My son is 10 years old and has been suffering from pain/nausea above his belly button since 3. He cannot eat anything which contains fat as he gets a tummy ache. He gets nausea when playing soccer, Pain always above belly button. Hes been on losec/iron pills for 2 years. Recent bloods show low serum iron levels, normal ferritin levels, normal red blood count and high in inflammation. What could be causing this? GP thinks it's connected to ETAP and intestine not absorbing iron, getting enough blood. Being referred to specialist. Not sure what all this means.
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Low iron could be due to poor intake (not possible as on iron therapy), loss from body as happens in acidity and GERD, rectal polyps etc (so test for occult blood or hidden blood in stool is a must), due to improper absorption or due to storage disorders (last two possibilities very likely as he has a problem since childhood). A low iron and normal ferritin indicates a chronic illness. Since ferritin is normal, storage disorder is either not the cause or ferritin level came up due to iron therapy. Hence there is a great chance that your son has an iron deficiency anemia due to some problem in the gut like IBS or a malabsorption syndrome. Yes, you need to consult both a GI specialist and a hematologist.
Hope this helps. Do let me know if there is any thing else and keep me posted. Take care!