Not sure what to do

[MrsPiggy]

11 year old DD has had really bad stomach pains lower right quadrant for over 2 weeks now, no school. Whilst she had stomach pains on and off for quite a while nothing like this, we've had 4 trips to A&E. Her stomach pain started to get worse and more often last August but would only last a few days. She had a MRI last week and her appendix could not be seen  (I wanted to make sure she didn't have a grumbling appendix). A&E have run a load of blood tests on Friday waiting for all the results but the private paediatrician told me to put her on a dairy and gluten free diet which I reluctant to do until I get a diagnosis.

It hurts her to cough, walk and is worse after you have put pressure on the area and take your hand away.

Any advise would be appreciated.

[kareng]

I think you could cut the dairy.  If that takes care of it , you know she probably isn't digesting lactose.  But for Celiac, she needs to keep eating gluten to be diagnosed.

[cyclinglady]

Here are the tests:

Open Original Shared Link

Your Ped is wrong.  Going gluten free should not be done until celiac disease has been ruled out.  Going dairy free, in the meantime,  may reduce her symptoms and will not impact celiac testing.  

[MrsPiggy]

Thanks. She's gone gluten and diary free about 5 years ago so for a while and I felt it wasn't making any difference so went back to normal. She's been fine apart from the odd episode which doesn't last more than a couple of days, though in the last 4 months she's had more episodes but they haven't lasted more than a couple of days. How long does the blood test take to come back? A&E have confirmed that this is one of the tests they are running so at least I know she was on gluten when the blood was taken, ironically the week before a Dr in A&E told me to get her to eat shreddies, he thought she could be constipated. Does celiac cause constant stomach pain, there is no let up. 

[cyclinglady]

Lab result time?  Depends on where you live.  Mine took about a week.  Yes, celiac disease can cause constant intestinal pain, but so can many things.  

[ravenwoodglass]

Has an ovarian cyst been ruled out?

[Jmg]

The following is purely anecdotal MrsP and note I tested negative for celiac, but I had an appendectomy at 11 following severe right sided stomach pain in the area where the appendix is located. The surgeon visited me next morning with a hearty laugh - here's the boy who had a perfectly healthy appendix'.  He told me the pain had probably been a 'swollen gland'. This didn't help my recovery or my appreciation of surgeons

It was 30 years later that I connected my problems with gluten with the 'swollen gland' issue. I've since found that celiac is ' positively associated with appendectomy without appendicitis 'Open Original Shared Link and I think if you looked here and elsewhere you'd find celiacs missing healthy appendixes thanks to a failure in  pediatric diagnosis. 

It's interesting you note that your daughter tried gluten and dairy free diet 5 years ago, what were the reasons?

Best of luck to you both

 

 

[MrsPiggy]

Yes ovarian cysts ruled out. She had biopsy of gut and bowel in 2012 which didn't find anything useful. Told to go on gluten and fairy free which we tried and then thought maybe it was fat making her feel sick, she was always sick every time we ate out. Eventually I put her back on gluten and nothing until about August last year.