So worried about my 5 year old

[Tryingtodobetter82]

so I did really suffer from health anxiety for years, Sertraline has seemed to keep it fairly well managed for the last year or so, until now.

my 5 year old has had on and off tummy pains for a long time now, at least once a day she will say her tummy hurts. We saw a doctor last summer (we have seen GP’s) but this guy was a children’s gastroenterologist. he kind of just fobbed us off with this mind over matter kind of explanation. After he did a physical exam.

when I contacted him to say the pain was still there he said that should have gone by now, bring her back in and we’ll see her.

But now I’m terrified it might be something really bad, I know how lovely the ladies on this forum so just hoping for some kind thoughts until we see her doctor next Friday.

she Also has leg pain, which I think is growing pains, but also very scared of that too 😔

Not for it being growing pains, but fear it might be something other than growing pains. Sorry I realised how that last sentence looked.

My 5 year old constantly has leg
pains too, they wake her up sometimes. Doctor just said it’s growing pains and unlikely to be any thing else but i also worry

My son used to complain of leg pain which really was just growing pains.
Try not to worry too much as long as you are being signposted to the right services. Its never easy to question the (experts) but she is your little angel and you have every right to question them as to what they are doing or not doing. Mothers intuition is always right, but It could be something as simple as a little constipation if they are finding no other cause?

Does she actually have a pain in her tummy? DS is a similar age and often tells us he's not feeling well or has a bad tummy. He doesn't at all.

Aw bless her, poor little thing. Could the tummy pains be anxiety? Did they start when she started school? Is there any pattern to the pain?

At thid age tummy pains are most likely something like Mesenteric adenitis, constipation, reflux, anxiety or allergy. None of these things are serious in the sense of what you're worried about, though they can be painful and can require ongoing treatment or dietary changing.

Mesenteric adenitis is swollen lymph nodes in the bowel following a viral infection, it causes pain until the swelling disappears but isn't dangerous at all. Many doctors won't bother to do diagnostic tests for constipation if they can't feel it in a physical exam, but it doesn't always show on physical exam. Didnt for all 3 of my DC who were badly constipated. Constipation pain and Mesenteric Adenitis are more abdominal pain, often down around the belly button, but at 5 she might not know where it actually is anyway. Abdominal migraines are another possible cause, but less common and harder to diagnose. At 5 its also possible she's misinterpreting pain from someone else. Sometimes the signals get a bit mixed up for little kids. Anxiety can often cause physical symptoms like sore stomachs.

Mesenteric Adenitis is diagnosed by ultrasound, constipation needs an x-ray. Our GP suggested trialing over the counter reflux medication to see if that made any difference. Allergies are tougher to work out as pain might not occur immediately after eating or pain immediately after eating might be from a food eaten a couple of meals earlier. That might require doing an elimination diet under a dietician to figure out. Abdominal migraines cant be tested for. Our GP got us to trial medication to rule that out. My DDs Mesenteric Adenitis took a lot longer to resolve than the doctor expected it too and a second ultrasound 6 months later still showed it. Then when that was gone and she was still in regular pain I had to push for an x-ray as they were convinced it wasn't constipation and I was sure it was. She was very badly constipated.

My DD used to get leg pain at night. Turned out to be anaemia. I put it down to growing pains.

Thank you so much for all your replies. It’s put my mind at rest for the time being.
I will update after next Friday ❤️

If your child has seen a children's gastroenterologist you can feel quite reassured that an appropriate expert didn't think there was something really horrible underlying. Maybe you weren't ready for the kind of explanation they offered, or they didn't do it well, but "functional" abdominal pains (the kind sometimes described in 'mind over matter' type terminology) are a really common and important cause of abdominal pains in this age group, and the pain is just as 'real' as any other cause. It's not a dismissal, if the diagnosis is made based on a careful weighing of the evidence by someone qualified to do it

Sorry it has taken me so long. She had an ultrasound last Friday. Everything is perfectly normal, just a bit of backlog.
Thank you so much for the reassuring messages. 💐