Mystery Diagnosis

Where to begin? Earlier this year Hannah woke up in the morning and began puking.  I got everything cleaned up but for the next 2 hours she threw up every 10 minutes (like clock work!!).  I immediately called the pediatrician and made an appointment for that afternoon because she was couldn't even keep the water down she was drinking to rinse out her mouth and she was eventually puking up the bile in her stomach because there was literally nothing left.  About an hour in, she was exhausted, she couldn't even hold her head up to throw up into the bucket while sitting on the couch, but it finally stopped and she was able to nap for a good couple of hours.  When she woke up, she was perfectly fine.  Playing and eating as if nothing was ever wrong.  So - I canceled her appointment thinking maybe it was something she ate the night before or some freak virus or something.  

Fast forward a few weeks and recreate the entire scene exactly.  This happened about 3 times before her 3rd birthday and I was going to bring it up at her well check up in June.  However, if anyone knows me, if I don't write it down, I forget about it and I forgot to ask her doctor what was up with her poor belly but her ability to bounce back so quick! I think we had one other episode in the beginning of the summer, I can't really remember when it was but I do know we made it through most of the summer without any problems.  It seemed like she would have a "spell" and then be fine for 3-6 weeks before it happening again.  

Now it's the first day of school, August 25th.  Hannah didn't get much sleep.  She took a really late nap the day before making it hard for her to go to bed at a decent time and then she got woken up early by Emma getting ready for school.  I made sausage biscuits for breakfast - Emma just wanted the biscuit though.  I ate my biscuit outside waiting for the bus and Hannah wanted to wait until we came back in.  We waited FOREVER for the bus to get here as it takes a little longer on the first day but the boy down the road rides with Emma now so I have someone to chat with now while waiting.  After Emma hops on the bus, Hannah still wants to play outside but she says her belly hurts.  I push her up and down the sidewalk on her bike a few times and manage to get her inside by telling her I needed to potty.  She's standing in the kitchen with me while I make her biscuit but tells me again her belly hurts.  Then she makes this face I immediately recognize and begins to gag - RUSH to the bathroom.  And then you can imagine how the next 2 hours go.  She naps and wakes up chipper and says "me not sick anymore!".

In between throw ups, I decide to google "pediatric vomiting and lack of sleep".  I seemed to make a connection between this happening one other time after a not so good night of sleep with her.  One of the first things that comes up is cyclic vomiting syndrome and I instantly know I have hit the jackpot.  Every symptom fits. It's what it sounds like, a cycle of vomiting episodes that can last between hours and 10 days (could you imagine????) and then there are periods of relief lasting from weeks to months.  The typical onset of children is between 3 and 7, is more common in girls and is present in children who have parents with a history of migraines.  BINGO!

Thursday afternoon Hannah ran a fever of 102 and complained of a headache.  She refused the chewable tylenol I had and had a horrible nights sleep.  Friday was the same.  I called the pediatrician - not concerned about the fever, but she kept complaining that her head hurt really bad.  She said to watch her that night and if her head still hurt or fever was still present or she didn't get another nights rest to bring her in on Saturday.  Although her fever broke Friday she still complained of her head hurting on Saturday so in we went.  Although the hour long wait in the doctor's office cured her because she was perfectly fine when we finally went to see the doc. She didn't have strep, but another virus and I was able to talk to the doctor about CVS.  I brought her symptoms but didn't mention what I found online - but I didn't need to.  Hannah was diagnosed with cyclic vomiting syndrome caused by a migraine variant.  She gave me a prescription for nausea and vomiting that will stop either one so we won't have 2 hour long puke sessions and she suggested that she take a B2 supplement daily to help with the migraines.  We'll go back in about 2 months to see how things are going - she would normally have an episode on that time frame so we'll see if the b2 helps prevent it or if the prescription helps.  She may undergo further testing in the the future but the doctor was pretty confident from how she was presenting that she does have CVS.  From what I've read, she'll most likely outgrow the vomiting part but will live with the migraines on into adulthood.  

Poor kid - I feel awful for her.  Even though she's so little now but is able to bounce back so quick - I wonder how much of a toll it could take on her as she gets older and how this will affect her as she enters school.  I really have to watch that her routine is kept that same and have to identity triggers and do my darnedest to avoid them.  I've read some of the message boards on the CVS website and some children are hospitalized for dehydration for days and some people throw up way longer than 2 hours so I know we're pretty lucky - but I still feel awful and I pray it doesn't get any worse but only better as she grows. 

And on another small note - do not google cyclic vomiting syndrome in the images link of google in front of your kids as a very inappropriate image may appear!