Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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She'd be mortified if she knew I was posting here, but I'm at my wit's end.

Daughter is a few weeks shy of 10. For years now, she has had massive bowel movements. We're talking brick-like solidity, folks. So much so that it clogs toilets if you don't get in there w/ a chopstick and break it up before flushing. TMI, I know, but, hey, that's why I'm asking. (for months we thought the plumbing at our old house was bad; then a plumber told us just what was clogging the pipes...)

Her former pediatrician ran a battery of tests on her (originally, she also had horrible tummy cramps starting about age 5; we never did find the source. Went so far as to go to a GI doc and put her on a machine--I forget the name--similar to an MRI or Ultrasound, but she had to lie still for a full hour. They found nothing, and the tummy aches stopped about that same time, so there was no further testing. She was also tested for antibodies to gluten and that was negative, along with everything else the doc could think of; this was before I'd heard of paleo. Now, I think she does have sensitivities to gluten.)

Her current pediatrician says that overlarge bowel movements aren't that uncommon with kids. Like the prior, she suggested Miralax, which we do every couple of days.

Fast forward to a paleo lifestyle, with which the kids are mostly on board. Daughter still drinks milk--raw milk, locally sourced from pastured cows--about 1 glass/day. She's not a salad eater, but will eat veggies at meals. For the most part, she's eaten paleo for the last couple of months, albeit with more (non-wheat) cheats than her dad and I, who are very strict.

I'd hoped that paleo would fix this issue. It hasn't. And as we're no longer going out for Chinese, I'm running out of chopsticks.

Any ideas? Is Miralax a horrible thing from a health/nutrition standpoint? Are her pedi's right that this isn't that unusual in kids and she'll outgrow it?

flag	asked Oct 13 2011 at 2:41 Paleo-ish 591●2●8

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have you tried vitamin c? – cliff Oct 13 2011 at 3:48

If she eats eggs, try to have her avoid them for a week. – Travis Culp♦ Oct 13 2011 at 4:12

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Had to favorite question this because I was laughing so hard. – Annie Oct 13 2011 at 4:15

LOL, Annie! If it weren't for the PITB factor of dealing with it, I would be, too. Travis, thanks. Eggs are her absolute favorite food, but if that will solve this, I'll cut them out and see what happens. Will also try Vit C. Right now, she takes a kids multi. Thank you! – Paleo-ish Oct 13 2011 at 11:34

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Just as an aside...I would only try ONE of these options you are getting at a time, that way you know what worked. Was it the dair, the egg, the Mg, the vit C...ya know. – JayJay Oct 13 2011 at 14:01

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Allie · Answer 1 · 2011-10-13 03:16:11Z UTC

Oh my goodness, I just laughed my head off. Your poor daughter! And you! (Poor toilet...)

Before going paleo my poop was pretty catastrophic as as well. I couldn't go anywhere! I still have some friends moms who remember me singularly for that trait. However, dropping grains and dairy worked for me, and now my poop is public restroom-friendly.

So, here's what I'm thinking:

Try experimenting with her diet. Maybe cut dairy out all together. Try introducing more fermented foods to her diet to add bacteria and help with digestion. See if removing different foods, one at a time, changes the situation. (That's right, her bowel movements will be a science experiment!)
Try having her eat smaller meals throughout the day instead of 3 large ones. I know many in the primal community are against this "grazing," but it may make visits to the restroom more manageable for you, your daughter, and your dwindling supply of chopsticks.
Try having her eat more vegetables, just for the time being. Here is a list of fibrous foods from the MAYO clinic. Obviously ignore the grains section and whatnot. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fiber-foods/NU00582
Try having her drink only water, and lots of it! Water is our best friend. It helps will digestion and everything else.

Besides these suggestions, I don't really have an answer for ya. It makes me sad that she has to take processed meds, but if that's the only way to take care of the problem, then so be it!

Good luck!!

Ed · Answer 2 · 2011-10-13 04:00:58Z UTC

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Miralax is an effective and relatively benign laxative. It's a common misconception that laxatives are addictive.

If your daughter is still having large, hard stools, it means she's still constipated. This means she should be in the cleanout phase of treatment, not the maintenance phase. Miralax every-other-day is for maintenance (prevention of constipation recurrence). For cleanout, use Miralax 1 or 2 times per day as directed by your doctor. Or you can try other laxatives if the Miralax doesn't work. (reference)

Milk allergy is a common cause of constipation. A trial off of all dairy products (including raw milk) may be helpful.

answered Oct 13 2011 at 4:00

Ed♦
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Thank you; that makes sense. I think based on all the answers I've read so far that the milk is going to have to go...at least for a little while. – Paleo-ish Oct 13 2011 at 11:38

research homemade goat milk kefir :)) that's what i've been using (plus homemade sauerkraut) as healing foods (sally fallon approved lol) – justin Oct 13 2011 at 14:37

Miralax is better than 'backing up' her plumbing, so to speak! Have you tried magnesium? It comes in liquid, topical skin oil, capsules and Epsom salts (for relaxing baths)? We don't get enough Mag in our diet and we deplete it under stress (cellular, sweating, etc). Mag is a laxative too -- mag citrate is common for colon bowel preps -- a little more 'natural' than Miralax and has other adjunctive benefits (improves insulin resistance, calms muscles and cramping, improves migraine/headaches/PMS in adults, etc). – grace Oct 14 2011 at 0:06

I agree w/Annie -- chelate and malate are the best salt forms. Oxide is the worst and least GI absorbable. – grace Oct 14 2011 at 0:08

For probiotics, we've found that Flora Balance (at iherb.com) has really helped our whole family. It combats imbalanced pathogenic microbes including yeasts. Establishing gut healing will reduce the volume of the stools as less will be fermented in the small intesting and be actually degraded for food for her, not the microbes. She's feeding the microbes, not herself! – grace Oct 14 2011 at 0:10

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Josh M · Answer 3 · 2011-10-13 04:11:40Z UTC

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My son was kinda the same way on SAD. Try getting some coconut oil into her diet, fermented drinks or fermented veggies, lots of water, maybe some magnesium supplements. After a few months eating paleo he 'normalized' lol, but this is what worked for us, everyone is different.

answered Oct 13 2011 at 4:11

Josh M
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	+1 for magnesium, make sure it is chelate, not citrate. – Annie Oct 13 2011 at 4:14
	Just ran out of Mag Citrate (I take), so will pick up some chelate when I go out today. Any ideas re dosing for a 10yo? We definitely don't eat enough fermented veggies/drinks, so that's a good addition for the whole family. I cook w/ CO almost exclusively, so she's already getting a pretty solid whack of that. – Paleo-ish Oct 13 2011 at 11:40
	I once made my daughter drink a sauerkraut/grape juice smoothie as a laxative. It worked. If it were an ongoing issue, I'd likely start making lacto-fermented soda again - it's rather more palatable :) – jess6 Oct 13 2011 at 18:01

Fabian · Answer 4 · 2011-10-13 05:15:15Z UTC

She'll definitely outgrow it, but you do not want to make her wait that long...

Try Completely cutting the Milk if you have not done so already.
It sounds like she eats veggies but not many...I would 100% try juicing veggies (this works wonders on the system)
Water, Water, Water.

I hope this helps!

Harlekini · Answer 5 · 2011-10-13 06:15:30Z UTC

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Try reading this. Might have your answer.

answered Oct 13 2011 at 6:15

Harlekini
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thx...skimmed it; off to read more closely. – Paleo-ish Oct 13 2011 at 11:43

Jules K · Answer 6 · 2011-10-13 16:00:27Z UTC

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I'll second the stuff about fermented foods, trying elminiating dairy; I wonder if not enough fat is a factor? Taking a spoonful of olive oil can get the ol' train outta the station!

answered Oct 13 2011 at 16:00

Jules K
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nutella nutella – Wcc Kamal Stabby fan May 12 at 3:20

James · Answer 7 · 2011-10-13 04:47:14Z UTC

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Magnesium, and make sure she doesn't have a phobia of the bathroom or anything, and is trying to hold it in as long as possible.

answered Oct 13 2011 at 4:47

James
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thx! I think we're okay on the phobia thing. – Paleo-ish Oct 13 2011 at 11:40

Nemesis · Answer 8 · 2011-10-13 14:19:39Z UTC

I used to do large poops as a kid as well. I would also have troubles with constipation from holding it in and not drinking enough water. I wish Miralax had been available back then!

Constipation in adulthood caused me to develop fissures which caused me no end of buttache for months, making me dread going to the bathroom. I used Miralax for 6 months straight and ate a high fiber diet (25g/day).

A bout of food poisoning cleared me out, however, and I stopped the Miralax and started taking probiotics. Have not had an issue with constipation since April, and my fiber intake varies from as low as 6g/day to 20g/day. The only time I find that I get hard stools is when I don't drink enough water. I can even tell the days when I don't drink enough water in the morning yet drink more in the afternoon, as my poop the next morning starts out very hard and the rest comes out soft.

Huey · Answer 9 · 2011-10-13 14:25:03Z UTC

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I'm bothered by dairy products the same way, so I'll constrain my answer to that one thing. Thumbs down on dairy. Nobody needs it after they're weened.

answered Oct 13 2011 at 14:25

Huey
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rober · Answer 10 · 2013-03-02 23:01:55Z UTC

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oh my god I laughed so hard after reading this. Its soooooo funny! Oh oh running out of chopsticks is a bad hing. lol!!!

answered Mar 2 at 23:01

rober
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celticcavegirl · Answer 11 · 2013-03-15 18:16:51Z UTC

All the women in my family do huge, bog-blocking poops. Not hard poops, just BIG LOG poops. Never a big problem for me in the UK but when I went to the US, the toilets had smaller outflows and I was blocking them left, right and center! Mortifying!

If they are hard though, she might benefit from more fat or more fibre. Chia seeds and home-cooked beetroot should do the trick (from the latter you get the added benefit of freakish red poop)

Can anybody help hack my daughter’s toilet-clogging poop?

11 Answers