Severe Stomach Pain

[mommamichelle]

I have an 8 yr old son, who has been complaining of severe tummy, abdominal pain for about 7 weeks now.He has been to emergency twice a 3 night stay at a childrens's hospital and numerous doctors visit has not gotten us a diagnosis or relief of the pain. He has had 2 ct scans, an upper GI and numerous x-rays. The only firm conclusions from all this is that he has lymphodema mesendary (swollen lymph nodes of the appendics) and acid reflux. The pain is severe. It starts below the belly button and radiates up the sides, sometimes he has pain in the middle of his tummy. He takes Miralax 2tsp, bid ; promethacine 7.5 ml's qid, maalox, tylenal, benadryl,levsbid 0.125 mg qid. and Prevacid 30 mg bid.But the pain is getting worse, he has vomitting episodes and has lost 13 pounds.I need to find relief for my baby, I can't handle seeing him in this musch pain. Any suggestions?

[Kevin Pho, MD]

You have had a pretty comprehensive evaluation already. One consideration would be to do an upper endoscopy.  This is a more comprehensive test than the upper GI series - it may uncover inflammation of the upper digestive tract that may not have been seen on the upper GI.  

If GERD is the only revealing diagnosis, and if medications are not helping the symptoms, one can consider surgery as an option to treat the symptoms.

These options can be discussed with your personal physician.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin, M.D.
kevinmd_b

[JMORRIS4372]

Have a friend with a child who went through the same thing, at the end of the day turned out to be stress created by the home enviroment.  You may want to consider a child therapist to see if there is some stress creating this.

[UncleMike]

May want to question you dr. about Chrohns Disease
I went through the same things starting about that age.
At age 29 finally almost died before having emergency surgery
when they found it was Chrons.
I was 6'5 and weighed 159 lbs
Wouldn't know that now because I weigh 235

[HCello2]

My daughter had very much the same thing.  We finally had a colonoscopy performed which confirmed a diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  The same strong cramping peristalsis in the colon was responsible for the vomiting and stomach ache.  Her MD prescribed Levsin Sub Lingual.  Worked Like a charm!

Ask your MD.

[Razorbackgal]

did your child have problems with passing stools with a lot of pain as well as the tummy problems?  My 4 year old has had a battery of X-rays and bloodwork and medicines which I think messed up the enamal on her teeth, but no one can say what she has.  I am going to switch her from my family doc back to a pediatrician in hopes they have access to more specialists and might know a little more to try and diagnose this.  My daughter takes an antispasmodic (her green medicine) when the pain is really bad, but other than that she just takes OTC medicines.

[mammashell]

Hello mommamichelle, I have an 11 year old son who came down with what we thought was the stomach flu 1/21/06. After 48 hours of vomiting we took him to ER,re-hydrated him, gave him meds to stop vomiting and ran blood work (which turned out normal)He was back in ER 3 days later for vomiting and increased stomach pain. ER Dr. said he was still getting over the flu. Three days later his stomach pain never went away and he began vomiting again every time he would eat or drink. The only thing that kept him hydrated were pop cycles. Went to his ped Dr, she ordered CT.(came out normal)After returning to Er and seeing his ped Dr we were refered to a gastronoligist, he scheduled our son for an upper GI (came back normal)The following week 2/23/06 our son was in so much pain (more so after eating) he was curled up in a fetal position, holding his stomach and crying mommy help me. There is nothing more heart breaking to see your child suffer from so much pain every day for almost 7 weeks. I again took him to ER and showed the ER Dr the 6 weeks of symptoms I had begun charting on a calendar and all he said was, "what do you want me to do for him today." I insisted they call his gastro Dr to let him know we were at the hospital. The gastro Dr came in to look at our son and suggest we admit him for further test. The following morn they did a CCK Hida. That evening it was confirmed his gall blader was not working correctly. Within 24 hours he had his gall blader removed.
     Keep searching for answers and don't give up. I can't tell how many times I felt like everyone thought I was an over protective mother. I was glad that we finally found out what was going on. Unfortunatly 2 weeks after his surgery he is still having server upper right stomach pain. Vicodine or percocet is not helping with the pain. He went to see his surgen 3/10/06. He has had an ultra sound and more blood work done. We will see her again Monday 3/13/06 for the results.I really thought after the surgery my child would no longer have to live with the pain he has to live with for almost two months now.How do you explain to a child why he hurts every day. He thinks he going to have to live like this forever.

[mammashell]

Hello mommamichelle, I have an 11 year old son who came down with what we thought was the stomach flu 1/21/06. After 48 hours of vomiting we took him to ER,re-hydrated him, gave him meds to stop vomiting and ran blood work (which turned out normal)He was back in ER 3 days later for vomiting and increased stomach pain. ER Dr. said he was still getting over the flu. Three days later his stomach pain never went away and he began vomiting again every time he would eat or drink. The only thing that kept him hydrated were pop cycles. Went to his ped Dr, she ordered CT.(came out normal)After returning to Er and seeing his ped Dr we were refered to a gastronoligist, he scheduled our son for an upper GI (came back normal)The following week 2/23/06 our son was in so much pain (more so after eating) he was curled up in a fetal position, holding his stomach and crying mommy help me. There is nothing more heart breaking to see your child suffer from so much pain every day for almost 7 weeks. I again took him to ER and showed the ER Dr the 6 weeks of symptoms I had begun charting on a calendar and all he said was, "what do you want me to do for him today." I insisted they call his gastro Dr to let him know we were at the hospital. The gastro Dr came in to look at our son and suggest we admit him for further test. The following morn they did a CCK Hida. That evening it was confirmed his gall blader was not working correctly. Within 24 hours he had his gall blader removed.
     Keep searching for answers and don't give up. I can't tell how many times I felt like everyone thought I was an over protective mother. I was glad that we finally found out what was going on. Unfortunatly 2 weeks after his surgery he is still having server upper right stomach pain. Vicodine or percocet is not helping with the pain. He went to see his surgen 3/10/06. He has had an ultra sound and more blood work done. We will see her again Monday 3/13/06 for the results.I really thought after the surgery my child would no longer have to live with the pain he has to live with for almost two months now.How do you explain to a child why he hurts every day. He thinks he going to have to live like this forever.