Gastroenterologist

[Inara2010]

My son ( 13 years)had jaundice  last year.  After jaundice he has developed a stomach problem.  After eating, his stomach is sloshing and it continues.  He also feels warm  inside stomach.  Doctor prescribed omeprazole and he had it for three times year.  It has not improved.  He is loosing weight and drinking less water.  He is afraid to eat food and missing school. Right now he is 5 feet 10 inch and 50 kg weight.  Please advice what to do??

[panda2526]

Hi again...has he had recent tests done? Liver enzymes? Hep B, and C testing?

Hep A can come from exposure in restaurants or from someone handling foods who has not properly washed their hands and who is also affected.

It can have mild or severe symptoms or none at all. Sometimes it lasts for two months, other times symptoms can last for 6 months.

They treated his infection? When did he get treated?

The omeprazole can also have side effects of nausea, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, sleep deprivation, abdominal swelling, and many other serious complications due to adverse drug reactions. You can look them up for yourself here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omeprazole

You need to keep trying to get the drs to figure this out...if he is remaining unwell then they need to find out why. Did he have liver enzymes testing? If they are elevated then there is evidence that there is so infection or virus. Have they tested to make sure the Hep A virus has cleared?

I am not a dr but I hope that you find out what it is soon. There is some issue here that the drs are missing.

In young children, acute HAV infection is often asymptomatic. In contrast, older children and adults demonstrate a range of clinical manifestations from mild, anicteric hepatitis without jaundice to symptoms occurring rapidly and severely resulting in hepatic failure.

Some cases can also relapse, resulting in liver damage and longer infection or re-infection. So there are lots of things to take up with your drs and get more answers. Very soon if possible. He may have gotten another infection at the same time or because his immune system was compromised and unable to fight off the virus and also another virus that he could have been exposed to.

Please take care and best wishes for a speedy recovery for your son...C

[Inara2010]

just to add to my last comment, he had blood tests, ultrasound and breath test X ray.  All reports came normal.  

My gut feeling is he needs a endoscopy. I am afraid he is only 13 years.

[Inara2010]

Thank you for your reply.  He had hepatitis A.  I think it came from local food chain.  He tried a sauce which had 80% water. I am really worried..don't know what to do.  

[panda2526]

Common causes of jaundice in older children and adults include:

Viral infection of the liver (hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis D, and hepatitis E)
Parasite infection of the liver
Gallstones
Cancer of the pancreas
Other causes of jaundice include:

Cancer of the pancreas
Disorders present since birth that makes it hard for the body to breakdown bilirubin (such as Gilbert syndrome, Dubin-Johnson syndrome, Rotor syndrome, or Crigler-Najjar syndrome)
Eating poisonous mushrooms or other poisons
Immune disorder that mistakenly attacks healthy liver tissue (autoimmune hepatitis)
Liver damage caused by reduced oxygen or blood flow to the liver
The body destroys too many blood cells and the liver cannot handle them (hemolytic anemia)
Use of certain drugs, including an overdose of acetaminophen
Gallbladder and bile duct disorders that can cause jaundice include:

Blocked or narrowed bile ducts (by infection, tumor, stricture, or gallstones)
Primary biliary cirrhosis

Above taken from MedLine Plus website

Very important to discover the reason behind the jaundice in first place.

[panda2526]

Did they diagnose or find the reason for his jaundice?