My 7yo daughter’s had acute pain in the lower belly for about 24 hours or so. Been to the docs, they suspected it wasn’t appendicitis but took a urine sample anyway. So two questions:

1) How much does it hurt? Would you spend most of the night whining, then be reasonably ok in the day, then start whining a lot at night?

2) When they take the samples, what do they do? Will they call us back if they find something given that it’s a bank holiday weekend? I mean appendicitis is a quick thing isn’t it?

My appendix hurt so much that I couldn’t move, didn’t stop until they removed it.

Everyone is different but the people I witnessed were keeled over in agony.

Pain can be referred – from somewhere else.

If your (gut) instinct is telling something is seriously wrong – follow it and take her back to A&E.

They will call you if the results are dodgy.

When I had appendicitis (15 years old) I was bent 90º at the waist; it was too painful to stand up. This was after 3 days of being told by my mother to ignore it and it would go away. Since it had got worse, not gone away, she took me to the GP, who said ‘don’t wait for an ambulance, drive him to hospital NOW’ and it was removed within an hour.

Well, I just dunno. We have been to the docs… Something in there clearly hurts but it’s not doubling her over.

I had a pretty uncomfortable tummy ache but it was only when I applied pressure on my appendix that it really **** hurt, so just because she’s not bent over in agony doesn’t mean it’s not appendicitis. Gently press on her appendix and if that worsens her pain perception get her down to A&E.

I walked into a&e with a cycst on my apoendix having developed appendicitis months earlier and not realised it was anything more than a bad gut it started leaking at some point.

I was fine to potter round the house without anymore disconfort than being badly constipated.

Nails me.

I was absolute agony. Bent double if I was on my feet, lying down was better but I was still curled up. Pressing on my abdomen 2″ from my hip bone I folded in half violently.

7 hours in A&E waiting room, then 8 hours on a trolley with no pain relief.

Not something I would wish on anyone.

No pain relief I can appreciate.

Morphine has no effect on me coming round after the operation was the most eye popping experience I’ve ever experienced!

Well, I just dunno. We have been to the docs… Something in there clearly hurts but it’s not doubling her over.

On a couple of occasions (once as a kid and again in my late 30s) I’ve had some sort of post-viral thing that feels a lot like appendicitis (in terms of both intensity and location) – enough to get admitted to hospital and prepped for surgery the first time it happened. So there are certainly things that can seem like appendicitis but aren’t.

Will the doc gave her a good prodding, so to speak.

Dr Google comes up with abdominal migrane, for which we can tick pretty much every box and not have any ticks left over.

MCC, doc suggested virus since she also has a cough and runny nose, which can apparently also take up residence in the lower guts.

IANAD

but I’d suggest that the doc is pretty confident it’s not acute appendicitis if they haven’t even sent her to hospital for a bit of a watch & see

prodding the belly of somebody can tell quite a lot if you know what you’re doing (apparently !) – appendicitis pain “classically” starts off central when it’s just your gut hurting and then migrates to the right if inflammation develops on the abdominal wall. How the patient behaves while you’re pressing and then releasing pressure tells them things too.

If you want to reassure yourselves (or unduly worry depending on your nature) see if Medscape has a section on appendicitis. It’s intended for professionals but I’d say relatively easy to read if you’re cleverish

(one of my kids always got bellyache when she had a virus – there’s lots of lymph nodes in there)

Hang on, here we go – Medscape you may need your wife to translate – it’s in American 😉

Well she’s still alive, and slept through mostly too. She says she’s mostly better. Thanks all.