Question from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA:

Since we adopted my four year old son at the age of six weeks, he has been having “episodes”. This past year, the past year he was diagnosed with hypoglycemia, (intermittent episodes, always early am), growth hormone deficiency (He has been taking growth hormone nightly for two and one-half months), and cortisol deficiency (He has been taking replacement steroid medication nightly for a month and one-half. He also has chronic abdominal pain (periumbilical region). The abdominal pain occurs anytime, and without regard to meals,excitement or foods. For a few days prior to a hypoglycemic episode, his abdominal pain appears to increase. Do you know of any link between the two? He always eats a bedtime snack. His morning glucose levels now run in the 40s mg/dl [2.2 mmol/L] as opposed to before the above medications, when they were in the 30s mg/dl [1.6 mmol/L]. He states the intermittent abdominal pain is the same kind of pain he has when his sugar is low. Do you have any ideas or suggestion for further evaluation or treatment?