Sudden anxiety in child to the point of not eating

amother

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 2:12 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.

amother

Orchid

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 2:59 pm

Replying to op. With the Lyme he was extremely anxious to be in school (so much so that the school requested we get him services)...bh after the antibiotics, he was a different child both in and out of school.
Thruout the year, if/when his anxiety would ramp up (never to the extent of the beginning of year), we tested him for strep and it was always positive.

amother

Buttercup

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 3:13 pm

amother OP wrote:

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.

Have you talked her through what it was like to vomit in camp, (school). She didn’t have you , all the girls were looking at her, it smelled… did she have a chance if clothes, maybe she didn’t get drink after and was afraid to ask

What she can do next time it happens in the unlikely event, tell a teacher, go to the office, have a change of clothing in her backpack.

amother

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 3:36 pm

amother Orchid wrote:

He was positive for strep while having no other symptoms besides anxiety?

amother

Daffodil

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 9:19 pm

Regardless of what it is the first step in these situations is to do a full medical work up. Go speak to your pediatrician.

amother

Aubergine

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 9:25 pm

amother Daffodil wrote:

Regardless of what it is the first step in these situations is to do a full medical work up. Go speak to your pediatrician.

This. I don't even understand how you can try to say it can be anxiety related without ruling out medical causes first.

amother

Mimosa

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 9:45 pm

As others have mentioned, I’d have a full physical work up (which includes blood work) to rule out anything physical. But I also agree with OP in that it sounds very much like anxiety. I have a couple children with anxiety and this reminds me a lot of them. One came completely out of the blue (or so it seemed like that to us). Panic attacks, constant complaints of physical pain, school refusal, etc. we started having her see a therapist and the therapist explained that she always had somewhat of underlying anxiety and a specific event or combo of events must have pushed her over the edge so to speak. She couldn’t identify the anxiety - couldn’t identify it was anxiety and what was causing it. Therefore she kept complaining of different physical ailments. It’s so hard to watch your kid suffer and feel like you can’t help. Just be supportive and firm and loving.

Miri1

Mon, Sep 12 2022, 11:24 pm

amother OP wrote:

Could it still be medical if she only feels this way when she's not busy?

You wrote that she wakes up at 4am every day feeling shaky and nauseous. She should be checked out properly by a doctor before exploring the anxiety route.

chelsealew

Tue, Sep 13 2022, 12:06 am

Definitely get this checked out from a medical standpoint. There are certain bacteria that cause gastroenteritis like what you described your daughter had, that can cause post infectious reactions.
Could be anxiety, but please don't dismiss it as such before you rule other things out

ora_43

Tue, Sep 13 2022, 5:37 am

There's a book with this exact plot (Guts, by Raina Telgemeier). For a high-strung kid vomiting at school could definitely be enough to trigger an anxious reaction.

But like others said, do a full medical exam first, the sooner the better. There are a lot of other things that can cause nausea and it's important to at least check, especially the serious stuff that's a lot more treatable the earlier you catch it (eg lyme).

WhatFor

Tue, Sep 13 2022, 7:05 am

amother OP wrote:

Could it still be medical if she only feels this way when she's not busy?

Kids (and even adults) can forget about an illness for periods of time if they're adequately distracted, so yes. I don't understand the hesitation about seeing a doctor to rule out anything physical?

Miri1

Tue, Sep 13 2022, 1:01 pm

OP, you did say that you tend to get anxiety, so you may be looking for that angle first and foremost.

But please don't let that get in the way of getting your daughter checked out properly.

Morning nausea is something that must be investigated - don't wait on it because you are assuming anxiety.

amother

Grape

Thu, Sep 15 2022, 11:34 pm

amother OP wrote:

PANS can actually be trigged by a viral or bacterial infection so definitely need to go to a doctor who knows about that. Hatzlacha

amother

Feverfew

Fri, Sep 16 2022, 12:52 am

amother Poinsettia wrote:

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.

Exactly what I was thinking.

amother

Feverfew

Fri, Sep 16 2022, 12:53 am

[quote="amother OP"]

amother Poinsettia wrote:

You,wouldn’t necessarily know if she was told/threatened to stay quiet about it or if she’s too ashamed.

amother

Teal

Fri, Sep 16 2022, 1:24 am

amother OP wrote:

An ultrasound of her stomach might shed some light if the virus caused damage to her stomach. A couple of my kids had this.

amother

Sun, Sep 18 2022, 11:55 am

amother Teal wrote:

An ultrasound of her stomach might shed some light if the virus caused damage to her stomach. A couple of my kids had this.

And how did you help the damage?

amother

Tangerine

Sun, Sep 18 2022, 12:11 pm

Sounds like a classic case of anxiety to me. Everything you mentioned is symptoms of anxiety. Obviously you can do bloodwork first to rule out anything else, but the shaking, throwing up, not eating, and not wanting to go to school are all signs of severe anxiety. If she's not being bullied or abused in any way, verbally etc. than it's probably a build up of her fear of throwing up.

amother

Arcticblue

Sun, Sep 18 2022, 12:16 pm

My 2yr old had stomach virus in July. For a long time, her stool was weird looking and she complained of her stomach hurting all the time. Just in the past week, it's been better. And I've been faithfully giving her probiotics every day since then. It just took a really long time for her to get back to herself.