Sudden anxiety in child to the point of not eating

amother

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 8:35 am

My 8 year old started exhibiting symptoms of anxiety. She kept complaining that her stomach hurts. Recently she's having episodes of shaking along with her stomach aches which sometimes lead to vomiting. (She's starts shaking because she's nervous about her stomach and how she feels. )
She tells me it's not really her stomach...she's not sure what shes feeling. To me that seems like classic a classic anxiety feeling which she can't express.
What am I supposed to do at this point?? She wakes up 4 am every day all shaky and runs to the bathroom and then complains that her stomach hurts.
I'm at my wits end!

I do want to add that I myself suffer from anxiety but it's not obvious. I can really mask it well. The only thing I could think of is that she's energetically sensitive. Does that make any sense? Is she picking up on it energetically?? Otherwise I cant seem to think why she would be feeling anxious out of nowhere.

amother

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 8:42 am

amother Honey wrote:

Take her to a pandas literate pediatrician immediately
Check for lyme , and high strep titers
Highly likely that it is caused by one of these

Would any pediatrician be able to check for pandas? Is there a specific test I should request?

amother

Orchid

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 8:47 am

My son had a tick bite last summer and around September last year he had those exact symptoms. Not eating, vomiting, everything tasted bad and he wouldn't leave my side (massive anxiety).
We treated with a month of amoxicillin and he got exponentially better.
(His bloodwork never showed lyme yet because it can take 6 to 8 weeks to mount a measurable response. Bh we had a pediatrician who was willing to make the connection and prescribe. We had to do suppositories because at that point he was refusing to eat or drink most things. A week or two after the tick bite he felt ill fever etc, and got weird rashes on his body but not the target rash. Noone upstate was willing to treat then for the tick bite even though feeling fluish is the earliest sign of lyme and 60 percent of people never have target rash. We had to get back to the city and by that time my son was feeling more sick than ever and also had massive anxiety.)
Please please visit a lyme literate doctor if you live upstate or were upstate at any time over the last few months.
Good luck and refuah shelaimah.

amother

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 9:05 am

amother Orchid wrote:

Wow...How was he in cheder? Did he go every day?

amother

Hunter

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 10:15 am

amother OP wrote:

I could've written this post word for word. My daughter was also 8 when it started. After ruling out it wasnt anything medical, did blood work etc, I took her for therapy and bh shes an adult now and doing great! It was so hard to see her struggle and at one point she stopped growing from not eating enough.

amother

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 10:27 am

amother Hunter wrote:

She also had the shivers/shaking? What about school? Was that an issue? Every morning she tells me she's worried that she might feel this way in school and doesn't really want to go.

How'd you find a good therapist and what was their modality?

Are you an anxious person as well?

amother

Hydrangea

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 10:28 am

Aside for Lyme and pandas which I agree sound like obvious causes, the anxiety, shaking and vomiting is making me think adrenal, cortisol, blood sugar issues, also possibly electrolyte and sodium issues. Cortisol, low or high blood sugar, low or high blood sodium can cause these exact symptoms. Probably also thyroid.

Definitely something medical.

The fact that you have anxiety is relevant in the sense that her wiring is predisposed to it. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have other layers of causes that can be addressed. (Same for yours, btw).

amother

Poinsettia

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 10:34 am

Bring her to the doctor to see if there are any physical causes. If there are not, then a therapists ASAP to see what is causing her anxiety. If physical causes are ruled out, sudden severe anxiety could be the result of abuse.

amother

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 11:11 am

[quote="amother Poinsettia"]Bring her to the doctor to see if there are any physical causes. If there are not, then a therapists ASAP to see what is causing her anxiety. If physical causes are ruled out, sudden severe anxiety could be the result of abuse

I keep trying to ask her in subtle ways. It doesn't seem to be the case.

amother

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 11:14 am

amother Buttercup wrote:

Did it start just now, school started last week
Do you know what is going on there?

No it actually started mid summer when she had a stomach virus. She vomited in daycamp due to the virus that went around then. But interestingly since then this stomach issue has been lingering. Not sure if it's a trauma response to the vomiting in school. It seems thag since then she's afraid of her stomach hurting and vomiting. But it doesn't make sense to me.

amother

Floralwhite

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 11:27 am

If it is due to anxiety, the following book might be a good book to read with your child:

Playing with Anxiety: Casey's Guide for Teens and Kids
by Reid Wilson and Lynn Lyons

My 11 year old is reading it herself and is gaining a lot from it.

amother

Scarlet

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 1:09 pm

Classic anxiety - having an unwanted reaction ( stomach virus symptoms) then developing an anxiety about having such symptoms which then causes physical symptoms ( shaking, nausea, vomiting) and avoidance - not going to school which then reinforces it .

amother

Hunter

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 1:10 pm

amother OP wrote:

Yes she had the shaking. She refused to go to school but I made her go. I called relief and they recommended a therapist, BH it worked. I wouldn't call myself an anxious person but I am a very overprotective parent

amother

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 1:31 pm

amother Sienna wrote:

This really sounds medical to me.
Please see a doctor ASAP, and also look at Lyme, which can cause a strange taste in the mouth causing the child not to want to eat.

The reason she avoids eating is because she doesn't want to get a stomach aches as a result. Not because of strange taste.