Symptoms: Vomited 3x with no fever. White stool a few days later. Behaving normally. Any ideas?

[Dot-to-Dot]

On Tuesday, my 27 month old dd had been behaving normally and then all of the sudden she puked one evening after dinner!  Afterwards she kept saying, "I feel MUCH better."  She was happy and playful then would suddenly get whiny (assuming it was a wave of nausea) until she puked again.  She threw up 3 times and then once more with just a teeny amount of puke but mostly heaving.  There was never a fever.  This was over the course of 4 hours.  She fell asleep on the couch with me at 9:30pm and woke up around 1am perfectly happy, bouncy and wanting to play.  I took her to her own bed and she slept the rest of the night just fine.

Wednesday and Thursday she took good long naps and things were perfectly normal.

Friday (today) she slept late (or at least lingered in bed just resting, but awake).  I finally went into get her at 10am and her room smelled really bad like diarrhea.  Her stool was loose and white (a tinge of tan color).  There was a LOT of poop, too.  She didn't seem to mind or notice and continues to be happy and playful...dancing, jumping, singing, being silly.  She ate breakfast but not as much as she normally does.  Still no fever.

What on earth could be going on?!!  Is this possibly a post viral thing?  Can you have a virus but no fever? Should she be quarantined from my unvax'd 7 month old?  If her next poop hasn't improved, I will call doc.  Meanwhile, I'm giving her a bland diet, no dairy, lots of water/coconut water and probiotics.

Edited by Dot-to-Dot - 1/20/12 at 10:17am

[eleonrauis]

It's probably a virus.  This has happened to my ODS several times in the last couple years.  He'll wake up in the middle of the night, throw up a ton, can't keep down water or anything for several hours and then he'll sleep for several hours and wake up feeling fine.  Then (about half the time anyway, sometimes it's all over after the vomiting), a day or two later he'll start with the diarrhea which usually lasts 2 days.  There is never a fever with it  We do a bland diet and just wait it out.  When he was just recently potty trained we kept him in pull ups until the diarrhea stopped. 

[Dot-to-Dot]

Thank you.  This child sure doesn't act ill!  She has been bouncing around, dancing, singing loudly, jumping, etc.  Just after dinner she had a teeny tiny poop with the same coloring + some undigested blueberries (from a muffin I'd given her before deciding to stick with the BRATT diet).  However, dinner was apple sauce and toast.  She refused the rice and asked for a little more banana.  She's drinking good amounts of water and coconut water.

[PatioGardener]

My doctor is pretty laid back, and said the only time she worries about poop colour if it is black or white. So the puking wouldn't send me to the doc, but the white poop would. I'm sorry I can't remember why white poop is a "call the doctor" issue. Black meant blood, but I can't remember white.

I hope it passes quickly!

[Dot-to-Dot]

So here's the conclusion to the story...that night she woke up crying with diarrhea.  It took both dh and I holding her down to changer her diaper.  She was kicking and crying and had a very red little bottom.  She was still half asleep and just very cranky and exhausted.  The diarrhea had more tannish color than the first white poop.  She went back to sleep and woke up happily the next morning.  Then after her first nap she awoke with a perfectly normal, formed and brown poop.  I do think it was related to a virus and has now resolved itself.  I searched and searched the internet and found lots and lots of stories sounding just like mine.

Unfortunatley, I woke up nauseous and throwing up today.  Here we go again...

[1blueheron]

Originally Posted by PatioGardener 

My doctor is pretty laid back, and said the only time she worries about poop colour if it is black or white. So the puking wouldn't send me to the doc, but the white poop would. I'm sorry I can't remember why white poop is a "call the doctor" issue. Black meant blood, but I can't remember white.

I hope it passes quickly!

Our old doc had the same rule - all earth tones ok, white and black not ok.  We had a white poop episode with our toddler/older baby, and he told us it is more of a concern with the little ones, since it can be a sign of....oh, I forget what.  But in older babies/toddlers, it's usually just a stomach bug or something. 

[lovepickles]

Glad to hear the little one is doing better. The issue with the white poop is that the somewhere along the line the brownish bile made in the liver and stored in the gallbladder isn't making it into the intestines to help digest. Sometimes it is a blocked line along the way and sometimes it is a problem with the actual liver.

If it were my child I'd bring her into the doc for some bloodwork. Various diseases in the liver are treatable if caught early. And it is possible that it was a weird gallbladder issue but I'd also want to rule out anything that causes damage if left untreated.

[Dot-to-Dot]

You'd bring her in for bloodwork even if the poop is back to normal...and even if it followed a virus?  I mean, it sounds like white poop out of the blue that is lasting for several poops or for several days would definitely indicate some underlying issue that needs to be remedied.  But from everything I've read, all signs point to normal (maybe uncommonish, but normal) in toddlers when following a virus.

I'd hate to subject her to traumatizing bloodwork as a young two year old unless there were other factors that made me think she had a liver/gallbladder thing going on.  Wouldn't there be some other symptoms/signs that would send up some red flags if it were her liver?  Like I read that the combination of white poop + dark urine is a worrisome combo that should be checked out, for instance.

[Super~Single~Mama]

My ds had white poop following a virus once, and I called my uncle (he supervises residents at his hospital and is a professor of medicine), he talked to a resident of his who is a pediatrician who said that white poop in small kids isn't like adults - in adults it's an ER trip immediately, in kids it's normal so long as it doesn't continue. My uncle said to start a normal diet again, and to keep him updated. After starting a normal diet his poop went back to normal.

[lovepickles]

I'm sorry I didn't mean to freak you out I just thought about a friend with some liver issues. I HATE the idea of blood work on my toddler but when it comes to major organ issues/malfunctions I'm much more cautious. I'm sure if blood work wasn't necessary my doc would talk me out of it. But I'd give him the chance. There is a possibility that a doc would agree with your action plan but I would get it checked out in case there needs to be further action.

[JudiAU]

Classic post-virus bland diet poop from boring foods. Very common as the body cleans itself and has a different set of foods in it. I wouldn't worry about it unless accompanied by a fever or more vomiting.

[Dot-to-Dot]

Originally Posted by lovepickles 

I'm sorry I didn't mean to freak you out I just thought about a friend with some liver issues.

No, it's okay!  Didn't mean to sound defensive.  :)

[awshep]

Was doing some research and ran across your post. What you described sounds a lot like what my son went through for years until he was finally diagnosed with Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome. It is essentially a stomach migrain. He would wake up, always in the middle of the night, vomit horribly and have terrible cramps. The diarrhea would set in and this would go on for hours and then he would be completely fine. Stress or even extreme excitement can sometimes trigger it. Doctor prescribed daily medication which helps prevent the episodes. Something maybe to check into.

[awshep]

Originally Posted by eleonrauis 

It's probably a virus.  This has happened to my ODS several times in the last couple years.  He'll wake up in the middle of the night, throw up a ton, can't keep down water or anything for several hours and then he'll sleep for several hours and wake up feeling fine.  Then (about half the time anyway, sometimes it's all over after the vomiting), a day or two later he'll start with the diarrhea which usually lasts 2 days.  There is never a fever with it  We do a bland diet and just wait it out.  When he was just recently potty trained we kept him in pull ups until the diarrhea stopped. 

Was doing some research and ran across your post. What you described sounds a lot like what my son went through for years until he was finally diagnosed with Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome. It is essentially a stomach migrain. He would wake up, always in the middle of the night, vomit horribly and have terrible cramps. The diarrhea would set in and this would go on for hours and then he would be completely fine. Stress or even extreme excitement can sometimes trigger it. Doctor prescribed daily medication which helps prevent the episodes. Something maybe to check into.

[L Carlisle]

We have had some of the same similar issues going on with our son, 3 years old. It started on Labor Day. We thought maybe he was constipated because we had been on vacation and notice he hadn’t had a movement. Then diarrhea set in and vomiting, for three weeks!

First week we took him to the walk in clinic, they said it was a virus and to adjust his diet to a bland, mostly banana diet. We did that, and the illness persisted. That same week, I took him to his pediatrician, who said the same thing, but gave us a kit for a stool sample. He continued his symptoms off and on for the next 5 days, so I got a sample and took it in the doctor. They ran tests and found nothing. It stopped for a while right after that, and then he had the same symptoms last weekend. It lasted for one day and he was fine all week. Then this morning he started vomiting and diarrhea again.

The vomit starts off as whatever he ate last, then becomes more clear with each vomit, until it is just mucus, like snot not bile. His stool is the same, goes from whatever he ate last to mucus, with a black color and HORRIBLE odor.

I am seriously freaking out now. This is just not right. I am doing research today, while he is in the ER with dad. I am waiting, and going crazy, to hear from him.

[L Carlisle]

Now he is back at his doctor today, they are taking more blood to run a test for Celiac.