OK MNers - need all yer advice and opinions (honestly)!!!! Sorry - long

[SalVolatile]

DC4 is DD2 aged 5, 7 years younger than neasrest sibling.She has a close and loving family life, great sibling relationships and I think we are OK parents! She has three dogs in the family she adores, and 2 guinea pigs she loves. She is prone to temper tantrums on the odd occasion, and is very imaginative in her play, especially on her own at home. She can read well and is very articulate. OK. So why oh why is she regularly 'feeling ill', 'feeling sick', tired, white faced, lethargic, has tummy aches and very weepy 'feeling sad' for no reason she can put into words? Is she poorly, or upset? She eats reasonably well and has few fads. She eats school lunches but often feels ill in the afternoons. She complains of headaches a lot. She is often lethargic when she comes out of school but quite hyper in the evenings before bed. Her work at school is deteriorating and SN have assessed her vocabulary because she isn't working at the level they think she should be [hmmm]. If asked she says she feels ill, or that she 'doesn't know' why she is feeling low. Is it pysical, or mental? I have a big family history of Type 1 diabetes and she reminds me of my brother, but I am told diabetes can only be sudden in its onset. I just remeber my brother weeping for no reason a long time before he was really ill. Anyone have ANY ideas - please?

That's very sad. Poor sweetie.

I would go to a gp. It has been happening a while and not getting better quickly and it is affecting her life. It is always better to rule out physiological causes.

Get her checked out. It won't hurt, it'll find out if there is an underlying problem (is she worse after eating particular foods? eg I used to feel Very Sick all morning if I had milk at breakfast).

And it'll show her you take her seriously too, in case she's feeling a bit "little" in the family. Not suggesting you treat her as such, but if she's a very "feeling" child, who knows how she sees things?

Hmmm.
I was weepy with headaches aged about 7 and was diagnosed anaemic, but I dunno really.

You could print off your op and show it to your gp , it explains all your concerns very well.

could she need her iron levels checking?

just tiredness?

Listen to your instinct about your brother, maybe?

hadn't thought about anaemia - what symptoms do hchildren show? Would you be anaemic if you had a reasonably normal diet?

Your porr DD .

Explain the family history of type 1 diabetes to your GP and get her tested, but in the meantime try keeping a food diary to see whether or not she is reacting to something she has eaten.

Is she happy and well at school? I read somewhere that young children can often complain about physical pains when it is really a psychological worry.

My DS finds school very physically challenging, inspite of him being very bright, and he is always yawning and tired and looking drained. We have had him tested for all the obvious things, but nothing has shown up. He also complains of odd aches and pains that in the absence of anything on th testing front, our GP has put down to growing pains and the fact that it is tough being 5

I think anaemia in children shows as pale stools, pale skin on the inside of their eyelids and pale gums.

Hmmm LadyMardyDaisy, she sounds a bit like your DS but as she is hypermobile school is a little challenging physically anyway! But why is she so sad all the time? This has been going on since early October - I am holding off taking her to the GP as a) I would like to be sure it is physical and b) she was completely uncontrollable the only time a nurse ever tried to take blood from her so I don't see any realistic chance of them managing to do any tests on her unless we pin her down (literally) and so I don't want to put her through that trauma unless there is no alternative IYSWIM

maybe she doesnt really know what sad is. perhaps the hard work of school is just too much.
soon be half term. perhaps she will improve after a rest?

plenty of green vegetables and orange juice to add iron uptake, plus meat

Coeliac Disease can cause all the symptoms you describe, including low mood. Unfortunately the first step to diagnosis is a blood test. But have a look at the Coeliac Society website and mention it to your Gp if you think it might be a possibility.

DS always improves after the school holidays.

the first term is along one and is always hard on them both physically and mentally.

We started giving DS a vitamin tonic and pumping as much fresh fruit and veg into him as possible and it seems to be making a difference.

the sadness thing is another worry though. Is everything OK at school? Is she being bullied or ignored. sometimes if kids are struggling, for whatever reason, they will say they feel ill as they don't have the language to describe what is really going on with them.

I would definately see your GP, even if just to talk things through with him as to possible causes.

It is horrible seeing your LOs like this though

Sal, sorry your dd is feeling this way, you really made me think - my dd2 (5) also complains of many of the same things. She is tired, pale, has tummy ache at some point almost every day.

She isn't sad but has been very emotional this week, yesterday I took her to the nurse for a urine test, as she has been needing to wee very often - she also drinks LOTS. The test showed no infection.

I have thought of diabetes, milk intolerance (she is allergic to peanuts), wheat intolerance. I am thinking of taking her to the GP to see if there are any investigative paths to be taken.

Keep updated, will be very interested to see how you get on if you go to the docs.
Hope she feels better soon

I am definately going to get her a tonic tomorrow, but it's interesting what Tiggiwinkle says as her grandmother has coeliac disease. I assumed that if she's pooing ok it can't be anything like that.

SV-if her grandmother has coeliac disease, she should definitely be tested. It definitely has a genetic link and I was advised to get all my family tested when my eldest DS was diagnosed. I now have two DSs with it and both presented with fatigue, failure to gain weight and anaemia. Please do get her tested-my eldest Ds was not diagnosed until he was in his early twenties as the doctors brushed aside my concerns over his weight etc when he was little. He suffered lack of bone density, as well as years of feeling unwell, as a result.