To ask for any advice, my daughter has had stomach ache for over 2 years

[Imsolucky1983]

I am at my wits end. My daughter started complaining of stomach ache and "sick" coming up her throat age 5. After a year of doctors visits I eventually went to a&e after being up for 8 hours with a screaming child. We were given a diagnosis of acid reflux. Gaviscon didn't help. Ranitidine helped about 50:/: we are now on lansoprosole which has helped about 75:/: but we are still having about 4 attacks of a "burning stinging" stomach a night, and about one episode of heartburn a day. My dd is now 7 and is so fed up, she asked me if she will feel ill forever we are under a consultant they have done an ultrasound of her stomach, tested for a bacterial infection with a stool sample and done a blood test. We see them again in a month. They are not overly concerned though. My dd is finding the pain so upsetting though she has even had to have a few days off school when she has been awake with the pain at night. She has said it's hard to concentrate on her work at school when the pain is really bad. She was even in pain on Christmas Day. I've noticed it is worse in the hours before she does a poo. We are currently trying a dairy free diet as her younger sister has cows milk protein intolerance but so far it has not made any difference. We have tried probiotics which help with her mild? constipation, although her ultrasound showed a lot of poo but they were not concerned. We have tried movicol but that seemed to make the pain worse. She has been tested for cealiac. We have taken her to a cranial osteopath. We have increased fruit veg fibre and water intake. We have tried gaviscon in conjunction with lansoprozole. I am at a loss. Does anyone have any experience of something similar? Or any ideas of other things we can try?

Over the Christmas holidays I have started using calpol which helps greatly with the pain, but I don't want to give it to her all the time which is a shame as it helps so much. She also sleeps semi upright to help with the acid reflux. Another thing I have noted every time they see her she has swallow glands. They say she must have a virus each time, but whenever she is seen by a medical professional she has swallow glands

I've noticed too much fibre makes the pain worse. Also when she poos she is doubled over in pain sometimes. Obvious foods like pastry fizzy drinks orange juice are a no go too. She has been tested for h pylori too

She is very skinny but the consultant said that's fine. I need to push for my tests but when I mention it she says they don't like to put children through these things. With the constipation they always say they can feel fecial loading

I had something similar as a child till I was in my 20s. I had stomach ulcers at 11years old. My route cause I found was I can't digest meat. Went vegetarian and from the day I cut out meat is cut out the pain.

junebirthdaygirl that is really interesting about the tonsils. Dd always has swallow glands, I will get them checked out.

oliversmumsarmy how did they detect the ulcer?

Sorry ginorchoc where you asking about them or saying that's what your daughters got? There's some info on line if it helps. OP it sounds terrible for her, and like it could be more than 1 thing. Take all the suggestions here to your GP and don't get fobbed off. Poor girl

Inflammatory bowel disease is something like colitis or chrons disease. It might be early onset due to her age.

www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/about-inflammatory-bowel-disease/publications/children-young-people-with-ibd-a-guide-for-schools

Honestly don't withold pain relief, OP, calpol regularly won't harm her at all while you keep pushing to get to the bottom of it.

Do you think it's ok to give calpol everyday, even for months, even years? Would that be ok? It totally takes the pain away for her, I only discovered it on Christmas Day when I was so desperate for her not to be in pain I felt so awful for her I thought I would try calpol to get her through the day without pain

It's really important that they deal with the faecal loading - it can cause the bowel to distend and the bowel can lose motility in the section that is stretched and sometimes this means that section of bowel must be removed. Also, it could be making her reflux worse.

There are NICE clinicical guidelines on dealing with constipation/faecal loading in children that your practitioner should be following.

I would really recommend reading through them to make sure that the faecal loading and constipation is dealt with - the guidelines are that faecal loading should be dealt with and that dietary interventions are not the first treatment.

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg99/chapter/Introduction

It's written so that a lay person can understand the path ways to treatment. These should be followed - your daughter's loading / impaction should not be ignored or go untreated.

Here are the clinical guidelines for treatment of reflux:

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng1

I would study this and insist that these path ways be followed and my child not be fobbed off. Good luck.

leadpipe I think she may well be constipated reading that. She has rabbit dropping poos with the occasional huge poo. She strains too. She did have movicol which made her stomach pain worse, then we tried probiotics which helps but not completely. Maybe we should go back to the doctors? I have lots of things still in the cupboard, movicol, lsctulose, syrup of figs, probiotics, prunes. Not sure if I could try one of these until we get an appointment to see if it helps. I've been trying brown bread but she has been in agony all night so fibre must not suit her either

Thank you those guides are very helpful

I was always being sick. One of my first memories is throwing up. Dm just thought it was something I did. I was 11 and after everything I ate or drank I would have to spend several hours doubled up in pain.

I went to see the doctor who said he couldn't find anything wrong and that is was just me trying to get out of school
4years later I saw the same doctor who in the intervening years had referred me to a psychiatrist because he thought the pain was in my mind .
I had a shouting session with him and he reluctantly referred me for a barium meal test
I had several ulcers

I think we might be looking at reflux, constipation and abdominal pain then. Sometimes excessive wind and burping. And constantly swallon glands if that's relevant.

I will also mention ulcers too, that sounds awful oliversmumsarmy

They do keep trying to rob me off asking if she likes school, but the pain happens just as much in the 6 weeks holidays, Christmas Day etc

Fob not rob!

They keep saying stomach ache is one of those things. But it is effecting her quality of life, she is in constant pain everyday every moment.

It does say that it can take months to establish normal poos so I'd keep trying the various stuff - if movicol makes her have pain then maybe add a softener such as lactulose? That way the stool will be mushier and less painful to move through. I don't know any answers but I'd be persistent.

Also, if she's got loading then that must be dealt with as it could become a hard mass that won't budge - it could be why she has pain when pooing as well.

Have they tested for allergies properly? Gluten springs to mind

Who have you seen OP?

Is it a general paediatrician? You need a specialist paediatric gastroenterologist. Take a video when she's next in pain and get her to describe it.

No one can diagnose her here but I'm so sorry she's in such pain.

Make an appointment with a different GP and start from the beginning.

This is what I had to go with my DM who had a few things wrong and the diagnosis had become complicated.

She was being treated for asthma but it turned out her breathlessness was related to a heart problem.

Sometimes you need a fresh start with another doctor to get to the bottom of things.

leadpipe what is feacal loading? The doctors always say I can feel some feacal loading put she is probably due a bowel movement?