Food Phobia

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Thanks for the name of that book, Katrine. I'll have a look at it.

Today we took D to our GP as he's still not eaten anything, is very depressed & is looking so ill. She is not happy with his state of health so on Monday we have to take him to the hospital & they'll probably be admitting him. I feel such a mixture of concern because I know D will be terrified & relief that something is going to be done to help him.

I hope your son's admitted. The situation sounds pretty scary! Good luck, and I'd love to hear how you get on!

I'm so sorry, as I was reading through the thread I was going to suggest that you push for immediate medical attention. I ran into another parent online whose child quit eating like this--on the surface it hinted at sensory but there was another medical problem so it's important to rule that out.

I do have a child who has had a lot of food and odor related sensory issues. What I did once I realized we were heading in that direction was to keep the non-nutritional stuff out of the house for the most part. I offered lots of choices within the food groups that he liked. He ate a lot of pancakes, waffles, and unsweetened dry cereals for every meal along with milk or water for years. At one point he went into sensory overload and went through a period where the mere sight or smell of regular food would send him running hysterically from the room. By that time he was already receiving occupational therapy but my doctor would have intervened otherwise because it is medically dangerous when a child can't take even a simple antibiotic.

http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/f ... ensory.htm
http://www.sinetwork.org/

He was admitted today, though I am not very pleased at his treatment so far. We were quizzed by a few doctors and nurses and they were incredulous or rather disbelieving that he could be so "healthy" survivng on his diet of milk and chocolate. He is scheduled for an ear exam (there is still fluid in his ear 5 weeks after his middle ear infection) as well as a blood test (for allergies, etc) and all I can say is good luck to them, perhaps now they will see how difficult he can be and hopefully not treat / judge us as bad parents.

My wife Mom2D has mentioned her being treated / viewed this way but today was an eye opener to me ! !!

Is there any way, short of physical violence, to make the doctors see that his lack of eating is only part of the problem?

Beyond ear and allergy specialists, a gastro-intestinal specialist should be involved. Have they done that? How about a swallow test? Here we have a specialty area called occupational therapy that deals with the sensory system who should be consulted in a situation like this also.

Sorry you are having so much trouble getting them to listen. I have a really great pediatrician who listens to our concerns and intervenes with other specialists when needed.

I was wondering whether you have tried oven bake fries at home. Then you could try baking potato wedges then other baked vegies (carrots/pumpkin/etc)

Have you tried things like a banana smoothie (milk and banana in a blender).

What kind of ward was he admitted to, a children's ward? It's always frustrating meeting the hospital world, and it always seems to take a long time to get anywhere. (waiting lists - we have been waiting for an MRscan for my son for weeks, and he is in hospital, too.... )
In my experience it works best to say up front what you think the problem is, and keep at it like a dog with a bone Often hospital staff, outside psyc., aren't used to seeing autistic kids and don't spot it right off. Have you asked specifically to have a childrens psychiatrist see your son?
I really hope things work out for you.

D & I came home yesterday. The last 3 days have been very stressful, especially for D, but we are finally getting somewhere. All his medical tests (bloods etc) have come back normal, which is a good sign. D is still waiting to have an EEG & MRI done. However, he was so stressed in the hospital that all the worst autistic-type behaviours that Dad2D & I have witnessed came out in full force. Every medical test, including simple height measurements, took myself & 2 nurses to hold him down while he screamed like he was fighting for his life. After yesterday morning's examination, the doctor walked straight to her office & phoned the psychiatrist on D's case. He has now been pushed right to the front of the queque, ie. they have opened a place for him at a special school in Århus where he can start getting some help. The only formality still to take place is a meeting on Friday with a psychiatric nurse & his kindergarten.

I'm sorry it had to come through a crisis, but at least those in a position to help were there to witness the behaviors. It sounds like you'll finally get where you need to be going.

If I could offer some suggestions about when you bring your little guy home, it would be to keep things very low key and make keeping him calm a priority. Keep demands to a minimum--this isn't a time to expect to teach him responsibilities of picking up after himself. Only press it if safety is an issue, otherwise take a flexible stance on other issues. Everything else that you traditionally thought you should be teaching/training right now can wait until he's stable again and you're through the evaluation process. If he has some obsessive interests this is a good time to bring home a new book or toy in that area--many children will find a calm retreat in their obsessive interests and activities during stressful times.

I don't know what your instructions will be regarding food but when a child has severe food issues eliminating former terminology and schedules and starting fresh can be very helpful. Don't use words like snacks, breakfast, lunch and dinner for awhile or push him to join you at the table. Try just putting out food he likes in an area where he's playing or set it down without a word when he's watching tv. Sometimes using different dish containers than they were accustomed to in their battling days can help. Dry foods like crackers or cereal are often more easily accepted than other food choices. Don't force him to the table when the rest of the family is eating and if food odors are a problem see if you can ease the way for him there. I wound up using a roaster plugged in out in the garage and a side burner on my grill during the worst of times here to keep strong food odors out of the house. Even today if I'm cooking something that will smell up the house (like corn) I'll give my kiddo a warning so he can choose to go to his room-more often than not the advance warning is enough so he's not surprised by a sudden assault.

The idea here is to create a safe haven at home for the areas that are causing the child the most difficulty.

Thanks for some very helpful advice, Pippin. I will try your suggestions with the food. D has been very "fragile" today & had two meltdowns over very minor things. I have noticed that if I let him retreat to one of his obsessions after a meltdown, he calms down quite quickly. He also said that he likes me to sit next to him when he's feeling "sad". I'm glad that my presence does offer him comfort.

I would probably just plan on him being fragile for awhile as a result of the ordeal and hospital stay. Also expect that it may take a good long while--as in months--to gradually undo the damage done by sensory overload of this nature. I don't mean to discourage you but we went through sensory overload with foods and food odors and it's a gradual process to bringing them back out of it. When he is emotionally well again you can start giving little nudges forward but that's probably a ways out yet. Start with whatever he will eat first and as you find him calming down offer back foods he likes, then choices within "safe" groups (like cereal). For now I'd just go with putting food out without comment but a little later you might even want to alter the way you offer him food by writing up a little menu (use pictures if he's not reading) for him to check off. It may give him a sense of control that he needs to feel that foods are safe again. Right now he probably feels about most foods the way a pregnant woman did about her worst food nightmare: repulsed even by the sight of it.

Good luck and keep us posted. And watch those food and household odors. The olfactory system and sense of taste are closely linked.

Hello Im new here but was reading your post and I have delt with this and My daughter had to go to the hospital cause she was passing out on us. They actually scared her into eating with the IV they talked with her and told her if she didnt start eating they would have to put the IV in and feed her that way. It was Hard I will be up front with you about that.
They have to eat and but their little minds dont let them. Sara closes her eyes and smells stuff before she will taste it and its just a very small portion. She will actually eat pumpkin pie now we just tried that at Christmas. So try to see if he will close his eyes and smell it then proceed with a small bite. How about his nose does he smell everything? sara drives us crazy cause her smeller is so sensitive.
GOOD LUCK!! ! Ordene