6 year old saying has a sore tummy every day

[AmplePinkBear]

My daughter is 6, since about may she has been complaining of a sore tummy almost daily. She has seen the gp twice, had stomach checked, poo tested, temp, urine etc and all fine.

she’s still eating, playing, sleeping etc and there is no patterns to when she says it in terms of certain foods etc.

she hasn’t been having diarrhoea or constipation.

Not sure what to do about it really. GP thought it was the after effects of a virus and would go away itself but that was a month ago now.

Anyone else’s kids had this and had any outcome?

It could be Mesenteric Adenitis. That is normally brought on by a virus and can last months. My daughter had it.

www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mesenteric-lymphadenitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20353799

She has had this before: it resolved within a few days of feeling better from the virus.

this is what both I and the gp thought on the second visit as she had a bit of redness in her throat and he said she was likely just at the end of fighting off some virus.
But we are now a month on from then. She didn’t mention it for a week or two after that gp appt I don’t know if she just felt reassured by what he said, or if it wasn’t sore then. but it’s crept back up again the last few weeks and she’s mentioning it daily again.

But it’s not a constant pain? It comes and goes?

My dd gets stomach ache regularly. Been checked by dr multiple times and tested for celiac. Nothing ever diagnosed. I've learnt it's anxiety / nerves. Suspect adhd and randomly there is quite a significant link.

I work in paeds. Without seeing your child myself it sounds like it could be ‘recurrent abdominal pain’ of childhood. The York NHS trust has a leaflet about it. It is such a common cause for worry and concern among parents and children. Anecdotally sensitive children are so much more likely to have this happen. It doesn’t mean the pain isn’t ‘real’ it just means there is no obvious physical or medical cause for it. Of course, ask your GP for a paediatric referral for bloods, you know your child best. If you think something is really off keep advocating for your daughter.

www.yorkhospitals.nhs.uk/seecmsfile/?id=6588

yeh it comes and goes. With no pattern to it being connected to meal times, certain foods, school days, activities etc.
just really random.

I have tried to ask her for detail but she’s 6 and can’t describe it.
She has said it’s around her tummy button area. Not a stabbing pain. Sometimes it’s worse than others but never to the extent that she’s holding her tummy or wanting to lie down etc

@Theirishwoman thsts an extremely helpful leaflet 👍🏻

My DS6 had this last year. Complained on & off, no consistent pattern. Went to the GP twice (2 different ones) who both checked his tummy & said all fine. It got progressively worse until he was bent over double crying & we ended up taking him to A&E on NYE. Paediatrician took one look at him & sent him for an x ray - it was constipation. Massively blocked up. We were VERY surprised given GP x2 had said it wasn't that, plus he was going regularly too. But it was & he's now on regular movicol which has worked wonders.

That leaflet is really helpful thank you so much. I would describe her as sensitive actually. so that’s interesting there is a link.
i will take her back to gp again for another check and see if he has any further tests or advice.

We had this, very long story short it turned out to be a UTI. Has urine been dipped? We had a horrendous time with 4 year old on/off tummy pain. No other symptoms you would consider for a UTI.

so she had a uti earlier this year actually. And she’s terrible for not going to the toilet enough . Last time her uti symptom was just wee drips coming out when she needed a wee and needing to go very often.

I think another urine dip might be a good idea then.

this gp is gonna have a list of things to check 😂

My DD had stomach aches and was diagnosed with Coeliacs Disease. It may be worth having a blood test to rule it out. Don't let them fob you off!

Thank you so much everyone for your replies I really appreciate them.

My mum gut has been right many times in the past and my girls have defo put this to the test with various health conditions but this one has had me really questioning myself so I appreciate the advice and suggestions.

I think going back to gp to check some other possibilities out is a good idea just to be on the safe side.

can be just growing pains, can’t remember the word for it, but my 8 year old had sort of butterfly effect ‘pain’ and doc thought it was just the body getting ready for puberty.. it sorted itself out.

My dd had this for a couple of years, age about 6-8. After doing several tests/checks they decided it was ‘just’ childhood abdo pain.
She’s 10 now and the stomach pain doesn’t happen anymore, but she does struggle with anxiety. I think the pain was caused by anxious feelings that she couldn’t properly identify as she was too young.

This was me when I was your daughter’s age, turns out it was abdominal migraines

https://migrainetrust.org/understand-migraine/types-of-migraine/abdominal-migraine/

My ds1 was CMPI as a toddler and we ended up having to remove all sorts of other foods too. He's much older now and has put himself back on everything, but he's had nausea every day on our recent holiday and the reflux is back. Don't write off what was previously wrong as an option - I think food allergy symptoms can fluctuate. He was diagnosed with oesophagitis after 6 years of feeling sick and I now have it too. His younger dB is being checked now too as food keeps getting stuck during eating. On the positive side, we've discovered that a simple over the counter antihistamine works to keep the daily symptoms manageable for DS1 (after years of omeprazole, ketotifen etc..).

My dd complained of tummy aches frequently when she went through a phase of getting regular UTIs (it turned out she was holding in her wee all the time because she didn't ever want to stop playing to go to the loo) but after it was all over and sorted, she'd still complain every now and then.
It basically came down to the fact that she liked the fuss and attention she had when she was poorly.
We had a big talk about how important it is to be honest and how if she pretends to be ill, one day when she's actually ill, I might not believe her.

Last week she said she had a tummy ache, I didn't believe her and an hour later she threw up ☹️ I felt so guilty!

Both my DC had longstanding tummy aches (my DS had a daily tummy ache for over a month). After tests for other issues with my DD, it turns out they are both coeliac. Does coeliac disease run in your family? If not already done, I would ask your GP to do a blood test to rule out coeliac.

Lactose intolerance, she's about the age to develop this.

Try to get your GP to refer you to a paediatric gastroenterologist. My son was diagnosed with food intolerances and a complex chronic digestive condition after many years of being failed by the GP practice.

My daughter has silent reflux and she often says her tummy hurts because of this. She has allergies too and gets tummy pain due to them too.

I can separate out the two by asking if it feels like her food keeps coming up for the reflux and the allergies and related issues usually is tummy and bottom pains.

I had abdominal migraines as a child and I am nearly certain I have ADHD. I would go white in the face with mine, apparently, they were fairly bad.

Hi, sorry I know this is a thread from a while ago but did you ever get to the bottom of it? Having the exact same issue with my 6 year old and not sure what’s causing it!

Hiya, I'm also wondering if you got to the bottom of it, got the exact same with my 6yo and desperate for some help!