My 9-year-old daughter has developed a phobia since school started in August and it has perplexed everyone from family to her teachers. She is afraid to swallow solid food. She has never actually choked, though about a year ago she accidently swallowed a peppermint whole. It went on through after my husband had her drink some warm water. No problem after that. But in the past month, she refuses to eat most foods for fear of the food getting stuck. She starts having chest pains and shaking, basically a panic attack. She will eat tomato soup, applesauce (and sometimes not that) PB&J-but only about a quarter of a sandwich, and yogurt. Oh, and cereal bars. So, we've seen her pedi who believes it's likely psychological, but we have to rule out physical problems. We're taking her to Cooks this week for and EGD scope and an upper GI, and I'm almost afraid this is going to exacerbate her phobia, but we have to do it. Have any of you had this problem, and how in the world did you deal with it--better yet, how did your child get better?
This happened quite awhile back, but my DD remembers it well. What "cured" her was doing the barium swallow test. She was able to see her insides and what happened when she swallowed. She had witnessed with her own 2 eyes that all her parts were in working order and heard with her own ears from the doctor telling her she was perfectly normal. After that, she began to eat again. Even now, almost 3 years later, she will still have small episodes of panic, and still refuses to learn to swallow pills. She mostly realized that she was missing out on a lot of her favorite foods, and she didn't want to miss out anymore.
Only thing I know is years ago my friend's son refused to eat anything that was not individually wrapped. I thought that was weird. Never heard the rest of the story. We only keep in touch every few years. I have know her since 2nd grade. I do know kids will not let themselves starve. They will eat when they get hungry enough. G. W Good Luck, Cooks is the best and Baylor.
It sounds like you are getting some great advice and encouragement. Mamasource is great, isn't it?! As you continue to figure this out, I thought I might suggest teaching your daughter about the science behind swallowing. If you know any speech-language pathologists, they frequently have some good educational posters and such that talk about the anatomy and the swallowing process. Maybe if she understands how everything works, and how miraculously protective our bodies are, she will have less anxiety. It may not solve the physical problem, but understanding it may somehow offers a bit of peace. Prayers are with you and your little girl...
C.,
I'm so sorry for you and your daughter. Poor thing. I don't have any experience with the swallowing, but I do suffer from Panic attacks, so I just feel for her completely. It is difficult to overcome a fear once you have developed it. She may just need some behavorial therapy after any other medical problems are ruled out. I'll keep you all in my prayers.
Hugs,'
C.
The only advice I would have is for you not to become obessed with it around your daughter. I know it is a huge issue but you don't have to let your daughter know that. Try and have the attitude "Well, this is something we will deal with and get through. Everyone has different struggles...it is normal for all of us to struggle with things. This is just one of your struggles but it won't consume us and we will work it out."
Hope that is helpful and I hope it works itself out quickly.
Hi C.,
I am so sorry your little girl is having this problem. If her problem turns out to not be physical it probably is pscyological. This is just a thought, and this my not even be the problem, but I am wondering if your daughter may have heard or saw something that my have scared her. When I was a little girl I was working on a merit badge for Girl Scouts. Our scout leader was an EMT so she thought the she would teach us first aid and CPR. I remember watching a video where someone was choking on a hotdog, and it really scared me. Children have very vivid imaginations that can cause very real problems. I was scared to eat hotdogs for a while after watching that video. I hope this helps. It is very scary when your child won't eat. I pray that everything will get worked out.
God Bless,
L.
I have not had to deal with that issue yet- knock on wood. As far as going in for the tests, I would just tell her that they are checking because she is so scared and when they find nothing is wrong with her it should ease her mind about it. Talk about how she's never choked before, about how everyone in your family eats and does just fine, and teach her what to do if she does choke. That way she might feel in charge of the situation instead of a victim. If none of that helps, I know a great child psychologist. Her name is Elizabeth Jones and she's off Montgomery (close to Will Roger's). Her phone number is ###-###-####.
Good luck!!!
Does she complain that it hurts to swallow? Or ask if she can feel her food going down her throat and into her stomach. If it hurts to swallow or she can tell you exactly where her food is in her system, it could be a very real disease. Do a google search for achalasia. It is a rare disease, but can effect any age. Many times it goes years untreated, especially in children. I was diagonised five years ago and my mothers best friend about 10 years ago. So, though it is rare, they are finding it in more and more cases.
My Drs did a scope, and upper GI, and rulled out almost everything. He then said he wanted to do one more test just to rule out this strange sounding disease. I didnt think anyting about it, I figured I was going to get a no, we still dont know what the problem is but to everyones surpise I was one of the 1 in 200,000 with achalasia. Just knowing I was not crazy and there was something wrong was a huge relief. The best part was going back to my family dr and telling him I was not crazy. He was shocked when I told him I had achalasia. He said it is one of those diseases they spend an hour on in med school knowing they will probally never see a real case.
It is hard to describe, but basically it is a cross between MS of the throat and the reverse of GERD. It is not life threating, but it is chronic and will never get better. The nerves in the esophogus are dying and as a result misfiring. It causes food to get "stuck" in your esophagus sometimes going up instead of down. It can be very painful and when I am having a bad day, I know where every bite and drink I take is located all the way until it makes it to my stomach. Very strange feeling and for someone young, it could cause a phobia.
Even if they can rule out "everything" including achalasia, if she is still having trouble, keep fighting a mom knows when something is wrong and your instict is better than any medical test.
You never know, she could have an obstruction in her airways or something similar that is causing her discomfort when she swallows. I'm sure the tests will help to determin this. Just remember, she is not doing this to try and frustrate you. I'm sure its frustrating to her as well. Make sure to comfort her and diligently seek the cause of this stress so that you can put it behind you.
Good luck and don't give up,
S.
Okay, this same thing happened to me when I was 16. I don't know why? I had to cut my food into tiny pieces because I was scared to swallow. I thought I would choke. I subsequently started having panic attacks. My parents spent tons of money taking me to every doctor possible and it just turned out that I had and still have panic disorder. I started going to a child psychiatrist who taught me to control my phobias and stop my anxiety attacks once they started. It was a big help. I still think you should go through with the tests though. P.S. When you are starting to have a panic attack, it feels like your throat is closing up. It is all psychological. The sooner one realizes the thoughts are irrational, the easier it is to make the fear go away. This may be difficult for someone so young. Good luck to you all!
I might have some insight into this, but I don't know. All my life I have produced a lot of mucuous-GROSS HUGH? When I was younger I remember a time when I didn't want to eat anything because the lump in my throat was so big I was afraid I could not get food down. I did not tell my own mother about this till almost 20 years later. In the third grade I had my tonsils removed. That helped for a little while, and I wasn't so scared anymore. It may sound silly but maybe she has a lot of mucous which is constantly draining and stuck in her throat?!?
When they do the swallow study, she will drink some flavored dye (I think they even ask if she has a favorite flavor she'd like, but I'm not sure), and then stand still while they are "taking the pictures". For the EGD scope, they will more than likely do that under anesthesia, because they will want her throat opened up completely. Her doctor should explain the procedures to you (in terms you can understand) fully. If she is going to have anesthesia, the anesthesiologist will call you and ask ?s like her weight, etc., and then make sure you understand the LAST time she can drink ANYTHING prior to the procedure. This is VERY important, because if she does drink after she's supposed to stop, then the procedure will have to be cancelled and rescheduled. My 16-year-old son had some major surgery at Cook's when he was 2 1/2, and the staff was GREAT with him!! They don't lie to the kids, and they make procedures as painless as possible. My email address is ____@____.com, and my phone # is ###-###-####, if you want to call and get a Mom's perspective on what to expect. Good Luck to you and your daughter, and I know she will be taken care of at Cook's. ~J.~
I am sorry to hear your struggling with this, I dont have any answers. I just wanted to stop in and give you some encouragement. We have done this procedure at Cook's and they put my little guy out of it. It doesnt really "hurt" or leave any soreness, so she should be ok!
I hope you find out what is going on :)
I really hope you get this message! I was looking up symptoms that my daughter is having and your story popped up and it is almost identical to mine except my daughter will be 6 tomorrow! It's been many years since you posted this so I'm really hoping you see my comment and possibly have some answers for me or some advice!?
wow. I am so sorry, this is something you have to get under control. I saw this episode of Intervention that was dealing with a grown woman who ate through a feeding tube due to her own fear of swallowing....She was in her 30-40's and when she was a young girl (maybe8) she was sexually abused and that is what started the fear of swallowing. After years of her parents taking her to specialist after specialist and their daughter shrinking away into a walking stick..they opted for a surgical feeding tube that was supposed to be very temporary...20 years later the tube is still in and she is in risk of heart failure and other organ failure. SO SCARY. Now to try to brighten your day....I have also talked with another mom dealing with 2 girls who won't swallow whole food (about 7 & 4)... They saw a therapist who started them on smoothies and after identifying thier favorite fruit (strawberries, pineapple, kiwi..squishy stuff) they moved on to small pieces of fav fruit. Once that was tackled they moved on to small pieces of veg...so on and so forth. If this is psychological (and it really seems to be) a few things may need to be tried. The most successful way to kick a phobia or ritual is cognitive behavourial therapy...confront and move on. The child has to force themselves to eat something scary and once they see that they didn't die or choke and that the anxiety will go away with time (just sit with them as they slowly eat and freak out and help them guage their anxiety level....high at first, maybe 10, 4 minutes later maybe they seem calmer so help them identify if they are at a 5 then 10 minutes later they are at a 2). sit with the anxiety and feel it and deal with it and eat a tiny bit and as that anxiety comes down it will make it less stressful to eat the next time. The shaking and chest pains are her bodies way of trying to cope with the anxiety. Her brain has to learn that the anxiety is uncomfortable but it will go away on it's own with time. The body can't stay in that state of escalation for very long, trust that it will level out and help her see that she is calming down and nothing bad happened. Once the anxiety is gone the problem is gone. Also consider that there are tons of super healthy people that live off of fresh fruit and vegetable juice. If you can get her to the point of eating fresh raw fruit and raw or steamed ( to make soft) veggies she will be living a very healthy lifestyle. Read Fit for Life and other books by Harvey Diamond. I have been a vegetarian for 15 years and go months at a time consuming nothing but fruit smoothies, ( fruit cut into chunks and frozen then blended with fresh not from concentrate juice) fruit juice, and vegetable juice. Every western Dr. I have ever seen tries to convince me that any small ailment I have (from earache to migraine) must be protein related...I asked one skeptic Dr. to run my blood work. He had to eat crow when in his words my bloodwork "looks like a healthy 15 year old cheerleader". I'm just saying that if you can't deal with the work of confronting the anxiety and phobia (or while you do) you can live an extremely energetic healthy life consuming nothing but fruit and veg juice and smoothies. Good luck, sounds like you'll need it. Another idea...contact the network or producers of Intervention about the woman with that disorder...it seemed like they (her and her fam) didn't have any idea what it was called or if it was common (not much info) after that aired there could have been a lot of people with more information about the disorder that would have contacted that woman or the show and they may be able to point you in the right direction.
GOOD LUCK! STAY STRONG
Aunt J.
Did everything work out with your daughter. I am in the same spot. She is 11. Has seen doctors and has been in the hospital twice and went back to no eating again. They can't seem to get her on the right meds to help her. Please help....
It's nerves.
And yes, her esophagus "shrinks" because of the worry & anxiety.
Seriously, I would recommend the SMALLEST dose of Xanax (no more than 2.5 mg) from her primary physician.
Then off to some counseling. Preferably a female that she can open up to and TRUST.
Also (and you might be against alternative medicine) but hypnosis relaxation cd's and Tapping are EXCELLENT ways to teach your body to relax. If you have the funds, Hypnotherapy can benefit your daughter tremendously.
Meanwhile there are protein drinks (Milk Muscle in chocolate is tastes great) and lots of healthy liquid vitamins and vegetable drinks available out there.
She will be ok, once she learns how to relax, I promise.
~A.
P.S. BEWARE if the Dr. wants to put her on any anti depressants, although they work great, she will have personality changes. but don't worry about Xanax or it's generic.
I am going through the same thing with my 5 year old son. He never actually choked, but got a popcorn hull stuck in his throat and now won't swallow solid food, and it has been ongoing for about a month. The pediatrician says ignore and don't feed into their psychy, but I am worried, he is pale and eats nothing, but ice cream and yogurt and cereal. He also had a full blown panic attack when the incident happened. What was your outcome?
