PADS may be cause of chronic abdominal pain

December 28, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: Like the 15-year-old described in the letter you published, my 14-year-old daughter suffered with chronic abdominal pain and nausea for nearly a year. We took her to three gastroenterologists, subjected her to every test known to man, and ended up having her gallbladder removed — an unnecessary surgery, as it turned out. The doctors speculated that she had one of the many gastro disorders you mentioned, but when none was identified and none of the dozen or so drugs they tried worked, they basically gave up on us.

Finally, one wonderful doctor referred us to a specialist at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans, La. He is a pioneer and specialist in pain-associated disability syndrome, or PADS. It is essentially a disability in which the brain creates a mountain out of a molehill, making a little pain or digestive distress into something much worse.
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Chronic abdominal pain revisited

December 22, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: In your article about abdominal pain, I think you might have missed a likely possibility: gallbladder disease.

I suffered from this for years, and no doctor took me seriously because I didn’t have gallstones. When I finally had my gallbladder removed, I didn’t have any more pain. Estrogen is known to irritate the gallbladder, and a 15-year-old has considerable estrogen in her body.

DEAR READER: Gallbladder disease is another cause of abdominal pain. The pain is typically on the upper right side of the abdomen and may worsen after eating, especially fatty foods. Nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite may also be present.
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Food allergies linked to abdominal pain

December 22, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: Your article about the undiagnosed stomach problems sounded exactly like my niece. She suffered for several years until she saw an allergist, who found that she had many food allergies. As long as she avoids those foods, she is pain-free.

DEAR READER: I received three other letters similar to yours. Two of those also mentioned H. Pylori, along with the food allergies and sensitivities.

H. Pylori is a common type of bacteria thought to be present in about half of the world’s population. Most people do not exhibit symptoms, nor do they experience any complications; however, for others, it can lead to potentially serious problems.
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15-year-old suffers chronic pain

November 12, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: My 15-year-old daughter has been suffering from chronic abdominal pain for about a year. She has had multiple blood tests to rule out diabetes, Crohn’s disease, ulcers and a host of other possibilities. She has also had a barium X-ray and an upper endoscopy. The only result has been that she does have mild damage to her esophagus from acid reflux, along with some minor isolated areas of swelling in her stomach lining. She’s otherwise healthy, physically fit and an excellent student with many friends.

Her only complaint is the nonstop abdominal pain. She’s currently taking 300 milligrams of gabapentin three times a day and 20 milligrams of omeprazole twice a day. She says the only difference she notices is that when the pain is really bad, the gabapentin gets her back to base quickly, but she doesn’t get any better.
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