Abdominal Pain In 12 Year Old Son with severe abdominal pain

(New York, United States)

Good Day.

This request for advice is in regard to my 12yr old son with severe abdominal pain.

Tyler has been experiencing intermittent pain since January of this year. He has been in the emergency room twice. He has been to a surgeon as advised by his pediatrician, for a CT scan he had done shows gall stones present. The surgeon would not consider taking out the gall bladder until further tests done by a pediatric gastroenterologist.

The surgeon wanted to make sure the pain he is suffering is in fact stemming from his gall bladder. The gastroenterologist ordered testing that consisted of blood work, xrays of abdomen and an ultrasound of the abdomen. He discussed the possibility of several reasons for this severe pain. He said it could be IBS, constipation, or even just nervousness. He did not believe it was the gall bladder at all.

I will take this time to explain these attacks my son experiences. He gets them usually late at night or woken up at 4AM with what he tells me " pain so bad he feels like he is going to die". He does vomit and get diarrhea. He is basically debilitated for a day with these attacks. They happen at least twice a month. His blood work the gastroenterologist said does not warrant that he has crohn's disease. He has lost 5lbs. The gastroenterologist got the test results back and said his xray showed "stool". He feels this is a constipation issue. My son did say at times he feels he is constipated, but I know he is going to the bathroom. I guess I'm not convinced this is "just constipation". He gets violently sick. The pain is so bad that I cry for him.

Ok so now this doctor wants me to give him ex-lax and miralax. To do a complete clean out like you do to prepare for a colonoscopy. He said that no colonoscopy or endoscopy was needed. He said to clean him out and see how that works. I'm sorry but I don't know what to believe here. I guess I just have unanswered questions and concerns.

Can IBS or being constipated cause vomiting,nausea and diarrhea???? I've been constipated before by a week and never threw up. How do I know for sure it's not his gall bladder issue. Not to mention he is only 12. Very young to have gall stones. Could it be a hernia? I'm so confused.

I dont want to put him through an unnecessary colonoscopy prep without having a colonoscopy. I think if he needs to actually have the test at some point the memory of the preparing for it will put him over the edge.

The point of his pain is in the center of his stomach, just above his navel. So does this mean not the gall bladder because thats more to the right side? Tyler has been given some meds. They are as follows: Prilosec 20mg 1/day. Zofran 4mg (1) 3 times/day as needed,and Hyoscyamine .125mg (1) 4 times/day as needed. I know I appear to be all over the place with this but I'm baffled and VERY worried. My son gets so sick when these attacks hit him that I find it hard to believe its just constipation or IBS.

He has no none food allergies, but I find it odd that one of these episodes happened after he ate fried shrimp. I have been told to put him on a NO fat diet. NO fried foods, dairy, cheese, pizza,or even his favorite, ice cream. Come on, what kid does not love pizza and ice cream?? I would deeply appreciate any advice or insight here as to what I should do. I am a single mom who loves her son to pieces and I don't know what to think.