Worried about our 10 year old, keep us in your thoughts

[Jackie010307]

I've been noticing over the past 3 or 4 days that his appetite has really dropped. He's always been thin, but usually will eat everything in sight and says the words I'm hungry every 20-30 minutes. He's 5'2" and weighs 88 pounds. He will be 11 this month. In the past few days he's only eaten once or twice a day and has complained of stomach pain. Up until a bit ago be said his bowels weren't really moving and I was worried he was constipated. Now he's just had what was mostly liquid with what appeared to be very mushy pieces mixed in with a lot of mucus. Stomach is still hurting a lot. I'm hoping he's just come down with something but with our family history of bowel problems and his never having gained weight that relates to how much he eats I'm starting to worry a little.

 

[Trysha]

Hi Jackie,
What a worrying time for you.
It might be a good idea to let the GI specialist know what is going on with these symptoms.
Better to catch things in time if it is a flare starting up again.Keep us posted.
Hugs and best wishes
Trysha

 

[Leebie3]

Hi Jackie,

How is he now?

 

[Jackie010307]

He's not running to the bathroom now, but his appetite is still gone. He will eat sometimes but only a little. Not really sure if he's going through a stage of just not eating much or what, but he's never done this. Usually he eats every 20-30 minutes in between meals. I've always thought he eats too much but he weighs so little for his height that his dr has always said as long as its healthy food just let him eat.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Jackie, how awful! I don't have kids but I know if I did that I'd probably check every bowel movement they had from birth to adulthood. I really hope it's nothing, maybe a virus or "just a phase" as they say? Is his height normal for his age? I've read that "failure to thrive" is one of the childhood symptoms of IBD, which seems to mean both low weight and low height for the age. I don't know much more about kids and IBD, perhaps in the "Parents of kids with IBD" sub-forum they could give you more info though. I know there's an "Undiagnosed Kids" thread in there which might help you out and either confirm or alleviate some of your fears. (I hope alleviate!)

 

[Jackie010307]

Cat, his height is off the charts tall and always has been. He's going to be 11 next week and he's 5'2". His weight has always been low, right now he's about 85 pounds. His bmi has always hovered between underweight and barely in the normal range. Right now I'm just watching everything. He hates not being able to flush until I've looked but he's just going to have to live with it!

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

I wouldn't worry too much then if his height is okay. He sounds a lot like my "little" brother actually, he was always a very skinny but tall kid (he's an adult now and is 6 foot 6 inches and still very skinny, and no IBD nor other health issues - I'm the only ill one in my family). I'm the older one but he calls me "shorty" - I am the shortest one in my family and I do wonder if IBD played a role there, although I didn't get noticeably ill until I was almost 30 so who knows. Anyway, I hope he's okay. If things continue, you might want to take him to his primary care doc to get some blood work done. That wouldn't be too invasive and would hopefully point you towards an answer or a GI referral or whatever the case ends up being. Good luck, hang in there!