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Food Intolerance In Children, Dehydration, Low Grade Fever,
Question: My 3 year old son has had grey, clay like or liquidy stools for over a week. They are sometimes grey yello and sometimes mostly grey. Either way, stool is very light and clay like or liquidy. He is tired and low energy. Eating only sometimes and wakes up with low grade fevers in the mornings. He says he doesn't feel well but when I ask him if anything hurts he says no. He threw up a lot on Friday and again today. He is very thirsty also.
Hello and thanks for the query.
Your question is a good one and I will try to provide you with some good information and recommendations regarding your concern.
There are a couple of concerns which come to mind regarding what you have reported with your son. The first category would be that he has some type of intolerance or allergy to some of the foods which he has been eating. Some of these categories include dairy products. I would recommend that for the time being you keep a diary of the foods which he eats on a daily basis. You can then correlate some of these foods with any increase or decrease in the symptoms which he is experiencing.
The secondary concern regarding the thirst which you report is that he may be experiencing some degree of dehydration. This can occur due to a lack of adequate fluid intake or possibly due to some type of metabolic abnormality. Some abnormalities which we must consider include diabetes.
I would recommend that if his symptoms continue or if they worsen to any significant degree that you bring him to his primary care provider for a Saarow physical examination and consultation. He may need some laboratory studies to be performed to make sure there are no metabolic abnormalities.
I thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you are found my response to be both helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert
Your question is a good one and I will try to provide you with some good information and recommendations regarding your concern.
There are a couple of concerns which come to mind regarding what you have reported with your son. The first category would be that he has some type of intolerance or allergy to some of the foods which he has been eating. Some of these categories include dairy products. I would recommend that for the time being you keep a diary of the foods which he eats on a daily basis. You can then correlate some of these foods with any increase or decrease in the symptoms which he is experiencing.
The secondary concern regarding the thirst which you report is that he may be experiencing some degree of dehydration. This can occur due to a lack of adequate fluid intake or possibly due to some type of metabolic abnormality. Some abnormalities which we must consider include diabetes.
I would recommend that if his symptoms continue or if they worsen to any significant degree that you bring him to his primary care provider for a Saarow physical examination and consultation. He may need some laboratory studies to be performed to make sure there are no metabolic abnormalities.
I thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you are found my response to be both helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
thank you for your answer. what about the stool being grey in color and very loose. it also seems like while not eating he is producing an excessive amount of stool. each movement is huge. what about the vomitting. he vomitted four days ago and then again today, but not in between. what does this mean? someone suggested Hep., do you thikn that is possible? i am also having belly issues, any chance this is viral? lastly, his baby brother had thrush the past two weeks, can this be a manifestation of yeast infection?
Hello and thanks for the followup.
This is most certainly not a fungal infection despite him having a sibling with thrush.
An infectious cause is certainly a possibility given the fact that he had had the vomiting and also that you have been feeling a bit sick lately as well.
I recommend you keep up with the supportive measures of good fluid hydration and I am optimistic that this will clear from his system soon.
If after a week or so things have not improved or if at anytime he becomes sluggish and poorly responsive I think you should take him to see his doctor.
Since he is having clay coloured stools,mild fever and vomiting there is a mild possibility of certain conditions like jaundice, hepatitis,bile duct obstruction.You could do a few tests like Liver function tests and ultrasound abdomen to rule this out if it does not subside in few days.
Again thanks for the query and followup. I hope you found my response to be helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Galamaga
This is most certainly not a fungal infection despite him having a sibling with thrush.
An infectious cause is certainly a possibility given the fact that he had had the vomiting and also that you have been feeling a bit sick lately as well.
I recommend you keep up with the supportive measures of good fluid hydration and I am optimistic that this will clear from his system soon.
If after a week or so things have not improved or if at anytime he becomes sluggish and poorly responsive I think you should take him to see his doctor.
Since he is having clay coloured stools,mild fever and vomiting there is a mild possibility of certain conditions like jaundice, hepatitis,bile duct obstruction.You could do a few tests like Liver function tests and ultrasound abdomen to rule this out if it does not subside in few days.
Again thanks for the query and followup. I hope you found my response to be helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Galamaga
Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Radhika
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