This is a problem I am consistently having with my 8 year old daughter. Because we are military, we move from clinic to clinic. My 8yo has complained of severe pain in her stomach almost from the time she could talk. She has very little appetite, and she is way at the end of the growth scale. She isn't having any learning issues, however.
Appointment after appointment has been made, and no one will investigate further than "give her laxatives and make her eat more fiber."
Not one test, not one full exam even. They say she is just constipated, but these pains cause her to double over and she has days when she flat out can't walk from them. But it's all about the laxatives for them.
I haven't found one doctor that will listen to me. And because they refuse to get past the constipation issue, they won't refer her out in town to see a different, non-military doctor. And this has been going on for years.
Have you kept a note book? When going to the Dr. If at all possible bring a witness to take notes. A spouse, brother, sister who ever.
Have symptoms written out and questions prepared in advance.
And, above all take notes. You will get more attention
if you are writing things down and have a witness.
Sad but true.
My son became ill at 8 mos with diarrhea and a swollen belly. By age 11 mos, he had bloody diarrhea and started loosing weight. ("Nothing to alarmed about.") By age 15 mos he'd lost 1/3rd of his body weight and was dying. I put him on a diet of chicken, rice and veggies and he recovered fast. The drs said he had an "immature digestive system" and I was told to keep him on the diet for another year, then wean him onto "normal" foods. I did. By age 7 he started having migraines. By age 9 he began to have symptoms of Autism. We finally got him to a neurologist who discovered that he was a Celiac. After 2 weeks on a gluten-free diet, the headaches returned.
My daughter was much like yours. "My tummy hurts." I swear she was saying this almost every day from the time she could talk. From time-to-time, she'd get a bit bloated, but no diarrhea. A few times she's get constipated, but it wasn't a major problem. About a year and a half ago she started getting headaches. (She's 15 now.) We just discovered that she, too, is a Celiac. After three weeks on the gluten-free diet, she is starting to look and feel better than ever in her life. (and she was screened for the test. It took a more sensitive test to detect the problem.)
In the last month, my aunt, mother and myself have all *finally* been diagnosed. We're all starting to feel better than we have in decades.
If you'd like information on the test, I'll FReep it to you. You can get it yourself without a doctor's order.
Hmmm...I dunno, but you've got to find a way around the buraucracy somehow. If I were you, I'd summarize in writing everything that you've just said, and perhaps have your husband take it to his C.O. I know it can cause problems, but you may have to start mentioning attorneys or news media or something to get their attention. You've GOT to fix the idea in your head that the "status quo" is not going to be tolerated anymore and act on it. Your daughter is a civilian, and if the military can't get the job done for her, somebody else will have to.
I can tell you from recent experience from having my mother in the hospital for about 2 months (car crash), the squeaky wheel gets the grease. She would probably have died (a couple of times) if it wasn't for my brother and I "rattling cages" and "stepping on toes". Do whatever it takes.
Have you investigated food allergies on your own? I would check out wheat (gluten) and dairy if one of my children had those sorts of symptoms.
If neither of those seemed to be the problem, I would keep looking at intestinal difficulties, including Crohn's Disease. Growth issues and intestinal distress are both connected with that.
If you walk in with your notebook as suggested above, and can say, "We stopped this or that food for a week and it seemed to help," you can help the Doctor start down a more useful path.
Google, Ask.com, and Webmd can be your friends. I'm of the opinion that as a mom, I am the primary caregiver for our family. Our doctor(s) are consultants that I use. :-) YMMV
"I haven't found one doctor that will listen to me."
You unfortunately get to enjoy the socialized medicine now that we will all have some time in the near future.
You need to come to your senses, dig into your pocket book and go see as many civilian doctors as it takes to solve the problem.
I did that when I was in the military. I would not allow my pregnant wife to be seen by military doctors - you simply don't know what you are going to get.
As a kid and a military brat I remember being attended to by a vet one time at the military emergency room. That's a veteranarian, not a veteran.
I had the same problem as a child . It was ...... constipation. I drank too much milk. Of course, the doctors never figured it out.