Child is sick too often! (update post 214)

[Hikergirl]

Thanks. I will start keeping track today on what she eats, how she feels.

Does anyone have any input on the slime she plays with? It's diluted borax, fragrance and elmer's glue.

Have you asked her if she is tasting or eating it?

 

[PollyannaMom]

The only thing I've heard with the slime is chemical burns from too much handling of the Borax over a long period. I can't imagine she'd be eating it at that age, but I guess the same thing could happen in the stomach.

 

[MamaBelle4]

I have nothing to say on the slime as it has been outlawed in my house. The kids got it EVERYWHERE. They can make do with Play-Doh here, lol.

My 5 year old has recurring stomach issues. I've taken her to the doctor several times but they can't find anything wrong. She is a tiny, tiny thing. Sometimes she will fall asleep before dinner and sleep through the night. If she does, she throws up in the morning, guaranteed. Something sugary and she perks right up and gets her appetite back. I had her tested for juvenile diabetes as that runs in my family, and she's in the clear. I don't really know what's going on except she is so tiny, so maybe she just has a super fast metabolism and her tummy just doesn't like being empty.

All of this to say, I've a bit of experience dealing with the upset stomach issues. Until the doctor's appointment, remember the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce & toast) and keep her hydrated. Either small sips to keep from sloshing or popsicles.

Good luck! Hope all is well!

 

[Lilacs4Me]

My son went through this between 4th and 5th grade. He missed a LOT of school, and we were called out of work many times by the school nurse because the first thing the school does when a kid throws up is call the parents to come and get them! He would throw up 4-5 times a week, mostly in the morning before school, although he did at other times as well. He seemed to do much better on weekends, school breaks, and over the summer. Figures, right! Of course everyone thought it was school-related, but nothing added up. His teachers loved him, he had a lot of friends, and he did well in class.

It took 9 months of us testing everything and ruling out things to narrow down what was going on. We tested for blockages, ulcers, celiac disease, bacteria in his stomach, swallowing reflex - EVERYTHING they could thing of. They put him on vitamins to increase his vitamin D and iron, and Zantac in case it was acid reflux. We started eliminating certain foods, one at a time for a month each, from his diet to see if it was an intolerance or allergy. They put him on a gluten and wheat free diet for 3 months.

Nothing changed. He was still throwing up. Eventually they had us see a psychologist, who diagnosed Rumination Syndrome. (he did not rechew his food lol - that would have made him puke even more just thinking about doing that! ) It is an eating disorder that is relatively involuntary - it is the body being trained to throw up because of something that happened previously - in DS's case, we traced it back to the week 4th grade started and he got very very sick with a virus that landed him in the ER because they were afraid he had appendicitis. They believe that he subsequently "trained" his body to throw up, which after a while became involuntary. DS hated it - he hates attention and the spotlight, so it was torture to him to have his teachers and classmates watch him run out of the room trying not to throw up, or having to ask to go to the nurses office because his stomach hurt, which it did All The Time. It started to affect his personality - he was so sad and felt hopeless that he would ever feel good and healthy again.

We did behavior therapy - every time he felt like he was going to throw up, he was to take 10 long, deep breaths and really focus and concentrate on the deep breathing. Apparently the body cannot throw up AND deep breathe at the same time (I'm sure there are exceptions so YMMV), so he had to essentially re-train his body to hold his food down. It worked for him - the episodes because fewer and farther between, and now he is in 6th grade and hasn't complained about feeling like he was going to throw up in almost a year.

Also, DS12 has had terrible headaches since he was about 4 and was officially diagnosed with migraines around the same time as the Rumination Syndrome diagnosis - this was a separate diagnosis - but the neurologist did say that it seems that kids with one often also have the other.

FYI on Gluten/Celiac Disease - it is not an "allergy" - it is an autoimmune disorder where the body attacks the protein found in wheat, barley, rye, etc in the small intestine. The attack damages and smooths out the villi that lines the walls of the small intestine, which affects the absorption of nutrients. There are other symptoms as well - nausea, vomiting, intestinal issues, flu-like symptoms, etc. True Celiac Disease can be diagnosed by a blood test and biopsy of the small intestine (DS12 had both done, and yes, the biopsy is done in the hospital in a surgical setting under anesthesia) to visually inspect the villi and see if it is damaged in the way that is consistent with Celiac. If someone has it, they shouldn't consume ANYTHING containing gluten - even crumbs from the toaster or using the same plate that had gluten on it can lead to an attack and the damage of the intestine. Having DS12 on a gluten free diet for 3 months was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I did not trust ANYTHING or ANYONE to feed him except for me...I was so scared of cross-contamination. And all of the people claiming they have a "gluten allergy" just because they think it sounds cool, or because one of the Kardashians went gluten-free, don't help - it becomes a joke and not taken seriously for those who really need it. My SIL who was a server all through college just told a story about how they wouldn't take gluten "allergies" very seriously at her work. I wasn't surprised.

 

[North of Mouse]

The Dr. will know what tests to run, if any, when he is able to examine her. A friend's child recently had a similar experience, and it was definitely a reflux situation that they're now dealing with, and he has had definite improvement.

No two situations are usually the same, so until your Dr. can evaluate, you cannot know.

Trust me, I do understand the worry/fear/frustration. We went through it with another matter. A mother tends to think the worst immediately!! The best to you and your DD.

 

[piglet1979]

Thank you. Do you think I should get a complete blood count? Maybe test her for allergies? I always worry about the worst, too, like cancer, diabetes, etc. My mind just runs wild I am such a worrier.

Try not to think about the worst. I know it is hard. These are the first things I think as well. I am very much a worrier too.

Here's something: she likes to play with slime. I wonder if that's any connection. It's glue, borax, water, and fragrance.

I have stopped letting my daughter use slime with Borax. She makes it with glue, baking soda and contact solution. After reading an article about slime and Borax I started to worry about it.

Yes, a gluten free diet is needed if someone has Celiac's. I do not know how how it is diagnosed. I know my friend's daughter was diagnosed after a test that required anesthesia in an OR at Children's Hospital, but I have no idea whether that was specific to her situation or some type of standard protocol about ten years ago.

The only way to get diagnosis with Celaic's is by doing an endoscopy to get a biopsy of the intestines. My mom was recently diagnosis and since I have a lot of the same symptoms as her I was tested as well. They can do a blood test first but that is not always accurate.

Does your daughter worry like you do? Right now we are working at finding the issues with my daughter (10). She has a stomach all the time, dizzy and shaky. So far it looks like nothing "medically" wrong and are moving towards it being anxiety. I have talked to other mom's of kids with anxiety and sometimes they work themselves up so much that they make themselves sick.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

Thanks. I will start keeping track today on what she eats, how she feels.

Does anyone have any input on the slime she plays with? It's diluted borax, fragrance and elmer's glue.

if you have any concerns about borax, stop using it. Elmer's recommends using contact lens solution and baking soda mixed with their glue, all of which are non-toxic. Elmer's also sells slime kits with a "Magical activator" (which is contact lens solution lol), so there is really no need to use borax at all.

 

[Christine]

Nothing changed. He was still throwing up. Eventually they had us see a psychologist, who diagnosed Rumination Syndrome. It is an eating disorder that is relatively involuntary - it is the body being trained to throw up because of something that happened previously - in DS's case, we traced it back to the week 4th grade started and he got very very sick with a virus that landed him in the ER because they were afraid he had appendicitis. They believe that he subsequently "trained" his body to throw up, which after a while became involuntary. DS hated it - he hates attention and the spotlight, so it was torture to him to have his teachers and classmates watch him run out of the room trying not to throw up, or having to ask to go to the nurses office because his stomach hurt, which it did All The Time. It started to affect his personality - he was so sad and felt hopeless that he would ever feel good and healthy again.

Interesting. My coworker (in her 50s) has this. If she gets triggered with a virus or something, she recovers from that, but goes on with this psychological vomiting thing. She generally has to go see her doctor when this happens and they give her medications (probably anti-nausea and anti anxiety) to get it to stop.

 

[mefordis]

Have you asked her if she is tasting or eating it?

No she's definitely not putting it in her mouth. She makes it and sells it and buys it from other people too. Quite the hobby.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Every time my kids have had mysterious vomiting spells something else comes later, for example Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. They had mystery fevers and vomiting, were fine for a day or two and then boom, blisters all over their oral cavities. Another time DD had a UTI and the vomiting and fever happened before the other symptoms.

 

[mefordis]

Try not to think about the worst. I know it is hard. These are the first things I think as well. I am very much a worrier too.



I have stopped letting my daughter use slime with Borax. She makes it with glue, baking soda and contact solution. After reading an article about slime and Borax I started to worry about it.



The only way to get diagnosis with Celaic's is by doing an endoscopy to get a biopsy of the intestines. My mom was recently diagnosis and since I have a lot of the same symptoms as her I was tested as well. They can do a blood test first but that is not always accurate.

Does your daughter worry like you do? Right now we are working at finding the issues with my daughter (10). She has a stomach all the time, dizzy and shaky. So far it looks like nothing "medically" wrong and are moving towards it being anxiety. I have talked to other mom's of kids with anxiety and sometimes they work themselves up so much that they make themselves sick.

She doesn't seem to worry like I do. But maybe she doesn't tell me. She is 100% better now, by the way, once she threw up. Headache, throwing up. now better. My sister thinks it's strep. We'll see - appt later today.
Thanks for your input! I'm sure your daughter will be fine and I'm glad there is nothing physically wrong!

 

[mefordis]

Every time my kids have had mysterious vomiting spells something else comes later, for example Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. They had mystery fevers and vomiting, were fine for a day or two and then boom, blisters all over their oral cavities. Another time DD had a UTI and the vomiting and fever happened before the other symptoms.

Funny you should mention foot and mouth, she had that in September!

 

[mjkacmom]

No she's definitely not putting it in her mouth. She makes it and sells it and buys it from other people too. Quite the hobby.

I’m SO glad this fad ended about a year ago here. I’d suspect random stomach bugs, we've had all kinds here, fever, no fever, week long, one and done... Dd15 has celiac, but vomiting was never an issue for her.

 

[mom2rtk]

I have to think the idea of having blood drawn would cause a great deal of anxiety in a child. Please don't mention that to a child who might already be having anxiety issues.

 

[mefordis]

I have to think the idea of having blood drawn would cause a great deal of anxiety in a child. Please don't mention that to a child who might already be having anxiety issues.

Definitely not! I"m not sure they will do that, especially if the rapid strep test is positive

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Reminds me of myself.
I am not a morning person and often felt very ill before school/first half of school (I also hated school so I'm positive some of it was me being stressed out even in elementary school). As an adult I realized that what helped was not getting up as early (Yeah I know not always possible) and eating very little for breakfast and then bringing a little snack with me for when I actually did feel like eating.
Perhaps your DD vomits because he stomach just doesn't like putting anything in it in the morning?

 

[piglet1979]

No she's definitely not putting it in her mouth.

She might have residue on her hands for it. So not purposely eating it but if she doesn't wash her hands after using it and then eats a snack she might be ingesting it that way.

 

[Pea's Mom]

So two things come to mind:

1. Eating something that she is reacting to (causes bad stomach ache, then vomiting).
2. Acid reflux/indigestion for whatever reason causing mild gastritis that would cause the nausea/vomiting.

Easy for me to say, but I don't think this is something to be a wreck over, but definitely worth a discussion with the doctor.

DD had the same situation in the fall. I think a good part of it was stress, she started college this year 8 hours from home, but she said that she was almost always nauseous and would frequently vomit. While she was home, the doctor put her on some acid reflux meds and she has been much better since. It came out of nowhere. I hope you get answers and your DD feels better soon!

 

[mjkacmom]

I have to think the idea of having blood drawn would cause a great deal of anxiety in a child. Please don't mention that to a child who might already be having anxiety issues.

Really? My kids get blood work every other year, it doesn’t bother any of them, same with shots.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Continuing to think back along with feeling ill/throwing up at times in the morning I would also feel dizzy sometimes and other times I'd get a nose bleed.
Finally decided this was due to getting up out of bed too quickly. Goes along withou not being a morning person I guess lol.
Just wanted to put that out there in case your DD may also experience those things.