My four year old began having diarrhea on July 5th. After two weeks, it finally began to get somewhat better but she still has episodes. She would have very bad stomach cramps but no fever and otherwise totally normal behavior. The poo has often been rather yellow. We have steered clear of dairy and all fruit (except bananas) but don't notice any real difference. We were bracing to see if it would go through the family. Yes, I have taken her to the doctor - a couple of times. They took a stool sample last week and it came back negative for parasites and bacteria. However, I am skeptical of the accuracy as the particular sample was one of the more "normal" poops. Now, my six year old is having diarrhea and it is suspiciously similar to how the 4 year old began.
Can a virus last 3 1/2 weeks before it's passed along to another person? Has anyone had experience with a negative stool sample but end up having a parasite or bacteria? Our doctor, whom I love, has been gone but is back today and I am going to call first thing to try to get in, but am wondering what experiences others have had. I have never experienced or heard of viral diarrhea lasting for so long...
Thank you so much!!!
Hi Ladies,
Thanks for your thoughts and ideas! I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out.
So, they took a stool sample of my second daughter yesterday to check for parasites or bacteria. She's in the early stages of whatever this thing is so I guess the chance of finding something relevant in her stool is higher although the doctor believes that it's probably viral. I am giving both girls the probiotic powder and am hoping that that will help the 4 year old get her system back on track. While her stool is generally more formed, it is definitely far from normal and she's still having a hard time controlling it at times.
I am just hoping that we can get a handle on this situation SOON as it is taking over our summer and we have some really fun plans to travel with friends next week. We also have another daughter and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she doesn't start in too...
Thanks for reading!
-B.
Viruses can stay domant for months, even years before they show up. Take cold sores, for example. Those infected don't walk around with constant cold sores, but only when the body's conditions are perfect for them to appear. It is very possible this is a virus. My SIL has had chronic flair-ups w/ similiar simptoms as what you're describing and it is, in fact, a virus. Hope you get an accurate reading at you own Dr.
My son went through a similar situation when he was 2. It came on when we were on vacation and I thought it was from all the not-so-healthy stuff he was eating from being on vacation, but then it continued! After about a week, I took him in and the dr said that they wouldn't do any tests until after about 10 days. It didn't improve, so we ran some tests (lactose, ceilacs, c diff, and another). All of them came back normal. My doctor told me to give him yogurt everyday to help him build the good bacteria back in his intestine. After about 2 weeks of this, it started to turn around. Since then I have learned how important probiotics are (good bacteria, that is the stuff found in good yogurt). I now give my kids a tube of gogurt everyday. So, in the end, he had to have gotten some sort of virus that wiped out all of the good bacteria and it takes a few weeks to build those back up. This is exactly what my dr said, and she was right. I was freaking out the whole time, thinking how can "nothing be wrong, he must be sick". If your son won't eat yogurt, you can buy probiotics in a powder form and you can mix it in with his milk or water... Good luck!
My son had diarrhea a few times before he was out of diapers. I know it was antibiotics on at least one occasion (kills off all the beneficial intestinal bacteria), but other times it could have been rota-virus (you can pick that one up almost anywhere and I get it myself about once every 10 years or so). The way the doctor explained it to me was - once a gut gets irritated, it can stay irritated for a long time even after the initial cause of irritation has been resolved, so sometimes the diarrhea can last 2, 4, even 6 or 7 weeks. What to do? Well, staying hydrated is the most important thing - so Pedialyte and Gatorade help with that. You need to help re-establish some beneficial intestinal bacteria (especially if the cause was antibiotics)- so yogurt and probiotics help with that. Keep up with the binding foods (BRAT - bananas, rice, apple sauce and toast) - but watch for signs when the stool starts solidifying because it's easy to go too far and end up being constipated. If it doesn't look like there is any improvement, I'd begin to worry there might be a food allergy that might be keeping things irritated.
Has your child been out camping or swimming in dirty water? My son caught "Campi" one summer and it took a great deal of time for him to get over it and unfortunately there isn't much you can do but let it runs it's course and put them on probiotics to help regulate the bowels. Campi is determined by a specialized test that can be taken as the Dr's office or ER. Make sure your child has plenty of fluids, preferable water, to flush any traces of the nasty stuff out. If it continues for more than 3 weeks after being the probiotics I would seek additonal information from another physician.
Have they been tested for C.diff?
Have you tried Florastor for kids? It is a probiotic (I get mine behind the counter at the pharmacy, but you don't need a script). It can't hurt (docs have been using it for over 50 years) but it might help...
