Unexplained Tummy Aches

Updated on September 17, 2011
R.F. asks from Plano, TX
10 answers

I left a message with my doctor as well, but maybe some additional mama input will help...My 5 year old daughter has been complaining of tummy aches. They come and go - a couple months ago she complained about the same thing. Just a general pain in her belly - I asked her where it hurt, and she just opened her palm around her belly button and said "here'. Her diet hasn't changed, she eats a variety of foods including grains and veggies. I asked her the last time she pooped, and she said last night, so I don't think it would be constipation. No vomiting, no fever, no signs of a UTI as she has a history of them.
It's hard to figure out what would cause a general tummy discomfort. I have tried Children's Pepto (OTC remedy, I understand the pros and cons, etc.) and that didn't help. No known food allergies. Are there other questions I should ask my doctor/daughter as far as a cause? I can't let my brain over worry, because, believe me, I WILL, I just feel bad for her (especially because I'm not the mommy of the year being woken up at 3am).
Thanks!!

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

Stress?
Sometimes when/if they start school, that itself can be stressful.
Is she in school now?

Or does she have gas?
My daughter gets tummy aches... and then usually, after that she will fart or have to go and poop. Then she is better. Her Dad is like that, too.

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M.N.

answers from Bloomington on

My daughter has a very sensitive tummy and any stress or anything has her complaining that her tummy hurts.

She has actually been complaining about it alot in the mornings lately and I finally figured out that it is because she is not eating enough at night before she goes to bed so it is actually hunger pains.

Also when she was in preschool she complained about her tummy hurting and I thought she just didn't want to go to Pre-K, especially since by afternoon she was acting just fine, turned out she had a serious throat infection. She had never once complained about her throat hurting. The Dr. looked in her mouth and said "yep, I'd be complaining about my tummy hurting too with this big of an infection". I felt horrible.

So, no real answer here, just a lot of maybe's. I would just let your Dr. know if she is complaining more at certain times than others and so forth. He should have a pretty good answer for you on either what is going on or what to look for. I hope that you follow up and let us know what he says as I would be curious.

Good luck and I hope your daughter gets to feeling better soon. :o)

2 moms found this helpful

C.M.

answers from Washington DC on

My 6 year old has been dealing with this for about 2 years now. At first we thought it was just a virus, but no fevers or anything else. Then we thought maybe she was just nervous about something like school. She said she loves school and is actually bummed when it's the weekends. We have tested her for celiac, allergies and nothing major came back positive other than being hypothyroid (I am as well), but that doesn't cause stomach pain. We have even taken her to the ER and the did an x ray and it showed she was backed up a little bit even though she poops every morning. So maybe she is backed up a little? I hope she feels better soon. It has been tough trying to figure it all out. We still don't have any definate answers

1 mom found this helpful
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K.L.

answers from Savannah on

When I was in kindergarten I used to complain to my mother about tummy aches all of the time. Turns out that my stomach was hurting because of stress (I don't know if it was an "all in my head" type of pain or if there really was pain or even if I would just say it without any pain). I was apprehensive about the change of starting school and while I was friends with most of the kids in the class, there was 1 girl who used to pick on me. If your daughter's diet has not changed and you can't figure out a physical reason for her pain, it could possibly be that she is being affected by something emotionally. It may even be something very slight that can just upset her stomach. SOmething to think about.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.R.

answers from Miami on

Hi R., So sorry you and your daughter are going throu this...

1. our toddler went through a similar thing recently.
2. our pedi said try no milk products for a few days and see if it makes a difference. he then introduced back on Yogurt Bio products and said to try to stay away from other milk products as well...
3. Because my son is pale (and thus we use sunblock in our climate :)), our pedi also recommended vitamin D to bolster his immune system

hope this helps a little.
Jilly

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K.C.

answers from Dallas on

Trust me, I understand your concerns. I'm dealing with the same issue right now, with my 6yr old. A little back history, she had a navel hernia surgery 3 years ago. A year later, she started complaining on tummy problems. We immediately had her checked for possible scar tissues, negative. We then had an ultrasound, negative. Went as far as going to see a GI specialist, he could not pinpoint anything but says possibly Acid Reflux or IBS, her pains come every now and then. Recently they have returned and its stressing me as I can narrow down the cause or how to treat it. I have recently started giving her more fiber, hoping it will help. Interested to read more incoming posts.

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D.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

Lactose intolerance?

J.L.

answers from Clarksville on

Hi R.,

When my 8 year old daughter was 4 she used to complain of stomach aches all the time. There were times within a 4 month period that she would have a 10-24 hour bout of throwing up only to then have a ravenous appetite after she was done. Her ped suggested everything from stress, allergic colitis, acid reflux, a stomach bug, food allergies and we even saw a GI specialist. All tests were negative.

We are a military family and husband was deployed at the time so stress was our number one focus. I kept a food and pain journal as well trying to pinpoint a pattern for her ped and specialist to focus on.

However, I resorted to alternative medicine because the wait for the specialist was too long. We visited a Certified Nutritionist that used a computer scan, homeopathic, essential oils and supplements to help balance the body. She determined the underlying cause of the tummy aches was parasites and she was intolerant to dairy(we had eliminated all dairy at that time anyway). We used liquid supplement called Cell Food that gently detoxed her body. Within days she was pain free(I still have her pain journal today because sometimes I can't believe it myself!) The ped and the GI specialist were amazed with the results. You can read my testimonial here, mine is the 6th one. http://breathoflifeonline.com/testimonials.htm

I strongly encourage you to have her tested for parasites. Sounds disgusting, I know and it was difficult to accept that she had parasites but parasites are the number one undiagnosed caused of health issues in the world. You can read more about parasites and the symptoms they cause here. https://humaworm.com/symptoms.html

If you have questions or would like to now more about our experience feel free to email me.

Best of luck to you and I hope you can get to the underlying cause of your daughter's pain soon. I know how frustrating and stressful this can be.

Peace,
J.

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D.B.

answers from Charlotte on

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V.C.

answers from Dallas on

My youngest son went through this. We never could find out why. They finally stopped and he is fine.

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