My son has intense stomach pains post covid has anyone else's child had this?

[Soninpain245]

My son has been having intense stomach pains since he had covid a month ago. He is off school due to the intensity of the pain. We have seen various Drs / had tests done but so far nothing conclusive has emerged, blood tests look normal etc.

The pain came on while he was getting over covid, it was his second pcr-confirmed case of covid so I am sure there is a link between the pain and covid.

We have booked to see a consultant but wondered whether has any experience with thus, thanks in advance.

My son had very mild covid but since then is complaining of a stomach pain that is a mix of pain and feeling sick.

His sister has similar but milder, she was sick when he had covid but tested negative twice on PCR.

So I was ruling out it being Covid related. But not sure really.

Thanks Anoisagusaris I think inflammation after covid PIMS in stomach can be a thing for kids. It would be good to hear of other people's experiences wirh treating it/ how long it lasted for. Horrible to see my son in so much pain.

Bumo

Bump!!

My son had the same and I’m sorry to say that it took many months for the pain to disappear completely. Paediatrician prescribed Omeprazole which helped slightly, along with hot water bottles throughout day and night. The pain was always there but gradually reduced in severity until it disappeared completely. He’s absolutely fine now but it was a horrible time. Good that you will see a consultant to make sure its nothing more worrying. Have you had a look at Long Covid Kids?

Thank you so much Easternfells it's been horrendous so sorry you've been through it too but comforting to know the pains went eventually l. Out of interest how old is your son and how many months until the pain went if you don't mind me asking? My son's appetite has gone down. Did the food he ate make a difference? My son doesn't think it makes too much of a difference what he eats pain wise? Thank you.

My sons acid reflux came back with a vengeance after covid

Not sure how old your son is but a family teenager had this from apparent long COVID. It seemed that the long covid clinic at addenbrookes were prescribing probiotics so they bought some bio-cultures complex capsules (Nu-u) on Amazon and interestingly the pain went very quickly. Please please take advice from your GP as to whether this could be worth trying - not sure how old your child would need to be to take these safely.

as per @Frostyhighlights ...covid can wipe out the gut biome so using supplements can help replenish good bacteria...sometimes people can also start to have gut reactions to certain foods that they may not have previously .Viral infections that impact on the gut can "sensitise" the gut .Gluten and dairy can sometimes become problematic /irritating. I started back on saccharomyces boulardii and it's helped a lot.

@soninpain245, my son was 12 and it took over 6 months for the pain to go, but hopefully your son will have a much quicker recovery. We tried to work out if any foods made stomach pains worse, though the pain was there regardless. Fatty foods did seem to make it worse and he often asked for only rice as his main meal so his diet wasn’t the most balanced. He had previously been very healthy so it was a big shock to see him so unwell. He learned to carry on with stuff and ignore the pain as much as possible. It’s really hard to see your child in pain and not be able to help, but if it is a post-Covid response then hopefully it won’t be for too long or affect his schooling too much.

You can DM me @Soninpain245

My son had covid in December and this was daily in the beginning. Interesting what you say about pre biotics, as a family we regularly eat live yoghurt/kefir as has he. He stomach has reduced significantly since then. Probably mentions it 1-2 a day.

www.bmj.com/company/newsroom/make-up-of-gut-microbiome-may-be-linked-to-long-covid-risk/

We tried probiotics and they sadly did not seem to help, but definitely worth trying rather than waiting for time to pass.

Thanks everyone at the gps again now we will ask for omeprezole and also speak to the gp about probiotics.

So sorry to hear about other children suffering. My daughter possibly caught Covid at the beginning of the pandemic, before there was testing so I'm not sure. She was ok afterwards initially however that autumn she had ongoing stomach probs, felt lethargic, missed loads of school, had skin rashes which she hadn't before. It was a really difficult time. Our gp surgery kept telling me it was anxiety. In the end we paid a huge amount for a private consultant and she had some antibiotics for her stomach, started probiotics and took dairy out of her diet. Somewhere in the mix of those things improved for her. But it lasted about 3 months and it was awful seeing her so miserable and feeling sick almost every morning. I hope your son feels better soon OP..

I’m so sorry to jump on this late. My daughter is almost 16 and had covid for a second time in Jan. Since then her stomach problems have escalated hugely. She feels sick all of the time, pains in her tummy, it’s really affected her quality of life. I hadn’t made the link to covid until I saw this thread. I’ll start her in a probiotic and antacid to see if it helps. Thank you so much for raising awareness

Thanks everyone. My son had a scan yesterday which didn't show anything up. I think there are now two possible causes of the pain post covid: lymph gland inflammation apparently post any virus kids (who have a lot more lymph glands than adults) can have inflamed lymph glands or some kind of systemic inflammation of the intestinal tract from.covid.

We are also going through this, my son is 12 and has had Covid twice both times he had stomach pain, stomach issues got worse after the second time and have escalated since he had the Vaccine 6 weeks ago, he has virtually been in bed in pain and exhausted. His pain is also much worse when sitting up. Most tests are all clear except Cal Protectin which shows stomach inflammation, he is now waiting on Endoscopy to rule out inflammatory bowl disease which I am sure they wont find. Dr has speculated that is has something to do with the lymph nodes and an over reaction of his immune system but that should have gone by now under normal circumstances but who knows with Covid. Its taking forever, to get tests even though we have some Private Medical cover the waits are long, he is taking Nortriptlyn for the pain which was helping but has stopped and is not without side effects they are just less bad than the pain. I sympathise with any child and family experiencing this at the moment it is very upsetting and stressful.

NovemberSnow thanks for your message yes it is very stressful, upsetting and exhausting for our son and for us. I'm so sorry you are also going through this. Thanks for the recommendation pf Nortryptilin... Will look into that. Take some comfort that others on the thread say they've gone through it and it does get better.

I just thought I’d throw this in to the mix … a few years ago a different perfectly fit and sporty 12 year old I know contracted the food poisoning bacteria campylobacter, was hospitalised for two weeks, discharged but then went in to what was described by Paediatric Gastroenterologist at The Royal London as a ‘post infective hypersensitivity state’ Terrible stomach pain snd cramping - only morphine could touch it. Child was falling down stairs, weakness, fatigue - it went on and on. We thought they were dying it was so frightening. It took months to sort. Chikd had double vision so there was a query as to whether they had multiple sclerosis lesions, brain scans etc were fine. It was such a frightening time. I remember the Consultant said don’t be frightened, I see kids in this state, they all end up under me. Child was put on gabapentin. Amitriptyline etc for quite a while. It all sorted in the end snd I’m delighted to say they regained full health. I do wonder whether a virus like COVID can put a young body in to a similar long term state. From what I read the consultants in the long COVID clinics say that gradually nearly all their patients get better over time. The guy who helped our family 12 year old was the paed gastro Nigel meadows. Not sure if he’s still practising but I’ll never forget him

Frostyhighlights thank you so much. We have a meeting with a gastro enterologist next week hopefully they will have some answers. You never expect to see your child in pain, week after week. It's very tough. Thank you for your message of hope about how it is likely he will improve it is much appreciated.

My 16 year old ds had (we think) the delta virus late October and has had stomach issues ever since. The gp says she will refer him to the long COVID clinic.
Yesterday he tested positive again and I am just hoping and praying it won’t exacerbate his stomach issues, he’s had so much time off school and has his GCSE’s looming.

Following with interest as my 12 year-old son is going through this right now. He tested positive two weeks ago and has been negative for nearly a week but has had stomach pain and nausea every day, and sometimes wakes in the night with it. I assumed it was mesenteric adenitis but am now wondering - having read this thread - whether it's linked to his covid.

Thanks everyone we are off to see the specialist later today I will report back in case it helps anyone else.