subject: Biomedical Autism Treatment Autism, Constipation And Worms [print this page] Something that I have seen in my practice related to chronic constipation, and certainly I have spoken about constipation in the past, is that many children on the spectrum have multiple issues. It is not just the digestive issues that weve seen for a while, but there can also be a regulatory component to the nervous systems input involved with the sensation the child feels when they need to have a bowel movement. That can be compromised too. And the various treatments for constipation like vitamin C, probiotics, magnesium and even laxatives are helpful and sometimes necessary when your child suffers from chronic constipation. But what is not often recognized is a potential underlying worm infection when a childs persistent constipation is not responding to fiber, supplements and dietary changes.
One anti-worm remedy that I have used with success is called Vermox, it is also know as Mebendazole. It comes as a chewable that is specifically used to treat pin worms. A standard dose for Vermox is one 100 mg chewable tablet which usually resolves most pin worm infections. However, for other types of worm infections like round worm or if it is a persistent infection then I will usually dose it twice a day for 3 days. So I will recommend taking the 100 mg chewable Vermox tablet two times per day for the 3 days. And this has subsequently worked very well for some children with chronic constipation. And if it is successful then you know that there was an underlying worm infection. It can be quite challenging to detect worms even on a stool test. So even if youve done a comprehensive digestive stool analysis the results could come up negative for worms.
And for some of my patients with chronic constipation that is not resolved with other remedies is to stagger the Vermox. What I will do is dose the Vermox at 1 100 mg chewable tablets twice a day for 3 days. Then you would take a 2 week break from the Vermox. Then you would repeat the dose of 1 100 mg chewable tablets twice a day for another 3 days. So your doctor would write your prescription as Vermox, 100 mg chewable tablet, 1 tablet twice daily for 3 days. And then you would have one refill on that so 2 weeks later you can do it again. So this could be something worth discussing with your childs doctor if chronic constipation is a problem and the other laxatives and/or remedies are not resolving it.
