Friday, December 18, 2009

Cyclical vomiting syndrome

In my last post I wrote that Matthew has been diagnosed with a condition called Cyclical vomiting syndrome. I am going to call it CVS it is so much shorter. I thought I would share with everyone what CVS is. Now, I am not a doctor so all the information I have is either what I have read or experienced.
CVS is when a child vomits in cycles. Matthew and many other children that have this illness usually vomit at night time. He starts around 2am and it usually goes for 2-3 hours vomiting every 10-15 minutes. Because it comes in cycles he is not vomiting every night usually a cycle starts every four to five weeks and last from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.
CVS is linked to migraines in teen and adults. So, Matthew is not having migraines yet(they usually come during the teenage years), just the vomiting that goes along with them. It has taken us over a year and half for the doctors to figure out what he has. I feel lucky because most cases take 2 years or more to be correctly diagnosed. There are no test that doctors can do so it goes misdiagnosed all the time. During the time we were looking for answers, I spent many visits to our doctor. He ordered all sorts of tests. We also took him to the ER once and no one knew what was wrong with him. Each time they seemed to try to tell me it was either a viral, bacteria, or some other thing. It was not until the last time I went in that I told the doctor I knew there was something seriously wrong with our little boy. After a visit to the Pedo GI she suspected he had CVS. It kinda stinks because she really does not know a whole a lot about it except the symptoms. There are no specialist here in Oregon or Washington in fact the closest one is in Wisconsin.
Just like migraines there are no cures for his illness. Either he will out grown them or they will get worse as his hormones get more crazy. As symptoms arise then the doctor will prescribe medicine to help calm them down. We are also trying to find out what triggers his cycles. I have no clue. Right know he is on some medicine to help with the nausea which seems to be helping out some.

3 comments:

Lisa C said...

No cure? No specialist? I sure hope it doesn't get worse for him. That's awful. Bless his little heart.

ellie said...

I finally got the chance to blog. I've been a slacker. I hope MAtthew will get over this syndrome. I am so proud of JAson. What a smart kid:) Belated merry Christmas:) We miss you guys at the big house

Brian Grimwood said...

thanks Ellie, we missed you too. Next year we will see you guys at christmas. We are proud of Jason too he already wants to work on being a doctor. Love ya guys. Steph