Screaming in pain for an hour....what can this be?

I am stumped. Starting last Sunday, Josh will scream in pain for about an hour and nothing I do will help him. Last Sunday we went to the zoo with my sister. He was crabby that morning and I gave him tylenol & motrin before we left. About a 1/2 hour after we got there, he had a total meltdown. I took off his costume thinking he may be hot, that did nothing. He was arching his back and and trying to climb up me as I held him. As soon as I put him down, he screamed harder and wanted to be held again.

My sister having 5 growns kids of her own along with 3 grandkids had no idea what it was. So we left and found a CVS takecare clinic. He's had a cold on and off for the past few weeks so I was 100% sure it was an ear infection. As soon as we got there he was fine. He enjoyed opening all her cabinets. No infection, no fever.....nothing. He was back to his playful self for the rest of the day.

Monday he was fine. Tueday it happened again and this time I gave him some mylicon drops thinking it might be gas. Within in hour he was fine.

Yesterday at my mil's it happened again. I gave him mylicon first and about a 1/2 hour later mortrin. He was ok for the rest of the day.

This morning I hear them laughing and jumping in their cribs. I go to pick him up and it starts again. I timed it and it was exactly one hour from 7-8. I actually turned on my computer to see if the CVS by me had a clinic because I was so desperate to find out what was wrong.

He's now fine, ate all of his breakfast and is playing.

What in the world could this be? It's happening at different times of the day so I can't pinpoint a particular thing. No new foods or drinks. His poops are normal and I don't see him struggling to get them out.

I can't feel any of his 2 year molars coming through and if I did, the motrin/tylenol mix does it for him so that's why I'm so puzzled because I gave him those last Sunday at least 1 1/2 hours before I left to pick up my sister so it was well in his system.

If it happens again, I'm going to call their pedi and see if I should bring him in.

Also, is there anything out there for gas/stomach pains besides mylicon drops? I'll try anything at this point.

Any ideas what this could be????

 

Judy, :hug: I wish I had some ideas for you but I don't know what could be causing this. It seems like you have gone through all the possibilities. I know that there is Infant's Gas-X , Gripe Water, the Tummy Soother with Winnie the Pooh on the box. Those also might help if it's a belly thing. I would definitely call the pediatrician if it happens again. Poor little guy and poor Mommy! :hug:

 

This may sound silly, but can you ask him to point to where it hurts? It may not work, but I'm constantly amazed at how much my boys really understand what I'm saying. Just because they can't verbalize I assume they can't communicate and they're always proving me wrong.

I really hope you find out what this is ASAP!!

 

It happened again when he woke from his nap yesterday. I call their pedi and she said it could be a number of things; worst being a twisted bowel. :woah: She said if it happened again to take him to the ER ASAP. I explained to her that it ends in less than an hour and then he's back to his normal self. The last time I gave him mylicon right away and it ended in 30 minutes. She said it takes 30 minutes for it to work so it may just be gas. She really freaked me out with the twisted bowel thing so I called my sister and asked her what she would do. She has 5 grown kids of her own plus 3 grandkids. I was not going to wait until the next time and take him to the ER last night. But since he was fine, it would be hard to convince them that something was wrong with him. So after taking with my sister we decided if it were to happen again, I would call 911 and have him taken to the ER.

His pedi said to try and feel for a mass or blockage. He let me feel around his stomach and groin area and I could not feel anything.

He was fine last night, went to bed right away and slept until 7:00. He woke up fine, just to be safe I gave him mylicon as soon as he woke. He ate all of his breakfast and seemed fine. He finally pooped (he did not yesterday) and it was harder than usual. Maybe that was upsetting his stomach. :unknw:

His pedi also said if I wanted I could bring him in today but warned me that a lot of kids have the flu in the waiting room.

Right now I'll just see how he does. They started their first day of a kids day out program today and except for some major meltdowns when I left he was fine.

 

Definitely take him to the ER the next time it happens. It could be appedicitis. I had an appendectomy when I was 3. From what my mom tells me I would run a fever and complain that my side hurt. She would come get me from daycare and take me home and then an hour or so later I would be fine. She just thought I wanted out of daycare. After this went on for two weeks she called our family doctor. He said to take me to the ER. That's when they found out it was my appendix.

He may be going thru something different, but I'd take him in just to be on the safe side. Please post later and let us know he is feeling.

 

Appendix was my first thought too. DH had his out just before I got pregnant with the twins. He would be in serious pain and start talking about going to the ER and then a short while later he would be fine and would blow it off. After 4 or 5 episodes his boss actually convinced him to go to the ER and they took his appendix out within a couple hours of him getting there. If your pedi suggests the ER, that's where I would go. Even risking all the flu kids in the pedi's office would be worth it to me if it's really as bad as you say it is.

 

No episodes today so far. He was ok this morning and ate lunch and went down for a nap with no problems. I'm continuing the mylicon drops. If it happens again I'll be taking him either to the Dr. or ER.

He does not nor did he ever have a fever this past week.

The one thing I can think of that may have had role in this is that I started them on probiotics a little over a week ago. I stopped after his 2nd episode after reading that sometimes it can cause gas/stomach issues for 1-2 weeks until their bodies get used to it.

His last dose was late Monday afternoon and when it happened again Tuesday morning that's when I realized it could be realated to the probiotics and stopped them immediatly.