Why can’t the doctors help with this?

[Buffalostance89]

Dd, almost 4, has been having tummy ache on and off since October. Wasn’t very regularly at first, but has become worse the last month or so.
She now has tummy ache after everything she eats, regardless of what it is, there’s no pattern to the food. She has excess gas, poos fairly regularly but says it’s hard to loo sometimes. I’ve used gentle laxatives, gas drops…she’s had a stomach scan, poo analysis and urine analysis-all clear.
It’s getting to the point where she’s worried to eat now and is hungry 🥲
Her behaviour is becoming affected and she jumps around, is hyper, bites cushions etc, so obviously in pain.
I have another appointment on Monday where I’m going to go nuts if they fob me off with saying stomach aches are normal at this age etc and tests are clear.
Has anyone had similar to this, so awful to see her like this, getting desperate now 🙏

@Ineverpromisedyouarosegarden Sorry what do you mean about a piece falling off the end?
She’s spent most of today saying she needs a poo, looking worried, then saying, no it was just a trump

@Artesia Hoping you find some answers too x

Yes it would and if it's a hard stool that's stuck Dulcoease won't move it. It would take Movicol or similar. Paediatric Movicol is prescription only so really need her to be assessed by doctor to get it. I have been there, done that with Ds it was constipation in the end even though we wasted months on diets and excluding things etc Sometimes it really is the most obvious thing.

Definitely worth ruling out chronic constipation. Although another poster posted a very similar thread recently, I'll see if I can find it as there might be helpful suggestions on there

Sorry "a piece falling of the end" was in response to your op where you said she poos fairly regularly. It can appear like the child poos regularly but the bowels are not fully emptied and are backed up.

DD was very similar to this when young. DD was under the care of a paediatrician and had stool tests done etc. Blood tests identified an allergic response but didn’t tell us what to. You need to stop all processed foods and only gave her water to drink. Then eliminate one different food type a week and keep a diary. The problem is once something triggers a response, it can take days to calm down so it hard to identify the problem. DD’s problem was actually aspartame (which is in some squashes and diet drinks and used to be in a lot more). Certain colourings also caused problems - E110 being a major one.

@Ineverpromisedyouarosegarden Yes, could be that, would it be immediate stomach ache after eating though, every time they eat?
Also, she eats a diet full of fibre and healthy foods, any idea why they get constipated and what a long term solution is? The doctor hasn’t even mentioned constipation

It might be causing her anxiety. X

Could you try the fodmap diet?

I would only start restricting foods on advice of a paediatrician. From experience you end up with deficiencies in vitamins and minerals. Don't make the mistakes we made. Get proper professional medical advice.

If you can afford it and the dr will not do them pay for private allergy testing. X

Yes, could be that, would it be immediate stomach ache after eating though, every time they eat?

Yes very common in constipation. I would ask Dr to rule it out.

I know you've said you've tried days eliminating certain foods, but with allergies, quite often it can takes weeks with that food eliminated before symptoms ease.

IBS? It runs in my family and all started off as a child.

Look up overflow diarrhoea, that may explain the watery stools. When I’m badly constipated I get pain as soon as I eat, sometimes to the degree I can’t eat as I’m already ‘full’ because the stool is so backed up.

Is she a healthy height and weight?
I really wouldn't start cutting random food groups out. If it is coeliac she needs to be eating gluten when tested. If lactose intolerance the doc can do a breath test or lactose challenge. But if she has persistent pain that has come on in weeks, and is struggling to eat and unhappy she really needs further investigation. Likely it's not anything serious but you are right to keep banging the drum.

www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/what-is-fecal-impaction

@lisaandalan To poo?

I have so many different bowel conditions and the symptoms overlap so much, half of the time I don’t know what is causing what. I have IBS, Crohn’s & bowel prolapse. I was lactose intolerance for a while as well but that seems to have sorted itself out.

Tmi here, but I’ve noticed some of her pops are two tone in colour and texture as in one side/part is lighter and dry/hard, the other darker and sloppier, just looks odd

Oh I feel for her so much as we’ve tried so hard not to make it an issue in front of her but can see now she’s worried to eat and constantly running to the toilet and back again

@Ineverpromisedyouarosegarden Would constipation also cause her to feel pain in the front? She sometimes says she feels pain her ‘Pee pee’ as she calls it and that she needs a wee, but it doesn’t come. This is why she had a urine test too, so hard to decipher what’s going on
Thanks so much for your feedback

Keep pushing OP and insist on a test for Coeliac.

If you want to test for sensitivity to certain foods as opposed to actual allergies you need to cut them out for a while before reintroducing and observing the reaction.

Yes a large stool can press on the urinary tract tubes and that can cause a urinary tract infection and send you down a completely different wrong path. I really hope you get it sorted. Rule out most common things first.

Thanks so much everyone

I had a normal gp appointment booked, if I can get a private gastro paediatric one, is this the specialised one I need to get?

I am a retired health visitor and when mums came up with problems like this my first port of call was to suggest a week or so of cutting out wheat products and/or dairy products. We had quite a high success rate and the doctor took over from there with referral to dietician etc.