Aa
ibs
My girl is 11. She has pains in her stomach, under her left rib, reflux and always feels sick. She has had this for a year and can't go to school all the time because of the severe pains. I have been to several doctors and they keep telling me she has a virus. It seems to be getting worse and the school has told me if she misses any more time off, action will be taken. Please, I am at the end of my rope. She has stopped eating gluten and drinking milk. Nothing seems to help. She has had ultra sounds, blood tests and poo tests. The poo test says possible ibs but the doctor doesn't believe an 11 year old can have this.
I am so glad I joined this forum. You have made my Christmas. You have helped me more than any doctor has. Thankyou. I have been eliminating foods and potatoes and gluten products were a problem. I have also tried to enroll my daughter in correspondence school but the principle would not sign the papers. He even went as far as telling me she might need a counselor and more rewards to encourage her to go to school.I know, UNBELIEVEABLE! She had an ultrasound on everything but her bowel because you can't see the bowel with an ultrasound. Of course, everything was normal but after the ultrasound, she doubled over in pain as were were on our way home. So, I took her to a doctor we had never been to before. She told us she was hungry. She was not. For the last four weeks, the symptoms have been very bad. Thank goodness the holidays are nearly here and maby my girl can rest and we can get this sorted out before next year. I'm glad you are better than you were when you were a girl. Again, thankyou.
What planet does your doctor live on anyway? I may not have been officially tested for IBS until I was an adult, but I know very well that I was suffering in silence with IBS for years before this! It wasn't as severe for me as for your daughter at her age, but I remember how I felt. The trouble was, I was never taken seriosly that I had belly pain. I was just labeled by my mother, who wasn't paying attention. I learned to shut up and just suffer with whatever this was until I saw a GI when I was a young adult. Wow, was my colon ever spasming at that time! If you had put your hand on my belly when it was spasming like that, you would've thought there was a baby kicking inside of me! But, that wasn't any more of a possibility then, then it is now. That GI was no idiot when he said that I had IBS, which got worse since then, because I didn't know how to properly take care of myself with this. I believe you're on the right track with IBS.
Perhaps it's time to find a way to home school your daughter? I say this, because I know of people who successfully home schooled their kids. One can be much more flexible with the time the kids are in school. Some friends of mine had a business where they had to travel to trade shows when their son was little. They home schooled him, and he has a normal job, is married, and has two little ones of his own.
It sounds to me like your daughter needs a new doctor. I know that little kids can have GI problems, because I did. It's no wonder that if I got sick with a stomach virus, for example, that I was really sick. How can she have "just a virus", if this has been so long that the school system is threatening action? Your daughter is lucky that her parents take her seriously with this. I was never taken seriously at all. The only times that I was taken seriously is if I presented "real" symptoms that could be measured, like a fever.
It sounds to me like you guys would benefit by seeing a naturopath as soon as is reasonably possible. I know they're expensive. I certainly was never able to see one until my chiropractor told me about one who works with people with a sliding fee schedule. Look around, they're out there. I didn't know this myself until this past year.
I think that you're definitely on the right track with the gluten and dairy eliminations. Those are big ones to take into consideration. But, your daughter may have other food sensitivities. It took me going on the basic food elimination diet to find these other foods that were issues for me. ALL the items on the basic food elimination diet ended up being problem foods for me. I feel better by avoiding those foods. My symptoms are 90% non-existent now. The other portion that is left is manageable and will often improve throughout the day, if I follow a plan that works for me. When I still have some break-through GERD that just won't go away and is really nagging at me, I take Benadryl. I learned about this from my friend who is going through the same issues. This tells me that the food sensitivity issue is definitely the problem. But, I do hate taking Benadryl. Sometimes I have to take it for my other allergies, too. By the way, does your daughter have any other allergy symptoms that are not related to GI symptoms? The two things are probably connected to the food sensitivities. This is why you need to get proper guidance with your daughter's issues from someone well-trained in this, like a naturopath.
I mentioned home schooling, because the whole elimination diet takes quite a bit of time to go through the whole process. I do believe that once she is on the basic food elimination diet that she'll feel better. Since she also has GERD, I would definitely use flaxseed meal as the fiber supplement rather than psyllium fiber. I'm not sure what the amounts to be used are for a still growing child, though. If she is anything like me, the amounts she needs to take everyday can vary also. Psyllium fiber is simply too irritating on the gut, especially with GERD. It's been a while since I've even looked at a canister of Metamucil, but I'm sure it's full of warnings about not using it with children under a certain age. The actual active ingredient of that stuff is psyllium. Flaxseed meal is easier to use, because it's pleasant tasting and can be added directly to the food being eaten. And, it's a real food item that is often added to baked goods, whether as whole flax seeds or as flaxseed meal. I advise against the whole flax seeds. It needs to be flaxseed meal (ground up) in order to be effective. FYI: The flax leaves are what is used to make true linen. They are stripped down to their fibers and woven into cloth. Now you know why true linen of fine quality is so expensive.
This doesn't mean that you walk out of conventional medicine altogether by any means. It doesn't have to be an either or type of situation at all--pitting one side of the medical aisle against the other. Adding a naturopath to the mix should actually help. The FIRST thing my naturopath did with me is go through the elimination diet. Since my overall health issues were so bad, she had me on the basic elimination diet for six weeks before doing ANY food challenges from the 16 culprits on the list, which are all common allergens and many of which that you have actually heard of as being common allergens. I had problems with every item on the list.
By the way, did you know that potatoes are a common allergen? It turned out that I have problems with all the nightshade relatives, too. I was told to stay away from all of them initially, because they are known to aggravate and even cause joint pain, which I experience a lot less of without the nightshade cousins in my life. My instinct tells me that those are probably all issues for your daughter, too, because everything in the nightshade family irritates my GERD. And, potatoes themselves irritate my throat, too. Potatoes are on the basic food elimination diet.
I still have the list of things to avoid in the basic food elimination diet. If you want that list, I can provide it for you. Just send a private note to me, and I can send you the information that I have. The thing of it is, though, I think you still need guidance with this from a real naturopath. It's not hard to do, once a person starts to realize that they feel better avoiding these common food sensitivities. And, a person may have other food sensitivities that aren't on that list. I discovered a sensitivity to celery, which is not on that list, for example, along with most fruits, which are also not on the list. Citrus is, though. Plus, it's quite acidic, which irritates GERD.
I hope this information helps. I probably should've included more of it the first time, but it's quite a bit of information, too.
Perhaps it's time to find a way to home school your daughter? I say this, because I know of people who successfully home schooled their kids. One can be much more flexible with the time the kids are in school. Some friends of mine had a business where they had to travel to trade shows when their son was little. They home schooled him, and he has a normal job, is married, and has two little ones of his own.
It sounds to me like your daughter needs a new doctor. I know that little kids can have GI problems, because I did. It's no wonder that if I got sick with a stomach virus, for example, that I was really sick. How can she have "just a virus", if this has been so long that the school system is threatening action? Your daughter is lucky that her parents take her seriously with this. I was never taken seriously at all. The only times that I was taken seriously is if I presented "real" symptoms that could be measured, like a fever.
It sounds to me like you guys would benefit by seeing a naturopath as soon as is reasonably possible. I know they're expensive. I certainly was never able to see one until my chiropractor told me about one who works with people with a sliding fee schedule. Look around, they're out there. I didn't know this myself until this past year.
I think that you're definitely on the right track with the gluten and dairy eliminations. Those are big ones to take into consideration. But, your daughter may have other food sensitivities. It took me going on the basic food elimination diet to find these other foods that were issues for me. ALL the items on the basic food elimination diet ended up being problem foods for me. I feel better by avoiding those foods. My symptoms are 90% non-existent now. The other portion that is left is manageable and will often improve throughout the day, if I follow a plan that works for me. When I still have some break-through GERD that just won't go away and is really nagging at me, I take Benadryl. I learned about this from my friend who is going through the same issues. This tells me that the food sensitivity issue is definitely the problem. But, I do hate taking Benadryl. Sometimes I have to take it for my other allergies, too. By the way, does your daughter have any other allergy symptoms that are not related to GI symptoms? The two things are probably connected to the food sensitivities. This is why you need to get proper guidance with your daughter's issues from someone well-trained in this, like a naturopath.
I mentioned home schooling, because the whole elimination diet takes quite a bit of time to go through the whole process. I do believe that once she is on the basic food elimination diet that she'll feel better. Since she also has GERD, I would definitely use flaxseed meal as the fiber supplement rather than psyllium fiber. I'm not sure what the amounts to be used are for a still growing child, though. If she is anything like me, the amounts she needs to take everyday can vary also. Psyllium fiber is simply too irritating on the gut, especially with GERD. It's been a while since I've even looked at a canister of Metamucil, but I'm sure it's full of warnings about not using it with children under a certain age. The actual active ingredient of that stuff is psyllium. Flaxseed meal is easier to use, because it's pleasant tasting and can be added directly to the food being eaten. And, it's a real food item that is often added to baked goods, whether as whole flax seeds or as flaxseed meal. I advise against the whole flax seeds. It needs to be flaxseed meal (ground up) in order to be effective. FYI: The flax leaves are what is used to make true linen. They are stripped down to their fibers and woven into cloth. Now you know why true linen of fine quality is so expensive.
This doesn't mean that you walk out of conventional medicine altogether by any means. It doesn't have to be an either or type of situation at all--pitting one side of the medical aisle against the other. Adding a naturopath to the mix should actually help. The FIRST thing my naturopath did with me is go through the elimination diet. Since my overall health issues were so bad, she had me on the basic elimination diet for six weeks before doing ANY food challenges from the 16 culprits on the list, which are all common allergens and many of which that you have actually heard of as being common allergens. I had problems with every item on the list.
By the way, did you know that potatoes are a common allergen? It turned out that I have problems with all the nightshade relatives, too. I was told to stay away from all of them initially, because they are known to aggravate and even cause joint pain, which I experience a lot less of without the nightshade cousins in my life. My instinct tells me that those are probably all issues for your daughter, too, because everything in the nightshade family irritates my GERD. And, potatoes themselves irritate my throat, too. Potatoes are on the basic food elimination diet.
I still have the list of things to avoid in the basic food elimination diet. If you want that list, I can provide it for you. Just send a private note to me, and I can send you the information that I have. The thing of it is, though, I think you still need guidance with this from a real naturopath. It's not hard to do, once a person starts to realize that they feel better avoiding these common food sensitivities. And, a person may have other food sensitivities that aren't on that list. I discovered a sensitivity to celery, which is not on that list, for example, along with most fruits, which are also not on the list. Citrus is, though. Plus, it's quite acidic, which irritates GERD.
I hope this information helps. I probably should've included more of it the first time, but it's quite a bit of information, too.
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