what can cause wake-up-and-cry-inconsolably pain in the legs/knees of a 4yo??

[LadyLaGore]

v sudden
says not in the day, just come on at night.

dp says he vaguely remembers him saying something about sore legs sometime during last week

hes just woken again. screaming. whats going on????

[LadyLaGore]

have to go... hopefully be back

[Saturn74]

DS2 has this sometimes.
Dr puts it down to growing pains.
It's horrible to see them so upset - I hope your DS gets off to sleep soon.

Does he have any other symptoms?

[chunkychips]

my son gets it occasionally. Think they must be growing pains. Do remember when I was young having kind of cramping in my legs. There was a thread about it not long ago, not uncommon apparently. DS also gets them in his feet.

[CharCharBaGOOOOOOORE]

I used to get them as a child and everyone said it was growing pains. Stil get them sometimes now though My dad used to massage my legs quite firmly and it helped ease the pain off a bit. Hope he settles soon.

[dooit]

Pronation?? Flat feet can cause pains in the legs IIRC. Also at night IIR that bit C too.

[PsychoAxeMurdererMum]

growing pains.

my J and flames B get them really badly.

for J, I always have bed socks/ski socks on the tank or radiator to stick on as soon as he starts. the warmth REALLY helps.

I then pile him full of calpol and nurofen, make him a hot water bottle, and snuggle him for about 20mins.

and then he sleeps soundly.

DD3 also gets them....she is inconsolabe with her, and she has been suffering now since shse was 4.....and is now nearly 10.

the bed socks and hotwater bottle are things you NEED.

HTH

[BlackEyedSpooKDog]

I have this with ds sometimes. I always suppose it's growing or perhaps leg and foot cramps so my method is to stroke his legs and feet. Sometimes it goes away but if not and he's shouting I give him a drop of calpol (not much) and that gives him comfort to sleep.

[LadyLaGore]

morning, and thanks peeps.
just reading that link, and it says GP respond to touching and handling, but he wasnt. he didnt like to be touched, made him cry more.
i'll take him to doc in the morning.

[FlameNPumpkins]

I get them still now, I have never been convinced by "growing pains".

For me it is down to changes in temp and air pressure - the sudden drops we have had lately have been causing hell. If he has been running round outside towards dusk it tends to make it worse too.

Heat helps, touching and handling does NOT unless it is insanely tight pressure on them.

[FlameNPumpkins]

Oh and can you check your gmail please, I have a random question fo ryou

[scrambledhead]

I had this as a child. My mum took me to the doctor but they said growing pains too.

[LadyLaGore]

man, i dont buy this growing pains lark.
its basically doctor-speak for 'i havent the foggiest idea whats wrong with you' isnt it??

have docs appt at 11:40, will report back.

[cyteen]

llg, i had these pains throughout my childhood and well into adolescence, still get them occasionally now. your statement that "its basically doctor-speak for 'i havent the foggiest idea whats wrong with you' isnt it??" is, ime, correct. my mum took me to see loads of doctors about it and none of them had a clue.

i guess just keep trying different things, see what works to relieve the pain (e.g. psycho's advice above). nothing helped with mine but hopefully you'll be luckier.

[LadyLaGore]

thanks cyteen, will do my best to get to the bottom of it, but am prepared never to know.

our gp is prtty good tho - i took my 5yo in last yr thinking hed strained his leg or something, thoguht was no biggie at all, and he immediately spotted that i t was a thing called irritable hip and sent him off to hospital

[LadyLaGore]

yup, doc says its growing pains, only theyve been renamed 'activity pains'.
gawd, if its not one thing its another eh? [rolls eyes]

[twoluvlykids]

my dd used to get pains behind her knees, "growing pains" - but I discovered it is made worse by not enough sleep.

try a week of really early nights, if the pain is really bad, there shouldn't be too many complaints about early bedtimes.

dd still sometimes gets leg pain, and takes herself off to bed early,sleeps well & that's it, gone, for a few months.

[Bubbaluv]

I got terrible growing pains as a teenager - had no idea they could start so young! I was even sent off for scans to make sure it wasn't arthritis. FlaminPumpkins, have you been checked for arthritis? If the pain is brought on by cold it's worth ruling that out.

[Indith]

I still get "growing pains". My mum was the same, grew out of it in her 20s. For me it is an odd sort of pain that starts in a joint, usually knees and usually at night but sometimes in the day and in the elbow or wrist. Massage helps me, and paracetamol. If I leave it too long it spreads along the limb to the next joint.

[Bubbaluv]

Are you still growing Indith?? When I had my scans you could easily see the over-active growth plates in my bones which were causing the problems. The problem stopped when I stopped growing. If you're not growing and stil getting pain I would ask for a rediagnosis to be honest.
DH has grown over 1cm taller in the last year and he's 31!!! How freaky is that!!

[Othersideofthechannel]

A friends son suffers from purpura. It's extremely rare but he started off with pains in legs. Then a high temperature. Then the rash.

www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/purpura.htm

[Indith]

I don't think I'm growing! We've never been to the Dr with it though because it was exactly what my mum had and she was trailed round various Drs and specialists by her Dr father as a child.

[LadyLaGore]

doc said it wasnt caused by growing.
link says its caused by general active boisterousness kind of catching up with you while you sleep, hence the re-naming of it as activity pains.

i dont think ive ever had these. ive had odd pains i couldnt explain, but never in my sleep.

[LadyLaGore]

they all had high temps for a few days at end of last week, on holiday.
hes v tired today. i kept him with me and we didnt do much... but he conked out behind a chair in the living room about 4:30. hes asleep on the sofa now. track record says he'll be a nightmare to get to bed now. sigh.

[Olihan]

DS1 gets this. We've put it down to growing pains too. It's pretty sporadic so we haven't actually got any advice about it. We give him Calpol and a cuddle until he calms down then he usually goes straight back to sleep.