DD(13) getting sick at night ...any ideas?

[Disneyglobegirl]

First let me say , yes we've been to the dr and are waiting to get into a specialist but I wanted to post incase anyone knows of anyone else with these symtoms so I know what I should be asking the Dr for as far as testing goes.

For the past few months DD(13) has been occasionally waking up about 2 hours after going to bed and vomiting for no reason at all - The first couple times she did it , it was usually right before her period started -Since it did not happen often I didn't think much of it and thought it was her body's way of handling her hormones right before her cycle.

Recently it has started to happen more often then right before her period so I took her to the Dr and she ran some blood work and urine tests and asked questions - well everything came back normal and now the Dr thinks it is an eating disorder. DD is small framed and weighed 87 pounds in May '09 and now weighs 81 pounds. I do not think it is an eating disorder at all. I had a friend growing up who did have an eating disorder and I know the signs and what to look for - DD does not have any of those signs that I am seeing.

DD has always been a picky eater but she does eat and she has not gotten sick during the day (I've been watching her closely to make sure that she isn't making herself sick and I've been paying close attention to what she eats and how much she eats) Everytime she has gotten sick it was been within a couple hours of going to sleep - she wakes up suddenly and gets sick and she always comes and lets me know that she has gotten sick. I have an appointment to take her to a gastrologist to check for reflux. Is there anything else I should have her checked for? Her general Dr isn't much help at all - thank goodness we have a PPO so I can take her to a specialist without referrals.

Am I in denial? Does this sound like an eating disorder or something else like reflux or even something else?

Thanks for listening and I will appreciate any advice that I can take to the specialist.

 

[lovemygoofy]

I'm not exactly a doctor but if she is getting sick after laying down it sounds like acid reflux.

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

I'm not exactly a doctor but if she is getting sick after laying down it sounds like acid reflux.

Thanks Tina - that was one of the first things I thought of too and why I went ahead and made the specialist appt to check for reflux.

I'm alittle upset that her general Dr is suggesting eating disorder even after I tell her what is going on. It is definately time for me to find a new general Dr after this.

 

[mrsv98]

First let me say , yes we've been to the dr and are waiting to get into a specialist but I wanted to post incase anyone knows of anyone else with these symtoms so I know what I should be asking the Dr for as far as testing goes.

For the past few months DD(13) has been occasionally waking up about 2 hours after going to bed and vomiting for no reason at all - The first couple times she did it , it was usually right before her period started -Since it did not happen often I didn't think much of it and thought it was her body's way of handling her hormones right before her cycle.

Recently it has started to happen more often then right before her period so I took her to the Dr and she ran some blood work and urine tests and asked questions - well everything came back normal and now the Dr thinks it is an eating disorder. DD is small framed and weighed 87 pounds in May '09 and now weighs 81 pounds. I do not think it is an eating disorder at all. I had a friend growing up who did have an eating disorder and I know the signs and what to look for - DD does not have any of those signs that I am seeing.

DD has always been a picky eater but she does eat and she has not gotten sick during the day (I've been watching her closely to make sure that she isn't making herself sick and I've been paying close attention to what she eats and how much she eats) Everytime she has gotten sick it was been within a couple hours of going to sleep - she wakes up suddenly and gets sick and she always comes and lets me know that she has gotten sick. I have an appointment to take her to a gastrologist to check for reflux. Is there anything else I should have her checked for? Her general Dr isn't much help at all - thank goodness we have a PPO so I can take her to a specialist without referrals.

Am I in denial? Does this sound like an eating disorder or something else like reflux or even something else?

Thanks for listening and I will appreciate any advice that I can take to the specialist.

Does she cough at all? Reflux can present as coughing as the acid bubbles up. There are many OTC meds now including generic prilosec and prevacid. I would try one of those while you are waiting to see a doc. They can take a few days to kick in but they work very well.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

What kind of blood tests did they run? Did they check her blood sugar? Sometimes if it falls to low while sleeping, it can make some people very nausetious, like hypoglycemia. Is she experiencing anything else when she wakes up other than vomiting? Is she stressed out about anything? School maybe? Seriously, I have a very nervous stomach and if I get too stressed, well, it ain't pretty! I hope everything turns out fine for her.

 

[englishteacha]

My husband had that same problem. He'd feel fine until he went to bed. He'd wake up with his heart pounding and needing to be sick. The doctor checked lots of things (his heart included) and deduced that he has GERD-severe acid reflux. He's been on Prilosec for 3 years now and has rarely had a problem. Usually only when he forgets to take the Prilosec does he feel unwell.

 

[bethbuchall]

I'm not a medical professional either, but reflux sounds like something to follow up on. In the meantime, it may help to keep a food diary to see if there are any particular foods that seem to make this worse. Maybe you'll see that she has a problem on the days that she has more dairy or spicy foods or caffeine or something.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Have you tried giving her Zantac or anything else before bed?

What is she eating and drinking? You have to change her diet if it is reflux.

Have you adjusted times of eating, like not before bedtime?

If you think it might be reflux, I would start doing these things right away.

I don't know exactly what your dd has however her weight loss is an indicator that there is something going on.

If she does this at night I would keep an eye on her to try and "catch in her in the act" so to speak. This will probably tell you a lot.

 

[MommyMcQueen]

We've had a bit of a similar situation with my son, who is now 6. He would wake occasionally (sometimes a couple nights a week) and get sick in the night (usually 3-6 hours after going to bed) - most of the time he would dry heave though and not really throw anything up, but sometimes there was vomit.

We think it is from him being a little dehydrated (his dad is very sensitive to this and is always drinking water). We always try to have him drink a lot at dinner, then always have him drink some water before bed. On the nights when he does wake up sick, it's always a night where he didn't drink a lot at dinner, or we forgot to tell him to get a drink before bed.

Its been a while since it has happened, more common in summer when he would be outside running around and playing, sweating and stuff. He gets very hot when he sleeps and sweats a lot - usually night nights he's sick he has woke up hot, sweaty, thirtsy, then it happens. We don't know 100% that this is the cause, but since we've been having him drink more it rarely happens anymore.

Don't know if this possibly happening to your daughter, but I hope you are able to figure it out!

 

[puffkin]

Also sounds like reflux to me.

I would want to rule out diabetes and celiac disease as well. But it really sounds like reflux to me. I agree, a food journal would be very helpful in the meantime until a diagnosis is made.

 

[MEK]

I do not think involuntary vomiting after going to sleep is a sign of an eating disorder. I assume she is waking up because she has to vomit. GERD could certainly be a cause and much more likely than an eating disorder.

One test that should be done for continuous vomiting is a CT scan of the brain. I am not saying this to scare you, and it is possible that the gastroenterologist will disagree, but the purpose of this test is to r/o a brain tumor. I know that my son had frequent vomiting when he was about 8 or 10years old. It happened almost every morning for several weeks. One morning I finally took him to the ED and they did a CT scan of the brain. It was a little scary, but I understood why they did the test.

The symptom you described sounds like a Medical Mystery show I saw on the Discovery channel. The girl had the same symptom. She vomited every night several hours after going to sleep. I wish I could remember the outcome of the program, but it took several specialists and a relatively long period of time to discover the cause. Why don't you goggle Medical Mysteries and see if you can find anything. I wish I could be more helpful, but I do remember the problem was treatable and it did resolve.

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

She hasn't been coughing. She says when she wakes up she just suddenly feels sick and has to vomit. The Dr did check her blood sugar and it was fine she is however a super shy and nervous child - before reflux I thought maybe this could be something to do with nerves too. I have been trying to watch the foods that she is eating to see if it is worse after certain foods - I think I will try to give her some OTC meds to see if it helps until her appt.

And yes I have witnessed her waking up and getting sick , she did it one night while we were at a hotel room during Xmas break - I was sharing a bed with her - and she woke up at about midnight and didn't quite make it to the bathroomNot fun for her or me. That is part of the reason that I know she is not making herself sick - she is truely waking up and suddenly getting sick.

 

[bumbershoot]

I do not think involuntary vomiting after going to sleep is a sign of an eating disorder.

That's what I thought! If you're throwing up on purpose, you don't let your family know!

...she did it one night while we were at a hotel room during Xmas break...

Gah, there went the tiddly suggestion I had. I was going to ask if it's ONLY in her room that this happens, wondering if there was something toxic in her room. But I guess not.

Though it's worth checking out, just in case. DH and I rented a condo from his brother, who hadn't shared with us that there was a constant water leak in the master closet. I was just SO sick while living there, and then I was pregnant and extra sick, and finally I couldn't take living there anymore so we peeved off the BIL by leaving. As we moved, we found black mold behind our bed, behind the dressers, and a huge damp patch in the closet. No wonder I'd been so sick!

 

[3prettyprincesses]

I do not think involuntary vomiting after going to sleep is a sign of an eating disorder. I assume she is waking up because she has to vomit. GERD could certainly be a cause and much more likely than an eating disorder.

One test that should be done for continuous vomiting is a CT scan of the brain. I am not saying this to scare you, and it is possible that the gastroenterologist will disagree, but the purpose of this test is to r/o a brain tumor. I know that my son had frequent vomiting when he was about 8 or 10years old. It happened almost every morning for several weeks. One morning I finally took him to the ED and they did a CT scan of the brain. It was a little scary, but I understood why they did the test.

The symptom you described sounds like a Medical Mystery show I saw on the Discovery channel. The girl had the same symptom. She vomited every night several hours after going to sleep. I wish I could remember the outcome of the program, but it took several specialists and a relatively long period of time to discover the cause. Why don't you goggle Medical Mysteries and see if you can find anything. I wish I could be more helpful, but I do remember the problem was treatable and it did resolve.

I remember that show too. I'm almost certain it was due to some kind of seizure disorder. The poor girl would wake up and vomit nearly every night and they didn't know why.

 

[redsunfish]

The symptom you described sounds like a Medical Mystery show I saw on the Discovery channel. The girl had the same symptom. She vomited every night several hours after going to sleep. I wish I could remember the outcome of the program, but it took several specialists and a relatively long period of time to discover the cause. Why don't you goggle Medical Mysteries and see if you can find anything. I wish I could be more helpful, but I do remember the problem was treatable and it did resolve.

I've seen this episode too. It was an episode of Mystery Diagnosis called 'The Girl Who Gagged' and the girl was diagnosed with a form of epilepsy I believe.

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

I do not think involuntary vomiting after going to sleep is a sign of an eating disorder. I assume she is waking up because she has to vomit. GERD could certainly be a cause and much more likely than an eating disorder.

One test that should be done for continuous vomiting is a CT scan of the brain. I am not saying this to scare you, and it is possible that the gastroenterologist will disagree, but the purpose of this test is to r/o a brain tumor. I know that my son had frequent vomiting when he was about 8 or 10years old. It happened almost every morning for several weeks. One morning I finally took him to the ED and they did a CT scan of the brain. It was a little scary, but I understood why they did the test.

The symptom you described sounds like a Medical Mystery show I saw on the Discovery channel. The girl had the same symptom. She vomited every night several hours after going to sleep. I wish I could remember the outcome of the program, but it took several specialists and a relatively long period of time to discover the cause. Why don't you goggle Medical Mysteries and see if you can find anything. I wish I could be more helpful, but I do remember the problem was treatable and it did resolve.

Thank you for posting this -I don't want to get into a panic but I do want to be aware of every possible thing it could be and what we might have to check for if it turns out it is not gerd or reflux.

 

[Hillbeans]

My 9 yo had a similar issue with unexplained throwing up, but his happened in the morning, after eating breakfast a few minutes before school. I pretty much need to give him a Pepcid the minute he gets up in the AM otherwise I think he has too much stomach acid and the food comes up. We went to the doctors as well and they came to the acid reflux diagnosis. It sounds similar to what you and others here are going through, Good luck to your daughter!

 

[minkydog]

[/B]

I remember that show too. I'm almost certain it was due to some kind of seizure disorder. The poor girl would wake up and vomit nearly every night and they didn't know why.

ACtually, that was my first thought. My dog does this when he has a seizure, sometimes(not comparing the OPs daughter with a pet, but seizures are seizures.) I think reflux needs to be ruled out first, though. If nothing shows there I'd call a neurologist and get an EEG.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I don't have anything to offer up except this does not sound like an eating disorder! I had a cousin who had bulimia and believe me, she hid her vomiting for years.

I have a 13 yo dd who only weighs 75 pounds. Her growth has been constant, she's just thin. So to me your dd's weight doesn't sound out of the ordinary and as I think of it, my dd has several friends who weigh about what she does.

I hope resolves soon, and keep us posted!

 

[briannesmom]

We went through this with my 6 year old DD last fall. It was happening a few times a week about 3-4 hours after she went to bed. It ended up being allergies. She has seasonal allergies and at night her sinuses were draining into her stomach and making her vomit. The Dr. told us to use OTC zyrtec during the allergy seasons and we haven't had a problem since.