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My Child Is Scared to swallow--HELP!!!!

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?

What can I do next?

So What Happened?™

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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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 :)

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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.~

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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?!?

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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.

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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!!!

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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.

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