My now 5 year old was treated with 3 mos of antibiotics when she was about 15 mos old for Lyme. She had a positive Urine PCR.
I breastfed her for 14mos before realizing I had Lyme disease and she "probably" got Lyme this way.
Anyhow, I'm wondering if anyone else or their children have the following issues. She has been on Miralax since she was a toddler because she would hold her bowel movements.
She also is having problems urinating. I have brought her to her regular ped and she never has a urinary tract infection. She goes into the bathroom frequently and crys because she says she has to pee and nothing comes out. This seems to come and go. She never has a fever with it or any pain.
I have noticed it maybe related to the Miralax and if we forget to give it to her. We think she gets constipated and can't tell whether she has to pee or poop.
Anyhow, I'm wonder if Lyme could be affecting some nerve that controls these functions. Has anybody read anything on this?
She also has sensory integration issues which may all be related with bowel movements and urinary issues.
I know...it's probably time to talk to Dr. J and I think I will bring her to a urinary specialist as well as have her evaluated on the sensory issues.
Posted by jkmom (Member # 14004) on :
My 11 year old daughter with Lyme has the problem with urinating sometimes. She has never had a UTI either. Her PCP thinks it is because she doesn't drink enough and she has microscopic crystals.
It's true that my daughter doesn't drink enough so this might be the case. It comes and goes for her and usually doesn't last for too many days. We will probably get a sonogram done if/when it happens again.
Have you tried the gluten free diet with your daughter? Based on my own experience, I tend to think that children who hold their bowel movements might actually be constipated from gluten intolerance.
Posted by hshbmom (Member # 9478) on :
Here's my Mom-to-Mom experience...not medical advice:
Urinary hesitancy is the slowness of the body to release urine. Females, you feel the urge to urinate, then get on the pot, but have to wait and wait for the urine to flow. This can be a neurological problem associated with Lyme disease.
If your daughter had a urinary tract infection she would have an increased frequency of urination. It sounds like she feels the need to urinate more frequently than usual, but is unable to produce the urine stream. This could be due to nerve control of the bladder.
This sounds like it could lead to retention of urine, which in turn can lead to a urinary tract infection. Could she have a silent UTI?
Miralax/PEG solution/Go-Lytely is a good medication to help prevent constipation that frequently accompanies Lyme disease.
When you relax to have a bowel movement you also relax the muscles controlling urination, so they are related in that sense.
I wonder if she was holding her bowel movements as a child, or just couldn't get it moving? That happens frequently with Lyme.
You know you have to go; you try to initiate a BM, but it just won't come out.
It does sound as though it's time for a referral to a pediatric urologist. They can do some "pee tests" to see if the nerves are the cause of the problem.
Posted by DJP (Member # 5893) on :
Thanks jkmom - I'll look into a gluten free diet.
hshbmom -Thanks, I will contact a pediatric urologist to see if it is a nerve issue. She feels the urge to pee more frequently, but is unable to produce the urine stream. And...maybe that is causing a silent UTI...she has been complaining about her side hurting every now and then. As far as the pooping, I'm not sure how that all started. She does have a problem getting it to move if she is not taking the miralax. Thanks!
Posted by Amy C (Member # 19297) on :
My 10 yr old has Lyme and has problem with both of these things. He is always constipated. He takes fiber pills every day. Then a few weeks ago he couldn't go at all for a few days. I had to buy 2 different laxative type things to help him.
Also the same urinary problem you describe he started getting a few months ago. It comes and goes. For awhile it was so bad I had to put him on a medical leave from school!
Posted by 4Seasons (Member # 14601) on :
My daughter's first lyme symptom (in retrospect) was urinary and bowel incontinence from age 4-8.
We took her everywhere and they couldn't find anything wrong.
It finally cleared up when we put her on Milk of Magnesia, first, then switched to CALM magnesium powder and a gluten free diet.
Now at age 14, she is very ill and always feels like she needs to pee. I have Lyme as well and have urinary hesitancy.
Posted by tickbattler (Member # 14873) on :
Hi DJP,
Sorry your daughter is going through this. I can tell you what I think based on observing my husband's and childrens' lyme symptoms and based on reading things on this message board.
From what I have read bartonalla loves the bladder and GI area. This has proven true with my husband and with one of my 4 year old boys who are being treated for lyme, bart and babs. He started wetting his bed after already being potty trained.
With treatment on azith, Mepron and bactrim it got better. Then, I noticed anger and behavior issues slowing gettting worse, and also he started saying his whole body hurt several times/week. Then his penis started hurting while urinating and even afterwards. He was tested for a UTI and it was negative. After two days of this penis pain, and also because of the anger issues, I requested a med change from bactrim to rifampin, which is great for bartonella.
The next morning his penis pain was gone and has not returned. He did wet his bed twice in the first week of the rifampin (probably a herx-like reaction). Now, almost 6 weeks into the rifampin, his anger issues are slowly starting to resolve. He has not complained of his body hurting since starting the rifampin.
With my husband, he started noticing an increased frequency of having to urinate. There was a point when he could wait no longer than 1 hour without having to go. This has improved with treatment. We suspect bart, but are not sure.
With my other 4 year old twin boy, he has had problems with bm accidents in his pants. It's as if he can't feel when it is coming out. Dr. J didn't think this is lyme related, but I am almost sure it is. I feel that he has lost sensation in that area b/c he is not sure if he has gone in his pants many times.
I have talked to another woman on this site (Lymemommy) who had this issue with her son during lyme treatment and it went away after treatment. She had taken him to a pediatric lyme GI specialist who said that he sees this a lot in lyme patients. I would recommend going to this doc (Dr. F in NJ) as I have read studies by him about bartonella and lyme in children's GI area.
Hope this helps!
tickbattler
Posted by pab (Member # 904) on :
Are your kids on any meds that cause dry mouth? Any of those meds can cause urinary hesitancy & constipation.
My son had/has urinary hesitancy. He went to a urologist and had a lot of testing done at the hospital. All tests were normal.