17 year old w/stomach pain and continues with over 20 lbs weight loss
I am very lost at the moment.
My daughter is 17 years old and what started as a mishap has been continuous in nature.
It started when she drank apple juice that was moldy. She released, well we thought that she released it out of her system, but it just kept getting worst.
Three days after she drank the moldy apple juice, she told me that it felt like her intestines were cramping. I thought it was silly but, each day the pain intensified. I took her to the ER and they did a CT scan and found nothing. They prescribed her with a muscle relaxer, stomach ulcer medication and instructed us that she was fine. Well, as time went on, the pain worsened I took her to different ERs in the DFW. There was one ER in particular that we frequented because it was close and we were actually being seen, and three times they said it was nothing, but on that last visit, my daughter asked could it be extreme constipation and gas and the doctor on duty, revisited the CT scans, and discovered that she was completely full of BM. He sent us home yet again as my daughter was crying and in pain. Maybe two days later I took her to her pediatrician and he said there was nothing wrong with her and she probably had an infection so he prescribed her antibiotics and was not listening to anything we had to say. That night I took her to Children's where we voiced our concerns and they gave her a molasses enema. It worked partly. They ended up having to do a GoLitely treatment to clean her system. That worked except she was already vomiting constantly and not being able to hold down water. Undetected Constipation-to-hospitalization-to-consistent weight loss Her nerves are were all out of whack, she's lost over 20 lbs, and she is still really weak. She was hospitalized for a total of three weeks and was released just before Christmas. Of course we were happy that she was able to come home, but she still has not regained any weight, she is still very weak and is still complaining of stomach pain. I am feeling very defeated because I want my daughter back to good health. I don't know what to do and I don't truly believe in the health care system in Texas. What can I do to get her results checked over to see if we are missing anything. It started on November 13, 2022 and is still going on today January 2, 2023. There is also, many medications that she has been prescribed and issues that have come up and I just feel like that is something missing. Can anyone help us please?
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the About Kids & Teens Support Group.
Hi @itsmesmc. As a mom, my hand went to my heart after reading about your daughter’s awful experience with her health. That’s so frightening to have her be so ill and losing weight after drinking the moldy apple juice.
It’s my understanding that small amounts of mold swallowed in food isn’t much of an issue for our bodies. The acid in our guts tend to kill it off. If there is a larger amount consumed it can cause vomiting, diarrhea, stomaches, headaches from the mold…and change the gut biome.
Molds contain a type of toxin called mycotoxins. Moldy apple juice can contain high amounts of patulin, a mycotoxin produced by molds like Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Byssochlamys. The FDA checks for this routinely in their food safety inspections.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/patulin
We have a discussion in our forum relating to molds and fungus that might provide some help in finding articles on testing. These conversations aren’t limited to moldy apple juice but do contain information on mold toxicity.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mold-toxicity/
I don’t know if any of this relates to your daughter but if it helps point you in the right direction at least that’s something. It might be worth finding a doctor who can run tests for her. I believe it starts with a mold urine test.
Has she been tested for mycotoxins that you’re aware of?