Vomiting only at night and only at the weekend!

[TwistTee]

I'm stumped. My 4yr old daughter starts vomiting at about 6am most Fridays (and occasionally on a Saturday early morning too). By 8am she is fine and spends the day as energetic as usual.
I've wondered if it is her school lunch which does not appear to be chewed properly when it comes back up. Could she be allergic to something in the lunch? It's fish. We occasionally eat fish at home with no adverse effect on her. Would an allergy cause vomiting?
She does have a cold this weekend but in the past she hasn't.

Any ideas? She's been doing this now for a few months and although it is not every weekend, it's more weekends than not.

[cluelessnchaos]

My daughter used to vomit in the night, be fine all day then be sick again the next night, I don't specifically know what it was but she was later diagnosed with a nut/seed allergy. So yes her reaction to her allergens is vomitting

[TwistTee]

Thanks Clue, I think I'll book an appointment with the GP and see if we can get some allergy tests done.

[drjohnsonscat]

Funny you should ask this because my children are also always sick late at night (2am 3am ish) and vomit a full stomach of food. Usually sat night here - so far every weekend in 2013. I haven't been able to piece together any rhyme or reason. The fish thing sounds worth exploring for you although that's not it for us.

Pointless post really but just interested to see the same phenomenon.

[drjohnsonscat]

Just kind of bumping and reporting that DD (6) was sick again last night (11pm). She complained of aches and pains before lunch, then flaked out with a fever (38.5) at about 5 so I put her to bed and she threw up later that night. Some undigested food even though she last ate at about 2pm. She's fine today.

This is her usual pattern (always at night, usually at the weekend, on average at least once or twice a month). It's not norovirus or food poisoning. Anyone able to give me any indication of what to explore with this? I'm taking her back to the paediatrician but it would be good to hear of any suggestions to follow up.

I suppose it could be a food allergy but would that cause a fever?

[juneau]

You definitely need to take her to a doctor for this - it's not normal. You should also keep a food diary and a note of when she vomits as I expect the doc will want to see the patterns. It might help you to figure out what's causing the problem too. Does she always have a certain food on the days before she gets sick? Is she sick in the night following a bottle of milk before bed? That kind of thing.

[drjohnsonscat]

Thanks so much for replying. I think as I am posting I am realising I need to get more testing for her so thanks for strengthening my resolve!

She's had blood tests for generaly health rather than allergies, and an ultrasound (she's prone to UTIs). Blood tests were fine. The ultrasound revealed a slight abormality which is being explored further but the dr doesn't think that's the cause of the throwing up anyway because if it was caused by infection she probably wouldn't be ok the next day.

Good idea about the diary. Will do that and seek further testing. There's nothing obvious that she eats to link all this. Yesterday for instance she had the usual toast for breakfast (with jam), chicken with couscous, onions and butternut squash for lunch then some pineapple upside down cake. She'd finished eating by 3pm at the latest then nothing else until the throwing up.

Sorry for hijack OP!

[TwistTee]

Funny you mention UTIs, drjohnsonscat, my dad suggested this as a possible cause. He's a retired Dr, although his area of expertise was bones not paediatrics. He thinks vomiting is most likely to be related to a viral or bacterial infection or her coming into contact with some sort of chemical irritant on the Friday. He suggested I ask the school if anything is different on a Friday, perhaps even a member of staff who only works on Fridays.
I did speak to the school, but they are also at a loss. The only other possible culprit, apart from the lunch, is play dough. According to her teacher, she puts it in her mouth, and although they play with it all the time, she gets more playtime on a Friday so more opportunity to eat the stuff.
I've booked a GP appointment next week to discuss it and see if they will do an allergy test. I'll keep you posted on how I get on.

[weasle]

Abdominal migraine? Google that and see if it describes the symptoms. Usually they grow out of it.

[drjohnsonscat]

When I first started querying all this my dr told me that fever and vomiting without any other obvious symptoms was often down to a uti especially in girls so do look into that twisttee (though I don't think you mentioned fever?)

My DD actually does have a very slight kidney abnormality and she does get quite a few UTIs so this is sometimes the cause of her vomiting but more recently all her urine analysis has been clear so there's something else going on as well. I'm taking her back to the GP tomorrow so will share any info then.

Thanks for the tip on abdominal migraine weasle. Will definitely look into that too.

Also random thought. TwistTee have you thought about carbon monoxide?

[drjohnsonscat]

Just updating - went back to GP yesterday who has referred on to a gastroenterologist which is good although I'm not sure it is a gastric problem - I think it's an immunity problem and her vomiting, I think, is a reaction to other infection but all her bloods came back normal. So going to start with the gastroenterologist and see where we end up.

He thought not allergies because she often has a fever when she's sick.

Meanwhile, paed has referred us on for further testing on the slight kidney abnormality.

DD is ok today but as per usual lately, white as a sheet.

[TwistTee]

Glad your dd is okay and you are moving forward with the Drs Drjohnsonscat,
We have had yet another weekend with her vomiting, although it only started last night.
She is fine now, but pale. I have just de-wormed her to rule that out even though I don't think she has worms.
I will look up abdominal migraine, thanks weasel.
It's just so frustrating not knowing what is going on and I really hope the GP takes us seriously on Wednesday, but I suspect he will attempt to brush it off as nothing to worry about.

[TwistTee]

Ps we have a carbon monoxide monitor, so I don't think that's it, particularly as she isn't sick every night.

[DoctorAnge]

Could it be appendicitis ?

[flamingtoaster]

Definitely worth investigating abdominal migraine. DD had this when small. When she had attacks she would invariably start vomiting at 4.00 am. Then it was called the "periodic syndrome" and it was only later I identified it as abdominal migraine. Her triggers were:

chocolate or ham eaten after 4.00 pm (OK other times of day so keep a very detailed food diary)
Over tiredness
Low blood sugar

We managed to completely avoid the 4.00 am attacks by ensuring she had a snack of cereal or toast last thing before going to bed.

Hope you can track down the source of your DD's problem soon.

[juneau]

There's quite a good description of abdominal migraine in the book 'Wife in the North'. It's a memoir-type book, not fiction. The author's son had it.