My 11 yr old daughter has Lyme...she is currently taking azithro/minocycline
Major complaint is stomach..I took her to GI specialist and EVERY test is NORMAL! Even did Barium swallowing test to check blockage small/large intestine Everything NORMAL?
Every night..she complains of Pains by her belly button/feeling of pressure/ cramps and gass. Her stomach is distended..dr's say Gas! But's it's really DISTENDED. ( she sometimes looks like she's 6 months pregnant) Sonogram was done again NORMAL results.
Each night she has a BM and this seems to lessen any discomfort temporaraly. Waiting for lactose test to be done..but I think that'll just be Normal as well.
What is the LINK between Lyme and GI problems? What can I do to help? Suppliments? herbs? is this common among kids w/ Lyme?
Posted by tick battler (Member # 21113) on :
Yes, there is a link between lyme and GI problems but there is an even bigger link with abx and GI problems...I would guess she has an overgrowth of candida, which can happen from lyme and almost always happens from long term abx use.
My 4 year old had the same issue...huge bloating...it has gone down since we have eliminated allergenic foods and treated her candida.
You might ask her doc to try Diflucan for awhile...and even stop the abx for this period to see if there is a change.
My kids also developed severe food intolerances after the were on abx for 2 years, due to the overgrowth of candida and gut dysbiosis. This is very common. You might eliminate all dairy and gluten to start along with treating yeast.
Because of gut issues, we had to switch to herbals to treat lyme. We also take GSE which is a wonderful supplement to kill candida.
One more possibility is bartonella...that can also cause gut pain...and of course parasites. You might also look into an herbal parasite treatment.
tickbattler
Posted by renny1985 (Member # 25222) on :
I got Lyme at a young age, though had no idea it was Lyme until 24. I have horrific GI problems- terrible pain all the time, diarrhea and nausea. Also significant weight loss.
My LLMD says he sees these symptoms ALL THE TIME in children... less common in adults with Lyme. He says it could be Lyme for children that causes the GI. I have heard other things about Bart and Babs each causing their own GI stuff.
I have no idea which or what is causing mine. People on this board have also pointed me in the direction of parasites (which often go hand in hand with Lyme). I think there is a GI Lyme doc on the NE somewhere that works with Peds. You should ask around on this board for sure.
I am sorry for your baby. This GI stuff is horrible .
Posted by 2roads (Member # 4409) on :
I'm in the same place right now.
I know very well how Bartonella can mess up the stomach. My daughter had nausea, pain under the belly button, and acid reflux as it progressed.
She was being treated for Lyme at the time, but nothing was working. A stomach biopsy through MDL at the time yielded bartonella. After some Cipro it went away.
My son now intermittently complains of this. I am not sure if it is the bart, or the meds, like Tickbattler says. I think it could be a little of both. Lower discomfort, could be the intestine and yeast from the meds, under the belly button, unresolved bart. He isn't really distended. He just gets pain.
We are not on any meds now, and it is persisting.
I think the right topics are on the table, you just have to figure out which one applies. Maybe both.
Hugs,
2roads
Posted by jenn (Member # 21687) on :
Do you think upping the Probiotics would help if it is Yeast?? Her mouth doesn't look white-ish which are signs of yeast..
.If if is Yeast in the intestines..would it show signs on the tongue??
Posted by 2roads (Member # 4409) on :
I ask myself the same thing.
My sons tongue is not white.
I have been intermittently giving him probioitics to see if it helps while off meds, like every other day. About 15 billion. I find that a bottle with a variety of cultures works better then one with, say four.
When he was on meds, I gave him 25 billion.
I don't know if it can irradicate the problem or just reduce the problem from that point forward.
I don't think it could hurt to up it if you aren't giving the amounts we are. Definitely look into a range of healthy bacterial strains over a bottle that just offers a few.
up
Posted by glm1111 (Member # 16556) on :
Parasites/worms can cause G. I. issues. Google parasite symptoms. Also do a search on here under parasites and check out Humaworms web site. Parasites can play a MAJOR role in Lyme disease.
Gael
Posted by sickofsick (Member # 29258) on :
yes, I believe the GI symptoms are big in kids. My daughter, 13, has horrible stomach pain and nausea and some constipation. Not so much the bloating though. Still working on what is exactly going on. She has been doxycycline, amoxycillin, flagyl for a month and doxycycline only the previous month. No improvement in symptoms. She had many GI tests that came back normal. The pain began high up by the ribs in the center and left, but it appears to come and go in other places. These were her first symptoms and have remained for 5 months. Trying to get some specific testing for parasites or coinfections
Posted by catskillmamala (Member # 12536) on :
My daughter had major stomach pain after every meal, right above the belly button. She also had severe constipation. She was dx lyme and babs and did 2 years of treatment zithro/mepron. She is all good today!! No pain and can eat anything.
At the time of treatment we avoided all sugar and white starch foods which made pain worse.
Posted by jkmom (Member # 14004) on :
Before Lyme, my daughter always had a stomach ache. Doctors could find nothing wrong and called it anxiety. We have a family history of celiac, so she was tested several times for that but was negative. Still, eliminating gluten and milk got rid of her problem.
I am not sure if she had Lyme then, from me, but she had the bullseye rash when she was 6.
My stomach was bloated my whole life until I went GF.
If you haven't already tried the GF and possibly dairy free diet for her, it might be worth it.
Posted by momlyme (Member # 27775) on :
jenn, when my son first got diagnosed with lyme and even for a month or two before the positive test, he was having flu like stomach issues.
He didn't have white in his mouth or throat either.
He just felt sick all the time.
He never wanted to eat because it just made him sicker.
He lost a lot of weight... for a little skinny kid it was a scary amount.
He was throwing up a lot.
I went on a drastic diet change for him.
I cut out all sugar, all starches, all white foods, all fruit except the occasional green apple, all night shades, and all yeasts.
I didn't cut out dairy right away because I didn't see an issue. Until I started giving him eggnogs... and he would get sick everytime he would have one.
But he was fine with eggs.
No more dairy.
No more throw ups.
No more pain.
We add foods in very carefully.
He eats mostly chicken, eggs, tofu, vegetables, gluten free foods without yeast or sugar, almond milk, stevia for sweetening, nuts, berries, lots of lemon water, green tea, very little juice... only when needed to hide a medicine.
His LLMD prescribed VSL#3-DS which has 950 Billion organisms per packet... so we only use 1/4-1/2tsp per day, depending on how he is feeling and how his BMs are (if they are runny add more VSL)
My son was 11 when this started. It is so hard to watch them suffer. I hope she feels better soon!
Posted by 2roads (Member # 4409) on :
tried to PM but mail box full-
Posted by Razzle (Member # 30398) on :
No, gastrointestinal yeast will not necessarily show up as a white tongue...
Antifungal Tannins (zinc tannates...product I know if is called Tanalbit; no financial connections with this product, just satisfied customer) can help with yeast control also.
And biotin (high dose...I've taken as much as 8000mcg 4x/day) helps to keep the yeastie beasties from converting into resistant spores so they can actually be killed off...
Also, Florastor (a "friendly" yeast) is supposed to be good for preventing Candida overgrowth...
And digestive enzymes help too - enzymes help break down all sorts of problem things in the gut. No, they won't enable a person to eat things they're allergic to, but enzymes can do a lot of good for reducing herxing and cleaning up the body...esp. if taken on an empty stomach.
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