3 Year Old Son - Severe Vomiting and Diarrhea Every Night (x-rays, pain)
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My son has been having some very strange and very worrisome symptoms for almost 2 weeks now. We've been to 3 doctors who keep insisting it's a stomach bug and sending him home, but I've never heard of a stomach bug lasting anywhere close to 2 weeks - especially the vomiting.
This all started on Monday morning November 11th. He developed a fever of about 101, started throwing up, and was very lethargic. Classic stomach virus symptoms. We took him to the doctor who diagnosed a stomach virus and gave the standard hydrate, bland diet, and rest advice. After about 48 hours, he started getting diarrhea but the vomiting went away, so we figured it was working its way out of his system. By Friday Nov 15th, he seemed completely fine with no symptoms remaining. On the next night, 11/16 he projectile vomited everywhere at about 1AM, and then was covered in diarrhea when we got him up the next morning. We chalked it up to eating something that bothered him because we had gone to a new restaurant that night, and the whole next day he was his happy, energetic self. The same exact pattern happened Sunday night. We called his ped Monday AM and they said not to worry it still seemed like the bug. Monday night, same exact thing so as soon as the pediatrician opened Tuesday morning we went in. They checked him out, didn't feel any swelling or blockages, gave him a strep test, and once again settled on stomach bug. Tuesday night, same exact thing. FINALLY, Wednesday and Thursday nights it stopped, but he didn't poop either day. This past Friday, BAM back again in full force, and then massive diarrhea this morning. (technically yesterday since its 12:30AM Sunday)
We took him to Children's Healthcare of ATL today. They checked him out and gave him x-rays which were clear of any blockages or other abnormalities. They also checked his testicles because apparently issues there can lead to similar symptoms. (But he was fine there) Once again they're chalking it up to a stomach bug that just won't quit. They gave us take-home stool sample kits to rule out some other things like C Diff.
As a type this at 12:30, he just had another vomiting episode about 30 minutes ago. This makes 9 out of the last 13 nights he's projectile vomited in the middle of the night, and inevitably he will have diarrhea sometime by morning, and will act completely fine all day tomorrow. He has no abdominal pain and no blood in vomit or stool. We have also not changed his diet in any way. In fact, the last few days have been toast, saltines, broth, and water. No new toothpastes or anything else.
These doctors that are presumably smarter than me keep saying this is just a virus. Can that possibly be the case? My wife and I are going to talk in the morning but my thought is we call the pediatrician and demand an appointment with a gastroenterologist right away. I just don't know what else to do. Has anyone else heard of anything like this?
When do you expect the results from the stool sample? He might need to see a pediatric gastroenterologist. It would be helpful if you could keep a detailed journal of his dietary and fluid intake.
When do you expect the results from the stool sample? He might need to see a pediatric gastroenterologist. It would be helpful if you could keep a detailed journal of his dietary and fluid intake.
We were given six vials to collect with. From his diaper this morning we got two. Unfortunately at this rate it will take two more nights to get the rest. We are going to call the doctor today and see if we can bring them in as we get them.
The diaper absorbs so much and it’s so
watery it’s tough to collect.
Good call on the food journal well start that today.
Maybe you could turn in the two vials you collected? This amount of projectile vomiting is dangerous to his esophagus, even if it is just a virus.
Just got off the phone with them. They said at minimum they need two of the specific vials we haven’t gotten yet, (total of 4), so hopefully we’ll get those overnight.
Edit: The two we collected have a chemical in them which only work for specific tests which is why they can’t make them work for all of the tests.
Could also be wheat/gluten (toast, crackers). Might not be a food intolerance if it only happens when he is lying down; there are other possibilities for that. In any case, the food diary will be helpful to any doctors he has to see if the stool tests are negative.
Could he have drank contaminated water? It almost sounds like giardia.
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