How to Treat This??!!

I was in that state when I was 12. My mom kept feeding me Pepto Bismol to help relieve the horrible cramps. Three days later I was nearly dead from a burst appendix. (Obviously, surgery saved me.)

It sounds like your son's pain is pretty extreme, and it could be worse than a case of diarrhea. Get him medical care as soon as possible.

I hope you have been to the ER or Urgent Care by now. We are not Dr.s here and can't diagnose your son.

However, abdominal pain can be serious so please get off the computer and get him to a Dr. STAT!

Please follow up later and let us know how he is doing.

Mom,

If he has a fever or vomiting....take him to the ER or Urgent Care. Pain like that - especially if it's located in the abdomen near the belly button or to the right of it? ER is warranted.

You need to keep him hydrated - Gatorade, water, popsicles, etc.

I would NOT give a child six pepto-bismol tablets - Pepto-Bismol is for upset stomachs, not for diarrhea, I know there are times when doctor's suggest it for diarrhea..but that's not what I would give to my child for diarrhea.

Hope he feels better soon! I would go to the Urgent Care...

Take.him.to.the.Doctor
Call an ambulance.
Now.

Plus, you overdosed him with Pepto Bismol.

Please update us when you can. By now surely you have gotten him to the emergency room, I hope.

The pain is the huge red flag-- diarrhea should NOT be painful like that. I also thought of appendicitis or a twisted intestine (either of which can be fatal but get misinterpreted as "just a stomachache" at first). Even severe food poisoning would have vomiting and possibly diarrhea but not necessarily such sharp pain. He should already have been to the ER.

Please let us know what happened!

I'm so sorry that your son is so sick. However, I can't understand why you are posing this question here, when we are not doctors and don't know what is going on with your son. The internet is a wonderful thing, but when someone is sick, the first course of action is still to call the doctor. Even on a weekend, a doctor's office should have an answering service to get a message to the doctor or covering physician, who can contact you if you leave a message. Or if you have a local urgent care walk-in, take your son there.
A parenting site like this is a great place to ask for toilet training tips or compare notes on how much homework your third grader gets, but when your child is sick, it's not the place to come for a diagnosis or treatment.
Good luck

Call your doctor and/or go to urgent care.

How long has this been going on and when did you give him medication? Is this your 10 year old?

Pepto Bismol is not recommended for children under age 12 due to the risk of Reye Syndrome (which is the same reason you don't give Aspirin to children). The maximum adult dose is 8 tablets a day so for a child, even if a doctor recommends it, it sounds like 6 is too high a dose in a day. Not only that, it's not a good idea to try to stop acute diarrhea - it's the body's way of getting rid of whatever is bothering the digestive tract.

Given that you've given your child a lot of a medication that's not recommended for children and he's in a lot of pain, I would at the very least call your doctor. The diarrhea makes it sound like it's viral and not something like his appendix but most kids don't cry and scream over a stomach virus.

If the doctor thinks it's just a virus, it should pass soon. Don't give him any more medication, the diarrhea is the body's most effective way of ridding his intestinal tract of whatever is bothering him. Keep him hydrated and try the BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce & toast) diet.

Really...this is not normal so please call his doctor.

ER or call the pediatrician on call. If your child is crying in discomfort I'd seek medical help. How old is your child?

A big pain like that for that long means it's time for the ER.
Acute appendicitis can be deadly if it bursts.
It's also possible he's got a kink or twist in his intestines which is just as bad..
Diarrhea by itself isn't that painful (no pain no strain just sit and let it drain) other than a few intestinal cramps and a warm bath or heating pad will relieve them.
He doesn't need to eat but he does need to keep his fluids up so give him all the pedialyte he wants.

Call your doctor's after hours/nurse line.

O
M
G

Kids cannot take pepto for adults!!!

Little kids shouldn't be given large doses of over-the-counter medication, even Pepto Bismol.

Anytime your child is in severe distress, you should take him/her to the doctor, just in case it's something serious.

Take him to the doctor, asap, as suggested by others.

Is there something wrong with you? He is in need of an ambulance and you are overdosing him with Pepto?

That could be food poisoning, a parasite, god knows! Get him to a hospital!

How old is he? I would be wary with using over the counter treatments for diarrhea in young children. My pediatrician would recommend against those because diarrhea in children is normally viral and needs to flushed out of the system. Common treatment is fluids and electrolyte replacement (pedialyte and we've used gatorade) and the BRAT diet..Bananas..Rice...Apples...Toast.

I second Patricia G, call your doctor &/ go to urgent care.

Pepto Bismol is safe for children. They market a version specifically for children. It is a natural product and safe. But it is not for diarrhea. It's made for upset stomachs. Because of the pain I would call his pediatrician or the hospital's advice nurse. An upset stomach and diarrhea is most likely a viral infection for which not much can be done. I would call to be sure because of the pain.

It might be he's crying because he's scared and not because the pain is severe. Calmly reassure him. He will be OK.

You do need to be sure that he stays hydrated. Have him take sips of water often.

oh poor baby...on the safe side of course always take him to the hospital
We grew up with this term BRAT its a term!!!.Helps you remember. Bananas, Rice, apple juice and toast. Those foods help put that stuff back together and stop the runniness that causes dehydration. So of course hydrate, hydrate