Teenager with constant stomach pain (3 months +)

[Jac1102]

My 14 year old daughter has had constant stomach pains in her lower right side since the end Jan 2009.
It came on very suddenly as a sharp pain. She was admitted to hospital with suspected appedicitus but sent home again. Several admissions later and all sorts of tests have revealed nothing. Blood/urine tests have come back normal. She's had 3 ultrasounds - again they were normal. She had an x-ray which did show a small calcification around the pain area but the doctors said this was a red herring and not the cause of the pain. Upon having an MRI scan they said the calcification had now gone and everything looked normal? She and I are at breaking point - she has been unable to attend school since it started and this is having very serious effects on her education not to mention her health. She has been taking paracetamol, ibuprofen and codeine since it started. She has also had diclofenic and amitriptyline but nothing takes the pain away. She is not having any problems at school and prior to this was a happy and well teenager. She is having no problems at school with her education or bullying. I rang her consultant last week as she was in severe pain after attending school for a day but was told there is not much more they can do? Please, has anyone any ideas or suggestions???

[CHRISTYDRAKE]

My son has abdominal pain as well, for the last 3 years.  He has missed school for a year now, he is on homebound schooling with the district.  Do you have any other symptoms besides the pain.  

We went through the round of doctors, each telling us it was anxiety.  We saw a diagnostician who they said was like "Dr House".  Well he wasn't.  He spoke to my son for 10 minutes, gave him an examination, and told me my son was depressed.  Anyway,  my son finally got a diagnosis of autonomic dysfunction.  A psychologist he was seeing (who said it wasn't anxiety) researched what he was telling her.  She sent us to a cardiologist (who'd have thunk).  That's where we got our diagnosis.

The autonomic nervous system runs everything that is involuntary( blood pressure, digestion, body temp, heart rate, etc...  If the wrong signals are being sent to the organs it can make you sick.

Look into autonomic dysfunction--It took us 3 years to get the right diagnosis.  Most doctors are not up on this and therefore hard to get diagnosed.  We live in St Louis and have to travel to Cleveland to get help.  Not a lot of doctors out there for this.

[lks233]

It's the chair! LOL.  I just went through this.  Turns out it's chronic tendon pain from sitting in my computer chair.  I lead forward a lot and the chair is soft.  Irritates the muscles and tendons in that area.  Different chair, better posture. . . problem solved (after $700 CT scan/doctors visit/CBC)

[Sparklzz]

OMG my son is right now mirroring the same thing.  He is in his Senior year and now is hospital homebound---he has missed so much of his senior year it is unreal.

I need 'house'

[Jac1102]

Hi Gretagirl, I hope that the barium enama shows up something to put you both out of this awful situation. It is a strange feeling when they tell you its all clear/normal. You get the relief that there is nothing serious wrong but the frustration that they still don't know what is causing the problem. Don't worrying about sounding off .... you carry on, I know exactly how you are feeling. Take care x

[gretagirl17]

My son is sick everyday.And my Dr. also thinks it's in his head.As a mother I want to scream.This is the hardest thing to watch on a daily basis.My son is also out of school,this is his senoir year and now I don't know if he will graduate.He is going for a barium enama Tuesday and it is hard to find a Dr. because he will be 18 in May and I don't want to have to change them.He has had every test out there and they are all normal.He also has had no problems in school and really wants and trys  to go but he just can't make it for a full day.Now he is out with a tudor but he is missing  o ut on the senoir year thing.I am soooo sick of people and friends saying he is faking it.They do not know what we are going through.This has put his life on hold .Sorry if I sounded bitchy but I just needed to vent...lol , hope your daughter and my son get better soon.take care

[Jac1102]

Thanks again for all you advise a support. Unfortunately we are still no further on. My daughter has now seen the physcology team a couple of times and while it helps her to talk about her feelings the pain is still on going and is now having a serious effect on her education. She has missed out on so much that when she takes her GCSE's next year she is unlikely to do too well. The pain clinic were helpful in thinking that the pain was caused by nerve endings, however, despite some extremly powerful drugs and finally some patches she is still in a lot of pain. No-one know knows what to do so they appear to have stopped worrying about it and have told her to live with it. Great help when some days she can barely walk. I have hit a solid brick wall and don't kno where else to go.