Stomach Issues. . .what Step to Take Next? Lactose Intolerance??

Could be a lactose intolerance or about a dozen other things. My son has a lactose intolerance and the symptoms match, but you may still want to consult with a GI doc. You should, as another mom suggested, keep a food diary. Write down what she eats and when (if you see a GI doc they will be happy you did this). You may find an obvious culprit. Because lactose intolerance is common, you may want to try removing it and see what happens for a few weeks and then try adding it back. Or, you could do a true "elimination diet" where you remove all items known to cause allergic reactions (wheat, dairy, etc). After a few weeks of cleaning out her system, you start adding foods back slowly.
Good luck.

Please do not take our advice over that of a GI specialist - that's why your pediatrician referred you to them (because your ped doesn't know for sure).

It took 4 long weeks, 3 pathologists, 2 breast ultrasounds, and several doctors to diagnose my cancer that everyone thought was "nothing" other than postpartum hormones.

It's possible it could be something serious like Crohn's disease (https://health.google.com/health/ref/Crohn's+disease) or something like stress, but it's only by going to a specialist that you're going to understand the medical cause of the issue - you can take that information and decide how to treat.

We had a neighbor who developed ulcerative colitis in college - at 33, he had his entire colon removed because the symptoms were missed much earlier, and there's no known cure.

Good luck - please figure a way to get to the Gastroenterologist.

I agree with the poster below who recommends waiting for advice from a specialist before attempting anything. Don't try to self-diagnose. It could be anything. We have a history of digestive issues in my family -- grandfather had Celiac's disease, mom with interstitial cystitis and me with irritable bowel syndrome. You don't want to mess around with your "best guess." You need a set answer so you can develop the right treatment option. If you guess wrong, you could just make things worse. Definitely push to get in for a reschedule with the GI and stay on top of things in case there's a cancellation you can get in on.

My daughter had the same issues and we went to the doctor and he did tests on her appendix and found nothing. Looks to me like lactose intolerance because that's what the doctor said it was with my daughter and she's 10 take her back to the doctor and mention another mom has the same issues and was diagnosed as lactose intolerance and you also want to get her appendix checked out to make sure it is not that.

Good Luck!
S. T

keep track of what she's eating and when the attacks happen. Does the explosive diarrhea and stomach pain happen after she's had a lot of milk products or is it random?

You could try cutting out wheat or milk for a couple of weeks and see if that helps. It could be lactose, it could be celiac, it could be IBS.

My daughter had something that lasted on and off almost 3 weeks and I'm not a doctor, but really it sounds very, very similar to what you are describing. She's 8 years old. She'd be behaving perfectly normal and feel absolutely fine - running around - but suddenly he'd have a bad stomach ache and when I'd have her sit on the toilet, she'd have a b.m. - so I thought she was maybe getting the stomach ache from being constipated and not spending enough time in the bathroom- my husband's the one who's home with her and I've been working full time, so not home to monitor what's going on. But then she had explosive diarrhea - which can come also from being constipated. So I just thought we were on that roller coaster until I could teach her to be patient in the bathroom. But then things seemed to get worse - lots of loose stools for days. I was so confused and was going to start a log of what she'd been eating to see if there might be a correlation. Finally, my hubby fessed up that he'd been having something for about 5 days himself- so I knew it was some kind of bug - so I didn't take her to the pedi. I got something very mild myself - almost not noticeable - that lasted maybe 2 1/2 days - so I think how it hits you depends on your system. My other daughter got it for maybe 1/2 day. Only because we all got a touch of something could I know that it was a bug - otherwise I really would have thought she had some kind of gastro issue or allergy. Finally - I'd say now that it's been about 4-5 weeks - she's over it. So who knows what it was - but it did go away. Yours may not be the same thing or maybe it is. Problem is that you might have to wait weeks for it to settle down and go away if it is the same thing. Good luck !

Why don't you find a GI doc convenient to you and set up your own appointment?

If this has been an ongoing issue I think it's important to follow up and work on getting a diagnosis.

Keeping track of your daughters pain in relation to what she eats will be helpful. Lactose intolerance is way overdiagnosed in my opinion.

But keep in mind that 2 weeks is about the duration of a typical virus that would cause diarrhea so this may just be a bug that has run its course.

Updated

Why don't you find a GI doc convenient to you and set up your own appointment?

If this has been an ongoing issue I think it's important to follow up and work on getting a diagnosis.

Keeping track of your daughters pain in relation to what she eats will be helpful. Lactose intolerance is way overdiagnosed in my opinion.

But keep in mind that 2 weeks is about the duration of a typical virus that would cause diarrhea so this may just be a bug that has run its course.

Hi K. D.,

Here's my suggestion: http://www.rawpaleodiet.com/

Good luck,
M. D.

The easiest thing to do would be to cut dairy for awhile & see how she does. I developed lactose intolerance at an older age, so it took me awhile to realize it had become a problem. There are many non-dairy alternatives out there. The other thing that I have trouble digesting is raw fruits & vegtables. It's something that most people assume are great for you & they are, but there are those of us out there that have trouble digesting raw foods. Try cutting out one thing at a time & see if anything helps. There are also digestive enzymes that you can find at helth food stores that assist the body in digesting foods properly. Good luck to you.

This does sound like a lactose issue. I went through this with both of my girls. Keep track of what she eats for a few days and how she feels. Remember milk hides in everything, so read labels!!! Then try cutting out the dairy for a week or two and see how she feels. You should be able to tell pretty quickly. Don't worry about calcium right now, you can figure out all that once you determine if it is dairy. The other thing it could be is a gluten intolerance, that doesn't show up on the celiac test. Try the dairy first, then if it does not work cut out the gluten for a while and see what happens!

There's a great children's supplement you can try instead of spending all that time & money seeing specialists, having tests and buying meds. Why not try it first? My son is no longer lactose intolerant, and so many of my friends have cleared up their IBS and constipation issues. One friend has solved the problem in her 1 year old as well as herself! It's safe for celiacs too. Let me know if you want more info.

My daughter complains a lot of diffuse stomach pain. We had the GI workup and she has moderate acid-reflux & chronic constipation.

We were taking prevacid for the acid-reflux, but I took her off it and we're now using pro-biotics for kids and a digestive enzyme supplement as well as a fiber supplement. They seem to be working relatively well.
Buddy Bear Digest
Lil' Critters Probiotic Acidophilus

Can't believe a celiac blood test, either way (sorry!). My son has celiac and his blood tests were negative. He has a classic case of celiac, extreme sensitivity, extreme immune suppression, every single symptom in the book. I would definitely see the GI doc if this diarrhea continues (even if sporadically), but in the meantime, it might make sense to eliminate some possible food offenders from her diet, including dairy, like you suggest, or even wheat or gluten. The GI doc will have another cancellation, just stay on top of it by calling every few days (I do this all the time). And it could be a virus, but also a virus like that could trigger something else in the bowel arena.

We eliminated dairy and then gluten from my son's diet, while waiting to see the GI - per our pediatrician's direction (he was dangerously ill). By the time we got to our appointment, we already knew my son had celiac and he was already 8 weeks healed. So, keep an eye on your daughter, and if you can afford the GI and the time to get there, try to make it there as soon as you can.