Unexplained symptoms in 9 year old

[MrsD91]

Hi,
I wonder if any of you have been in a similar situation or can offer any advice.
My 9 year old son has been complaining on and off for a couple of months of headaches, nausea, tummy ache and aches in his legs. His school phoned me daily to say he was complaining of these issues an we eventually put it down to anxiety. However since we have been off school he has continued with these complaints, he looks extremely pale and exhausted. He has huge black bags under his eyes and looks completely washed out. He is lethargic and barely has the energy to manage a 10 minute walk. He began falling asleep during the day. Have taken him to the doctors as I become very concerned, his urine an blood tests have come back clear and they can't find a cause. Am at a loss of what to do now as these symptoms are continuing and I know he isn't right but the doctors have given him a clean bill of health. Any suggestions or advice.

Thank you x

They did a full blood count? Ask them for a copy of his bloodwork he might be on the low side for iron or something but still within normal "levels"

Can't help by experience but wanted to say follow your gut instinct.

You know your boy regardless of what a blood count says.

You may need to monitor yourself things like food/ sleep/ energy.
I'd do it without him knowing so you aren't worrying him.

Hope you find the cause x

Did they test for coeliac?

I was also going to suggest coeliac (the bags under the eyes rang a bell) I don't think it would show up on a standard blood panel, there are specific tests they have to run to diagnose it.

Yes my daughter had awful dark circles and no energy. It’s tissue transglutaminase ttg. If they haven’t checked I would def do.

Dark circles under eyes ~ allergies, coeliac or low iron?

Do you have migraine in the family?

I think you're going to need to keep going back to the doctor's until they accept that there's something wrong, even if they can't see it. Start keeping a diary of symptoms. If you can identify a pattern it may help the doctor work out where to focus. If other things, such as coeliac, are all ruled out you may eventually find you are left with a diagnosis of CFS/ME and if this turns out to be the case the most important thing you can do is let him rest, as if you do too much with ME it can make it worse. In the meantime a vitamin D supplement won't do any harm and may help support his body to heal itself. A daily dose of 400iu (or 10mcg) is recommended for everyone in the winter, you can check out more on the NHS website. I hope you're able to get some answers as it's very difficult seeing your child is unwell and not knowing what to do to help them.

Seconding the vit D idea. I felt bloody awful when mine was low. My key sign was really painful shoulders (any pressure on them was unbearable!)

A good wide spec vit/min won't hurt him and might be helpful.

I'd go back to the GP and push for another round of bloods too.

Ds was very similar when he was 8yo. They did all sorts of tests, including MRI scan and concluded... they couldn't find anything other than he had a couple of major allergies (dust mites being one) which were probably irrelevant to what he was going through.
I think he had basically post viral fatigue.

The year he was 12yo was the first year he didn't spend half the time between December and end of February ill. That was last year and I have my fingers crossed for this year now they're not at school.

Fyi approximate time line was:

Early January: Tonsilitis
Mid January, off school about 4 days a week because of temperature and vomiting.
Late January: School suggests he goes half time because he's falling asleep at school
Late January: Put under consultant care at the hospital for ongoing tests (day admissions).
Early February: Unconclusive results, more tests needed.
Late February: Still having regular temperatures and vomiting, but not as tired. Still doing half time school.
After Easter: Trying to do full time school, but missing about 2 days a week with temperature/vomiting. More tests.
May: I took him to the zoo (having missed his school trip). He loves animals and things like that. Noted that we would walk from one cage to another, perhaps 50 yards, then he would need to sit down for a 5-10 minute rest. Went home after 4 hours (normally we'd spend all day) and he was asleep within 5 minutes of getting in the car.
June: Repeat of bloods and further investigations, but generally managing 3.5-4 days a week at school.

July through to November he wasn't too bad. Little extra tired, but did okay, but complaining of a near permanent headache.
November through to March, most weeks only doing 1-3 days as temperature and vomiting.

He continued like that for a couple of years, with being sent regularly for tests. The following year was better, only ill January and February, then last year he only had 3-4 bouts of illness. This year has been even better though he's spent most of mid November onwards isolating so perhaps not a good test.

Hi Op, did you receive a copy of DC blood results? For Coeliac this can show up on the Tissu transglutaminase lgA level blood test. My DC had similar symptoms and was diagnosed with Coeliac 18 months a go.