chronic digestive issues

[teksab]

I've started to link a few issues that my now 9 year old DD has and wonder if they could be connected?
She complains frequently of tummy aches, headaches, has always had heartburn, frequent itching and sore down below, frequent loose stools, sometimes diarrhea, occasionally constipated, complains of still needing a poo straight after passing one 'but there's nothing there', has had blood after passing a stool (infrequently), frequent nausea and about once or twice a month she will be sick at night (at about 1am). She's prone to mouth ulcers too. She's started to complain of feeling dizzy and faint sometimes but I assumed this could be her age. She's slimmed out but isn't small for her age and again given her age I'm assuming she's just lost her puppy fat so I don't think she's 'lost weight' per se.

Writing all this out I realise of course it could all be connected. We have an appointment next week to see a GP, but has anyone had any answers for similar symptoms? Or what the GP might look for? Am I overthinking normal childhood complaints?
Thanks in advance from a stressed out mum.

Id be asking the GP to test for Coeliac

Was my first thought too x

Sounds like possible coeliac. Don't stop eating gluten though, it's essential to keep it in her diet for testing to be accurate. Coeliac.org is a good resource for information.

Dc had mouth ulcers (to the point they tested for oral cancers), tummy ache, acid, abdominal pain, vomiting, lethargy, bowels fluctuating from constipation to very loose (smelt of vinegar), became underweight, hairless and anemic. Was eventually diagnosed with coeliac disease.
As tempting as it is don't stop gluten until the doctor tells you too or you may get a false negative.

Thankyou..I've looked up on coeliac.org and appart from not being smaller than her peers, she does tick quite a lot of boxes. The GP phoned for a phone consult first and did mention the possibility of a blood test so hopefully they already have this in mind.
I feel really guilty as she's been complaining for quite a while and maybe I've been fobbing her off a bit when there could actually be something that's causing all the random things she complains about.
I've written out all the symptoms over the last few years and how frequently they occur to take with me (will have to take the toddler with us too, so just incase it becomes a bit chaotic at least I'll have covered everything)

Yep coeliacs would be my guess too. My ds10 was just diagnosed 4 months ago.

What symptoms did your DS have if you don't mind me asking? and were they always there?
The thing with DD is that yes she vomits in the night a lot and always has, but not every time she eats gluten? And she has nausea and stomach pains frequently but again not after every meal, same as with the heartburn. Would it be happening constantly if it was coeliac?

You aren't overthinking. Be careful the GP doesn't exploit that mindset. When tests come back clear they can be buggers sometimes.

I would personally want a fecal calprotectin test to check for inflammation in the stool ( stool sample, GP can do this).

Coeliac test is a good idea.

I know it's intrusive but has a GP looked at her rectum? Blood can come from small tears there ( straining and big poo). They can usually see. Not great I know for kids.

Another cause of blood could be inflammatory bowel disease or some diverticulitis. It's less likely in a person this young but to entirely dismiss it based on age is not ok if tests come back clear and especially if blood is ongoing .

After coeliac test I'd try gluten and dairy free. It's very possible to do with some good choices.

Biokult do a kids gummy version. I'd get that. I'm starting it for my teen. ( Amazon).

Finally, any chance she might be hyper mobile? The bowel stuff, the headache, dizziness etc made me think . I have EDS and inflammatory bowel disease.

With Coeliac, the small intestine gets damaged by an autoimmune response to gluten which attacks the lining of the stomach so the symptoms might not be apparent straight after eating gluten specifically especially if Coeliac has been going on for a long time.

It also causes the inability to absorb vitamins so some symptoms may be related to that as well.

My symptoms were loose stools, heartburn/terrible indigestion, underweight, fatigue and constant stomach aches.. from what I remember anyway, I was diagnosed in 2011.

A previous poster said this:

After coeliac test I'd try gluten and dairy free. It's very possible to do with some good choices.

Please don't remove gluten even if you get a positive blood test for coeliac disease. A GP can't diagnose this, only a Consultant gastro or Consultant paediatrician and they may need to do further tests, which rely on the person still eating gluten to be accurate.

Hopefully it isn't that but I promise it's not the end of the world if it is. DD was diagnosed seven years ago and you do adjust as a family. DD's only symptom was feeling nauseous after breakfast, it was subtle.

This was just what Dd was like. From the age of about 7yo to when she got diagnosed at 16yo was just a “sicky kid”. Puked a few times a week but no clear reaction to gluten, low level pretty constant tummy pains and nausea. Was told by the GP she had growing pains, anxious, etc. Even when she was anaemic the GP just prescribed iron tablets. They only finally tested for coeliac disease as I asked them to following advice on here. Terrible really. Apparently the average time from symptoms to diagnosis is something like 12 years.

Thankyou- she doesn't seem to have any other signs of being hypermobile.
She has complained (daily) recently that it feels like she's being stabbed in the rectum 'up inside' and I thought piles- I can't see any sign on the outside, but the blood did come after a stool so it could be likely. She says her stools feel spiky sometimes too but I'm not sure how as 95% of the time they're little soft fluffy bits (the joys of a 9 year old that forgets to flush the toilet 😂)
I will try and push for a stool test though as sometimes there's a lot of undigested food in it.

No it wouldn't have to be constantly and it wouldn't have to be directly after consuming gluten as it's not an intolerance it's an auto immune response. As long as she is consuming gluten on a regular basis her symptoms can appear any time and fluctuate.

My DS symptoms were nausea/gagging frequently but actual vomiting was rare, stomach pain, reflux, reduced appetite, not growing/gaining weight for a year, fatigue, pale, dark circles under eyes, dizziness.

Were you able to push the GP for testing @teksab ?

She referred us straight to pediatrics rather than doing any tests herself - though who knows how long we'll be waiting for that. She did do a dip test for a urine infection though and there was blood and leucocytes in it so she prescribed a course of antibiotics for that. It's another thing DD is susceptible to, just no symptoms of it this time.
I've been trying to keep an eye on things this week (as much as I can on an independent 9 year old) and have seen blood after wiping a couple of times and she has yet another mouth ulcer

A couple of thoughts on this aside from the Coeliac testing already mentioned:

I am some severe food allergies with obvious reactions but I also have some low level allergies that don't cause any symptoms other than irritating my mouth, bowel and rectum causing mouth ulcers/peeling, rectal itching and pain similar to what your DD describes. Over time I've pinpointed these to being soya, palm fats and anything called 'gum'. It could be worth a week cooking from scratch using only traditional household ingredients to see if any of the symptoms improve as that might rule in our out a food intolerance being the issue.

I also have IBD/ulcerative colitis and again some of what your DD describes fits. You need a faecal calprotectin test as a starting point for this (it's a specific test, different to the general 'stool test' which looks for infection but not inflammation).

And stop beating yourself up for letting time pass. Our kids tell us about lots of different things a lot of the time and we can't act on every single one. You'll be taken more seriously if you go into the paediatrics appointment with a timeline of what happened when. I've found that a picture speaks 1000 words in this scenario and literally have a linear timeline on landscape A4 showing what has happened with my DD (different medical issues) and when.

I thought coeliac too. But also has she ever been wormed? I'd dose her with Ovex, see if that makes a difference.

Thankyou, that's very helpful. Yes with the itching/bleeding it seems more of an irritant than a result of constipation because her stools are usually so loose and mushy. When she referred us she did mention a stool sample and it not being something they can offer at the surgery and needing to see a pediatrician for it.
Hopefully it won't be too long a wait. Once seen if they don't suspect coeliac/test aren't conclusive, I'll look into eliminating some other things

I've not tried but I guess there wouldn't be any harm treating her for it anyway? Without being too graphic I have had a look to see if I could see any, but nothing to be seen