Chronic vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain in kids

Posted by concerned mtn. mom @concernedmtnmom, Jan 16, 2012

My daughter is 10 and has four main symptoms, all chronic: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, pain in left abdomen. Started w/severe diarrhea 3 mos. ago. We did blood tests for parasites, bacteria, wheat allergy, CBC, celiac, dairy allergy. All negative. Didn't get better, went to a GI specialist at the children's hosp. Same tests plus a viral panel showed nothing. Since we have Crohn's and colitis in the fam, they did an endoscopy and colonoscopy with biopsies. Everything negative; they definitively ruled out Crohn's, colitis, celiac. After these biopsies the diarrhea got better but has since gotten quite severe. Making things worse, she started vomiting after these tests, along with nausea, sometimes severe vomiting episodes (2 hr. long spells). She is skinny and holding her weight, but barely—she should be gaining. GI doc pretty much "broke up" with us (that's what it felt like) and was surprised when our pediatrician called to say she was not getting better. She made an appt. to see us 3 wks later. Meanwhile, my daughter is sick as a dog! So we got an MRI of her brain to see if it's "abdominal migraines/cyclic vomiting." MRI showed no cancer or tumors or bleeding or infections—thank God. Neurologist followup appt determined she has no neurological problems. They ruled out cyclic vomiting (she's never had a normal spell w/o vomiting) and may want to followup with an EEG to look for autonomic nervous system dysfunction. We did an upper GI with a barium swallow test (small intest. follow-thru) and that was normal, so still no answers. That's where we are…waiting to see the GI again. So sad and frustrated. She has missed two and a half mos. of school and counting. She has never been constipated or had bloating or gas. Lots of sharp pains across belly and in the left corner. They also ruled out h. pylori but said she has GERD and some esophagitis as a result but the Prilosec has taken forever to kick in. Any ideas or similar stories? We can find nothing on Mayo site or elsewhere to rule in any possible diagnoses.

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@littledreamer

Hi,
I am sorry to hear your daughter is feeling so ill. I am 15 and I have very similar symptoms to your daughter and I also have no answers. I was diagnosed with celiac disease when I was 13 years old, but it didn't stop the GERD, diarrhea, and tummy pain that has been plaguing me for quite some times. I got a colonscopy and an endoscopy too, but they found nothing. Eventually my GI and physician pretty much just diagnosed me with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and told me I would just have to deal with it. It's been quite frustrating too because I am 5'4 but I weigh 85 pounds, so I am very thin. I guess I am still searching for answers.

So far the only thing that has given me some relief is massage therapy and yoga.

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Thank you so so so so so so so so much! I really needed someone to listen and help instead of just say, "deal with it because it's just stress."

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I am so sorry for what you are going through. My son is four and has been having abdominal problems for about a year. Although, when I think back over his life I remember more and more stomach issues starting from infancy. His symptoms are chronic diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain. The good spells in between are getting further apart. The doctor basically casts me off because his skinny weight is "normal" and he is tall. However, he is sick and/or uncomfortable more often than not. His appetite is irregular and he gets colds and such very often now as if something is keeping his immune system down. He has been tested for parasites and had a blood panel for celiacs, which have all been negative. I'm very frustrated and not sure what to do next, but I want him to feel better soon. Any suggestions for getting doctors to listen to me?

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Please Excuse the Spelling!

I have a 12 year old son who has for the past 6 months had severe stomach pains and vomitting every day. He has had CT, MRI, Barium Scan, Sonogram, upper GI scope, colonoscopy, counseling (therapy), Nuerology exam, opthomologist full exam, blood work several times, and trials of medication including anti-nausea medication, erithromyacin, Nexeum, Xantac, Omeprozole, and others. We have tried dietary changes including no wheat, low fat, no dairy, gluetan free, vegan, and vegetarian. All of the above tests came back normal, counseling had no impact (although he does emationally handle the stress of being sick all of the time better now), dietary changes had no effect. Our doctors are now starting to repeat some of the tests and he has a sonogram to look at his gall bladder and pancreus specifically now. The previous sonogram in october showed no issues with the gall bladder but could not see ALL of the pacreas due to gas. He has not had issues with weight loss and has continued to gain and hold his weight. He can not attend school on his bad days which are more often than his good days. He is on intermittent home bound and 504 services to prevent him being retained in the 6th grade due to absences. When he can he goes to school, leaves to throw up, lays down in the nurse's office for a little while and goes back to class. So far we have ruled out everything and come up with no cause for his pain and vomitting. He is now taking amnitriptoline and that appears to help with the pain issues however he continues to vomitting 5+ times a day. I don't know if it is notable or not but I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, high cholesterol, migraines and heartburn. We considered abdonimal migraines but he has no periods of releif and the vomitting is not related to if he has eaten or not. I dont know what else to do. I need an answer and help for my son.

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Hello, I hope things are improving for your little one. You are all in my prayers. I started having thesame symptoms at 27 I'm now 35 and it has been a long road. 1 thing that may help... I know you said she was checked for a dairy allergy... well so was I and it came back normal but then my Dr had me eliminate it anyways for a couple months. My symptoms improved a lot but did not go away completely since I had done permanent damage to my tummy. When I re added it I got sick again. I am not lactose intolerant, I can't have any dairy protein casien or anything but does not show up on an allergy test. Just an idea:)

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Hi...um I'm hope that you may be able to shed some light for me. After I read your story about your daughter, all her symptoms much up to my bestfriend's. My friend has been off school for 8 weeks now and her condition is getting dire. She has had all the tests that you can possibly imagine... (obliviously you know what I mean). Severe stomach pains so bad that she can't even stand up to get pain killers, vomiting, diarrhea-severe constipation. She is so skinny it is painful to look at her. She is very pale and very weak. She said that even when she does take pain killers her stomach still aches 24/7. The doctors are scrapping the bottom of the barrel to try and find out what is wrong with her. They have basically just give up and just said to go home and hope that she gets better. Has your daughter become well again without medical help or has she been otherwise diagnosed? I hope that she is well.....

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I feel we have the same thing happened. My soon is 11yrs old and has had tummy issues for years. Recently they have gotten worse he’s now Nauseous throwing out which neither one of those things actually help stomach pain. When I give him and then I said hey says it helps but only for a little while and it bothers him so much that he comes home from school early and doesn’t go to school and I’m not sure what to do they give him an H pylori test and unfortunately I haven’t gotten the results back yet I am hoping to see what else they can do for him let me know what happens with your daughter

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Hi, @julie1073 - wanted to welcome you to Mayo Clinic Connect. I'm sorry to hear about your son and his tummy issues.

Hoping some of the members in this discussion will return and share some of their experiences with tummy issues in their children. I also wanted you to meet some other members on Mayo Clinic Connect who have talked about issues with nausea, throwing up, stomach pain or other gastric issues. Please meet @claudiabrende @goldenmummy @kozlo52 @beckyjohnson and @travelgirl, who may have some thoughts for you as you try to work with his symptoms and find a diagnosis with his doctor.

This Mayo Clinic information on H. pylori may be of interest to you as you investigate that possibility: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/h-pylori/symptoms-causes/syc-20356171

When will you know about the results of the H. pylori test for your son, @julie1073?

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My daughter is experiencing the same symptoms. I felt that I could have written this narrative. We have had blood work, scans, and scopes. Things have been ruled out but no diagnosis. Did you find any resolution?

We just recently moved across country so now I feel as though we have to start all over. In two weeks of school, she has missed 2 days and willed herself through several more days.

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@txmom33 @julie1073 , I wrote this post 5 years ago and here's what we learned after 2 yrs of misery. It was C. difficile (see the chat boards here about this diagnosis, as well as the listing on the main Mayo site), but we had gotten two false negatives on the first tests, so we went many months with bad information. In the meantime she ended up on feeding tubes. If, after researching this illness, you think you child might need to be tested for that, ask for the Cytotoxin test (a.k.a, the gold standard test for C. diff.). That one is most accurate and I think the only one they use now, but that's the best one. The antibiotics to treat it were no fun and she got reinfected 3 times because those superbugs would not let go. We cured her instantly with a fecal transplant. It's a miracle cure for persistent C. diff.

C. diff. is bad because it builds up toxins in the gut that can eventually affect the sympathetic nervous system. This happened to my daughter and she got a secondary condition of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS. This is also known as autonomic nervous system dysfunction. [Ironically, the doctor who suggested it might be a problem never explained to me what it was, so we went another year before we could get in to Mayo (yes, it took a YEAR! I understand they have shorter wait times now) and that's exactly what it was.] You can look up POTS here too, but symptoms are racing heart, nausea, overheating, flushed face, fatigue, fainting.

We also found out at Mayo that she had a fructose intolerance. Fructose is in most fruit and many legumes and some veggies, so we had to learn what to eat. Any sort of simple sugar malabsorption or intolerance can cause tummy/gut trouble and vomiting, so ask your doctor about that.

I know how stressful this is and how much you agonize watching your kid suffer when you can't find answers. Never give up. We were helped by so many strangers who had gone through the same things...look for the helpers. Today my daughter is healthy and strong and we are so grateful. Cured of the C. diff. and she eventually outgrew the POTS. Get to Mayo if you can't figure it out. It's not an easy week, but you get answers from the best.

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@concernedmtnmom

@txmom33 @julie1073 , I wrote this post 5 years ago and here's what we learned after 2 yrs of misery. It was C. difficile (see the chat boards here about this diagnosis, as well as the listing on the main Mayo site), but we had gotten two false negatives on the first tests, so we went many months with bad information. In the meantime she ended up on feeding tubes. If, after researching this illness, you think you child might need to be tested for that, ask for the Cytotoxin test (a.k.a, the gold standard test for C. diff.). That one is most accurate and I think the only one they use now, but that's the best one. The antibiotics to treat it were no fun and she got reinfected 3 times because those superbugs would not let go. We cured her instantly with a fecal transplant. It's a miracle cure for persistent C. diff.

C. diff. is bad because it builds up toxins in the gut that can eventually affect the sympathetic nervous system. This happened to my daughter and she got a secondary condition of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS. This is also known as autonomic nervous system dysfunction. [Ironically, the doctor who suggested it might be a problem never explained to me what it was, so we went another year before we could get in to Mayo (yes, it took a YEAR! I understand they have shorter wait times now) and that's exactly what it was.] You can look up POTS here too, but symptoms are racing heart, nausea, overheating, flushed face, fatigue, fainting.

We also found out at Mayo that she had a fructose intolerance. Fructose is in most fruit and many legumes and some veggies, so we had to learn what to eat. Any sort of simple sugar malabsorption or intolerance can cause tummy/gut trouble and vomiting, so ask your doctor about that.

I know how stressful this is and how much you agonize watching your kid suffer when you can't find answers. Never give up. We were helped by so many strangers who had gone through the same things...look for the helpers. Today my daughter is healthy and strong and we are so grateful. Cured of the C. diff. and she eventually outgrew the POTS. Get to Mayo if you can't figure it out. It's not an easy week, but you get answers from the best.

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I'm curious about everything you did for a diagnosis. I need help desperately for my son. He is now 18 and 101 lbs, diareah, vomits, constant pain cannot eat. He is deteriorating. Colonoscopys, endoscopes, blood work show nothing. Gi dr just yesterday implied its him, in his head and said see a therapist and take probiotic. I'm beside myself. I try everything this boy is suffering, underweight, fatigue, you can look at him and know he is unwell and yes very unhappy which I personally understand he gets no relief, no help. Anything information, direction you can give me I would be appreciative I am not giving up on my son, this is failure to thrive it's very very frightening and I need to get him out of any illness and help him. Thank you

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