Stomach virus and leg pain?

Last night, Ds was crying, saying his thighs hurt. I figured it was growing pains, but they usually happen in his feet. This morning, he was crying hard that the backs of his knees hurt. He had no appetite for breakfast, threw up what little he ate 1/2 hour later, and had diarrehea for the rest of the day, and was very lethargic, slept a lot, etc. No fever. The peds office said it was prob a stomach virus. I'm just wondering about the leg pain thing. The nurse said kids can get leg pain when they're dehydrated, but it started last night and he had been drinking his reg amount of water that day.

This is what I read on one site:
"Joints may become inflamed as part of the body's generalized reaction to an infection. Infections may cause synovitis, or inflammation of the synovium (the lining tissue of a joint). Most often it is due to a virus, but in children there is always a concern that a bacterial infection is the cause."

and of course, this:
" Leg pain in children is a special situation. While most leg pain in children is not serious, there are times when the pain has a significant cause. These may include a joint infection causing hip pain, trauma causing damage to growth plates, and pain due to systemic illnesses like Henoch-Schonlein purpura, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, or rheumatic fever.
"Growing pains" are most likely due to muscle overuse, although they may be associated with a mild stretching as the muscles grow along with bone. "

So, I'm thinking the leg/knee pain was prob a reaction to the virus. Has anyone heard of this? From time to time, DS has strong pains in his feet/legs, but the ped said those are prob growing pains.

I had that last week. You described what I had to a T. My achy-ness was kind of in the joints (back of knees, front of hips). I'm glad he is feeling better.

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Originally Posted by ellies mom

I had that last week. You described what I had to a T. My achy-ness was kind of in the joints (back of knees, front of hips). I'm glad he is feeling better.

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How long did yours last? DS ate some cheerios and applesauce tonight (nothing else during the day), and seemed to be feeling a little better, still whimpering though. We'll see tomorrow morning. It'll be good if it's only a 24 hour thing. I sure hope DD doesn't get it.

So sorry your DS had to go through this, but interesting. Is he usually spot-on when describing pain? That is, do you think he was having thigh muscle aches or could it have been a hip thing?

I'd say most viruses I get result in muscle and joint pain, sometimes horribly, kwim? Maybe this is just that, seen through the lens of a little guy.

Blue-skying aside, I hope he feels better soon!

Poor guy! No btdt just :hug:

At this point, I am just chalking it up to the virus, but I guess he's never had a virus with leg pain, so I was concerned. He was crying really hard this morning about it. Sometimes he's vague about where it hurts, but if he does point to a particular area, it's usually in that area. So, I'm pretty sure it was the backs of knees and thighs. I guess it's been so long since I've had a virus, I foget that you can get muscle/joint pain with it. I tend to get worked up over health things, so of course, I get worried when I see an "unusual" symptom.

The leg aching was really only the first day when I also threw up. I was still really tired and a little weak the next day but I was able to eat. I had diarrhea for 2-3 days but since I could eat, it was more annoying than anything else. My youngest vomited once a few days before I got sick and that was it and my oldest threw up off and on all day Friday but was fine otherwise.

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Originally Posted by ellies mom

The leg aching was really only the first day when I also threw up. I was still really tired and a little weak the next day but I was able to eat. I had diarrhea for 2-3 days but since I could eat, it was more annoying than anything else. My youngest vomited once a few days before I got sick and that was it and my oldest threw up off and on all day Friday but was fine otherwise.

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Good. I'm hoping tomorrow he's tired, but can eat and no more leg pain. We'll see how it goes for Monday's preschool. Funny how you can have all this and no fever...

This is EXACTLY what happened at our house two weeks ago. On Sunday and Monday Matthew complained about leg pains. Tuesday the stomach virus appeared with a vengance. He was out of school on Tuesday and Wednesday and back at school on Thursday. It took him until late Friday to get his appetite back. My husband had the same thing, only two days later. It took him a few days longer to recover.

Hope he feels better soon.

Glad to hear we're not the only ones in that this isn't some exotic virus. At least it only lasts a few days. Today DS has his appetite back and is keeping everything down. His stools are still loose, but based on Ellie's mom's response, I was kind of expecting that part to last a few days. He's acting like himself now though. Yesterday, he was just laying there, staring off into space, if he wasn't sleeping.