Hay (Kid) Doctors, Need Some Help...

[M.D. Holloway]

Our lil Girl has complained off and on with a tummy ache for a few months. Nothing serious and frankly we tee-d it up to either gas, constipation or something else other than being serious. It was never a bad ache and it never lasted very long.

Last week she was complaining more than she has so I brought her in to the Docs office. She didn't have a hernia so they take a urine sample. Comes back positive for red and white blood cells and a little protein. The urine was not discolored. The Doc decides to eliminate all possiblities so he has the sample cultured. Comes back positive for bacteria. Thinking that this is most likely a tract infection but doesn't want to rule out cross contamination has ordered another sampling and culture. We go in tomorrow to do another sample. In the mean time, she has had cranberry juice and a couple prunes each day to try to help if it is an infection or constipation. We also cut out dairy.

She hasn't complained much over the week-end. She was rewarded with her fav frozen yogurt today and almost immediately complained of a slight tummy ache.
Maybe she is lactose intolerant? Still, doesn;t account for the blood cells in her urine.

I'm not liking what I am reading concerning red blood cells in the urine.

What do you guys think?

[porsche4life]

I am not a doctor, nor did I sleep in a Holiday in last night....

But the lactose intolerance sounds like a good possibility, not sure about that second half though. Hopefully they find something out soon.

[Oh Haha]

Again, not adoc but I have a daughter with tummy-aches. We found that if she eats certain chocolate she gets a tummy-ache. Also, certain brands of milk causes problems. It's not consistent enough to call it lactose-intolerant but we do have her on Zantac and it helps.


EDIT-Just checked with the wife. Our daughter was suffering from acid reflux due to the stomach virus that was going around in these parts.

All of the tests done most recently came up negative for any infections so your case is slightly different but the Zantac may be worth looking into further with your doc.

Hope she feels better soon.

[M.D. Holloway]

Took her in for another urine analysis - we shall see.

[Rikao4]

showers or bath ?

Rika

[livi]

How old is your daughter, Lube? Makes a world of difference when it comes to plausible diagnoses.
For how long has she complained? Short episodes or hours-days in a row? Vomiting? Diarrhea? Weight loss? Loss of appetite? Skin rash? Fever?
Again, depending on age and length of symptoms, the most common causes are constipation, food allergies, non specific alimentary intolerance, celiac disease and environmental/psychological stress. As far as the urine sample, many common viral infections can cause the kidneys to leak a bit of both blood cells, white cells and protein, depending on age and quantity. Further, again depending on age, a urine infection without fever (with older children) will typically give symptoms while voiding. A urine infection with small children will mostly create fever and a generally sick child.

[M.D. Holloway]

Shower, no baths.

Markus,
To answer your questions:
How old is your daughter - 8 years old
For how long has she complained - for a few months
Short episodes or hours-days in a row - almost every day for short episodes. Never at a specific time or after or before anything particular.
Vomiting - no
Diarrhea - no
Weight loss - no
Loss of appetite - no
Skin rash -no
Fever - no
Constipation - possible, have feed her a few prunes a day lately
food allergies - she eats very well, loves all fruits and veggies
non specific alimentary intolerance - don't know, no famility history of it
celiac disease - don't know, no family history of it
environmental/psychological stress - she does get upset every so often but not unlike other kids her age. She is coping with Mommys blindness. We considered that this could be the work of stress. It hasn't been ruled out.

[livi]

Thanks, I think its unlikely this should be primarily from the urinary tract. Not least from the rather long history of symptoms. I also think its probably not from any food intolerance. It typically evolves from earlier ages. Celiac disease is not easy to rule out without blood tests, but again unlikely from lack of other symptoms. I would penetrate the bowel movement history further. Constipation is a very tricky diagnose with children, often overlooked or ignored. Thing is, that just a tiny degree of too dry a stool over time will result in problems like this. Yes the child goes to the bathroom every day and no, there is no problem there - still we often try a medical regime for a couple of weeks or a month and behold - the pains went away. Very alluring indeed. Usually trying to fix it with different natural food types is not very successful with children. Better to use something more effective and keep eating what the child likes.

[livi]

Forgot to mention. We usually use products based on Macrogol (polyethylene glycol) like Movicol, Macrogol (generic), SoftLax, Miralax, Glycoprep. Not sure what you have in America. Its probably a non-prescription preparation in the US.

[livi]

How is she doing? Any new information from your docs?

[M.D. Holloway]

The second culture should be back by Friday. She seems fine. Very active on the soccer field - she plays for an academy team and a rec team and she does very well - plenty of running around. She has a good diet and hasn't complained too much. Her mood is about what you expect from an 8 year old girl.

I'm kicking myself for not brining her in earlier.

[livi]

I donīt think you have to worry too much. If its been going on for several months intermittently and she is generally feeling fine in between, the probability that the cause for the pains is serious is very low.