Help with symptoms - headache and abominal pains after eating

[princesspumpkin]

Sorry, but I'm at a loss here. Last Monday, Dd woke up with awful abdominal pains, then diarrhea all day, plus a headache. For the rest of the week, she continued to have the abdominal pains and headache (no diarrhea). Took her to the doctor on Tuesday...blood tests (mono positive, celiac negative)...ultrasound (appendicitis, negative). During the later part of the week, we realized that the stomach pains occured worse about an hour after eating, and lasted 2-4 hours. No fever and bowels pretty much back to normal.

Went back to the doctor yesterday, who ordered another ultrasound (checking gallbaldder now). We'll be going shortly. Same symptoms going on. I'm also going to schedule her to see a pediatric gastro. doctor.

Of course, I've been searching the internet for more insight into her symptoms. Would appreciate anyone else's similar experience. Thanks!

 

[5lilfish]

I was thinking Gallbladder before I even saw you mention it. Where is the pain? My Gallbladder is not functioning properly. I get pain right under my right ribcage after I eat. It almost feels like someone it trying to stuff a softball under the bottom of my ribcage. When it is acting up, I also have bathroom problems and colic-like pain.

Jess

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

You said positive for mono - I had it my Junior year in H.S. it was Months before could eat without stomach pain. I guess the organs were inflamed causing the pain. It couldn't hurt to see if she is also inflamed. Hope she is feeling better very, very soon!

 

[5lilfish]

You said positive for mono - I had it my Junior year in H.S. it was Months before could eat without stomach pain. I guess the organs were inflamed causing the pain. It couldn't hurt to see if she is also inflamed. Hope she is feeling better very, very soon!

I don't really know anything about Mono, but I did mean to ask the OP if that diagnosis explained the stomach pain. Given your response, maybe that is all that is going on. Of course, it doesn't hurt to rule out a few other things.

Jess

 

[princesspumpkin]

Thanks so much for the quick responses. The doctor didn't seem to feel that the stomach pains and mono were related (glad to hear that someone had those symptoms too....so it could possibly be that). This isn't her normal primary (and to be honest, I wasn't all too assured of his assessment of her symptoms. No offense, but I do know that not all physicians are created equal...or any other professions, for that manner)

 

[SaraJayne]

Has she eaten or drunk (drank?) anything "raw" recently? Unpasterized milk, etc?

 

[hellokitty86]

My thought was gallbladder too.

 

[mamamary]

I was also going to mention Gallbladder.

 

[kwelch10377]

Where are the pains in her abs? With gallbladder issues you have a pain that typically goes from you rib cage all the way around to your back. I always had this feeling like if I let out a big burp the pain would go away. What has she been eating before she has the pains. With gallbladder attacks it is typically a fatty food or in my case it was usually some dairy products.

 

[asktriplets]

Mono positive?

Mono can cause spleen and/or liver swelling. What did the doctor say about that? Did they check the spleen and liver with an ultrasound? If not, I would ask why and find a new dr who would check them.

take care,

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

DD12 had what we thought was a horrible stomach bug that lasted for almost 2 weeks before she tested positive for mono. The Pediatrician said that the mono could most definitely have caused some of the stomach issues she was having. Mono can definitely be responsible for the headache as well. Did they do a strep test as well?

Where is the abdominal pain? Gallbladder pain usually feels like someone is stabbing you in the back.

 

[princesspumpkin]

Thanks again everyone. Her pains are at different spots - sometimes lower right area, sometimes right below her belly button, and sometimes a little upper right area. She can get them after eating anything - toast, soup, chicken, a banana, etc.

After researching mono thoroughly, I saw that these intense abdominal pains and headaches, can be quite common (and last very long). Trying to get that second ultrasound done today, and also looking into alternative schooling (this will be her 6th day out of school, and fortunately, she can get a teacher to come here. ) Yesterday, she had a good 4 hours without too much pain, then it came back with a vengeance this morning.

We'll see what happens.

 

[mamamary]

Hope you can get this all figured out soon. So sorry she's in so much pain

 

[golfgal]

Mono positive?

Mono can cause spleen and/or liver swelling. What did the doctor say about that? Did they check the spleen and liver with an ultrasound? If not, I would ask why and find a new dr who would check them.

take care,

I agree-DD's best friend has mono right now and this is exactly what she is going through. She ended up in the ER on Saturday because she wasn't drinking (or eating) enough because her stomach hurt so badly and was dehydrated. She is also very nauseous because of that so they gave her anti-nausea meds. She is having major liver problems too-jaundiced and low liver functions. Her liver is so swollen you can see a bulge in her stomach area. She has missed 3 weeks of school already. Mono can be pretty serious.

 

[beachlover9395]

Ooh, I may have an answer or at least a guess for you. I'm a stay-at-home mom, but also an RN and I do try to stay as updated as I can, which is hard but I do try.

Just yesterday I read an article about how some adolescents can suffer from abdominal migraines. Now, as a frequent migraine sufferer, I'd heard of regular migraines and optical migraines, but never abdominal ones. Read this article and see if it sounds like your child:

http://www.healthcentral.com/migraine/types-of-headaches-38002-5.html

The best article I read about this is on Medscape, which is for healthcare professionals and you need an account to read it, which I do. I'm going to excerpt some of two articles, but remember this is in total medical speak:

"Dr. Lewis, a pediatric neurologist, explained that abdominal migraine is characterized by episodes of moderate to severe midline, periumbilical, or poorly localized pain lasting for 1 to 72 hours with nausea, anorexia, pallor, and occasionally headache. "But headache is not one of the cardinal features. It's episodes of belly pain," he emphasized. The condition was included in the 2004 International Classification of Headache Disorders and recognized by the 2006 Rome III criteria for functional gastrointestinal disorders as a well-defined type of recurrent abdominal pain."

"Abdominal migraine affects 1% to 4% of children and is a variant of migraine headaches. Onset is seen most often between the ages of 7 to 12 years, with girls affected more often than boys. Presenting symptoms include acute incapacitating non-colicky periumbilical abdominal pain that lasts for 1 or more hours. Pallor, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, photophobia, or headache may be associated with the episodes, and a family history of migraine headaches often is noted."

Hope this helps and hope your DD is doing better.