My 9 year old never burps and is violently sick at least once a week…help!

[TheRacheeee]

I will try keep this as short as I can. When my now 9 year old son was a baby, I cannot remember him burp, I do remember him vomiting his milk back up all over me. As he’s got older and eats solid food he could randomly vomit around once per week (could be three days in a row or not for a fortnight but around once a week). I’m not talking a little bit in the toilet, I’m talking violently sick like projectile and splashes all over my walls and the toilet is covered as well as inside. He will then carry on with his day as normal. Before these episodes he complains of nausea, sometimes stomach pain and says he can’t breathe great. He has nausea mostly every night and the vomiting is mostly at night. Obviously I have visited gp numerous times and they do bloods (never found anything from bloods). Two days ago he started vomiting and complaining of headaches. He was admitted to hospital and he underwent a ct and then an mri of brain and face. They found nothing, redid bloods and found nothing. He isn’t losing weight, he’s growing just fine, it’s just so awful that this is his normal. I have asked to be referred to a gastro and they asked me to go to gp again and the wait is long. They’ve also given me a paed but could wait between 10-12 weeks for an appointment. Although I’m happy that he is finally being heard I also wondered if anyone else has this experience or any ideas what I should be asking for! (He isn’t celiac they did bloods for that too). Thank you 🙏

Reflux? Some sort of malfunction of his esophagus?

Thanks for your reply, I can bring these up at gp

Have you had a look at cyclical vomiting syndrome? It is linked to migraines/headaches so could explain the that too.

I was going to say look into migraines in children, that can show up as a nausea, vomiting. Is he tired before he is sick, or just generally off? It could be that the non-burping and vomiting are unrelated. I can't burp, never have been able to.

I havnt looked at this before until recently, the headaches have only started this year. Cyclic vomiting is something I’m definitely going to ask to be checked. I also suffer with migraines and I considered maybe he has some silent migraines without the headache all the time. Thanks so much for reply x

DS kept on being randomly sick at 12. Eventually they diagnosed it as excess stomach acid production. He took pills for three months and totally solved it.

It took ages to diagnose though. He was half throwing up and swallowing it down ( before exploding) which was giving him a cough so ventolin inhaler was tried. A few other things too. Then a different Gp diagnosed stomach acid production.

Aww poor thing! I’m so glad you found out what it was! Do you mind me asking what meds they gave him for the acid production? Thanks for reply

It’s definitely something for me to mention! He just starts coughing (it’s to try to stop vomiting I guess and he really doesn’t like being sick) and says I feel sick, or starts swallowing a lot. It’s so quick and he gets immediate relief after vomiting massively. It’s always on a nighttime too. Thank you for reply x

How does it affect you not being able to burp? I can imagine it gets uncomfortable!

I was going to say CVS too, there's some really helpful information here: CVS Org UK

Also, R-CPD is basically an inability to burp, I have had both these conditions diagnosed over the past year or so, and they often occurred at the same time. The consultant I was under actually told me stress and anxiety can cause the CVS in some cases and so I was offered medication for that.
As above, CVS is more common in those who have suffered migraines previously or with a family history of them.
Good luck, I hope your son feels better soon.

I can't burp and can end up vomiting sometimes. It's only occasionally and follows me feeling very bloated, nauseous, kind of light headed and like I can't breathe very well. I get instant relief after as well vomiting.

I definitely think it is related to being unable to burp. As it's only occasionally for me I haven't seen a doctor about it as I've assumed they would prescribe a PPI and I'd rather not take something daily for an occasional issue

I am so glad you got an answer and I hope you manage to have some comfort! This is really interesting thank you! X

Sounds like he needs an endoscopy.
I used to vomit a lot with no pattern , I had H pylori. It can be detected via a breath test now.

Thank you for your reply, it’s good to hear that you’re ok after the vomiting and have some relief. How often roughly do you vomit? I guess everyone is different and diagnosis of different but it’s helpful to hear from other’s experiences x

Thank you. The CVS has cleared up on its own, it seems, but I do still randomly get a day where I have trouble burping, but it doesn't now lead to sickness, wretching, or nausea, it's just there, somehow, but by the next day I'm totally fine. It's very weird. It does tend to strike when I've been busy and/or stressed, so I do think maybe the consultant was right.
All the best.

I think it was lansapraxole. It blocked the production of an enzyme which causes the body to produce stomach acid. They aren’t keen on giving them to children long term but doing it temporarily let everything heal. I think it’s a vicious cycle because everything is inflamed and raw, more likely to vomit but vomiting makes it worse.

Possibly still more vomity than average child (14 now) but it’s v. occasional as opposed to just about every day. Maybe try some antacids to see if it helps,

Immediately on reading your post I thought of R-CPD. My treatment for it has changed my life.

Coeliac disease can cause vomiting after eating gluten, but presumably he would have been tested for that?

Thanks for reply! Did you have any vomiting experiences or was it the overall not burping leading to severe uncomfortableness? Also what treatment have you received? I’m glad you’ve found an answer x

Yes he recently had his blood tested for celiac which was negative, thanks for reply x

Thankyou! I shall ask if the doctor can check for this too x

Coeliac does not always show in bloods. They need to actually take a look with the cameras. Please insist whilst they are looking for other causes.

Have you considered food allergy? The vomiting explosively sounds like what I experience when I have eaten food that has been cross- contaminated with my allergen. Anaphylaxis symptoms include coughing, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, as well as the more well-known swelling and shortness of breath.

My daughter had this although now aged 8 she seems to have grown out of it...she never burped as a baby, instead she projectile vomited. As she got older she'd cough for a couple of days and then explosive vomit everywhere. This went on until about a year ago. We saw a paediatrician maybe a year before that who suggested she had a thickened part of the top of her oesophagus, possibly resulting from reflux as a baby (which we didn't know she had!) causing the inability to burp and resulting vomiting. We were told to watch and wait and fortunately she has grown out of it and can definitely burp now. If she hadn't there would have been next steps but I can't remember what they were! Would definitely advise seeing a paediatrician. We went through various diagnoses and medication including asthma (for the cough) none of which quite fit.

Any mouth sores or swollen lips? Could be worth excluding Crohn's disease via endoscopy. It's more common in the intestine but can occur anywhere from mouth to anus. My daughter has it from stomach downwards and one symptom of the stomach inflammation was regular random vomiting (and a chronic cough).