8 year old just generally 'not well'. What could this be?

[MrsKCastle]

As the title says, my 8 year old daughter has for several weeks been complaining of 'not feeling well'. She has a few more specific complaints, but they seem to come and go:

Stomach ache (has had ongoing issues with constipation)
Sore throat
Aches and pains, sometimes seem to be joints, sometimes more muscular, different parts of the body.
More emotional than normal.
She also has a cough/cold but probably not related.

We have a GP appointment booked, but it's all so vague that it's hard to know what to make of it. There may well be a psychological aspect, but I do think there's something physical going on as well, as she's usually a very happy child. No worries that we're aware of, happy at school and so on.

Any thoughts? I know it's not a lot to go on!

Any temperatures at all? Has this started after a particularly bad virus?

I had a really nasty virus in my early 20s than I later found out was glandular fever and had quite a lot of those symptoms. Weirdly I thought I'd have a hideous sore throat or neck but I actually came away relatively unscathed in that regard, but the post virtual malaise was horrible.

That's interesting, thanks. She did have a couple of days off school about 2 weeks ago, with a temperature and just generally not right, but I think that was more a symptom than the cause. She hasn't been herself for longer than that.

Ask for a full blood count to be done.

Is she bleeding more easily (gums? bruising?)

No sign of bleeding gums or anything. She does get a lot of bruises, but not excessively so, and no recent changes.

My ds went through a stage like this in year 5. Nothing came out of gp checks. I wormed him, swapped snacks for fruit, gave vitamin supplements and only water to drink and symptoms gradually have gone. Don't know what it was.

anything stressful going on at school or at home?

Coeliac disease?

The thing is it could be loads of things. My son was like this for a few months before he had appendicitis. Nothing concrete but just generally unwell. It also sounds like a virus though.

Ask the GP for some blood tests.

Nothing stressful, no major changes.

SleepyKat she was tested for coeliac disease in January because of the constipation and it came back negative. Her sister does have coeliac though (sorry if that's a massive drip feed) but I'm not sure if all the random aches and pains fit? Do you think it would be worth asking them to test for it again?

Random aches and pains definitely fit with coeliac for some people......especially if vit d levels are low which can go hand in hand with malabsorption.

Coeliac can “turn on” at any point. So it’s possible she didn’t have it previously and does have it now. And it’s likely she has the gene for it if her sister has it.

Thank you. Yes, that is possible.

We have had an absolutely rubbish year health wise across the whole family. I don't like the thought of going through diagnosis all over again, but at least that would be an answer that we could deal with.

My DS1 had something similar last September, had weeks off school off and on. Temperature constantly up and down.

We never did get to the bottom of it. Lots of things were suggested - lime disease, glandular fever, TB. Bloods just showed a raised WBC count.

A holiday to South Africa in late October half term seemed to sort it out and he’s been fine since!

Hi
I understand where you are coming from. I'm too fed up with tests and waiting. It's most likely nothing and the poor weather makes things worse as most children are better in the warmer weather.
A starting point to put all of your minds at rest is a full blood count. As he has been unwell they may be slightly out that's just normal and I'm sure everything will be ok.

At times peanuts, fish, milk and cheese can have negative affects on children if not all of us.

So ask gp for FBC and from what you have posted, every thing should turn out ok.

I was going to suggest coeliac too as it sounds just like a colleague's daughter. I know you can get false negatives too.

Probably a vit D deficiency as it’s super common in the U.K. and the symptoms match

• vit D deficiency causes aches and pains in bones/joints.
• vit D deficiency affects immune system especially for upper respiratory tract infections (cough, cold, sore throat)

A blood test will tell you for sure. Then you just give her vit D tablets of min 1000 a day then re-test after a couple months to see if levels are up. It can take months to get over a vit D deficiency.

Forgot to add that vit D is a natural anti-inflammatory for the digestive system, so with a vit D deficiency stomach aches are more common because it gets a bit inflamed.

DAmn....my auto correct somehow deleted the units....it’s 1000 IUs a day minimum to correct vit D deficiency.

So, yes ask for a blood test. Not blood count as it’s not infectious, but a blood test panel for vitamin deficiencies. She could also be low on B-12 and you’d want to know. But likely culprit is vit D.

Thanks again for all.your thoughts. The vitamin deficiency is a possibility. I have low B12 and vit D, and DD doesn't eat much meat.

Just returning to the thread for a slight update and a bit more of a moan!

We have been to the GP, and they have referred us on to a paediatric appointment, but they haven't asked for any blood tests. The appointment isn't until the end of December though, which seems ages away.

DD still is definitely not right. More recently she has been complaining of chest pain, which I'm pretty sure is heartburn so we have been giving her gaviscon after meals. The aches and pains are ongoing, particularly in her heels/ankles, along with the stomach ache and the general feeling of just 'not feeling well'. I wonder what more I can do while we're waiting for her appointment.

Sorry to hear your dd is poorly.
With regard to her ankles, when you look at the way she stands barefoot , do her ankles tilt or roll inwards?