6 year old recurrent sore tummy

[wobblymum1]

Really hoping someone can help, writing this at 5:30am up with her and worried.
she has “sore tummy” every day, at least 3 times then again in evening before bed. Can’t link it to any specific foods. She’s now up with it at 5am and very thirsty alongside it. she only settled with it at 11pm last night so will be off school again tomorrow which is a lot of school missed and another day off work for me which is becoming more stressful.
think it’s cramps. Comes in waves and she is ok in between. No temp, no vomiting though says she feels sick at times with it. She poops every day and I’d say this is more frequent just now but it’s not diahhrea/ constipation.
she was very poorly back in November and in hospital with a uti, norovirus and camphylocater and lost lots of weight due to horrendous diahhrea for 10 days. Since then I’d say she’ll slowly putting that weight back on so not actively losing weight.
no other symptoms apart from cough that is new and I guess unrelated.
what do I do? It’s not an emergency job, it’s not consistent enough to be appendicitis but Gp just says kids are prone to sore tummies. But she’s missing school, I’m missing work and her pain is genuine - when it happens she goes very quiet, pale and hols where it hurts.
im worried, I’m tired and I just need a fellow mama to tell me what to do next. Thank you.

So so kind, thank you 💞
your ds sounds like my dd! She’s a beautiful sensitive soul. And she’s my little mini me and would
always choose to be home with me so homesick is a good word. Wonder if that’s playing a part. Thank you for the confidence boost I most definitely needed. I doubt myself all the time.

FYI on your previous post.. you can develop an intolerance due to a recent virus you may have had! Xx

I’m so glad your dd is now ok 😊what a horrid time for you both. I’d have liked a gastro referral today but can understand GP wanting to monitor for a while before that step.

I did not know this! Thank you!

You're welcome.
My boys can be quite sensitive yes! I'm always trying to boost their confidence one way or another I'm certain situations. Bless them! It's never plain sailin' eh!
You're more than welcome.. never doubt yourself - although i do this too!!
It sounds as though you're doing the best you can by your daughter - and that's all anyone can ever ask of anyone in any circumstance. Just try not to stress too much, shes had a full MOT (as i call it 😂) from the GP. Keep us updated re the results! Xx

They sound like lovely boys with a lovely mama💞
an mot - I love this, made me smile and that’s been hard to do today, thank you xx

I'm going to follow along with you on this thread.

My DD had this starting on a very odd occurrence in late 2021, then end of term 2022 and it's in full swing very regularly since the start of term in September. She does have funny BMs and already has allergies (which we're sure she isn't being exposed to). However, with nothing coming from her blood tests, it seems like anxiety might be the issue as there's been some school refusal the last two weeks citing tummy pain. It feels horrible when she says she's in pain but nothing has come up from being tested for bowl issues like coeliacs, Crohn's, etc. I've had to convince her to go in. Apparently there is nothing she can think of as being a reason for her not liking school.

you said she’s thirsty? Have you thought about diabetes?

I am so sorry you’re going through this too but it’s nice I’m not alone, you’re so right, I hate her being sore but not knowing why and then forcing her in looking pale and worrying about her all day. Not easy being a mama Sometimes ☹️

I did wonder this As she was so oddly thirsty at 5am but Gp did a finger prick test that she said would
show that and it was ok

My DD2 got sent for a tummy X-ray as constantly had tummy ache and she has v slow digestion. So despite doing a poo daily she was totally backed up.

She also had breath from hell. At 15 she came off dairy completely. End of tummy ache and bad breath.

Wow really? Wondering if we should go back to non dairy for a month and see what happens. Because I went dairy free when she had her allergy when little as was breastfeeding it wouldn’t be too hard to go back to it (annoying but soooooo worth it if it helped)

With children so young, anxiety is very often confused with tummy ache. Or rather, the only way they know to describe their anxiety is tummy ache.

You can usually spot when it's anxiety about school if the pain is at particular times - like bedtime on a school night, or the morning before school, and if it vanishes during school holidays.

It’s so hard as it’s definitely been worse at bedtime lately which would fit with school anxiety, but also it’s at random times on a weekend day trip when we are out having fun. Guessing it’s maybe a mix of both for her just now.

Following as my DD is similar at the moment. She has always had sensitive stomach and we've had various tests in the past but it is currently presenting in the middle of the night which is unusual and similar to what you are saying.

Another who would suggest a diabetes check, sometimes a finger prick isn't accurate, hope you find the cause! X

I’m sorry you’re going through it too ☹️Middle of the night stuff is horrid, hope we can support each other through it x

Thank you so much, I didn’t know that about it not always being accurate. Would urine test show it up?

@wobblymum1 thanks and hope you get sorted soon. We did have a diagnosis of abdominal migraine but I am unconvinced. X

My ds had a lot of tummy pain and eventually we discovered..due to a locum..that it was his tonsils. Our GP had never checked his tonsils as it was always tummy ache. The poison from horrible tonsils was constantly dripping into his tummy causing the pain. He was constantly missing school and our GP thought it was anxiety/ schoolitis. Had tonsils out and never missed another day.
Just another experience.

Oh gosh your poor son ☹️Well done to the locum for finding it and so glad it sorted it. The Gp today said my dd tonsils look good but she is prone to tonsillitis (at least twice a year) and has had scarlet fever following it twice now. So I do wonder about a link there.

Can I ask what makes you unconvinced with it? X

Most of the world is lactose intolerant, it's only northern Europeans and their descendants who have a genetic mutation that means they stay tolerant to lactose in adulthood.

US link but in white children it is often after age 5, which is spot on for your daughter (assuming she is white).

If she's feeling unwell then she probably doesn't want to go to school.

medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000276.htm#:~:text=In%20white%20people%2C%20lactose%20intolerance,African%2C%20or%20Native%20American%20heritage.

@wobblymum1 - as PP have said, definitely request a coeliac screen. Both my DC were the same - my DD especially so. She had a bad bug back in Feb 2021 and had awful tummy pains, sickness, headaches, vomiting etc and after being fobbed off by the GP (we saw her 8 times over a year) she was finally given a blood test in April 2022 which revealed her TTGA levels were over 250 (that's the max the count up to but likely her count was higher and levels should be below 15...). Honestly, as soon as we stopped gluten, it was like she was a different child. Get that blood test though as soon as you can. Whenever you have a bad bug, it can trigger coeliac disease (ours was also hereditary from my family, unfortunately"). My DS had tummy aches every day for a month and the doc wanted to do a blood test but then we found out DD was coeliac and that led to DS being diagnosed with OGD + blood test. Hope your DD feels better soon.

@wobblymum1 the GO who diagnosed it is a migraine specialist - it turns out she diagnoses it a lot! In some ways it makes sense but I worry it was her answer to everything!