
that Flagyl is some nasty stuff… ugggh… I shudder as I remember that stuff from Liv’s 6 months of hell duration of Giardia.
hope he is doing better soon
FYI-C-diff spores can live on inanimate objects for 5 months. If he has this you better wash everything! And let everyone around him or has been around him know that. Its yucky stuff and very contagious. good luck! poor little guy.
We have had our fair share of intestinal issues around here too. They sell a children’s chewable probiotic tablet that has been absolutely awesome in helping the GI issues here. It’s one of the reasons Seth has gained 10 pounds and grown 3 inches in 5 months. He has gone from the bottom 5% of the charts to inching towards 50%. Plus it’s all natural. A bonus in my book!
Probiotics are something that more and more Dr.s are prescribing. Everything is radiated or washed to death in our diets unless you eat organic, fresh produce. Certainly might help O, putting him on it. Drawback? Never cheap!
He’s on probiotics too.
Wendy-what is the name of the chewable childrens probiotic? Thanks!
Our little guy had giardia when we brought him home, he wasn’t really symptomatic except for when he drank apple juice. They caught it and treated it as part of the standard blood work at the international adoption clinic he was seen at. It’s now been four years, but we were still noticing a few symptoms like crying that his stomach hurt after eating, and he is still pretty small (on the charts, but very close to the bottom). Tested his poo, turns out he also has another stomach bacteria called h pylori, which required more antibiotics. We are waiting to re-check to make sure it’s gone. It’s an easy test, might be worth considering for your little guy, as it is apparently pretty common in Russia. It is the bacteria that causes most ulcers,but can also cause pain,reflux,etc. Hope he feels better!
C-Diff? wow…hang in there babe. Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday bruch…if you tell us you can’t make it I will cry!
The one in our store is called ProBo and is located with the childrens vitamins. They must taste really good because my kids beg for them.