My 7-Year Old's Stomach Pain

It soundslike acid reflux. My son has it and its awful for him. We take prevacid at our house. It took my sons doctor for ever to send us to a gastroenteroligist so just ask to be referred. It can't hurt and they are hard to get in to see.

D. - this is kind of wierd that you post this issue. My son, who is almost 5, has been complaining about his stomach hurting over the last 3 or 4 weeks as well. At first, he had a mild temp. and I immediatly took him to the Dr. as I was afraid of it being his appendix (spelling??). He was very thurough and decided that it was nothing to be worried about - probably a virus or gas. It seemed to subside, but now he is complaining again. He says it is in the morning when I drop him off at school, all day, and then he complains around bed time again. Now, he is 4 (almost 5), so I am not sure how serious to take him. He is eating and acting fine so for now I am going to just monitor.

You on the other hand have what sounds to be more serious!!! I have family in the medical field and with that said, this is the advice I give you. If she is in pain and you are truly concerned, take her to the emergency room! They will run every test possible to figure out the issue and have the results back immediately! You wont have to wait on the labs or anything like that - you will have your answer. Beyond that, if they are concerned about her well being they will keep her and monitor her. I have several family members that have had to take this kind of action and they did because of the advice of those that work in the medical field. Because they took this action, they were able to get down to the problem immediately and solve it quickly.

Good luck and God Bless. It is hard to see our children in pain!!!

Sam

Can you rule out PLEURISY!?
My daughter had this pain and it was between her lungs and ribcage. It was handled with an antibiotic. She had NO other symptoms, no cough or fever.
She said it felt like she had a broken rib or "her side felt broken". She was also 7!
It was found with Xrays. Sorry this is kind of useless, lol but maybe it can be ruled out?! good luck KIM

What are you waiting for? Take her to the hospital. They can do all the tests there and get is solved a heck of a lot faster then this doctor can. If she is in that much pain, take her NOW!

Hi D., sorry to hear that your little one is suffering so much. You certainly are not wrong to expect faster results. There is an awesome website loaded with valuable information that you should check out that will answer most of your questions. greattastenopain.com Try it, it really works, I speak from experience, W.

I wouldn't wait on this. Did the doctor even explain to you what the possibilities were and what exactly the blood test is? I would get a second opinion. Make sure that you write down a list of every single symptom (and absence of symptoms, such as lack of constipation) you can think of before you take her in, whether it be the ER or another practice. I hope this gets resolved soon.

Take her to the ER when she is that bad at the end of the day. They will work a lot faster and actually do some tests to try to figure it out. Going to the doctor is the slow route and they usually just don't understand you can't wait that long! Does it hurt when you push down on it? If so, take her right away. The pain for her appendix isn't always going to show on her lower right side, it usually starts farther up, more around just above the belly button. I am a big ER fan even though it will cost you more because they actually figure stuff out!

My daughter had the same issues and it ended up being acid reflux. The only thing that helped was the doctor putting her on prescription strength Zantac. If the doctor doesn't have an answer try the Zantac and make an appointment with a children's gastrointerologist. Dr. Joseph Ignacio is wonderful his number is ###-###-####. If you are very concerned I would make an appointment sooner than later.
If it gets to bad take her to the emergency room something doesn't seem right.
Good Luck

Please take her to the emergency room. You will get to the bottom of what's ailing her.

D. ~

I know this may sound a little frantic, but get her to a hospital for blood work. Waiting two weeks is CRAZY!
Just take her in letting them know that your daughter is in enormous amount of pain and you want to act now!
Good luck! My prayers are with you! =)

~ A. T. ~

You are not wrong in wanting faster results by all means go where ever you need to .
I just wanted to clear up something ...
The gallbladder is on the right side not the left. I know I had to have mine removed. I hurt worse after I ate but because of lower bowel cramping and diarrhea. I didn't have the pian in my side until right before I had the gallbladder removed.
I really hope that she will feel better soon.

My friend's daughter started having symptoms similar to this and they found out she had developed an allergy to gluten. Not life threatening. You should do some research on this.

My Three year old son went through something like this. We did take him to the hospital and they ran tests and they said there was nothing wrong with him! He was screaming for an hour or two 2 or 3 times a day! So we took him to an md/naturepath team of docs. They figured it out lickedy split gave us someting that helped the pain within ten minutes and another thing to help the gal bladder on a more long term basis. His body was not handling soy well. Soy is everywhere. I don't even know if this would be considered an actual allergy. Then a few years later his sister went through the same thing. so we eliminated soy from her diet, and all was well. They are both able to have soy now...this was 5 years ago.
so in a nut shell my rec. is find a good naturepath, and consider food sensitivies like soy...the naturpath can probably help figure that out...ours did. Sorry but they are in Utah so I don't have a local referral.

Not at all...listen to your gut and your child...get a second opinion.

Sorry but acid reflux?? That causes a burning in the throat, not what your daughter is describing. I get the feeling like there's a balloon in my stomach sometimes after I eat. It's gas, not acid reflux. And if it's gas, she should AVOID fruits and veggies, because certain ones, though healthy, make it much worse, such as leafy greens, spinach, etc. I would give her those new anti-gas strips, unless she can swallow a small gelcap. I would also go to a GI dr. If there is a huge wait, then go to Urgent Care or a Children's emergency room. I think four weeks is enough suffering for her.

It could be the gall bladder. My friend's husband needs his removed because an ER trip discovered that's what his stomach pain and vomiting was. It could also be a digestive disorder like Crohn's disease(spelling?). Here's the webmd.com link for Crohn's disease:
http://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/crohns-disease/tc...

Whatever it is, I wouldn't sit around on it any longer.

I am sorry that your baby is feeling this... I have the same symptoms... You need to call a GI doctor. If she is in alot of pain take her to the children's hospital right away.

They tell me that my issues are Gallbladder related.

I will pray for you for peace and strength and for a good outcome.

K. J.

It may be an allergic reaction to a food(?). You are not wrong to expect faster results from a blood test.
Perhaps a second opinion from another doctor would be a good idea.
Common allergies are milk, wheat. Try to feed her only fruits and veg's for a few days and see if that helps.
Sometimes a holistic, natural medicine MD is more appropriate for these types of ailments. They seem to diagnose more thoroughly than allopathic doctors.

i say go to the ER when the pain is at its worst...TODAY

Take her to see Rebecca Lord in Safety Harbor, ###-###-####. She can diagnose her right away. Tell her it is an emergency, as she tends to have a long wait list.

Also, give her chamomile tea and slippery elm bark (pick up at health food store), these two items will help her if the pain is from acid or gas. The slippery elm will coat the intestines.

I would not wait two weeks, I would give her the above and take her to someone else.

Poor little sweetie! I recommend referring yourself to a GI doctor. Specifically, Dr. Fazzary in Sun City if possible. She is very kind & loving. The number is ###-###-####. They may want to run some gallbladder scans & possibly an endoscopy. I agree that you should document everything your daughter is eating or not eating. Maybe even try some Activia yogurt. Trust your instincts on whether you need to visit the ER. If it gets to that, I am told that Memorial Hospital on Swann Ave. in Tampa has an excellent facility with minimal waiting. Best wishes for a speedy diagnosis!

Get her some Gas X. This will eliminate the pains which are probably in her large intestines, the colon, which is on the side. You can get it over the counter.
You may also need to look up Irritable Bowel Syndrome on the internet, there are menus to follow till it clears up. Sounds like she may have that.

Gas X:
Simethicone (Gas X) is used to relieve painful pressure caused by excess gas in the stomach and intestines. Simethicone is for use in babies, children, and adults.

I have similar stomach issues where I get bloated and in my case it's due to my dairy allergy.
I agree though that if it's excruciating pain, you can take her to the ER in case it's worse case scenario. They can do all conventional testing. If everything comes back as ok, she may have a food allergy. You can do an elimination technique of eliminating foods to try and figure what she's allergic too. In fact, this is something you can start immediately. Dairy, corn, eggs and wheat are more common food allergies. Try and get her to stick with fruits, vegetables, proteins and non-wheat items until you can get it figured out.
I have also had gas pains from soda.
Good luck! Hope you can get it figured out quickly!

D.,

You are absolutely not wrong in wanting something done asap. As a mother...and Medical Assistant I am shocked at the pediatricians response to wait until the tests come back. Based on the area you described her pain, it could be her gallbladder. If she is still in pain I would ask the DR. to do an abdominal ultrasound or I would take her to the E.R....if it is her gallbladder failing she would need to have it removed. Listen to your mommy instincts--they are usually right. Good luck and God Bless--M.

Take her to the ER, my daughter had the same problems, she was tested for everything and come to find out that she was backed up all the way into her colon, they had her admitted in the children's hospital and gave her something called go lightly which is what they use for adults when then have a colonoscopy, they put an NG tube down the nose, which before they do that, they give that child medicine to help relax and sleep. once the tube is in then they hook up the medicine plus put them on an IV, this stuff works right away, (you just dont get any sleep), since we had my daughter flused out, she has not had any problems and her BM's are a lot better and pain free. Good luck and let us know what happens.

you did not say what type of stools she was having, but i would check this out, i don't know what doctors do to determine it but i would rule this out, from what i understand alot of food has gluten. good luck.
Celiac disease, or sprue, is a rare disorder that causes malabsorption of nutrients due to a sensitivity or intolerance to gluten, a cereal protein found mainly in wheat, rye and barley. Corn and rice are gluten-free. Celiac disease becomes apparent in children within six months of being weaned from the breast and with the incorporation of foods containing gluten. Less severe cases may not be discovered until adulthood. Typically, diarrhea accompanies vomiting and a painfully bloated abdomen one to two hours after a meal, with large, smelly, shiny stools. When these symptoms are absent, the signs of malnutrition become apparent. These are anemia, weight loss, infertility and, in children, a failure to grow and thrive. A rash, recurring canker sores, bone pains and mood swings accompany these symptom

I have not read all the other responses so I don't know if anyone said this but when I was a child I had the same type thing. It was around dinner time when it got bad and I was crying every night. I finally figured out on my own what was causing it (after a trip to the er and several doctors). It was that I was scared. We lived in an older house that there was lots of noises and I was terrified at night. My stomach would get all knotted up in the afternoon just knowing that it would be night time soon. I would talk with her to make sure that it is not and kind of fear that is causing it.

I would not wait for blood tests. I would take her to a stomach specialist right away. She could have a hernia,some kind of blockage, etc. Get her to a specialist now. Don't wait. Demand an ultra sound right away. It could be the difference between life and death. My cousins baby died because the doctors wanted to wait for blood tests to come back. Don't wait.