Hi, my name is Kris and I have a 10 yo daughter (Holly) who's had nausea and
lower abdominal pain on and off (mostly on) since late April 1998. It all
started with a "stomach bug" in March. Her story is complex but the essential
points are:
--I discovered she had become very intolerant to dairy products, so she has
been strictly dairy free since May (reacts to even tiny traces of dairy)
--Her GI specialist never even mentioned reflux until I told him I thought she
had it (she had a cough that improved by elevating the head of her bed, and I
noticed her nausea improved a bit too). She started Prilosec in December and
it has helped decrease her nausea.
--She also has some kind of functional disorder (motility disorder?, in the
IBS family?) that causes lower abdominal pain (no other symptoms). She
recently had a "crisis" of horrendous pain hitting 60 times a day, and after
two weeks she finally got some relief from the second antispasmodic we tried.
--I discovered (with no help from the GI specialist) that her worst times have
followed "events" whether happy or sad (her birthday party, holidays, visiting
her grandmother, a special outing, etc.). This worsening affects both her
lower abdominal pain and her nausea.
--I am investigating the "second brain" connection to problems like hers, i.e.
that she reacts to emotion not because she is neurotic or has psychological
problems, but due to a disorder of the nervous system controlling her GI
tract.
--I am looking for a new pediatric gastroenterologist because I am totally fed
up with our present specialist (at a nationally respected university hospital
in Michigan) because, among other things, he
-- wouldn't tell me the name of my daughter's condition (said it "doesn't
have a name...")
-- told *my daughter* that she should go to school every day as "you will
have a belly ache whether you are in school or not" -- without giving her any
treatment for the pain!
--told us that his job was really just to make sure she "didn't have
anything serious."

Well, that covers it pretty well for now. I know that my daughter's other
problem may be well outside the experiences of the rest of you GERD parents,
but if I only get some help and support for dealing with her GERD, then that
would be great.

Thanks for listening,
Kris