Functional Abdominal Pain in 8 year old

I'm so sorry about your daughter.  Have you considered that the condition may be related to stress of some kind?  At a younger age, our child would get terrible stomach pain daily (although it wasn't constant like your daughter's).  After eliminating various foods and conducting all sorts of blood and stool tests (all normal) with no effect, our child was assessed for behavioral/neurological conditions.  Medication to address the diagnosis made a difference right away - after several years of pain, our child has been pain free for 4 years.  Perhaps something to consider or discuss with your pediatrician.  

-sad stomachs make for sad kids

My doctor told me that gastroenterologists at Kaiser recommend Activia Yogurt.  I find it way too sweet and did some research; some varieties of Lifeway Kefir have the same yogurt cultures.  I also added fancy pro-biotics from Whole Foods.  Bifidobacteria did more to relieve pain than Lactobacillus (for me).  It may take some experimentation to find the combination that works for your child. 

Psychological tension can also cause terrible pain, so investigate what might be making her unhappy.  Is she being bullied?  Nervous about school performance?  Look for ways she can relax; teach her deep breathing.

Finally, is it possible the pain is from her reproductive organs?  Children menstruate earlier and earlier these days; I had a bad case of abdominal pain when I was young that in retrospect I think was my body trying to ovulate.

Just some ideas.  Good luck and blessings to your child.  

My daughter has the same issue. While everything has been determined to be "normal" and there are no signs of allergic reactions to foods, we did keep a food diary for a while to see if there were certain things that made her feel worse after eating. That really paid off and we discovered she was sensitive to lactose so switched her to lactose free milk, sorbet instead of ice cream, etc (cheese contains trace amounts of lactose so is fine), and that sugary foods definitely make her feel worse. I also strongly suggest you do some reading on FODMAP foods, which are "short chain carbohydrates that are poorly absorbed in the small intestine." We've found that many foods on FODMAP avoid lists, like apples, make her feel worse after eating and really believe there's a correlation. 

Our doctor also said that children in general tend to suffer abdominal distress with stress and anxiety, and can also be more prone to constipation especially if reluctant to eat high fiber vegetables and fruits like our daughter. So add those things on top of an overly sensitive gut and you really have a painful situation. So we try to make sure our daughter eats a high fiber diet and will even add, per her doctor's recommendation, fiber like Metamucil or give her fiber gummies. Our doctor also recommended priobiotic supplements (I read recently that this is especially beneficial for kids that have anxiety). Our daughter also is more anxious than is normal and we've seen how it causes stomach pain, so  we've been working on tools to help her when she's been feeling anxious -- things like deep calm breathing and other mindfulness techniques she learned in school. We are trying to get it be a part of the daily routine, especially before bedtime when her anxiety seems to flare up (she's tired, worried about the next day, etc.)  During an especially stressful time (being bullied at school, followed by grandfather becoming ill and dying), her abdominal issues were at their peak, to the point of cumulatively missing weeks of school due to abdominal pain. At that point we took her to see a therapist, which really helped with the stress and brought her abdominal pain to more manageable levels. So keeping an eye on anxiety levels is just as important as food and other physical  things you can do to help. 

I don't know much about this but is she old enough for biofeedback? Doesn't  Children's have a pain clinic? Could anxiety contribute to the pain? 

I’m just curious if the lab work included a thyroid test. I get abdominal pain when my thyroid isn’t functioning as it should. 

You may have already checked this out, but just in case, my grandniece had this kind of pain for years until they tested her for celiac disease, which she had, and since being treated for that she has been fine. All best wishes to you and your daughter!

I just posted about my daughter's Functional Abdominal Pain and wanted to add a resource I found helpful, it's the website for the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders. Here is the link to functional abdominal pain, where you can read more about the link between the brain and the pain, and the need to deal with anxiety as part of treatment: https://www.iffgd.org/lower-gi-disorders/functional-abdominal-pain-synd…; Even getting anxious about the pain can make the symptoms worse. 

Hello, a woman named Kate Cameron has an office in Berkeley on telegraph and ashby and is usually there on Fridays.  She does Jin Shin Jyutsu.  She charges between 50-75/hr sliding scale...  i strongly recommend her....  AND  the wonderful thing is, she can teach you how to do this on your daughter...  it is powerful, miraculous and amazing...  Good luck to you.

P.S. BPN wanted me to post that I have had experience with Kate Cameron as a patient and I have and so has my grandson.

Adele