In 2010 we got a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis for our son Isaac who was then 27 months old. For a year and a half we had been concerned about his persistent soft stools. Now that we're going down the road of living with IBD in our house, we want to be able to share our story, connect with similar families or individuals, and increase our awareness of the experience of others.

Some of our related interests are diet, kids and families with IBD, and discussing and sharing experiences.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

more poop, and probiotics

Well, the day after that last post we had another poop incident. On one hand, we were thinking even more about it being a potty training issue, but then we drew a conclusion that seems obvious. Since Isaac was having that episode of vomiting, we haven't been giving him that probiotic capsule (s. boulardii). First, it was because we didn't want to upset his touchy stomach, but then when we all went to the in-laws' we did so without those probiotics. This morning I ventured out and found some Florastor at Walmart and we'll let that do for the next couple days until we get back home. Today his poop was looking better but let's see what happens in the next few days.

If Isaac's poop has a dramatic turnaround, we have even stronger evidence in his case of regular probiotic use correlating with good stools, and not giving probiotics correlating with bad stools. I'll want to tell the doctor if that's the case, and see what he thinks of experimenting a little with reducing the sulfasalazine. (I can't help but think the antibiotic Sulfa drug compromises in part the probiotic impact. We talked about this with our doc, who assured us the Sulfa is not impacting the good bacteria in the gut. I want to know more.)

Through all this, Isaac's had great spirits. How nice it was to toss him up today and play some with him. On a blog like this, I want to focus more on all the positive things about our family situation. I am also thinking about incorporating a "poop scoop" report which hopefully might help encourage others to keep a in/out diary, and might help others of you notice any patterns or similarities or anything else of note.

3 comments:

  1. While I was "off the map" not taking any prescription meds, I continued to take a probiotic (and calcium because I had to stop using many dairy products AND fish oil). I felt like it REALLY made a difference for me. I continue to take it now that I'm on sulfasalazine, and it seems to make a difference when I forgot to take the probiotic. I think it definitely matters.

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  2. My positive thoughts are being sent to your family. Isaac is precious.

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