Sporadic Stomach Ache in 7 Yr Girl?

It may be as simple as constipation. My daughter was constipated even though she had regular bowel movements. The doctor's found out she just wasn't going enough. Try giving her more fruit every day (dates and prunes really help) and see if it helps. Bananas and dairy are constipating and can slow everything down.

Hi, I'm not sure where your located, but if your in Seattle you could take her to the Country Doctor Clinic. http://www.countrydoctor.org/

I went there many times when I was uninsured. They work on a sliding scale, and they will see you even if you can not afford to pay. They saved my life when I was uninsured and I really recommend them.

If your daughter complains mostly before or after eating, I would first suspect an ulcer. I have had ulcers before and they are more likely to be aggravated when I am hungry (stomach acid) or after I eat (by some foods but not others). My ulcers have always been stress related, but I have heard that they can have other causes as well. Either way, a doctor could prescribe something to try to relieve her pain. The symptoms you describe are similar to what I have when I have an ulcer, depending on how severe it is. I started getting them when I was quite young and have had them on and off since then.

If your dead set against going to the doctor, you might try keeping a log of when she has the stomach pain, and try to isolate particular foods that aggravate the symptoms, or how hungry she is leading up to having the symptoms. It may give you a way to spot a pattern, but I would still really say ~ just take her to the doctor. The country doctor won't force you pay if you can't afford it.

Hello,
We have been dealing with a similiar situation with our nor 9 yr old but started just after school began, when she was still 8yrs old. After she ate or on her way to bed we would hear about her stomach and sometimes her throat too. at first we weren't sure how much was real and how much was not wanting to go to bed so we kept an eye on it for 3-4 weeks then took her to the doctor. I wondered if she was having anxiety and stomach problems from it. So Doctor did blood work and put her on a stomach anti reflux type medication. He told us that kids about this age go through this sporadiacally through school especially during begin of new year and major tests or projects. He told us sometimes if not severe it can clear up on its own but sometimes they need the medicine for a couple months to help calm things down. after that he said sometimes if not calm they need to see a specialist. good luck B.

I have a spastic colon and I was having a hard time telling if it was my colon or maybe a bladder infection. My doctor told me to push right above my belly button, If the pain worsens then it's my colon. It does work.
The next time your daughter complains try doing that and see if the pain get worse. If so then it might be IBS.
From what you've described it doesn't sound like it to me. My pain is throughout my abdomen when it flares up, not just one side or the other.
I hope this helps and I'll pray for you and yours to get through the rough spots.
K.

Hi K.,

You know, it could be so many things, so the best advice is to have her see a doctor - although I truly do understand the problem of not having health insurance.

Are you in Oregon? If so, here's a link to the Oregon State Children's Health Plan - your daughter may qualify: http://www.healthinsurancefinders.com/healthinsurance/ore...

All that being said, when I was a child, I got periodic stomach aches that I later realized were due to stress.

So, it's entirely possible your daughter's stomach pain is due to stress (although, please have a doctor check her just to rule out something physical - you'd never forgive yourself if she did have something serious going on).

If it is stress, teaching her deep breathing techniques and doing those with her in the morning and in the evening will help, as well as warm baths where she can relax her body and breathe deeply into her belly. Tell her to breathe in a beautiful warm light (like gold or yellow) and imagine it going into her belly. Tell her to imagine the muscles in her stomach relaxing and opening. If you do this with her two times a day, within a few weeks, she will be able to quickly do a relaxing breathe at any time when she needs it.

You could also encourage her to draw how she feels or how her stomach feels. Seeing a child therapist would be good, of course, but that would cost money. There may be free or low cost options through the school or other avenues - other moms here may have good advice about that.

By the way, please don't be h*** o* yourself if it is stress. My parents were and are wonderful, loving people. The stress I experienced had to do with problems I had outside of my family. Life can be tough, even on our little ones, and we parents can not protect our children from everything.

Best of luck to all of you. M.

I understand about the no insurance, but can't you get your daughter on medical coupons, state help????!!! She needs to be seen by a DR and most likely a pediatric gastrointestinal DR. Don't wait on this any longer. If she has a bowel problem and you let it go, you could be dealing with much worse REALLY soon.

There is state help, use it please. There are DR's out there who will work with you by what your income is. Please take her to be seen.

Constipation, IBS of which I suffer Intestinal Bowel Syndrome. Sometimes you have constipation, sometimes you have the runs and I do mean runs, or Ulcer. All of which you need to see a doctor. But you can start treating for all by looking at your daughter's diet. Enough liquids to make her body operate smoothly, enough fresh fruits, and vegetables, and grains.

I would add some metamucil or citracel. This will help smooth out her bowel movements no matter what she has. I suggest the metamucil because they have a brand that dissolves clear and tasteless and can be mixed with fresh fruit juice. Try once a day at half a dose, and if that doesn't help, go to twice a day. Do this between meals if you can. Remove soda pop it is h*** o* the intestine that is hurting.

Please note, I am not a doc or nurse. I am a person who suffers from IBS and am recommending from my own experience.

Good luck, and I hope things resolve to a good place for everyone in your family. Blessings.

I would try other allergies.
Especially gluten.
Celiac is one of the most missed conditions in the United States (recent pbs special). My friend went 29 years (of pain) before they found out what it was (not to mention being labeled hypocondriac and having her appendix and gallbladder removed as secondary issues before they found out). It is a simple blood test to prove it, but since you dont have insurance you might just consider doing the diet (for at least 2 weeks, better 4). It will require a bit of research as it is more then just wheat. I dont know it all, but I know distilled vinegar is a no, as well as Colas.

If it is just nerves, there is a great homeopathic treatment. Hylands "nerves" or "Calms4Kids" found at fred meyers in the natural section.

edit: regarding insurance, I got my kids on State Health. It only took filling out the papers and a week or so wait. There isnt even a co-pay!

First things first: Ask your doctor, double check all advice with your doctor.

Now, that being said, I'm going to take a guess and say she's constipated. My oldest son had a horrible battle with constipation when he was four. He would be playing and then drop to the floor crying, holding his stomach. Long story short, he's 14 and rarely has an issue these days. One of my 7 seven year old twin boys just went through a small bout of it just about a month and a half ago. He'd be fine one minute and then his stomach would hurt. I assumed constipation right off the bat and started upping his fiber intake and water (have to give lots of water or the extra fiber will make it worse). What I learned this time around has been a great "AHA" type of moment. Before when my oldest was going through the issue we would think we had taken care of it after about a week of successful bathroom visits. But then it would start up again. Our doctor (now) pointed out a bit of information that just made sense. Even though they may go to the bathroom fine for a few days or even a week without issues, most often there is still more compacted and that takes longer to get down. So, we would put Miralax in a glass of water, milk, juice (my son loved it in milk) once a day and did that for a full month. Yes, even if they seem to be doing well after a week, keep doing it for a full 30 days so that it can get everything out. Miralax is a very light laxitive, it's not going to send them rushing to the bathroom within an hour of taking it. It just softens the stool which helps to move it along.

Again, check with your doctor. But that would be my suggestion. Lots of water, bran muffins, apples, pears, if you're having a spaghetti dinner you can mix in a tsp of mineral oil (a few times of doing this usually gets results within two days ~ however, it does leave some stains in the underwear once things kick in, so I wouldn't do it more than two days in a row. The Miralax worked quite well for my 7 yr. old son).

Good luck and hang in there.

DJ

The lack of health insurance makes it difficult to make that appt, but....... it's in your child's best interest to see the doctor earlier rather than later when you have a condition that is causing her that much discomfort and is chronic. It may cheaper to treat it when it's at this level rather than waiting until later when it's more serious, thereby more care, treatment would be required. If your husband is unemployed and you have limited resources, please contact your pediatrician and they can help you apply for state insurance for your children. They are at that age where they need their well child check-ups, immunizations and are apt to get hurt in their explorations of life. Get her checked out for your added peace of mind and hers.

Hi K.:

I have a daughter who is lactose intolerant and so was interested when a friend of mine had a daughter whose symptoms sounded like your daughter's. This girl did turn out to have lactose issues--even though her mother was sure that she didn't....

Even though you don't think it is dairy, I would recommend trying some chewable Lactaid pills given before eating --just to see if it makes a difference (if you haven't done this already). It won't hurt to try it--it's just an enzyme. You can find the chewable Lactaid at a pharmacy--grocery stores don't always have it.

I would try this before going forward with your pediatrician to check out issues such as reflux.

By the way, my daughter did grow out of her lactose intolerance!

Good luck--despite your daughter's stress, it probably is a real digestive issue.

Both my boys went through something similar between the ages of 7-9. They would have EXTREME stomach aches and cry and then suddenly they would go away. I was very frightened thinking it was something horribly wrong. Doctors didn't find anything wrong and weren't worried but I still was. Finally after doing some research on the internet I found info that helped. It is common in kids this age to become toilet shy - meaning that they don't focus on going to the bathroom and are usually too busy to go and wait until they get a little backed up. Not enough to be technically constipated but the waiting to relieve their bowels trains their body to hold it in until it is uncomfortable. So, I started pushing fiber rich foods then after each meal would have them just sit on the toilet for 15-20 minutes even if they didn't feel like they needed to go. After awhile they retrained their bodies to go more naturally and the stomach aches disappeared.

My son has had the exact same thing for the past few years. We have determined it to be nerve related. When he gets nervous, it acts up. I didn't think this was it at first as I didn't see him getting nervous, but I have come to find that he's a lot like me in the fact that his own thoughts, which he has little control over, get to him a little more than some people's would. He might suddenly think about losing someone close to him, something that happened at school (maybe a test or something embarrassing), a past experience, etc. and in his own mind, will fixate on it until it gives him the "tumbling tummy" kind of feeling, which is then described as a stomach ache. I noticed that it mainly happens right before meals. It has been as little as "I don't want much to eat" to as extreme as crying that it hurts too bad to do anything.
The only thing I have found that works is to tell him to eat a little bit and see how he feels. I did take him to the hospital at one time, only because he had a fever at the same time that he was complaing... and was told after several tests, that he was dehydrated. Since then, I have had him drink a glass of water when it starts as well.
The best thing I have been able to do though is redirect him... get him thinking about something else, give him a project to do for me, etc.

I dont have an idea about the tummy issue other than I had a similar problem growing up and eventually grew out of it.

However, if you dont have insurance on your daughter you probably qualify for state coverage or medicaid... its free for kids. You daughter's school will have information on that so talk to the school counselor.

Hi. Look up celiac disease. My 3 year old was tested for this because she had not grown enough since her 2 year checkup, it's common for kids with celiac disease to have their growth interrupted. One of the signs is stomach pain. Basically celiac disease is an allergy to food made with gluten (breads, etc). Oh, the test was a blood test to determine if she had it. Good luck.

Hi there. My daughter started at that age with the same thing. I had found out she was severly constipated. My docter recomended meralax ( may have spelled that wrong. ) It took us a year to correct and get her system corrected. I also found out that she is not lactose intolerant but when she drinks cow milk it seems to couse the constipation. So now she drinks silk. We havent a problem sense then. I would ask the docter for an exra to her abdomen just to check. Hope you figure it out.
Stress can couse constipation too. Im sure you can get assistance thru the state for insurance for your children. they also have funds for emergancy cases.

I went through something similar when I was a little older, more like 11 or 12. I would get stomach aches (almost a little nauseaus) when it was time to eat. Long story short, my doctor said I had a "borderline" eating disorder and that the stomach problems were related to stress and body image issues. (The borderline part refered to the fact that my stomach issues weren't actually impacting what or how much I was eating, just making it unpleasant for me.) I was always thin, but felt insecure about my body. I'm not sure if that might be what is going on with your daughter, but unfortunately, it seems that girls at younger and younger ages are concerned about their appearance, weight, etc. Just something to think about. Good luck to both of you!

Have you ever thought about finding out if it might be her galbladder? The symptoms she is having sound alot like the ones i was having and it turned out to be my gallbladder and it was only functioning at 10% and they removed it and now im great i have no problems before and after i eat.. hope that advice helps maybe :)

First you should get insurance for her. Try talking to the state and see if they can help you with the free or low cost insurance for kids. Its not perfect but it does really help. their are loop hols to see specialists just like any other one.

second how often are her bowel movements? is she going once a day or more or is it more like few days to a week? Also, what is the consitancey of her poop. This gross I know, but if she is not going often enough and it is firm or pebbley she could be constipated. The pains could be gas too. if she i not going as much, try mirolax ( i am not sure of the spelling) but we had a doctor at our moms group yesterday talk to us about these things and he said to use that for a few days to help kids if they constipated. even if they go once a day, if it is firm or painful to go, they are constipated. also increase the fiber in her diet. try to get her to eat more fruit or veggie. See if that helps while your wait to get her insurance and into the doctor to make sure there is nothing else going on.