Growing Pains?? - San Antonio,TX

my 8yr. old had the same prob. It was growing pains. now at 8 he just stopped growing. He has not got any taller nor gained weight and there are no pains.

L

I have a friend who son had pains in his joints like you are describing it was rhematoid arthritis he had to go to a specialist in Dallas several times.

It sounds like to me that she needs more calcium. You can get her those calcium chocolates at the store to eat once a day or get her to drink more milk. I've had the same problem and those worked great for me. Also, my niece had them more at night until we started giving her a glass of warm milk at night before bed. Try both and see how it goes. Good luck!

I have been dealing with a similar situation. At about 2 years old my daughter began complaining of knee pain. Eventually her knee swelled to 3x's it's normal size and she was unable to walk for an entire month. After several xrays , bloodwork, traveling to different pediatric hospitals, and an MRI , they came to the conclusion that she has JRA (juvienill rhuematoid arthritis) . Her wrists , elbows and other joints do get pain, but they say the JRA is isolated to the one knee. The other pains are due to her being over-flexible. The medication they gave her had her back on her feet in a few days. she has not had the swelling since, but has reoccurring pain. The knee may feel like it has a fever even. Scottish rites hospital in Dallas , Texas is where we finally got our answer. If you do not have medical coverage, it is no problem. They will even send you the meds free. I hope this helps.
PS. her blood work didn't always show the levels they were looking for to prove arthritis.

My son has the same thing Ana talked about. We saw a Pediatric Orthopedic for his severe knee and ankle pain. It was a lot like you describe, J.. We've had many days in his 9 years that he can't even walk, he pulls himself around the house on his belly like a snake bawling because his knees hurt so bad. The orthopedic did some testing and decided that my son has very loose, sloppy joints all over his body. The pain is definitely worse when he's growing and there are weeks he takes motrin several nights in a row but there are also weeks he doesn't need it at all. Some other things I've found that help are wrapping his knees in ace bandages when they hurt and rubbing Vicks on them at night when he needs it. He says the tingling makes them feel better. Heat packs work wonderful too, especially after sports.

For most children this is just a metaphor for changes...however I recently saw a segment on the local san antonio news about just a subject, it has to do with the growth of the child. I am not saying that she has that but if she complains about it often is worth bringing up to your Ped maybe....
Hope this way helful
God Bless

In addition to a second opinion and finding a good source of calcium... one that contains magnesium also......you may want to take your child to a Physical Therapist. If you live in the Austin area, Cullen Tennison at Wellness Matters is very good and very good with children.

Also, you and other moms may want to know that on May 3, the first annual National Woman to Woman Initiative will be held in Austin. Besides lunch, there will be a presentation by Dr. Jamie Bevacqua covering Women's Health, Children's Health, a Healthy Home and more. If you want more details, email me at ____@____.com.

I used to have pains in my knees also, especially at night. I would cry it hurt so bad. I think it was just my nerves. I still have pain in them sometimes when the weather is about to get cold. I don't know if it is growing pains or not. I remember having the pains starting the earliest when I was 9. I am 22 now and have two girls: a 2 year old and a 10 month old and rarely have pains anymore. It could be something more serious though....I would get a second opinion from another doctor.

My 8 year old has had growing pains off and on since she was 3. When it first started happening, I took her to our pediatrition and she immediately had x-rays and blood work done. Everything was fine and it was just growing pains but I know I felt better after the tests. Also, the doctor told me that while it is normal to have growing pains, they should not happen all the time, only when there is a growth spurt (every few months or so). I would be cautious and get a second or third oppinion.

You need to find another doctor if this is the reaction you get. Your daughter may have arthritis or some other condition. Find a second opinion.

This comes from no medical or previous experience, but there is a disease that wheat gluton causes, it is called Celiac Disease. I do not know if this could cause the pain, but you could check into it. It also can come later in life, so she may have been ok before and now it is starting to really affect her. I hope this helps and I hope you figure it, poor baby girl!

You need to switch docotrs and get a second opinio. When I was eight I had joint pains accompanied by fever and fatigue. My doctor told my mom for moths that it was nothing, i just wanted attention. So my mom not liking the answer he gave her took me to another doctor and a couple of days later they told my mom I had cancer. I am sure your daughter does not have cancer but doctors don't know everything, so you need to get a second or even a third opinion or until your daughter tells you she is no longer in pain.

Since this has been going on for so long, it certainly does not sound like growing pains! Allergies can do crazy things to a body, so a food allergy may be a cause. My son didn't talk until he was four and it was all related to food allergies. I would suggest going to a specialist or insisting that your daughter's doctor figure out what is wrong. Don't be satisfied w/the same old answer. Tell him/her that you really don't think that is it and you would like something further done for her. Don't back down!!! This is your daughter and you are paying them for their service!!!

Chronic joint pain is NOT NORMAL. If she's taking tylenol 4 x a week EVERY WEEK it sounds like she has some form of arthritis. I have JRA, and the doctor said for the longest that it was just normal growing pains. JRA is an auto immune disease and it can be linked to increased allergies and food sensitivities. Find a pediatrician who at least will give you joint x-rays and LOOK for the abnormality.

I agree with the previous post - find one that will at least take you seriously. Your daughter is obviously in pain and that is NOT normal. I suffered from childhood arthritis and severe allergies, but my parents found a wonderful doctor that helped by recommending physical therapy, diet and supplement changes and by taking me seriously when I said it hurt. Most pediatric doctors are general practioners, but there's nothing wrong with asking for a specialist to deal with a specific problem. Good luck!

hallo J.,
my daughter has the same thing for years now, she is 8. You should take her to an orthopedic. We went, and he said. People that have loose legiments, and there are alot of them, it's not a desease. Have jointproblrms like that. On the knee, for example,the kneekap falls out of the socket(cause of the loose legiments), and that causes the pain. There is nothing you can do about it really. He told her to stretch every day, and to ride her bike for 30 min. every day.
About the painkillers, me personally i refuse to give her meds, unless it's really bad. What i do is, i smear the liquid motrin on her knees.And when she goes to bed i put a hot waterbottle( you'll find those in the pharmacy), on her knees.
So lets hope it will go away some day.
A.

I am not sure what type of doctor deals in joint pain but I would definately not waste any time getting her to a specialist. I don't think that is normal at all for her to be in pain like that for so long. Maybe a Rhumatologist (sorry if it is not spelled correctly!) may be the type of doctor she needs to see.

K.

Hi, my name is M. & I know exactly how you are feeling.
I have a 3yr. old daughter(4 in Aug) who experiences the exact growing pains(?!?!?!). She only gets these attacks at night. She'll tighten & stretch her legs & just cry. Both my husband & I have tried massaging her legs, but we noticed when we get her up to walk or run she does feel alot better. This has been going on for about 2 1/2 years. Her pedi. has told me it is just growing pains & just to give tylenol.
The issue with the rash,well I really don't know what to say about that. My daughter also had a rash. It looked more like hives. On the red areas her skin was raised a little. One time it lasted about a month.
I am sorry I don't have answers for you. I do wish you well with your children. Hopefully, this is something our daughters will grow out of.
Best of Luck.

It may be growing pains, it may not be. But the first thing I would do is find a new pediatrician if your current one is not taking this problem seriously. It seems very odd for your daughter to have this much discomfort over "growing pains" and for you to have to medicate her with a pain reliever 4x per week as well as massage her legs. Your doctor should at least refer you to a specialist to have the problem evaluated simply because it has been going on too long. You also would want her to see an allergist to figure out exactly what food(s) she is allergic to. Good Luck!

It never hurts to get a second opinion! I am a Doctor's worse nightmare - I ask lots of questions.

I can remember having growing pains until I was 7. It hurt something awful. I can remember laying in my bed at night crying. From what I know, Tylenol is pretty safe as long as you give it as directed. It's when you don't give it as directed that you run into problems later in life.

My oldest niece had a problem like this when she was growing up and yeah for some reason it was always worse at night. What my sister-in-law found that helped was when she was hurting like that was to give her a nice hot bath to relax the muscles and then massage her legs.

Jennifer,
My son went through the same thing when he was that age and the docs told me the same thing. I did notice that it was worse the more active he was. He's now almost 18 and still has the growing pains along with softball size knots on his knees. I got him into see a orthopedic doc who immediately knew what was wrong and diagnosed him with Osgood-slaughter disease. Don't panic it's nothing serious. It's just that basically the bones are growing faster than the tendons and muscles, and the stretching of the tendons and muscles is what causes the pain. he had to give up playing sports, and had to rest his knees as much as possible by not taking the stairs at school and not mowing the grass at home (yep he liked that part.) and he still had to take motrin or pain meds. but the doc did give him a strap to wear on his knees, just below the knee cap that did relieve the pain. i can't remember the name of the strap, but if you go to a good sports store that sells sports supplies and ask for the strap that goes around the knees for knee pains they should be able to show you.
since your daughter is still very young it is best you talk to your doc about this and it just takes a few x-rays and a good orthopedic doc.
Here's a link to look at: http://www.drkoop.com/ency/93/001258.html
As to the rash, i really don't think it is realated. It most likely was one of the ingredients in the pita bread.
Good luck, I hope this helps

My 5 year old has had the same pains for the past 3.5 years. We have also gotten the same responses from the Doctor. We feel your pain in ouur household and wish you luck! Maybe we will both learn something from your posting.

Hi J.
I sympathise with your request, I have atopic dermatitits, and have been cleansing my body fro 6 months or so sinece the birth of my 11 month, it has become apparent that I can not love with this condition anymore.
SO I am determined. I have researched a great ddeal on ditet etc.
I think you should look into her diet and read about some natural ways to rid her of this pain.
I have a feeling it is something that she has included in her diet. Could be super simple!
Like dairy or sugar, etc.
The allergic reaction is what got me thining that.
She might have some toxic buildup causing all of this that could dissapear with a cleanse that is safe for children.
There is a ton of info out there for you.
Good luck
C.

I have two bits of advice for you. First look up celiac disease on the internet. And then if the symptoms seem to match, have her tested for it. It is a simple blood test. I know, not simple for a 4 year old. If your doctor keeps ignoring your concerns, see another doctor. I went to a doctor, and because my blood count was .5 of a point from being celiac positive she said I was negative. I went to another doctor and they did the test completely different, and I turned out to be positive. It also could be a simple food alergy. Celiac has been shown to be related to, if not cause other problems. I have had joint and back pain as long as I can remember and I have in fact developed an autoimmune disorder. Which leads me to my next piece of advice. If she doesn't seem to have celiac disease, I would have her checked by a rheumatologist. They are specialists in arthritis, and autoimmune disorders. I know I struggled for years to figure out what was going on with my body, but now that I know, I have a great deal of relief. Best of luck to you and yours. I hope this helped.