DD complaining of sore tummy for months now - any idea what it could be?

DD will be 6 soon and she has been complaining of a sore tummy on and off for ages now. It seems to get worse after she eats, but sometimes it's before as well, which causes her to not eat.

When she first started doing it I thought it was just to get out of eating dinner - something she learnt at Prep maybe? But overtime it's become more obvious that she isn't putting it on. She complains for probably 15 minutes from when it starts but then is happy again and it's not mentioned anymore. Lately it's been happening at least at one meal a day - sometimes every meal in the day.

I'm going to start a food diary (I should have started it ages ago!) to see of if I can pick up any patterns to it. I have mentioned it to her gp a few times but he doesn't seem concerned at all - so hopefully I can figure it out myself.

I just thought I'd post it up in case anyone has experienced the same thing and maybe give me some ideas to what it could be. I'm thinking an intolerance of some kind - I'm hoping the food diary will help me figure it out.

Could it be caused by lactose, or maybe glutton?

Thanks!!


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Have you asked your GP about GORD?

My DS1 (he's 7) has been complaining of having a sore tummy on and off for over a year now. I took him to the GP who also wasn't all that worried. I spent my childhood with the same complaint and it turns out I am most likely gluten intolerant (although I also have a hiatus hernia which didn't help things either!). I only worked this out recently and realised that DS1's tummy pains stopped when I changed our diets. It appears to be the answer for us! Our family has a history of gluten intolerances so I guess I should have worked it out ages ago lol!

Keeping a food diary is a great idea. Your DD could also be intolerant of something and hopefully you also work out what it is.

Could be sulphites or preservatives in food that do it.

DS has a sore tummy often and it's mainly associated with his growth spurts so the Dr thinks it's possibly hormonal. I find a homeopathic remedy called camomilla useful. It comes in tiny vials and he has a few a balls of his 'placebo' and usually feels better. One day he's going to figure out what placebo means lol.
Persistent sore tummies are very common in children and often they can't find any cause but they vanish as they get older.

My first thought is that it might be a gluten intolerance - I went through all the tests when I was young for celiac because I had all the symptoms, although the tests were always negative. I think I must have always had a mild case of it.

Maybe I'll look into cutting that out for a few days and see if there is any change. If it is that will it stop once she isn't eating gluten? Or does it take a while to work its way out?

At least then that will be ruled out. It's nice to know that it's common though - I hope I can find a way to fix this for her!

Thanks again!


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I was tested for coeliac disease and the blood test came back negative. My GP told me to start cutting back on gluten and if I felt any better then there was my answer. It worked out to be the answer for both my DS1 and myself :). We haven't completely eliminated it, just limited the amount we eat. We have stopped eating bread and pasta. It probably took a week or two to really notice the difference in myself, DS1 I realised after about a week that it was helping.

Good luck :D

My son is negative to coeliac's but there is still a 5% chance he has it from the blood test alone. He is however allergic to wheat. Since getting rid of wheat he is like a different boy.

miss 2 complained of sore tummy and she had worms :( - she has obs had them for a while :(

Is she constipated?

Both my girls have had this with two different issues. Dd1 was constipated but we took a few months to work it out as she was going to the toilet. She is on osmolax now and her tummy is no longer sore and her toileting accidents are improving.

Dd2 complained of a sore tummy one week and was throwing up the next. Took her off dairy and she stopped throwing up but her tummy was sore. We realised by accident when dh took them that it was her vitamins upsetting her tummy and in turn she couldn't cope with dairy or rich foods. She has improved now she no longer has the vitamins you chew and has been starting to have dairy again.

DD1 was simaler. Took her to a paed and he ran some blood tests. At this stage we have put it down to anxiety. We notice when she is anxious about something that she gets tummy aches and sometimes throws ups. Her teacher often said that she would complain of a sore tummy if they were about to do something she was unsure of. She has improved (which is great), but is likely to suffer IBS as an adult (they are connected). Looking back now, I was the same as a kid and even now, my nerves affect my tummy. Amazing how emotions can affect us.

My DD complained of a sore tummy for a while - turns out it was worms. Worth giving your DD a dose of worming treatment, then see if it resolves.

Does she ever have wetting accidents? That would correlate with both worms and constipation.
But I also second the anxiety thing. I have heard that before too! The lady I jobshare with said when her DD suffered terrible stomach pains (often resulting in hospital visits) they ended up at a child psychologist's office.
The psych said many (often very intelligent) kids think and worry about the same stuff you do, only they don't have the maturity to put things into perspective. She made simple changes (like not watching the news in front of her kid!) and trying not to build up any situations (like when she got the pains instead of quizzing on her on the type, intensity, position etc of the pain, she'd just suggest a lie down or a cuddle and be as soothing as she could.

Thanks so much for the replies - DF saw the gp today for some test results and it turns out he has a bacterial infection in his digestive system that require pretty strong antibiotics to get rid of. So I've for an appt for DD to get the same test done in case she has it too.

Hopefully we will get some answers - I haven't been able to pin point anything that seems to be causing it in her diet so far - unless maybe its preservatives :dunno:

I've got the feeling a few times that maybe she is copying me a little bit with my morning sickness - saying the smells are making it worse, or she can't eat something coz it smells bad, etc. lol I don't think it's all that but maybe she has a little bit of sympathy ms too lol


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I hope you get some answers soon Ash. I just wanted to add that if you do suspect Coeliac disease, make sure the tests are done before you completely cut out gluten, otherwise she will have to start eating gluten again before the test. Fructose is the other thing to consider, a friend of mine had awful stomach problems for years and that is what they have finally narrowed it down to.

Good luck, I hope it's something that is easily fixed!