Daughter with constant tummy ache

[bobkate]

I will try to be concise!
My daughter, 9 yrs old, has been suffering with tummy aches for about the last two months.
She says it comes and goes but is always there.
We've been to the GPs a few times, sent to a and e once back in late feb but they said it wasn't her appendix.
Had blood tests and they came back clear. Gave her anti biotics for a week a while back, and also buscapan, but neither has helped.
She was really uncomfortable again last night, saying she couldn't find a comfortable position to lie in.
Under normal circumstances I would be asking for a gps appt again, but I don't know whether that is adding unnecessary strain to the system.
I suppose I am just wondering if there's anything else I can google to see if it fits with her.
The pain is around her belly button, hasn't moved, hurts mostly to compress ( doesn't hurt more when you move hand away).
I asked the pharmacist about worms and he said she would be itchy, which she isn't.

Any chance it's psychological? Anxiety?

Or possibly abdominal migraine?

Any other symptoms ?

Is she constipated or diarrhea ? Is it worth checking for coeliac disease, my daughter went through a range of symptoms which everyone kept telling us didn't match ones found with Coeliac, one of them being a lot tummy ache low down, and sometimes around her belly button.

This was 5yrs ago, she very healthy and managing her diet well now !

My 5 year old had this a little while ago, he was being sent home from school and then fine, it would pop up from no where and he would be in tears. It went on and I started to get frustrated and thought he could be fibbing to get out of school and worried something was going on that I didn't know about.
I took him to the Drs and after examining him she said it was mesenteric adenitis which is swollen lymph glands in the tummy.
I looked it up and it did seem to fit. He hasn't had an episode for a few weeks now so hopefully he won't again.
It's worth looking up.

DS2 spent a term feeling sick at school every day, and it turned out to be dehydration.

Reflux? I thought mine was indigestion but turns out it was reflux of some kind.

Does she drink milk? I'm lactose intolerant and it started with tummy ache, I was about 7 at the time.

Obviously it could be 100 other things but it's fairly easy to cut out milk for a while.

I'm OK with small amounts of milk particularly when iti with other food so I can have a Yorkshire pudding with a roast but toad in the hole might send me to the toilet.

Thanks for the suggestions...I'll work through them..
nuffsaidsam I would be hugely surprised if it's anxiety related. She really is the most chilled, happy go lucky sort of child. She is fairly open about her emotions and readily shows/tells us if she's struggling with anything. I have asked her and she said just her tummy ache is annoying her now.
kalim8 the GP initially thought it was possibly abdominal migrane/mesenteric adenitis and I thought perhaps the same....but it's the fact that it's still ongoing that is making me think that perhaps it's not that? I know Dr Google is not often the answer but I have had a good look on various sites and it all suggests that this only should last a few days.
51pegasusb no other obvious symptoms. She is very regular poo wise and hasn't complained that any have been hard to get out...I'd say though, since the tummy aches, about 40/50% of her poos are on the slightly 'fluffy'/squittyish side...not diarrhea as such though.
Her blood test did cover coeliac disease and that came back clear...I had wondered that also.
avoidingrealhumans see above reply to Kalim8!
bluechampagne - hadn't thought of dehydration....fairly sure she drinks a fair bit but will try to up her water intake in case.
littlemissnotlittlemrs - will have a look into reflux...
sashh she has milk with her breakfast...I'll try her with some almond/oat milk as a substitute and see if that helps.

I ended up having a telephone consultation with the GP, another new one... he has suggested we try a broader spectrum antibiotic which we have started today. He also suggested taking some nurofen regularly for a week to act as an anti inflammatory in case there is some inflammation in her tummy...possibly the adenitis thing.
He said failing that we'll do a diet/poo/pain diary ( which I am going to start anyway from tomorrow ) and go from there.
I feel sorry for her as she is struggling to get herself off to sleep as she can't get comfy, and she is a girl who usually says goodnight and drops off quickly.

Shamelessly bumping in case anyone else has any ideas...

My DD had a lot of tummy pains around that age, and when I mused that it could be some kind of food intolerance, my wife immediately thought of dairy. We cut lactose from her diet and it made a big difference.

Of course, there are other intolerances to work through. I'm not a medic so I have no idea if that fits your DD's symptoms, but it's worth a try. Our DD could manage small amounts of dairy and over time she seems to have grown out of the intolerance.

Thank you DadDadDad I am beginning to think this may be something it could be. That's nice to hear she has grown out of it.

My daughter was like this in January this year, a lot of GP appointments, stool and urine sample and blood tests threw up nothing.
I still have another 16weeks (prob more now because of the virus) for a gastroenterologist appointment for her as it is about a 6 month wait here
I kept a food (Without making changes to her diet) diary and note of symptoms each day And a note of her symptoms and after 2 weeks Went to the GP again, I had noted that it appeared worse on days where she had quite a bit of dairy. The Gp said to follow a dairy free diet and keep a record and after about day 8/9 of being dairy free she hasn’t complained of any pain.

It has been about 5/6 weeks now and she is back to her usual self. The GP said to continue until the gastro appointment arrives so that is what we will do.

I would definitely recommend keeping a food diary and note of her symptoms and discuss with the GP if thee is anything to note

berrypieandcustard thank you, the food/poo/pain diary is up and running. She's mainly at the medium pain but able to carry on with things...the gp suggested she came up with her own wording for the pain chart...so we have 1 -no pain, 2 - slight pain, 3- starting to annoy me, 4- really noticeable, 5 - medium but I can carry on, 6 - hurts a lot, beginning to stop me doing things, 7 - laying on sofa not wanting to do anything, etc, etc... we haven't gone over 5 yet . I will wait until the course of anti biotics have finished and see how she is before omitting things, but I reckon dairy will be the first thing to try.

Hi, my son 9yr old had this very bad stomachache for more than two months. It happened after he got sick possibly due to tooth abscess that he vomitted badly for days the first week. His stomach belly button area didn't stop paining for a second. Symptoms just like all the parents described. No medicine can help! Both dentist and many GPs and A&E doctors said stomach nothing to do with bacteria or related to tooth. The medical services are terrible!

My husband and I reckon anything can cause stomach including gum infection. Dentist didn't want to pull his tooth out say let baby tooth come out itself. We tried many calls and visits. We demanded blood test and poo test. All ok.

To cut is short, we found a dentist to pull his tooth out. Such a relief. We believe after this he will recover. After the tooth pulled out, we let him eat quite abit of ginger fresh or fry with stuff. My mom's Chinese doctor said is wind! That helped him released wind and slowly he started to improve. Also don't let him eat cold stuff or drinks.

The last doctor told me it could be mesenteric adenitis which is the only doctor who gave me a decent guess diagnosis. The explaination of this mesenteric confirms our own theory which anything can affect other parts of body.

I do feel for helpless parents. So try my method. Becarful with food choices.

Hello - very big long shot but I am searching up threads that are about similar symptoms to my daughter. I see this was a while ago so keen to know what ended up happening with your daughter?