12 yr old -G.I pain/upset. 3+ years

[mavac]

12 yr old son. 3 + years of Lower G.I. pain, diarreaha, nausea. SEVERE at onset & during---However, is only every 4 months or so, lasts up to 2-3 weeks. Is Severe upon waking and mild to mod.late at night. Diet is carefully monitored. Low fat. No fried foods. He is afraid to eat during this time- eats minimal.
Pedatrician states Not wheat/ dairy related -may be Gastritis linked to stress & to take prilosec prior to meals. He is an honor student but has missed MUCH school.
There is only ONE ped. G.I. Dr. group  in all of Buffalo, NY area!  no appointments until end of july-with threats of taking him to ER , His 1st visit is not until 6/12/08 arranged by his Ped.
HELP! We are of Irish decent. I have heard of  hard to diagnose G.I. problems linked to this. Has anyone else?

[radar77]

Your son sounds just like mine, although his symptoms seem to go away once he gets over his episode.  He is 16 years old and has the same episodes every 4 months or so although his are within 1 hour after dinner and last for about 1 hour - nausea and diarrhea.  Have you found out anything ye

[JennasMom]

Hi, from Buffalo too! We go to the Ped GI here too for the last 6 years. The only way to judge if there is a gluten allergy (Celiac disease) is to have a blood test. Celiac dieases causes major stomach  and intestinal pain as well as diahrrea ,  and I would insist on that blood test.  Irritable bowel is also hard to diagnose.... You might have a food allergy going on, that is what is sounds like to me. We are currently looking at going to a new GI dr in the area who does ped and adult. but we could not get that appt until June 17th!  So we are waiting.

Lisa

[ChitChatNine]

WELCOME TO THE GERD COMMUNITY.

I am  not sure about linkage to Irish decent but would really like the info, too, if you hear of anything along those regards ?

Have they done an ultrasound or any tests yet?  

Two things come to mind but I AM NOT A DR. .. Just a mom like you but have alot of experience with four of my children having seen with variious issues by a Pedi GI and some still are patients.

Did anybody say anything about IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and maybe the stress is setting it off?

Also, does this happen with all foods or certain foods that you can figure out?  what happens when he eats fried/fatty foods?  I think gallbladder as one of those pesky organs that can cause what you describe, too, and sometimes not in the classic pain patterns one would expect.  My 17yr old was on Prevacid for 5yrs on/off and it turned out it was Bile Reflux from a severely dysfunctional gallbladder she had removed a few mos ago and all the symptoms similar to what you describe (school missed, etc.) are gone now .......... hers was uncommon but the root cause and she was admitted to the hospital to r/o appendicitis (severe nausea, pain, and diareaha with severe reflux, too) .. she ended up in a children's hosp for 8 days and it took 5 to diagnose what was going on with her.

Keep your appt for certain ...

If you go to the ER you will get a GI appt sooner vs. later IF they have a GI on call the time you are there ... ???? .. so no guarantees.

My daughter's Dx was Gastritis more than you can count on both fingers and actually was her gallbladder ........ I finally asked how many times can she have gastritirs (viral) and no other sibling catch it? .. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Keep us posted.

Does he have relfux too ?  What meds is he on and how often?

Cheryl