What's going around? (stomach bug)

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

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Generally stomach bugs come and go pretty quick
My son has had one for 2 weeks. Two trips to the ER this week for acute pain in the abdomen. First time lower right, 2nd time right in the middle.

1st trip was to rule out his appendix. No issue there.

2nd trip was because he woke me up at 3 in the morning in the bathroom crying about blood.

through out the 2 weeks, fever off and on, a bit of nausea but no vomiting just in the bathroom every 20 minutes and mid morning until afternoon his is fine. In the evening, it comes back and every morning between 3 AM and 5 AM he is crying in pain.

X ray came back and she said "He has some really large air bubbles in there but his labs are all normal" Doc's opinion is that the blood was from straining.

So it just seems to be a nonspecific stomach bug but 2 weeks?
Is there something going around?

Oh the other interesting thing is that nobody else in the house (knock on wood) has caught it.

I am mostly just baffled by the duration of this.
 
Oh and first time seeing your 7 year old in a hospital bed with an IV is emotionally no bueno.
 
Sorry your son is feeling bad Bryan. It is tough to see your kid like that, I have raised 5 boys and have seen it all. I will say this only, if something doesn't make sense to you, keep asking questions till it does.
 
Bryan, nothing worse than seeing your kiddos hurting ... those are the times when you would trade places with them in a split second, if only you could.

Is he eating anything new that he hasn't before? My wife has a long list of food intolerances (not quite "allergy" but some pretty severe) that cause her intestinal distress. Docs threw up their hands and declared Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) after 4 or 5 trips to the ER and them being unable to identify a cause.

We found food allergy/intolerance thru some specialized blood tests.
 
No new foods. No food allergies. I was told to keep him hydrated and give him MiraLax to help everything in his system pass

He is home resting now and seems to be in a good mood.
Got a note from his teacher this morning stating another child in his class was diagnosed: "viral gastroenteritis" which appears to be doc talk for Stomach flu

I am reading about it and 80% of the symptoms match. I cant find data on typical duration.

The hard part is the pain. When the child is saying "Dad I will do anything to make this stop even go get a shot" I know it is bad.
 
It has been so rough. He's missed this whole week of school and has basically only left the house to go to the doctor. Makes me even more grateful that, on the whole, we have really healthy kids. He's 7, and these were our first real ER visits.

And hopefully the last for a long, long time.
 
BTDT.... when my son was 2 weeks old i get a PANICKED call from my wife, all i could make out was purple and not breathing. I made it the 11 miles from work to the hospital in about 8 minutes. Seeing my infant all wired for sound was NOT cool..
 
Bryan, sorry your kid is not feeling well. Nothing worse for a parent. Not a doc but really could be anything 2+ weeks for a virus does seem like a long time. If it does not improve you might want to get him to a pediatric GI doc. Could be anything from Giardia to IBS or IBD to a really persistent bug. Some Dx need not just blood tests such as for Celiac but stool samples or even a scope. I'm also a believer in probiotics for gut issues, but not the weak stuff you find in yogurt or at the corner pharmacy.

Pro-biotic treatment is an emerging area and its one of those things that docs will often say well it won't hurt but done waste your money. This was recommended to me and I bought it at Whole foods and my kid took it and her gut literally improved within 12 hours. I'm a skeptical SOB but I really think this stuff worked. Of course speak with your sons doc about anything you do. I hope that he feels better very soon. GI issues can really wear you down.

http://inner-eco.com/
 
AdamZ said:
Bryan, sorry your kid is not feeling well. Nothing worse for a parent. Not a doc but really could be anything 2+ weeks for a virus does seem like a long time. If it does not improve you might want to get him to a pediatric GI doc. Could be anything from Giardia to IBS or IBD to a really persistent bug. Some Dx need not just blood tests such as for Celiac but stool samples or even a scope. I'm also a believer in probiotics for gut issues, but not the weak stuff you find in yogurt or at the corner pharmacy.

Pro-biotic treatment is an emerging area and its one of those things that docs will often say well it won't hurt but done waste your money. This was recommended to me and I bought it at Whole foods and my kid took it and her gut literally improved within 12 hours. I'm a skeptical SOB but I really think this stuff worked. Of course speak with your sons doc about anything you do. I hope that he feels better very soon. GI issues can really wear you down.

http://inner-eco.com/
Click to expand...

We have some gummy probiotics that I think I bought at Walmart. :redface: This stuff sounds interesting, and they just put a Whole Foods in about 10 minutes from our house. Though I read the FAQ sheet and it sounds quite volatile -keep below 40 degrees even while transporting, be careful opening as it could explode. :yikes:
 
Sorry to hear Mini6PC is suffering. When my kids have had surgeries, it was the worst. I hope he's better very soon.
 
What is weird is the timing....3am to 5am. Typically this is the time where the stomach does its digesting from what I have read.

Stomach flu makes you sick no matter what time of day.

Think you may have a not so common problem that it's going to take a not so common diagnosis(which means lots of visits to the doc until they are willing to dig deeper) Gallbadder maybe??

Get firm with them if it doesn't clear up soon!!!!
 
Last edited:
SixPapaCharlie said:
No new foods. No food allergies. I was told to keep him hydrated and give him MiraLax to help everything in his system pass

He is home resting now and seems to be in a good mood.
Got a note from his teacher this morning stating another child in his class was diagnosed: "viral gastroenteritis" which appears to be doc talk for Stomach flu

I am reading about it and 80% of the symptoms match. I cant find data on typical duration.

The hard part is the pain. When the child is saying "Dad I will do anything to make this stop even go get a shot" I know it is bad.
Click to expand...

You don't know that he has no food allergies, lactose issues can come and go, I know. Is he having milk before bed?
 
Hope he gets better. Any chance it is gluten/grain intolerance?
 
Henning said:
You don't know that he has no food allergies, lactose issues can come and go, I know. Is he having milk before bed?
Click to expand...

No.He doesn't drink milk.
I have a kid that will only drink water.

So far today had been his best day.

Tonight I'm crossing my fingers.
He hasn't been lethargic like the prior days.

I really hope it had run it's course.this had been tough on him and the rest of us too but he has had such a hard time.

Oh man he got "the rubber glove" treatment at the ER. "Dad what are they doing?! this is gross!"

Poor guy
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
No.He doesn't drink milk.
I have a kid that will only drink water.

So far today had been his best day.

Tonight I'm crossing my fingers.
He hasn't been lethargic like the prior days.

I really hope it had run it's course.this had been tough on him and the rest of us too but he has had such a hard time.

Oh man he got "the rubber glove" treatment at the ER. "Dad what are they doing?! this is gross!"

Poor guy
Click to expand...

Geez... no male should have to go through that until he's 40.

Sorry he's not feeling well, and I hope he's feeling better by the time you read this.

Rich
 
Mini6PC is an awesome kid. Hope he feesls better soon.
 
AdamZ said:
Bryan, sorry your kid is not feeling well. Nothing worse for a parent. Not a doc but really could be anything 2+ weeks for a virus does seem like a long time. If it does not improve you might want to get him to a pediatric GI doc. Could be anything from Giardia to IBS or IBD to a really persistent bug. Some Dx need not just blood tests such as for Celiac but stool samples or even a scope. I'm also a believer in probiotics for gut issues, but not the weak stuff you find in yogurt or at the corner pharmacy.

Pro-biotic treatment is an emerging area and its one of those things that docs will often say well it won't hurt but done waste your money. This was recommended to me and I bought it at Whole foods and my kid took it and her gut literally improved within 12 hours. I'm a skeptical SOB but I really think this stuff worked. Of course speak with your sons doc about anything you do. I hope that he feels better very soon. GI issues can really wear you down.

http://inner-eco.com/
Click to expand...
I'm impressed, not bad for an attorney. However, I doubt that Celiac disease would present this was but GI is not my specialty. It might be a good idea to test the stool for C. diff if the kid has been exposed to antibiotics in the last few months.

SixPapaCharlie said:
Oh man he got "the rubber glove" treatment at the ER. "Dad what are they doing?! this is gross!"

Poor guy
Click to expand...
My training many years ago was that (at least in adults) it is necessary to check a stool sample for blood and this is how it is usually obtained.
 
I really appreciate the well wishes.
He went the whole day today with no issues and was in a great mood. We played outside and it was just a great day.

Mrs 6PC and I both collapsed and napped for hours in shifts today. We haven't slept more than a few hours for a couple weeks.

Maybe this is funny. My son is at an age where he can't sleep like a normal person. He gets all contorted. I just went in to check on him and make sure he is asleep and not sick and this is what I see.


10603799_10205438501868905_7201780915413512273_n.jpg
 
Glad he's feeling better. It's rough when they're down. Try to rest.
 
Great to hear he is past the worst of it. Soon it will be just a faded memory replaced with lots of happy Jack times.
 
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