“Why is my daughter having recurrent abdominal pain?”
My daughter is 5 years old and often complains of abdominal pain. What could be the reason for this recurrent pain? The doctor has done some tests and nothing seems to be wrong?
7 Answers
There are a couple of reasons to find the cause of the pain. Is she constipated? Did she just start Preschool or Daycare? Does the pain wake her up at night? Worms could be one cause of pain. Check for urine infection. Does it happen after eating? Eating too much spicy food? Most common problem I have found is constipation. If they just started school, it could be separation anxiety.
There are many reasons. The most worrisome if she is loosing weight or has recurrent vomiting. She would need to see Pediatric GI. Celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and abdominal migraines and often overlooked and can be treated. If she complains and it causes her to miss activities that she likes to do, you need to pursue further investigation.
Most common cause is constipation but there are many reasons and may be difficult to determine. Sometime worth a trial of no dairy or no gluten for few weeks
The most common causes of abdominal pain in that age include stress, hunger, and lack of sleep. Some children have a condition called nonspecific abdominal pain of childhood. It is common enough that specialists have determined it to likely be a variant of migraine headaches. This is something that can be treated so talk to your doctor and if they are not familiar with the condition it may be time to see a specialist.
Recurrent abdominal pain can have many causes. Stress, food sensitivities, food allergies, acid reflux, and gastritis are some of the common causes. Make sure your child is relaxed, sleeping well, eating healthy, and does not have food allergies.
Rubina Azam, MD, FAAP, ABOIM
Rubina Azam, MD, FAAP, ABOIM
The number one cause of recurrent abdominal pain is constipation for children in that age group. An exam and flat plate X-ray should help. Need to also consider intermittent intasusseption and ultrasound during pain attack, which should help with diagnosis or current jelly stool on rectal exam.
Either it's psychosomatic or she's trying to get attention.
