Do my son's symptoms sound like Crohn's?

[Amh72]

On Dec. 31 my son started complaining of stomach pain. He described the pain as sharp and stabbing right around his navel. A couple days later he started having diarrhea but only three times in two days. On Jan. 11, we finally took him to the Children's Hospital ER. They did x-ray, CBC, ultrasound and everything came back neg. They kept us in the hosp. for 2 nights for fluids and onservation. The GI team came in and diagnosed him with gastroenteritis and post-viral gastro-paresis. They put him on zantac and miralax and sent us home. His pain still persisted and his appetite was slowly decreasing. Since then we have been back to the ER where they sent us home saying he was just constipated. Our dr. scheduled a CT scan and that came back normal as well. He has been living off of crackers, pretzels and sprite or gatorade. He says eating sometimes makes his stomach hurt worse. He is constantly complaining and has become very frustrating for the whole family. All he does is lay around and moan. He missed 2 weeks of school and the past 2 weeks we have made him go and he is completely miserable. He doesn't want to play with his friends all he wants to do is lay his head down. We are going to a GI dr. on Wednesday. After reading several of these posts i have decided to eliminate his sugar and make him drink water instead of sprite and gatorade. Oh and he also gets dizzy at times.

Any ideas????

Thank you!!

 

[Tesscorm]

Sorry to hear your son's not feeling well! I hope you are able to get some answers on Wednesday.

I'm sorry I can't give you much advice, Crohns presents itself in so many ways... He may be feeling dizzy if he's avoiding to eat so that his stomach doesn't hurt, have you tried some nutritional shakes (such as Ensure)? Also, lots of water...

Wish I had more ideas for you... Good luck on Wednesday!

 

[ShawnC]

No offence, but maybe you should take your son's pain a bit more seriously. Obviously, something is very wrong if he's continually complaining about the pain to the point where it's "frustrating" to you and your family.

Removing sugar from his diet is borderline cruel. Not because of the taste, but it's a simple carbohydrate that's easy to digest. If he does have digestive issues, feeding him complex carbohydrates, protein or fat could be worse for him as he can't break down these foods as easily and would be unable to extract a sufficient amount of nutrients due to an inflamed intestinal tract.

The lack of energy and being dizzy could be related to his diet. If it is Crohn's, you need to adjust the diet accordingly. Essentially anything easy to breakdown is best and you need to avoid common triggers such as chilli/curry/spice (anything hot), caffeine etc.

Crohn's is not an easy disease to diagnose. I was "diagnosed" in 2009, and doctors still aren't sure if it actually is Crohn's or not, but it does present itself that way and hence I'm currently being treated for it.

Either way, ensure you take him to a doctor. If they say nothing is wrong, take him to another.

Whatever you do - don't punish him for complaining about the pain. Take it seriously, be concerned and make sure he gets help.

In the short term, you could encourage him to take panadol or other paracetamol tablets (8 a day is the recommended max dosage, so 2 every 4 hours) to not only aid with pain, but to reduce inflammation that could be the cause of his inability to digest foods properly which leads to lack of energy.

 

[DustyKat]

Hi and :welcome:

I'm sorry to hear your boy is unwell...:hug:

As Tess has said, Crohn's can present in many ways and certainly many of the symptoms you describe could be attributed to Crohn's. It is also possible to have negative tests and still have Crohn's. Sometimes even when the docs know what they looking for it can still be missed. Since the less invasive tests that have already been done are normal perhaps the GI will suggest something like an endoscopy/colonoscopy so they can look directly at the bowel.

Has he had bloods for CRP and ESR? They are inflammatory markers.

Pain around the navel may indicate a problem in his ileum/terminal ileum. Maybe have bloods tested for B12, Iron Stores, Folate and Vitamin D levels as well. Deficiencies or low levels in any of these may help pin point things.

Good luck and let us know how the appointment goes.

Dusty. xxx

 

[Dexky]

Welcome Anh! There's obviously something serious going on if his pain has persisted for a month. Don't let up until you get solid answers and a treatment that gives him relief. Hopefully, Wed. appt. will bring some insight. Good luck!

How old is he?

 

[Heather7]

It can get quite frustrating for all involved. You need to be strong advocate for your son and demand answers.... keep pushing fluids to keep him hydrated that is why he is dizzy...it can happen so fast...my blood pressure was 76/38...because I was so dehydrated...ride in ambulance and couple days in the "Hilton" (hospital)... Best of luck. I feel his pain.

 

[dannysmom]

Hi. How old is your son? I can certainly understand the feelings you have with a son who feels very ill and doctors that are not sure of the cause. My son became ill (with similar symptoms) when he was 11 - that was 3 years ago and he is still sick and still undiagnosed ... but we keep trying things and pushing. I agree with Dusty that a colonoscopy is probably what the GI will want to do. When my son was 'forced' to go to school while feeling ill, he did not learn anything as he felt too bad. Our school has been providing home instruction for nearly 3 years now (I cannot believe it has been that long) .. it has helped him keep at grade level. Good luck!!

 

[izzi'smom]

I am wondering how old he is also. It must be frustrating to see him in pain and have "normal" test results. My daughters disease was diagnosed via colonoscopy.
Diet may help for some children some of the time, but know that it doesn't work for everyone. I severely restricted dd's diet...it helped the first time and didn't make a bit of difference the second. I kept a food diary for 9 months and found zero direct links between diet and disease, which her ped GI says can be typical of cd. I would not give him any medications without a doc's approval.
Good luck to you, and I hope you get some answers!

 

[Amh72]

Thank you all for your replies. My son will be 11 in March and weighs 65 lbs so he cannot afford to lose any weight. Through all of this he has only lost a couple of pounds even though he has no appetite. I have done so much research that whatever he may have I know I have read about it! All this time I have really felt quite certain that he had chronic appendicits, but I know you have a hard time convincing dr.s of that. I will not give up and until I find some answers!

Dannys mom-I am so sorry you have been going through this for 3 years! This last month has been very trying I can't imagine doing this for another 3 years!

Shawn C-It's kind of hard NOT to be offended when you are being accused of not taking your childs pain seriously! We've been to ER twice and dr. 4 times in one month and I have harrassed the GI clinic numerous times to get a quicker appt. which I managed to do! And the sugar thing, I was talking about fructose..I cut our sprite and gatorade and making him drink water instead. Hardly cruel! But thanks for your input anyways!

 

[lookame]

pedialite is a good alternative to juice drinks, sprite and gatoraid. A lot of abdominal problems can come across as crohns like...at least as symptoms go. Does it sound like soething is going on...yes but whether it's crohns can be debateable. Crohns does present in many different ways. My son has had bloody diarreah before and would fall on the floor crying holding his stomache and had liquid diarreah up until he was 3 years old. We anaged to do a simplechange from having dairy milk to lactaid milk and it's made a world of differance. Perhaps his pain is linked to something he constantly consumes like dairy or wheat or greasy food. It also may help to write down when his pain comes on is it before he goes to school? After he eats something? Have him rate his pain and write down what he eats and when he ate it. you'll be surprised what the journal may reveal.... Good luck

 

[lookame]

Oh and if he's not eating you can give him something like an ensure shake...it doesn't taste great but it's not horrible either and he'll get the nutrients he needs

 

[kimmidwife]

I just wanted to say good luck at the GI. We all know how tough this is. It seems to be 11yrs old is a common age for onset of crohns from what I am learning maybe the onset of puberty? My daughter was diagnosed at 11 as well as several other kids here. I also wanted to tell you to keep pushing as you have been doing. Ask your GI to do a colonoscopy and endoscopy. We had to push our GI as they wanted to try other things to see if it was something else and we insisted on the colonoscopy and got an immediate diagnosis.

 

[DustyKat]

It didn't occur to me to direct you to this thread...

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=18372

Dusty. xxx

 

[ChampsMom]

You could also try Boost - it comes in a juice type consistency or a milky one - a variety of flavors.

For the drinks - not sure if you have access to G2 vs regular gatorade, that's one of my son's preferences.

A couple of ideas while you're going through everything (whether he's diagnosed with Crohn's or anything else) stay away from corn, corn products - including popcorn, nuts or anything that can be typically hard to digest.)

Also, one of my favorite home remedies for the tummy is a homemade ginger tea. Take a piece of ginger, cut off a 2 inch piece, peel and then chop. Boil the ginger to make the "tea". Add a bit of brown sugar to taste. Ginger is known to be good for the tummy and digestive track.

Good luck with the testing! I pray it's not Crohn's and I pray you get some answers soon.

Last (and people have heard this from me before)... keep him out of school until he feels better - no one can learn when they feel like crap or are exhausted. Talk to the guidance counselor about options.