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Child's continuous pain

For months my eleven year old daughter has been having sharp, sudden pains in her neck, on both sides, but predominantly on the right side.  She sometimes has them in the lower front part of her neck, too.  They are short bursts of intense pain that are short in duration, and they cause her to scream out in pain.

She has been to her pediatrician for exams and testing a number of times.  The doctor had a full range of blood work done, all of which was all normal.  She has also determined that my daughter's organs are okay (heart, liver, kidney, gall bladder, etc).  Also, she did an x-ray of my daughter's neck, sent her for an MRI of her head, and another one of her neck; all of these results were normal.  Thyroid problems and mononucleosis have been ruled out as well.  We are at a loss for how to proceed in getting an answer, and I think her doctor is, too.

Some other symptoms that may or may not be related are: pains in other parts of her body (side, stomach, back), dizziness from time to time, heat flashes with increased redness in her cheeks (her cheeks tend to be pink most of the time), occasional difficulty speaking during which time she will stutter a little bit.  Otherwise she seems to be healthy, although overweight.  Her blood pressure and cholesterol are normal.

Her eyes have been checked, but she sees "spots" as she calls them.  She's seen a neuro-ophthalmologist about this, and he did not find anything wrong with her vision or her eyes.

We don't know what to think, don't know what to do next.  Has anyone experienced anything like this with a child, or adult, or have any ideas about what could be causing this problem for my child??  We are desperate to find some answers.  Thank-you!
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Avatar universal
Interesting!  I wonder if there might be a connection to heartburn and this pain my dd is feeling.  Maybe I should just keep her off pop altogether even though I don't let her drink much of it.

Thank you for letting me know about your experience.  I hope your daughter continues to do well!
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Avatar universal
You know, I think you are right.  She's become fearful of the pain, and focuses on it a lot.  But at times it hits her when she's in the middle of doing something, not thinking about the pain, and it's excruciating.  :(

She was born via C-section, being a very large baby at birth.  The only head injuries she has had are bumps on furniture, and one rather hard knock at the playground when she ran under some playground equipment at age three.

We haven't seen any of those specialists that you mentioned.  I have been thinking about maybe taking her to a chiropractor though.  And I've wondered if she should see an ENT.  I was about to ask for a referral to a specialist when her pediatrician referred us to the children's pain clinic.  Since it's in a children's hospital they have specialists on staff that will hopefully be able to see her as well if needed.

I appreciate your input!  Thank you so much!
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Avatar universal
It's a pain clinic at a children's hospital.  They say they diagnose and treat, so I'm hopeful.

This problem did sort of start out of the blue, although it started out with sharp pains in various parts of her body: stomach, left side, right side, back...everywhere.  We were in the middle of house negotiations at that time, and moving, as was my mother who lived very close by.  I believe dd was going through a great deal of stress at that time, and indeed she improved when we got moved and settled, and she realized that she will still see her grandmother often.  Now in our house for almost a year those symptoms have gone away.  Then suddenly she began having these searing, sharp pains in the neck.

We just saw her allergist on Monday this week.  She is aware of the problem but offered no solutions or thoughts this visit or the last one, although we told her about it.  :(

My child has been relatively healthy her entire life.  She did have a bout with on going upper respiratory problems last year which resulted in her being on some steroids for an extended time.  I took her off of them early though.  Also she had a minor surgical procedure done on her toe last fall to remove some warts.  She takes a daily allergy medication for sneezing and runny nose, but is fairly healthy, although overweight.  The allergist believes she may be asthmatic, but I don't think she is since I see no symptoms.

She is a very happy, full-of-laughter kind of kid.  Mostly she wakes up early and ready to face the day with fun.  She's nearly 12 and hormones are changing so there are days with moodiness now.  Still she has an easy smile and fun way of approaching life.

With all that said, we continue to not understand how she could have such a terrible pain.  She can and does "focus" on pains, but I've talked to the pediatrician about it, and she recommended that I try to give as little attention to the rather insignificant ones (if you know what I mean).  Sometimes we felt that she was using pain as a means of gaining attention.  She's an only child and homeschooled so she gets a lot of attention.  I tried this approach and it has helped tremendously with all but the neck problem.

Many thanks for your thoughts and ideas!
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Avatar universal
heartburn?

i know it sounds weird..but my daughter had something similiar. her stomach was always upset back would bother her. she was always grabbing the front area of her neck..it seemed the gastro area heatburn was burning so bad jt seemed mor oe the deep pain side and it would travel up her neck. (we finally found some dr in the er who helped her) we gave her some gas x (possible for the stomach side back pain and something liquid to soothe the esofigus (sp?) she was feeling better i a day or so. didnt get reel better for awhile..cuz it lasted so log..we kept going to drs till we ended up in the er due to her pain was so bad..we still.dot know wha t she took that spiked the heartburn..but she stopped any acid fruits..carbon pop ..etc..d rank lot! of plain water to get it to flush out..just a sugestion? sorry forthe spelling
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Avatar universal
Wow.  I am sorry to hear about your daughter.  I don't understand why a doctor would just send a child to a pain clinic without exhausting every avenue possible.  Although they have done a battery of tests, she needs a specialist.  

Has she seen a neurologist, orthopedist, chiropractor?  Did she ever have an injury to her head or neck?  Did she have a difficult birth?  There are so many nerves in the head and neck that could cause referred pain, meaning that she may feel the pain in her neck, but it originates from somewhere else.  It could also explain the pain she feels in other places.

Also, since she has had this pain she may have become fearful of it which will increase it all the more.  It does not mean it really isn't there, but she will become more aware of it.  

I see that you are in TX and I don't know anything about the medical care there, but it may help if you have a clinic that uses a team approach...a group of doctors working together to find the diagnosis.  

I hope you find the answer!  
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Avatar universal
But pain clinic will do nothing in regard to the cause of the problems... Allergist would be a better choice.

Do you remember, if perhaps something triggered all this, or it just started out of blue? How often does it happen? Any particularities that don't seem connected to the symptoms. What's her diet? Was she healthy all the years prior?

Excellent choice on staying off the meds. That's a state when human body works at it's best. Immune system 'check' is done, as far as I know, by temporarily weakening it with steroids. if it's weak, it won't have the power to attack whatever it's attacking now (if that's the case at all) and therefore symptoms should temporarily disappear. The method is medieval in it's nature, and I'm absolutely against it.

You could start by changing her diet to it's polar opposite. If that doesn't work, then change her surrounding also. It's very very unlikely that a young and healthy, drug-free organism, can 'break down' just like that, at that age. Is she generally happy or sad?
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Avatar universal
Correct.  She's not taking any meds for this problem.  Ibuprofen does not help either.  I've heard from the dr and they want to send dd to a pain clinic for children.
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Avatar universal
Maybe it's best if you first see her doctor's opinion about this possibility, and what would be his/her plan of doing it, then we can talk some more.

I'm going under premises she's taking no drugs at all at the moment for anything. Is that so?
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Avatar universal
Anything is possible!  Any idea how to check on the immune system?  Thank you for the reply.  :)
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Avatar universal
It's just an idea, and I'm tapping in dark here: maybe her immune system is upset for some unknown reason, and it manifests itself through all those symptoms. But I could easily be wrong.
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