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Help plz toilet trained son suddenly isn't anymore

crazydarkside

Hi,

I am tearing my hair out at the moment.  My 12 yr old son who has been toilet trained since he was 3 has suddenly 3 or 4 months ago started soiling himself more and more.   He has been treated for depression and anxiety and is on 100mg of sertraline a day.  When I have asked very gently why he isn't getting to the toilet his reply was that he can't feel he needs to go.  We have been seen by the gp, who has done what he can, been referred back to the paediatrician, who is supposedly going to see him in the next month, and the psychiatrist is due to ring this evening.

He is clean and dry at night and for the most part in the mornings that he does at school........  Does any one have any ideas at all PLEASE??

  • Hello,

    A few thoughts from three different angles:

    1: sensory - defecating is a really weird, really intense experience. Some adults on the spectrum choose to go in nappies by choice as they find the sense of a void beneath them disturbing / uncomfortable. Perhaps something has triggered this feeling. (Or perhaps he is expressing his wishes but has only just felt able). 

    2: gut issues - I have really bad IBS. Sometimes my guts just stop working and it all goes wrong. On a number of occasions this has resulted in accidents and considerable distress (see my post about needles, the meltdown in the hospital was partly due to toileting anxiety)

    3: random drug side effect - ignoring the digestion for a moment. It may be a reaction to phycoactive medication. It's all about the internal senses, it's something a lot of people on the spectrum struggle with. Eg, hungry, thirsty, hot, cold, needing to use to the toilet. Many anti depression drugs mess with those senses. Ritalin for example use to interfere with my sense of heat.

    Hope that helps a bit. 

    Cheers,

    Jamie + Lion

  • Hi Crazydarkside,

     By chance, I stumbled on this yesterday in researching my own sons continence, food related and stress related health issues. I'm not sure it's of much help for your particular situation, but some of what he mentions seems to demonstrate a link which I was unaware of. He takes time to get to his point, but bare with it. Obviously, disregard it if you don't think its relevant to your specific issue. When he mentions leaky gut it's not in the conventional sense, but it does discuss many established links between ASD and autoimmune diseases and their effect on the bowel as linked to Glutin including bowel inflamation which can cause issues.

    Of course this can also be due to some sensory issues as he seems not to be able to know when he needs to go or perhaps as a side effect of his medication, perhaps your GP could clarify whether this maybe a side effect.?

    www.autism.com/gastrointestinal

    It may be a process of elimination to get to the cause. Just food for thought.

    Kind Regards,

    Coogybear XX