*Inna* Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 My middle daughter has been having these weird stomach aches for quite a while. It's usually early in the morning, accompanied with nausea, no fever. She feels better after throwing up. At first we thought it was a virus, since the bug was going around. But it would come and go. She is a very sensitive girl too, so anxiety can trigger upset stomach as well as long car trips. She is very skinny. I'm planning to take her to the Pediatrician, but also wanted to ask the Hive. Can it be some sort of food allergy? Or psychological thing? It's VBS week and could be quite overwhelming. I just want to ask our Ped the right questions. TIA! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Might be nerves, or reflux, food sensitivity or ????? Hope you get some answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 I've tended to have "morning sickness" my whole life, ever since I was a teen. I don't have it all the time. It mostly occurs when I have to get up early or if I am extra stressed, but the early morning seems to be the biggest factor. I wouldn't say I have a stomach ache, though -- it is just nausea, and it is fleeting. When I was pregnant, I had bad morning sickness, so I have often wondered if it is somewhat hormonally related -- like if certain hormonal activity is more pronounced in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMV Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 My middle daughter has been having these weird stomach aches for quite a while. It's usually early in the morning, accompanied with nausea, no fever. She feels better after throwing up. At first we thought it was a virus, since the bug was going around. But it would come and go. She is a very sensitive girl too, so anxiety can trigger upset stomach as well as long car trips. She is very skinny. How old is your daughter? Does she have headaches with this? Morning headaches/vomiting (and feeling better after vomiting because it will often decrease intracranial pressure) are one of the red flags for brain tumors. Hypoglycemia would be another concern. (Especially if she has somewhat impaired gluconeogenesis due to impaired stores.) You mention she is "very skinny" but are you concerned about her weight? Is she growing and gaining weight (as all children should do)? Does her weight fit with what would be expected if you look at her growth curve? Does her weight fit with your expectations based on your and her father's genetic body composition? Anxiety can certainly play a role in all of this or perhaps be the root cause but I think it is reasonable to exclude other potentially life threatening explanations before attributing this all to anxiety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn- Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Do the episodes occur prior to eating breakfast or after? My first thought was blood sugar issues. I've dealt with them most of my life first thing in the morning. If I don't eat right after waking up (even something as small as a handful of nuts), then I get really nauseous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymonster Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 As LMV mentioned, if your daughter has headaches with this, please go to a pediatrician without delay. Morning nausea,headaches and vomiting were the red flags that helped to diagnose my son with a brain tumor. Hopefully it is being caused by something less exciting,but please do check with a pediatrician. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mysticmomma Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Hypoglycemia, gall bladder, brain tumor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedmom4 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 My son has had a lot of GI issues and thankfully he is doing well right now. To make a long story short, when ds was 3 he was diagnosed with stomach ulcers. They have come and gone over the years. In the beginning most of his stomach upsets were at night around 10-11. He would feel nauseous and only get relief after vomiting. Now his symptoms (when he has them) are generally in the morning. He can either have chest pain (which turned out to be esophageal spasms) or lower GI pain that eventually results in vomiting. Our GI has said that ds is a high acid producer. We watch his diet very carefully and have learned what foods/situations trigger it. We use medication when it's needed. We have worked hard to help him eat nutritionally healthy food that has good fat and plenty of calories to help him gain weight. Thankfully ds has never had ulcers in his lower GI which would be a more serious condition. This doesn't sound like a virus in your dd. Hopefully your pediatrician is knowledgeable about GI issues and can refer you to a good pediatric GI. It can take time to figure out what exactly is going on which can be frustrating. Also trust your gut as a mother if you feel something isn't right. There were a couple of times I had to really push to get testing done and each time the GI found something he wasn't expecting. Now he trusts me and when I tell him somethig isn't right with ds he acts quickly but it has taken years. Good luck! Elise in NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedmom4 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Also wanted to add that ds has headaches that accompany his GI issues. He also will run a low grade fever when he is symptomatic. But like others have said get it checked out. Elise in NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Inna* Posted June 23, 2014 Author Share Posted June 23, 2014 LMV, she's 8. No headaches. It usually happens either in the middle of the night or very early in the morning, prior breakfast. She's still within a normal range of weight for her age, very tall. She was the only pregnancy (out of 3) when I had Gestational Diabetes, but everything checked out fine when she was born. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Inna* Posted June 23, 2014 Author Share Posted June 23, 2014 Thank you, Elise in NC, your post was very helpful. I ran to the store after posting this thread and got her Pepto Kids. After she took it, she felt instantly better. :willy_nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedmom4 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Thank you, Elise in NC, your post was very helpful. I ran to the store after posting this thread and got her Pepto Kids. After she took it, she felt instantly better. :willy_nilly: Well since she felt better after taking the Pepto that's a good indication that she could have acid issues. The only part of your previous post that is concerning is that your dd is waking in the middle of the night. Our GI has always made sure that I understand that night waking can be a more serious GI issue. Doesn't mean that it is but when a child is waking from sleep with problems it needs attention. My ds never woke up but his problems were around the 10-11 pm time frame which our GI says is when the body starts producing more acid. Elise in NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 My young teen dd had tummy troubles for a few years until about age 16 someone finally thought to scan her gall bladder....it was malformed and full of stones. She had it out and had felt much, MUCH better ever since ( now is 20). Doctor told us gall bladders can be problems at any age, but most pediatricians simply do not think of it. Just a thought. Get it scanned to rule it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Sounds like me as a child. I had a very nervous stomach. I was on prescription stomach meds for IBS for many years. Diet for me makes a huge difference. I would definitely see a pediatric gastroenterologist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 I would talk to her ped about it. They can probably narrow down what is going on. I had stomach problems for ages, they did a lower GI and I also got the "high acid" thing. I am allergic to dairy, I didn't know that until I was older. As long as I don't eat dairy then I don't have as severe acid problems. Prelief is an OTC med that can reduce acid in foods. It might offer some relief. There are some foods that are high in acids such as soda, citrus foods, cranberry, tomato, very spicy food, and artificial sweeteners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgan Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 I would check with your physician, but in my experience they aren't always helpful with stomach pains; it probably depends on what kind of pains the child is desribing. My dd7 has had stomach issues since she started eating solid foods as a baby. However, her pediatrician (and a GI Dr) just chock it up to stress, nerves, etc. It wasn't until we started removing foods from her diet that we realized it was in fact food related. If all else fails, start removing things like dairy, gluten, eggs, acidic foods, etc for a while and then re-introduce them back into the diet one at a time and see what happens. I actually found the allergist more helpful and concerned with stomach issues than our primary doctor. Go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 you can also check to cyclic vomiting syndrome. http://cvsaonline.org/ my son was referred for that - it turned out he had a pinched nerve in his spine. he was successfully treated by a chiropractor (after several years and some nasty testing by the allopaths, who never figured out what was wrong.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Definitely check with your pedi. Does she fall on the lower side of the weight curve? My dd (now10) had ketotic hypoglycemia - if she didn't eat a large enough dinner, she would wake in the morning with nausea and vomiting, but once we got food in her she perked right up. I didn't pay attention to it (bad mom) and thought it was some weird stomach virus that no one else caught. As a result, her growth slowed for a while. Happy to report she's doing fine now, but that may be an angle to research. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Hypoglycemia, thyroid issues, allergies, or Celiac's come to mind. I have two kids that do this. One is fine if she's off gluten (she just had her third test for Celiac's and has Hashimoto's). The other is because of various other food allergies/intolerances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 It could be migraine even without headache. I would still get things checked--many of the things mentioned can cause migraines. People who are celiac or are sensitive to gluten sometimes have anxiety as a symptom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMV Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 you can also check to cyclic vomiting syndrome. http://cvsaonline.org/ my son was referred for that - it turned out he had a pinched nerve in his spine. he was successfully treated by a chiropractor (after several years and some nasty testing by the allopaths, who never figured out what was wrong.) Cyclic vomiting usually involves multiple episodes of vomiting over the course of several days abatement and then recurrence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMV Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 LMV, she's 8. No headaches. It usually happens either in the middle of the night or very early in the morning, prior breakfast. She's still within a normal range of weight for her age, very tall. She was the only pregnancy (out of 3) when I had Gestational Diabetes, but everything checked out fine when she was born. When I mentioned the growth chart I was more meaning is where she is at eight on the same curve she was on when she was five, six, or seven? If she is falling off her own growth curve then that can be a concern. I think your idea to see the pediatrician and get some things ruled out is reasonable. I hope you get some answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter's Moon Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 If I fall asleep lying flat, I wake up in the middle of the night with extreme nausea (but no vomiting). I have GERD, and I wonder if your daughter's is acid-related as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 throwing one more out there - strep - though I think that's usually more of a nighttime nausea than morning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hypatia. Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Just something else to throw out there - abdominal migraines. My 7 year old DD1 gets them (though she frequently gets the aura preceding them), we have a strong family history of migraine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Inna* Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share Posted June 24, 2014 What a day... We did see the Pediatrician in the morning and for now he asked me to keep a food diary for a month for her. They did urine test and it came back fine. Thank you so much for all suggestions. I will definitely read on them. I've spent most of the day in Urgent Care because my body apparently forgot how to function properly. What a nightmare of a day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momofeat Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I'm sorry you had such a rough day with your own health. My ds had similar symptoms when he was younger. As someone else mentioned, it was abdominal migraines. They were triggered by dairy. He is lactose intolerant. Once we took him off dairy, the nausea and vomiting ended, and he began gaining weight. (Not a lot, though. He's still thin!) He also became much more energetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn- Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Just something else to throw out there - abdominal migraines. My 7 year old DD1 gets them (though she frequently gets the aura preceding them), we have a strong family history of migraine. My DD gets these as well. Now that she is getting older, her head is the starting point. If she ignores the minor headache, the stomach isn't far to follow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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