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Gastroenterology  (Expert Forum)
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My 10 year old son
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MedHelp Member's Question

My 10 year old son

by Tammy, Feb 28, 2000 12:00AM
Hi, my 10 year old son has been complaining of upper stomach pain since January 17th, 2000.  I have had him to our family Dr. numerous times.  Finally after him having this pain for so long I took him back to the Dr and said "enough is enough " The same day, Feb. 9th he had a stomach X-ray done.  It showed that he was very constipated.  The Dr. put him on a senna laxative for 2 weeks.  The pain has not let up.  Not only that but the pain he complains of is in his upper stomach not his lower stomach (not sure if that makes a difference) I am not sure if this is school related, but he doesn't complain too much on the weekends, just mostly on weekday mornings and at night.  He seems happy at school, I have spoke to his teacher and she has said that he seems fine at school.  On the days that I send him anyway (b/c he can't stay home all the time) he says the pain lets up a bit around 10:30 or so and comes back about 2, but this is not regular.  I guess what I am wondering is, what could this be? Any ideas what I should do, what to look for?  What kind of thing would come and go like this?   I hate to see him in so much pain. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you for your time.







Doctor's Answer

by HFHSm.D.-Gastro-rf, Mar 14, 2000 12:00AM
Dear tammy,

Constipation in youmg children can be very painful.  Although, I do not treat children, I would shy away from using senna compounds.  Ask your doctor about the possibility of trying another laxative regimen that is based omn increased fiber e.g. Fiber one for breakfast.  In cases of constipation it is necessary to look for possible causes e.g. thyroid disease, structrural abnormalities, Hirschprung's disease.  Your doctor can explain these possibiltieis and how to approach diagnosis.
Member Comments (26)

by wendell, Feb 28, 2000 12:00AM
Hello Tammy:



If you'd like to e-mail me directly, I may be able to offer some herbal (natural) recommendations which may help him.



Regards,



Wendell   < ***@**** >

by Dee, Feb 29, 2000 12:00AM
My daughter, who was 10 at the time, also had upper stomach pain for four years.  We were also told it was constipation since she would sometimes wake up during the night doubled over.  She had a barium swallow and ultrasound and blood tests at first and all were normal.  Her pain was mainly during school and sometimes her temp would go up to 100 and when I would bring her home it would be normal.  So, we assumed it was stress.  However, pain persisted, some at home, mostly at school.  She went to a gastro doc and he did an EGD.  He said her stomach looked fine to the naked eye.  However, when the biopsy results came back it showed severe, chronic inflammation in the stomach and duodenum that had apparently been present for a long time.  The gastro doc said he had seen it before and it's usually caused by a virus the child had (who knows when) that settled in the stomach.  With the body's own natural stomach acid, there's no time to heal from the virus.  All she had to do was take some prescription proton pump inhibitors to stop nearly all the stomach acid while it gave her time to heal.  She took it for three months and now she is a new child.

by Catherine, Mar 01, 2000 12:00AM
My daughter is also 10 years old and has been complaining of the same kind of pain on and off for 2 years.  Her pain comes in episodes, and an episode can last months.  Over the past 2 years she has had an upper GI, x-ray, 52 blood tests, ultrasound and finally an endoscopy.  None of these have come up with anything.  At one time we were also told that she was constipated!  Her pain is so severe that she has missed several days of school.  The last pediatric gastrointestinal doctor suggested we take her to a psychologist and one even prescribed Elavel (an anti-depressent) for the pain.  I cannot take anymore of this.  I don't know what to do.  If you have any answers let me know.

Thank you

by Carrie, Mar 02, 2000 12:00AM
Tammy, you could be me!  I too have a ten year old son that complains of pain around his belly button and radiating up the center of his body.  Unlike you we have been dealing with this for two years! We went through thinking if there was a problem at school etc.  Our son has always seemed to have a problem with diarrhea, is a picky eater, and has to go the bathroom usually after he starts eating. He has a rough time in the morning like your son and I often get a call from the school at lunchtime (after he has eaten) He has missed many days of school and seems glad to be home.  I have charted his "attacks"  (a good thing to do ) and also got the school to photocopy his absences so I have a record.  On Feb 15 he had the worst attack yet. Finally after getting nowhere (for the last two years!) with our family doc we took him to the children's hospital on Feb 19/00 and he was finally xrayed and had some blood tests. His bowel was grossly distended and full of stool, the pediatrician said that it has probably been like that for at least 2 years.  They gave him an enema , said it was more than likely constipation and mineral oil to take every night up to 4 tablespoons a night.  I also had to give him an enema the next day.  Well two weeks later and still in pain and a fruitless visit to our family doc again (and yet another enema in the meantime)  I pulled out all stops and yesterday (March 1) I took my doubled over son into the emergency ward of the hospital again.  4 hours in the waiting room and finally we were in.  They took another x ray which showed that most of the stool was gone.  They asked me if we had cystic fibrosis in our family (we don't to my knowledge) that really through me for a loop.  They also asked if any one gets migraines (I do) He has had headaches at times. They also did blood work again.  They said that they are concerned about his liver.  Did they have you do stool samples to rule out parasites and such? Like e coli etc?  He has done all of those and now has to do a 72 hour stool collection (lots of fun) We left the hospital with a gallon paint pail for those purposes.  Well the long and the short of it is they are sending us to a pediatric gastroenterolgist  within the next two weeks for a complete upper and lower workup.

Keep at them --- remember the squeaky wheel gets the grease.  Contact me if you like and we can compare notes!

by Carrie, Mar 02, 2000 12:00AM
Tammy,

I forgot my email address  

***@****

by Cindy, Mar 02, 2000 12:00AM
My seven year old grandson has had this same problem this time it has went on for almost three weeks we have been at the Doctors and Hospital for tests all week , they have ruled out injury, liver, pancreas, kidneys