DS, aged 7, claims to have had a tummy ache "every day for a year".

[ilovehugs]

DS is always complaining about tummy aches. I took him to the Drs ages and ages ago about it who said he seemed fine.

He eats well, is growing, about the same height as peers (but skinny), no vomiting, active, no constipation, tummy not swollen, doesnt seem to have sensitive areas etc etc.

Yes he is ADAMANT that he always has a tummy ache and it never goes away.

What could this be? He's notorious for mouthing objects, even at his age, he chews lego (and get's told off for it). Could he have bits of plastic stuck somewhere?? Surely he would be poorly? Grasping at straws here.

Any other experiences of this or advice most welcome please!!!

[priscilla101]

Hi Ilovehugs....I read your post with interest, and I could have written it. My ds is also 7 and describes this as his every day stomach ache. I also took him to the doctors ages ago who were unconcerned. Like your ds, mine is thriving in terms if weight, height, development etc etc.
I have no idea what it is, and interestingly he does not complain about it every day, it if he does mention it he tells me he has it every day. I don't think it is food related, or anxiety related, but have no basis for this, just maternal gut instinct.
Unfortunately I have no advice or help to offer...but I totally empathise, it's horrid not being able to help your child.

[mercibucket]

Ds is 'diagnosed' with abdo migraines ie nothing else turned up. We do have history of migraines tho and ds also gets regular migraines

Massively interested in the mitochondrial thing. Was that dr myhill?

[mercibucket]

Ds is 'diagnosed' with abdo migraines ie nothing else turned up. We do have history of migraines tho and ds also gets regular migraines

Massively interested in the mitochondrial thing. Was that dr myhill?

[SofiaAmes]

No, (I am in the USA now) but I looked at her website and it looks interesting. The doctor we are seeing is Dr. Boles at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles. You can google him and there are lots of scientific papers. Also, if you go to //www.curemito.org you will find lots of information (understandable to the general public) and links.
This treatment has been an absolute godsend for us...when ds' migraines were really bad they had him on a cocktail of drugs that got rid of the headache but made him pretty much non-functional. To be able to have him completely healthy, with no side effects is more than I ever dreamed of. I am now realizing that all sorts of things that happened ever since he was little and I just thought were normal (constant car sickness, long, heavy colds, vomiting, ear infections, high fevers, fatigue) were in fact, not normal, and symptoms of his mitochondrial mutation. I just want to shout from every rooftop that this exists so that as many other people as possible can help their children (priscilla101 - I totally understand that awful feeling of helplessness when your child is in pain and you can't make it better)
Dr. Boles believes that every child who presents with at least some of these symptoms (stomach aches, fatigue, headaches, vomiting), should be tried on a course of high dose L-carnitine and CoQ10 (and Riboflavin too). It can't hurt (ie no side effects), and could possibly help. We noticed a difference within a month. Ds had not been to a sleepover birthday party EVER without getting seriously sick afterwards from the lack of sleep and excitement. He went to one a month after starting the treatment and had no cold, headache, vomiting or anything!!!! First time ever in his 11 years.

[dikkertjedap]

What has the GP done to find a cause? Has he had a blood test, scans? If not I would go back to GP or ask for referral to a paediatrician.

[Elibean]

Noren - sorry, just noticed your post. Thank you, will google it - did try your link, but only found fascinating Giant Microbes

[charlieandlola]

It's not worms is it ? We had ds complaining of stomach ache for weeks, took him to the GP who could find nothing wrong, but suggested Ovex. Did the trick , miraculously

[Noren]

elibean giggles how foolish of me! Got my Xmas shopping links mixed up there I think! I can't remember what webpage I found, but if you want me to look for it again, let me know (I know someone with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy which was missed for years, so it might just be my paranoia).

[NellyTheElephant]

Obviously you need to get all the usual checks / tests done, but on the upside it really could be nothing.....

I had a similar thing with my DD1 (now nearly 8). Since she was 5 she had almost constant tummy pain (we were advised to keep a symptom diary and it was pretty much every day, no particular time or triggers), leaving her listless and tired when she was suffering and sometimes in really bad agonising pain (although more usually a dull ache). She was never a particular hypochondriac and we tried not to make a big deal of it or draw attention to it (played it down a bit if anything)

A bit of history - my DD2 (who has never had a tummy pain in her life) had to have a couple of bowel operations which had really scared me and so I was worried it might be the same thing in DD1. Also when she was 5, DD1 had been really very ill in hospital for over a week on IV antibiotics and then another month of oral anti Bs (entirely unrelated to tummy pain which had started before that, although there was some concern that antibiotics might have made it worse), and for these reasons I was possibly more paranoid and much more pushy about tests etc than I otherwise might have been and also we were very much in the system so I already knew the consultant from the issues with DD2.

DD1's consultant always maintained it was probably a non specific childhood tummy pain and nothing to worry about (unhelpful I know as he himself said), she had every test / scan / xray he could think of and everything came back negative and he didn't think that it matched abdominal migraines. He said that it is hard to explain this sort of pain but that it is not uncommon in children. It seems that as adults most of the nerves around the gut etc are kind of 'switched off' so we don't feel the vast majority of what is going on in our digestive system, but in some children it takes a while for them to shut off the feeling and it can be very uncomfortable.

Anyway, I guess he was right as after 2 years or so I started to realise that DD1 was commenting on the pain less and no longer to be found lying listlessly on her bed and now it has completely stopped, so it seems that it really wasn't anything (that isn't to belittle the very real pain she experienced at the time).

Hopefully your DS's pain is similarly 'nothing'