A brain-gut disorder such as functional abdominal pain disorders means your child has stomach pain that comes from how their brain and gut work together.
The nerves in the belly send signals to the brain, but the brain handles those signals differently. These are also called disorders of the gut-brain interaction. This can cause real pain, even when there’s no injury, infection or blockage.
Doctors can’t find the cause of pain in lab tests or scans. Instead, they look at your child’s symptoms, health history and how the pain affects daily life. These include conditions such as abdominal migraines and irritable bowel syndrome. Many patients with autonomic nervous system disorders (i.e.dysautonomia) also fall into these categories. Patients commonly also suffer from symptoms outside of the digestive system.
Some of the main symptoms occurring in to functional abdominal pain disorders include:
- Nausea
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Anxiety
- Fatigue
- Sleep disturbances