I would love to know if there is anything that helps with the pain! We've tried all the heat ideas, relaxation, he's now doing Biofeedback (out of pocket). Levsin, Bentyl, now we are on donnatal. All of it offers slight lessening of the pain. Nothing knocks it out. He is seeing a psychiatrist to see if those meds can help, nothing so far.
I have migraines and have taken narcotic opiates for year. Frankly, I can function much better on one hydrocodone than on any of the triptan headache pills. I understand about addiction, but as my first neurologist wisely said, "If you need to take it regularly anyway, the difficulty of going off it is never really going to occur, is it?"
I do understand about the acclimation issue, and I switch pills from time to time. I understand why docs would be reluctant to give major pain relievers to kids. I keep threatening to just take him into ER--surely they would give him something? Especially at night, when it's not going to interfere with his school. But if he can't go to school due to the pain anyway, what difference does it make! Okay, my rant is over.
About nighttime pain--there is new research about the gut/ brain connection which I can't explain well but basically our doc told us that the gut is producing seratonin, and late night is when seratonin production falls, so that's when your pain experience goes up. Also for digestive pain it can have to do with when you eat--my son's pain hits at 11 pm every night which is about 4-5 hours after dinner. Depending on how fast your motility is, this could be just when the stomach empties to the small intestine, or when it passes one of the intestinal valves. Also, of course, digestion doesn't work as well laying down.
We have started feeding my son half of his dinner around 4pm and then having him eat the other half with us at 6pm. This seems to help. You also might try restricting any food after a certain time, say 6 or 7 pm. The later at night he eats, the more pain he is. Also, sleeping propped up on pillows or in a reclining chair might help.
Sadly it is true that tv or video games are more distracting than anything else. Our electronics rules are really hard to enforce when it's midnight and he's screaming with pain. Sometimes we succeed in having him lie in bed listening to books on tape.