My 11 year old son has experienced severe, acute stomache pain since he was about 4 years old. It began with him waking in the morning vomiting and would continue to vomit with severe pain in the stomache for a few hours - then it would stope and the pain would disappear completely. As he's grown the frequency has become less and he no longer vomits with the pain now and each episode is much shorter. But the pain is still severe and very sudden. I've had multiple tests and been told it's "stomache migraine" by one doctor. But I'm not very satisfied with this and wonder if I shouldn't pursue more extensive tests. I'm concerned that if I don't follow up it may prove more serious later (worst fear: cancer) Has anyone else experinced this type of thing and has any one else heard of stomache migraine as a legitimate diagnosis? Thanks for any input!!

My husband had this exact same type of pain when he was a child. He was seen by many Doctors over the years and nobody could give them an answer as to what was causing the severe pain. He eventually quite going to Doctors as he got older and decided that it was just something that he was going to have to deal with for the rest of his life.

When he was 20 years old, it was so bad that he drove himself to the ER and they said his apendix had ruptured and they took him into surgery. While they were doing the operation, they discovered that there was a blood vessel that normaly disolevs when you are a baby that is attatched to your belly button. His never disovled likle it should have and it was wrapped around his intestine. That was what was causing his pain his whole life. They said that there was no way for them to know that is what was causing the pain without finding it by accident the way they did. Lucky for him his appendix "bit the dust" or he would still be suffering.

That was 16 years ago, I am not sure if there is a name for this type of problem or not, but your poor son sounds like he is going through an awful lot of pain like my hubby did. It would be worth checking into.

I wish you the best of luck & please keep us posted.

Kim

Have they run any tests on his liver or kidney functions at all?Marcia

I get pains like that from eating egg whites and bell peppers, could it be an allergy to something he is eating? I didn't realize thats what it was until I was about 17. It literly feels like labor, and puts me out of commission for at least 4 to 8 hours.

Wow, thanks everyone - as to the food allergy - I don't think so. I've been trying to relate this pain to something else but the circumstances surrounding each episode never match up. I even have tracked the barometric pressure and weather conditions - no relation to the pain. They did do blood tests that related to his liver function and though there was a slight elevation in one enzyme they felt it was within a normal range - it was retested and found to be totally normal. Now, this blood vessel thing is very strange and I've certainly never found anything remotely like this - I definately will look into it. Was your husbands pain very intermittent? And unpredictable to the point where he would think he had outgrown it and it would come back? Thanks again everyone!! It's very much appreciated!!!

He said that he never really knew when to expect it to happen. He would go several days and would feel fine, and then it would hit him again and have him curled up on the floor for several hours. I think that he had the pain for so long, that has he got older he just learned to deal with it. But he did miss several days of school and when he was older and out of school, he remembers missing quite a bit of work over it. We have been together for over 10 years and I have never known him to miss one day of work due to him not feeling well.

I am not sure if there is a name for this condition or not. It would be worth asking about it. From what he can remember, he said that the Doctors told him that it would have never been found if his appendix had not needed to come out. He did say that when he went to the ER with his appendix, it was a totally different pain and knew something else was wrong. He never even discussed the bad stomach cramps with the Doctors. It was strange that they even saw the problem. I would think that maybe exploratory surgery might give you some answers if nothing else works for your poor son. I know it is a drastic step to take, but that might possible give you the answer if there are not any bad test results.

Good luck to you in finding an answer & if we can help you with any other questions feel free to ask.

Keep us posted.

Big hugs to your son! :wave:
Kim

I have a 16 year old son who has been having pain behind his belly button for the past several years. He says it is like someone stabbing him in the belly button and it causes him to be hunched over - he cannot stand up straight. The only position that is of any hlep is sitting in a chair. It can last up to an hour or more. There seems to be no one precipitating factor - he can be sitting at school and lean over to get his book bag and it starts, or he can be woken up in the morning with the pain. He takes Advil and finds some relief after longer and longer periods of time now . It seems now he had one a week ago Friday, then another one this Friday and now one only 2 days later on a Sunday. During these episodes it is painful to urinate. It seems to becoming more frequent. We have been to three doctors all of whom say it is nothing after a physical exam. We even went back to the doctor who perfomred a hernia operation on him when he was 3 years - again nothing. We are so frustrated and he is scared.