9 yr old Child is constantly worried they will throw up. It has gotten to the point of constant crying. My child doesn’t even look like my child anymore when she’s home.. we have been to multiple GIs and an EMT. We have seen her general provider for this issue and had numerous test, blood, ct and ultrasounds done. All of her test come back fine. She has been to three different hospitals. Everything is fine. We have an appointment with a therapist next week. She still goes to school and acts fine there. Plays and laughs. As soon as she is home she cries about throwing up and this goes on into the night. During sports or friend get togethers, again she is fine.
We have tried gluten free diet and not working either. Please, has anyone dealt with this????
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I am really sorry she/you guys are going through this. I know this sounds crazy but I think it is really important ( not saying you are not..I am sure you are) that she feels like eveyone is hearing her and hopefully a thearpist can help "hear"her.
Our son has a complete phobia of needles. He can not see them, touch them or have them put into his skin. In the past we have had to hold him down to do any medical procedure ( flu shot vaccine, blood draw, etc..) now I have sedating medication (and numbing cream) to help for simple procedures (dental, foot procedure). It has taken MANY years to learn about these tools.
Just a few questions.. has she thrown up? Was it traumatic? Is she still thinking about that time? Just a thought.. could you give her some "anti-vomiting" over the counter medication ( maybe even a ginger pill or something like that) that might help her. That doesn't hurt her but might some how make her feel better. Some may disagree, but when you have to witness your child in utter tears we try anything. I have been there.
There are psychologist that specialize in this type of "trauma" that she is experiencing. I get to us it might not be traumtic but for some reason it is for her.
This seems a great article, hope it helps.
Just sending so much love and hugs as you continue to deal with this and know that with the right tools you guys will get through this and when she is old enough you guys will be able to look back and joke about this.
Thank you. We actually have an appointment with a therapist this coming week to see if we can start coping mechanisms. We have tried everything from prescription anti nausea meds, to natural essential oils. I’ve also tried acid reflux over the counter meds to see if it’s that.
I struggle with severe anxiety after heart health issues so I completely understand what she is going through as far as the fear and feeling stuck.
I myself am on anti anxiety meds and that was never something I wanted for her. But when we see the therapist we are giving that decision up to them . So far the coping we have read doesn’t work. Grounding techniques and the such, nothing helps.
I have sat with her and listened to where this started. Instead of putting ideas into her head I always let her start off. So far I’ve gathered she has a fear of this because two friends back to back got sick. She witnessed both of these occasions. She got a stomach bug thanksgiving but never threw up or came close to throwing up.
We spent thanksgiving and Christmas Day in the er with her because something about those two days triggered her anxiety. At the time we thought something was seriously wrong. After test they determined it was all anxiety related. We haven’t thrown up around her recently. And if we do get sick no one reacts in a negative way about it. I believe her anxiety is food related now also. Looking back it seems the food and thinking about eating made her nauseous. Obviously we never force her mountains of food but I believe this is why it was worse those two days.
Thank you for your advice and I’m so sorry your child also struggles with a phobia. I hope it continues to get better for you all and they soon find the techniques needed to conquer their fear. It’s so heartbreaking to watch our kids go through these struggles..
Thanks for sharing more details. One of the hardest things is having to push a child when they need it. I hope this makes sense. Knowing something has to be done and them not wanting it. In your case, hoping there is nothing medically wrong so not getting more care.
For us we weigh the trauma of doing medical procedures and having to force him.
Most of the time the thearpist " replays" the procedure and says " look you made it" when you did X. So the next time we have to deal with it I say remember when you did X. Sometimes that helps.
The stress on both parent and kid is unreal. This is never discussed by health care providers.
I really hope the up coming thearpist can help her to understand even if she throws up she will be fine.
Please pat yourself on the back for all you have done for her. Also, with maturity I would hope it gets better.
By the way, we have not focused on anxiety becuase it doesn't hope him back on a daily basis. But we do have medication to give him for the times it comes up and it had helped a lot. I am not as fearful of procedures now.
I like your suggestion of a ginger tablet! It just might be the distraction that calms her brain and in turn, calms her anxiety. You never know and it’s a low risk thing to try!
The first thing I thought of when you suggested this was Disney’s Dumbo and how that little feather helped him. ❤️
My 6yo son and I got a stomach bug before Christmas, the poor thing got it worse than me, threw up for 2 whole days. We didn't go out much after that, so I didn't realize up until mid January that he was anxious about going places other than school or grandma's which is close by. He stop playing at recess in school, would say he wanted to "rest". I thought he was being bullied at school at one point because he wouldn't tell us why he was acting this way. He'd say he didn't want to talk about it, until finally he confessed to my husband that he's afraid of throwing up. He told us all never to say the words throw up, or vomit around him anymore. He didn't want to go anywhere far because that day we got sick we went somewhere fun, that was a couple hours away, so now associates long car trips with it. He never got car sick before, but I got an idea when I was at the drug store. I saw these nausea wrist bands, used for motion sickness, and took them home. I explained that this would help him not feeling sick and that he would be fine. After a ton of encouragement, we convinced him to go out with us somewhere about 45 mins. away. He did well, and is a bit more enthusiastic about going places. It still takes him a minute and a tiny bit of convincing, but those wrist bands are definitely the trick. I don't know if this will help you kiddo, but you're not alone in this. I really believe therapy will definitely help you all out.🙂
I’m sorry to hear you are going through this! I hope to give you a view of the future.
A friend of my son (in college now) had this in high school. Her mother told me that it affected her at school. She was terrified that she was going to throw up at school even though she was fine and not even sick. Every day this plagued her. It is a form of anxiety (I believe it even has its own name - Google it).
Anyway, this poor girl struggled though high school and then struggled away at college (4 1/2 hours from home). During her first semester she had to come home. She transferred to a local university, and from what I last heard, she was living near campus - not at home.
My point is to give you a glimpse into the future. Anxiety is a terrible monster but with the right supports - baby steps - and LOTS of patience from parents (this girl has amazing parents) they can become functioning adults.
Hi there. My son had a similar issue at ages 6-8. We tried everything to figure ot out. We then got a tip from a provider that sometimes pediatric migraines present initially as vomiting. Part of the problem we had is that my son couldn't adequately describe initially what precipitated the vomiting. Once migraines were in the differential, the world changed for the better. We learned first how to recognize (with his help) the migraines coming on, then how to treat them then, with mediation trial amd error with his neurologist, how to prevent them. He still takes a daily preventative and I cannot recall the last time he had a migraine. I would not have thought migraines when the problem was nearly daily vomiting, but that's what it was. Good luck to you.
Thanks for great advice. I know this post is not about migraines, but our son has migraines they are in his stomach. We have been on this journey (yes, along with ADHD) since second grade.
The reason I am chiming in is becuase of anxiety especially around throwing up/migraines. I do understand that children with ADHD tend to have more reasons to have anxiety. But I guess I will say the medical community does not address the stress and anxiety of children well at all.
It was just last year when our son was 14 years old ( we have been dealing with this since 2nd grade) and I think the poster will agree no one ( other that psychologist and psychiatrist) understands how hard some children have it when they have something going on.
Our son's Podiatrist finally said "what about him taking medication before he comes in". I almost died when I realized this was an option. So that he can get through the experience. This is 10+ years of pain and agony of procedures.
While I am thankful I can numb his arm before a shot or "mellow him out" before a procedure. So we have this now for the future. But, I ask myself for all of the other parents that suffer.. do they know about these tools? If not please help them so their experience is much better than ours.
The less our kids suffer the less we suffer. Also the less trauma they will remember.
Sorry for the soap box, but anxiety is real and has really side effects.
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