Advice on Mesenteric Adenitis

[victor001]

Hello, my DD (9) has been diagnosed with "Mesenteric Adenitis" which is an inflammation of the glands inside the stomach, brought on by virus etc.

She does get colds quite a lot (like me when I was a kid...) and the docs say that it's likely linked to that. Thing is it's been going on for over 2 months now, she misses days at school, misses after school activities, and her general demeanor has gone from a happy-go-lucky girl to one that cry's with the pain, is down, and just "wants the pain to go away from my tummy".

We've been advised to use buscopan, calpol, and piritin (to help with the cold presumably..) but these wear off, short term solutions etc.

Has anyone got any experience of their child having this condition and can offer any advice? bit at my wits end.

thanks

It’s awful. Thankfully mine only had it once.

I tried to concentrate on keeping him well and prevent coughs/colds etc.
multivits, hand washing staggered pain relief so not everything at once to ensure a constant level of pain relief rather than peaks and troughs.

Mine was only 3 when he had it and never got it again. It was a relief that it wasnt anything else as I was thinking bowel diseases and things much worse than inflamed lymph glands.

Sympathies to you and your daughter, it is miserable.

My 8 year old was diagnosed with this. A moth later her appendix burst.

I'm sorry to hear that. What symptoms did your 8 year old have during the time they were diagnosed and then on-going?

Thank you for the reply. Yes we're trying to keep on top of the cold thing but it's so difficult when they're at school with other kids too.

Well she's 35 now so it was a while ago (!) but I still feel guilty about it. When she was diagnosed by the GP she was in quite a lot of pain and had a few days off school. Then it seemed to get better but every few days she would complain that her stomach was hurting again, although not as badly as before. Then it got very bad again. I took her back to the GP who said she thought it could be a grumbling appendix and told me take her to A&E. By the time we got there three- quarters of an hour later she was delirious in the car and I had to carry her in. She was diagnosed with appendicitis almost instantly and went straight to theatre where they found her appendix has burst.

I doubt this is a typical story.

I'm a bit cynical of the diagnosis really- you would expect it to present in episodes associated with illness with resolution of symptoms in between rather than chronically over two months.

Has anyone spoken to you about functional abdominal pain? Have you been referred to a paeds abdo pain clinic?
I think advice relating to that is going to be the most useful : https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=www.evelinalondon.nhs.uk/resources/patient-information/functional-abdominal-pain-disorders.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjNs7Tr7KWKAxWDVUEAHVDuK4EQFnoECGAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3qYueNEvP3Ohi9txe3dc9D

Sorry that link didn't work well
Here's another resource
www.uhsussex.nhs.uk/resources/functional-abdominal-pain-the-alex-2/#is-a-dangerous-condition-being-missed

My dd2 was diagnosed with mesenteric adenitis age 8. She had 3 months off school in terrible pain. We saw umpteen docs and she had scans at hospital (looking for ovarian torsion etc). I was at my wits end as everyone just shrugged and said it'll go in the end, give her more painkillers. She had full doses of both paracetamol and ibuprofen for 3 months. They barely touched the pain (they later told us in hospital that that's an indicator for MA, normal painkillers don't work).

In desperation I took her to see a honeopath for homotoxicology. (Using a little machine, they put an electrode pen thing on acupressure points and can work out which remedies are needed so you're not aiming in the dark).

It started to work within hours. I was SO sceptical but it just turned off the pain after two days. She had drops in her water bottle to sip all day. Can have them in squash etc but keep filling the bottle so she sips it all day.

She is now 16 and had episodes of pain for a few more years always with/after exposure to viruses. The drops in her water worked every single time (sometimes ones we already had, sometimes need another appt and tweak them depending on the virus/es that are causing it.)

Her immune system is still not great, she gets viruses worse and they last longer but she goes to the same clinic for maintenance visits every 6-9 months and it always works, and always minimises time off school/college when viruses are around.

Not cheap but worth every penny. Feel free to dm me for more info. I was absolutely desperate to help her and this has worked time and time again to help her fight things off. Hope your dd is better soon.

my child has this and was hospitalised (they thought it was appendicitis) but it went in a couple of days. I’m pretty sure it’s not a chronic condition. I’d ask for a second opinion

Backs up the short term nature

Hi @EmeraldDreams73
thats very interesting.
my son is 3 months in and no sign of improvement. He is in constant pain. We’ve had scans. Last one showed that 1 lymph node remains enlarged. The others went down. Yet the pain has worsened. Bloods and stool all clear. We are waiting on an MRI. I’d love to hear more about the homeopath. Any advice greatly appreciated.

woild you mind telling me a little about your sons symptoms? I’m on day 10 with my 5 yr old- I’m so worried. Going back to the GP today and will suggest this. My mind is in very dark places currently as she’s so unwell.

Hi @ElBeMe
My son pretty much has 1 symptom which is pain around his belly button. A constant ache with spasms of extra pain every few minutes.
He still eats ok. A little less than before this started but enough that he hasn’t had any weight loss.
pain relief does nothing for him.
Have you had a scan to confirm Mesenteric Adenitis? If not, try and get one. Get blood and stool test too. If all clear, then docs will tell you to wait it out or even suggest it’s behavioural. That’s what they suggested to us and to other parents on here. Which is just not correct.
We have an appointment with homotoxicologist this week as we don’t want to wait it out and will try anything now.
if your daughter has had M/A confirmed by a scan and had clear bloods and stool then I’d suggest trying the homotoxicologist.
it’s incredibly lonely and worrying watching your child go through this as there is little info to be found and docs can’t seem to do anything to help.
good luck

Thanks for this.

after another horrendous night, she woke up pain free and a little more energy. She’s eaten some more too today. She’s just been seen by the dr who poked and prodded and has confirmed nothing organ related. He suggested either a virus or MA. Just said come back if it continues but MA can take up to 3 weeks to go- that’s far more optimistic than what I’ve read into.

it seems to be a pattern of pain free during the day but by 4pm the fatigue and pain comes along. We’ll see but if there’s no improvement towards the end of the week I’ll be taking her back and he suggested bloods but I’ll also push for a scan.

on Friday night we were sent a and e and they prescribed antibiotics for a UTI but that doesn’t look like it was the cause as the infection levels were minimal.

such a worrying time when they’re in pain and it seems helpless.

I hope your son improves soon!

Hello, I have sent you a private PM on here regarding this but just incase you didn't see, wondering if you have an update on your little one please? My little girl is 5 and has literally the exact same symptoms even being diagnosed with a UTI early on, we are on day 8 currently, thank you xx