Stomach Virus or Something Else? - Cerritos,CA

What kind of stomach pain?

My daughter, when she was 4, would wake up regularly at night (after being asleep for about an hour or hour and a half --usually around 9 or 9:30) screaming and writhing in pain. We took her to more than one doctor and they ran all the usual UTI, bladder infection, yeast infection, etc... Never a fever. She was fine during the day. No rash. Nothing. Except several nights a week, she would wake in severe spasmodic pain that nothing really helped... not sitting in a tub, not advil, not trying to use the potty, nothing. It was AWFUL.

I never considered constipation because she potty trained early, we had no issues whatsoever with it, and she pooped regularly. I guess the doctors discounted it also, because I told them she did go potty regularly. Because she DID.

We eventually ended up at Nemours Children's hospital, only to find out (confirmed by x-ray) that it was what the doctor sees ALL THE TIME. Impacted poop. Yep. Even though she was pooping regularly, she did not "go" sufficiently... only enough to relieve the urge evidently. Over time, it impacted high up in her system... and pressed on her bladder causing horribly painful spasms. Oddly, it only ever happened at night after she had been asleep for a bit. Maybe being horizontal had something to do with it? Anyway.... a dose or two of laxative is not sufficient. The doc strongly recommended an adult sized dose of MOM (milk of magnesia) TWICE a DAY for 2 days (recommended to do it over the weekend when we didn't have to go anywhere at all), then once a day for a few days after that. During that time, she was completely cleaned out, and I do mean COMPLETELY... He recommended also, that we start having her go sit on the potty after every meal, and stay for at least 10 minutes... to read lots of books on the potty.... Essentially to retrain her bowels to go after meals.

Since that time, we have not had another problem.

Could something like this be the issue? I don't recall my daughter ever being nauseous, but then, she was 4, and may not have known how to explain it. She had never thrown up at that age in her life, except when she got carsick at about 15 months one time.

1 mom found this helpful

take her to a GI specialist. Pediatrician's don't know everything and they sure don't specialize in GI issues. Make an appointment. That is ridiculous. If the doctor doesn't have answers, it means he just doesn't know the answer so you need to see another doctor.

It happened to my 4 year old (then 3 in January). It was for a few days until she on her own said she wanted to go to doctor. The results were a UTI. She didn't have diarrhea, constipation or fever. She wasn't even throwing up. She took the antibiotics for the UTI and the pain subsided until it was all gone. They did blood work and the urine test at an urgent care. I followed up with a doctor's appointment and her doctor (sometimes he bugs me...he does so much testing...I shouldn't complain), he also wanted an x-ray of her tummy.
Just a UTI. Have them check that.
Hope she feels better!

could be like a gas problem or may be just getting too full,not sure I am like the others if it continues and does not get better take her back.

Look into wheat/gluten intolerance. It can cause severe abdominal discomfort and fatigue, along with other symptoms. Cut out the gluten for a week and see if she feels any better, you should notice the results immediately. No breads, pasta, crackers, cake, donuts, cookies, etc. Rice, potatoes, oats, quinoa, and fruits and veggies will be safe to eat.

I would take your daughter to a pediatric gastrointerologist. Our son as an infant had a horrible stomach bug which our pediatrician also dismissed and he was in pain for a couple months before I went out of network to a peidatric GI doctor. She immediately determined he was lactose intolerant and once we took him off milk he was fine. The pediatrician had recommended we put him on yogurt to help his stomach get better, so her prescription was actually making it worse.

I think pediatricians mean well, but they often dismiss what they don't know about. If you are seeing a correlation to eating, then this is not a stomach bug, this is something else. Take her to an expert who will know if it is really nothing.

My daughter is six and is currently experiencing similar problem. She also feels bloated and has heartburns after meals. She calls them "little throw ups". This got me conserned and after the pediatrician total dismissal of the issue, I took the liberty to visit a Pefiatric GI specialist. He ran some blood test and determined she had the H pylori bacteria which lives in most of the humans but bothers only certain ones. Now she is on two-week antibiotic treatment which will eradicate the bacteria and all of the symptoms. If left untreated it may cause ulcer. It is worth considering to check. Good luck.

Maybe irritable bowel syndrome? Sounds like my son's symptoms.

It could be a new allergy or stress. Did this start with the beginning of the school year? I had an ulcer in my mouth from stress at this age. I wasn't a stressed kid and everything was fine at home, but I was still stressed about school.

I would honestly keep pressing the pediatrician. GI issues are easily confused with other things like viruses, and the fact that it's persistent would make me want to call the office and press them for a better answer.

It's very possible that it's a virus. But, be her patient advocate. Trust her, and get another opinion if you need to - medicine is still as much an art as it is a science.

Good luck.

Does she drink milk? She could be lactose intolerant. I use to drink milk all the time but recently ive been having horrible stomach aches. It would hurt for a few seconds then stop, then a couple of seconds then stop. It went on for a while. Then before bed one night after a few hours of eatting i drunk a glass of chocolate milk. I felt horrible a few hours later it would hurt so bad i would cry and i would wake up.

This may sound a little like it's not related, but when I was about 7 yrs. old, I had really bad stomach aches and they were always worse at night. It turned out that I needed glasses because I was nearsighted and the stomach pains were because of anxiety. The eye Dr. told my mother at the time that a lot of kids will get stomach aches when they cant see perfectly. You may want to get her vision checked. Couldn't hurt!

My son is experiencing this too so I'm interested in reading the responses... I am taking him to a GI doctor next because it's persisting. I just got him allergy tested and he is sensitive to gluten and potatoes which he currently eats a lot of (he's a carb guy!), so I'm going to scale down on them and see if it makes a difference.

Besides the gluten, check for GMO foods, such as corn, sugar beet, soy(no soy unless fermented, means no mayo) and more are genetically modified food and cause gut problems. If you can get a kefir granule and make kefir from raw milk in 24 she will not have this problem again. Also I make Kombucha and that will help all intestinal problems. Let me know if you want to know how I will teach you or give you the granules for kefir.

Maybe she needs to be tested for celiac? It's the gluten allergy...

I have had a virus for the past 2 weeks. I somehow picked it up Labor Day weekend. My stomach only bothers me after I eat. I have had this before though so that is how I know it is a virus. I would push to have your daughter checked but it is possible that her stomach is irritated by something and that is why she feels better after vomiting. Viruses really stink because you have to wait them out. Luckily I am the only one at home sick because I really do not want to have to deal with a sick child also.

See if you can figure out if it is only certain foods that make her sick, or is it everything? Keep a food diary. Maybe her body is not tolerating some foods well. If you can identify the offending food, remove it from her diet and see if that helps.

Great suggestions from the other moms. While you're waiting to get into a doctor, keep a food diary. Write down everything she eats and the time. This will help the doctor in diagnosing the problem.

You may want to have her alergy tested for foods.

It could be an abdominal migraine, they're common in children. (google abdominal migraine..)