After every meal my son forces himself to throw up. He always threw up since birth. But recently he throws up all the time. Medically he is fine , Doctors at CHP are stumped. Can anyone help? I need suggestions, where to turn. He just had an upper GI done everything looked fine. He later had and Endoscopy done everything looked fine. He just makes himself throw up after every meal . He went from 133 lbs to 115. He is now gaining a little weight doctor put him on 6 boost a day. A Behavioral specialist is going to start looking at him. I just want to know if any other parents have ever had problems like this with their autistic child? Usually liquids he keeps down, but any meal he will throw up except ice cream. please give me your suggestions thanks.
We are not doctors.
Is he maintaining or gaining weight?
Could he be anorexic? (Rarer in boys, but I have a friend with a bulimic son.)
i doubt anyone here can offer anything more useful than what the 'stumped' educated and professional doctors and the behavioral therapist can give.
khairete
S.
This is too sketchy for us to help at all. If he's been seen by doctors, why has there been no referral for any type of behavioral therapy or even help with eating disorders? A lot of kids on the spectrum have problems with smells, tastes and textures, but we don't know what you've already been dealing with. There are a wide range of services available to kids with autism and many other disorders. If he's been throwing up since birth, it would help if we knew what else you had tried. Please go back to the practitioners who know your son and demand additional referrals.
I'm glad you've explored the medical side. I agree it could be sensory but then you wonder why he'd eat it at all and why the vomiting has increased to almost daily? To me this sounds like it may be about control ( ie male bulimia) has something changed? School, summer care etc? This doesn't have to be about controlling weight it just might be the only thing he feels he is in control of hopefully the Behavioral specialist can get to the root of the issue.
High functioning autistic?, it makes a huge difference. My son is a high functioning autistic, 16 even. Everything is cause and effect so what is he getting from it?
Sit down with his doctor and figure it out. There is just no enough information given here for any of us to know what is going on
Question, has he been assessed for Sensory Processing Disorder? If not, this needs to be done ASAP. Behavioral help isn't going to help if he actually is having trouble with the food itself. Please make sure they do the sensory assessment first because assuming it's "just" behavioral will not help him.
Can he communicate at all? Is he able to share why the throwing up is happening? Whatever info you can get from him (talking, typing, anything) can give you clues as to what might be behind the issue. Behavior is communication - something is going on where food and his body are concerned. His digestive system may be fine, but eating isn't all about digestion.
Sensory issues are HUGE for autistic people where food is concerned. For some, food texture, smell, taste do NOT match up with what we non-autistic think they would.
Please visit autistikids.com - http://www.autistikids.com/sensory.html - about halfway down the page are a few links to blogs re. food and sensory issues. The links are primarily to blogs written by AUTISTIC people, so they will potentially have insights into the situation that non-autistic professionals just won't have.
Also, the facebook page "Parenting Autistic Children with Love and Acceptance" can be helpful - you can post a question and may be able to get some input.
I have to wonder if your son has a sensory disorder in addition to being autistic. I've worked in special ed, and have had seen this many times. Have the docs ever tested him for this? It's worth a try.
Is this the only reason you think he's autistic? Or has he had Autism since birth? It's interesting that he's just starting to do it more now.
IF IF IF the docs can't find a biological cause doesn't mean he isn't have some sensitivity or something but it could be that you give him attention for doing it so he does it more.
I'm sorry he's puking more though, that's hard to clean up every day.
I see a couple of components here.
Autistics sometimes have a hard time understanding the sensations they feel inside their bodies. I knew of one autistic adult whose appendix burst, had to be taken by ambulance after he collapsed at work and never complained once of a stomachache. I'm wondering if he is having trouble with the sensation of a full stomach. Have you tried letting him graze- eat more often but smaller quantities? He tolerates the liquids which is good. What about offering tiny portions of semi solids? A yogurt here, a scoop of mashed potatoes there?
You don't mention how long the throwing up has been a problem. You mention the weight drop so I'm assuming this is a fairly recent change. If you continually purge, your stomach shrinks and you feel full even quicker. Also, the gag reflex that causes you to throw up can become a reaction to feeling full. You mention he "makes" himself throw up. How? Does it happen only at home or does he do it at school too? Can you pinpoint when it started? Did something disrupt his routine?
If you can, try to find a Behavioral Specialist who also has experience with eating disorders. And Julie S. (below) has a good point too.
Autistic people thrive on routine. You need to figure out a way to break the cycle before it becomes part of his routine.
Best of luck to you. I hope you get it sorted out.
