HELP!! 10 year old son with severe abdominal pain for 3 weeks

[Tonya1]

Hi! My son has been in pain for nearly 3 weeks now. Generally in pain all day which goes from a swirling pain in the stomach which he says he can handle to a stabbing pain that leaves him in distress and tears. The pain is generally around his belly button. Hasn’t lost appetite. 4 trips to A&E. First 2 trips, they tried to put it down to Norovirus, even though he hasn’t vomited or no diarrhoea. They’ve ruled out appendicitis as no pain on right side. a urine test came back negative. Blood test done at local health centre shows abnormalities in serum creating, total white cell count, neutrophil and lymphocite count. Test was done on Thursday, checked results on line on Saturday through his medical records. Went to A&E again last night as the pain got even more unbearable for him ( he has a very high pain threshold too). Waited 4 hours, told that the results of the blood test that he has on Thursday, although they show abnormal results aren’t too much out of range for it be a bacterial infection such as heliocabacter pylori, as initially suspected by my gp . Probably viral. A viral infection with symptoms lasting 3 weeks, and no sign of his little brother catching anything??Doctor at hospital last night said I can only arrange a scan through my gp as they have no scan facilities on weekends. Booked a telephone appointment with gp for the morning to arrange a ultrasound scan. He’s been off school for nearly 3 weeks. Been sent home on the days I have sent him in. I’m at the end of my tether. Any suggestions?

Agree with the suggestions of mesenteric adenitis, my DD had it after a couple of bad viral infections and it was painful, calpol on a regular basis and interspered with calprofen when needed - GP suggested mint (say mint tea) might ease it a bit but she wasn't keen!

Hope he has something to ease the pain very soon, whatever it turns out to be. It's so stressful when you can't seem to ease the pain for them [flowers}

My daughter had similar pain, we thought it was appendicitis but the hospital said no, they couldn't find out what the problem was. The pain came and went nothing would help it just had to run its course. Our own doctor finally diagnosed abdominal migraine, didn't know this was a thing, eventually at the end of my tether feeling totally frustrated I turned to a health store and was advised to give her arsen lab, when the next attack came she was given it and within 20 minutes the pain had disappeared. This was the only thing that had worked, she was told that having abdominal migraine would make it more likely she would suffer from migraines when she was older and this is certainly the case now, but she has several things which help her. I hope you find something too help soon, its so frustrating as a parent to see your child in pain and not be able to help them.

Have gallstones and pancreatitis been ruled out? Ditto Coeliac Disease (simple blood marker in first instance) and Crohns?

I had chronic abdominal pain as a kid, lots of vomiting and cramping and crying, they never found a medical cause...
Because it wasn't medical.
My symptoms were psychosomatic.

Is there anything stressful going on in your son's life?
For me as a 9 year old I was dealing with severe bullying at school, as well as the responsibility of being a carer for my parents with disabilities... A lot for anyone to handle, let alone a 9 year old, so my body responded to the stress and anxiety in a physical way.
Not saying your son is "making it up", that is not what psychosomatic symptoms are. But I am saying that there could be something going on that's making your son stressed to the max, and his body is responding with pain.
Even if there is a physical cause, stress can cause our immune system to weaken, so it could be a contributing factor.

I assume they've ruled out gallstones? You can try eliminating all fat and oil from the diet. If the pain gets better it so be something to do with the gallbladder. A friend has biliary colic and has had excruciating pain in the abdomen for a while now.

Gallstones haven’t been discussed, but when I speak with the doctor later I’ll mention all of the things that you ladies have suggested. @totaldogsbody what’s “arsen lab”? No bullying or stressed about anything. Will keep you all posted x

Twisted bowel?

It's arsenicum alb

It's a homeopathic remedy. Please don't discount it; the pharmaceutical companies (via the press) and medical community try to discredit homeopathy for two reasons 1) you can't patent a natural remedy, so there is limited profit in it, 2) if science can't explain something, the medical community won't advocate even if there is anecdotal evidence that it works.

The remedies are cheap and have no side effects so it's definitely worth a try.

http://www.simplygoodnaturalfoods.com/ns/DisplayMonograph.asp?StoreID=93ce98e27f85454199c7d84c20cda016&DocID=bottomline-arsenicumalbum

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nelsons-Clikpak-Arsen-Alb-30c/dp/B0013GAQM2/ref=sr111aait?ie=UTF8&qid=1549270484&sr=8-1&keywords=Arsenicum%2Balb&th=1

It's a homeopathic remedy. Please don't discount it; the pharmaceutical companies (via the press) and medical community try to discredit homeopathy for two reasons 1) you can't patent a natural remedy, so there is limited profit in it, 2) if science can't explain something, the medical community won't advocate even if there is anecdotal evidence that it works.

Homeopathy is discounted because there is no active ingredient in it, it's water or sugar pills.

That may be so, but just because you can't explain something scientifically, does it mean it can't work? Humans surely aren't that intellectually arrogant?

Consumers of homeopathic medicine who believe the products work, are they stupid or gullible? Does it matter if science disagrees?

That may be so, but just because you can't explain something scientifically, does it mean it can't work? Humans surely aren't that intellectually arrogant?

Thinking that taking water and shaking it in a magic way makes it something other than water is not sound thinking.

Consumers of homeopathic medicine who believe the products work, are they stupid or gullible? Does it matter if science disagrees?

They are victims of dangerous quackery. Yes it matters if science disagrees because people use homeopathy instead of proven science for things like preventing malaria, which it doesn't. No amount of believing it makes it true.

One of the few places where polio is still active is in some African countries where people believe you get polio from injections so they do not vaccinate.

Victoria Climbie's guardian believed she was possessed by the devil and took her to a church instead of a hospital.

Please don't try and divert and twist the subject matter. We are talking about an anxious mum trying an alternative remedy (with no side effects) when doctors are unable to currently diagnose. I am not suggesting she ignores all medical advice, but try a cheap, safe remedy alongside to see if this helps.

This is all.

Another one whose daughter was similar and it was mesenteric adenitis, lasted 6-8 weeks in total. Many hospital & GP visits, and them insisting it couldn’t have been MA as it had went on too long and was too sore for that 🤔

First ultra sound (gently done) showed nothing, a couple of weeks later another showed showed the swollen glands clearly, difference being pressed hard to get the images (not nice for DD though)

They tried to tell me it was muscular, reflux, constipation & even wanted to set up a referral to psychology as it wasn’t physical apparently.

Ive never felt so frustrated and useless in my life. Really hope you get answers soon.

Homeopathic remedies "work" because of the placebo affect, which can be quite powerful. It can make people "feel better".
But if you have appendicitis, a homeopathic remedy isn't going to do jack against the bacteria attacking the appendix.

Please don't try and divert and twist the subject matter. We are talking about an anxious mum trying an alternative remedy (with no side effects) when doctors are unable to currently diagnose. I am not suggesting she ignores all medical advice, but try a cheap, safe remedy alongside to see if this helps.

The only person I see with diversionary tactics is you. Homeopathy is completely unproven quackery. Advocating its use to ‘an anxious mum’ whose child you have never even seen is deeply irresponsible. Distance ‘medicine’ as practised by the alternative providers should be illegal. Even though it is only sugar tablets, you simply cannot state that it is safe for a young child you have never met.

If you read further up the thread, it wasn't me who recommend Arsen Allb for an abdominal migraine, it was another poster. I suggested appendicitis which or course I wouldn't treat homeopathy

My point is you shouldn't discount homeopathy ALONGSIDE conventional medicine as many people believe it works.

My point is you shouldn't discount homeopathy ALONGSIDE conventional medicine as many people believe it works.

And as I said, it doesn't work and belief doesn't make it work.

Some people believe the earth is flat, the moon landings were faked and unicorns shit rainbows. None are useful to a worried mum.

@LooseSeal2 we have the same symptoms as OP. I just said to the ultrasound doctor (10 mins ago) along the lines of can you press harder to look and she gave an inward look of "ffs stop trying to be a Google doctor". She was very nice to our face though.

Did it show anything Youdancin? When the 2nd scab was done the consultant said it was a very experienced and trusted person that had done it - they never said that bout the first scan so I guess they have their preferred ones.

Waiting to see paediatrician

Nothing on scan (hurrah) so they are going with too much acid production irritation the duodenum which is really a guess. :(

My son has been referred for an ultrasound through the doctor. We also went back to A&E again today as the pain was unbearable for him. Blood tests etc came back clear. They’ve prescribed him Buscopan for now to help with stomach cramps. So we’ll just have to wait for the ultrasound appointment 😔

I remember my son had a similar thing when he was six ,three weeks of stomach pains, it was some kind of virus (very painful, but no D & V)

Sorry Tonya1 I didn't mean to divert any of the conversation from your distressing situation with your son. I was only saying that in similar circumstances what the outcome was with my daughter. I hope you get a good result back from the ultrasound scan and your son is given the treatment he needs for a pain free recovery.