Is there any point seeing a dietitian?

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

got an appt next week with DD2.
basically her diet is rubbish and always has been. she eats bread, egg, roast potato, plain chicken, chips, pizza, biscuits, cake.
No fruit (except apple juice). No vegetables. No dairy.
I asked for this referral in desperation about 5 months ago. She has ongoing problems with constant abdo pain and nausea which the Drs we have seen have no idea about. I have wondered if she may be wheat sensitive but that remains to be proved.
Surprisingly all her blood tests have been absolutely normal.
The rest of us eat healthily - a range of good stuff. DD1 eats everything.
Dietwise - you name it over the last 10 years i've tried it.
Is there anything a dietitian can say or do that will help?

[FluffyMummy123]

Message withdrawn

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

true but will they make me feel like an utter failure?.

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

have another follow up with gastro paed bod end of july - by which time DD will have been ill for an entire year.
last time the thought it is 'gastrits' and gave her omeprazole which i have battled daily to get down her with no effect

this is turning into a rant

so dietitian will probably tell me what i already know? may cancel it.

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

and i felt hard done by having to wait 4 months to see dietitian. you poor girl how on earth have you managed not to kill someone? and your poor DD. If she had a PEG put in would it be a permanent thing do you think? would she still be able to eat what she likes? (ignore if i'm being too nosey)
and why the bloody hell have you not been able to se SALT? just lack of NHS resources?At least my DD does eat (some things). feel like i shouldn't have ranted

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

DD is occasionally a bit bound up but not too awful.

hope your DD gets a PEG soon - I imagine it would make life much much easier and less stressy for both of you,

[mindfulmama]

As the Mo of 3 dc who had serious allergies which caused severe failure to thrive etc (until it was finally worked by a gorgeous gastro doc, after 100s of others had scratched their heads and sighed) I wish you both lots of luck. In the end with my middle one he was fed intravenuously for months and then we did hourly intake 24/7 for a few months. What really helped though was the power foods, like avocado, humous, tahini, halva etc etc which you can eat a tiny bit of and get lots more cals and nutrition with in a small portion. We were advised to go for a peg but I am so glad I resisted as it prevented my ds from having more infections and sppech problems, so I understand. But i also know each child is different. Ia m so sorry you have had such struggles. It is so hard when it is weight/food stuff as it is so vital and perceived as simple. Ha ha ha!!! Listen to the professionals but also trust your intuition about your child and don't be scared to question/ challenge/ ask for explanations...If I had a pound for the time sI ws told not to worry because something I thought was v unlikely as it was so rare and then that rare thing was what we actually had, I would be sooooo rich!!
Good luck.

[desperatehousewifetoo]

Nigella, it might be worth attending the dietetic appt just to be able to rule it out. It must be frustrating for you, I guess sometimes problems can only be diagnosed by ruling others out.

Does your daughter refuse other foods or do they causea reaction in her? Of course, these two situations require completely different approaches. I hope you get some answers.

riven, I can't believe you have not had a salt assessment. When I was working, if the word 'aspiration' was mentioned a child was a priority. I'm so sorry. It does sound as though a peg would be a great relief for you all and enable your dc to actually eating for taste rather than calories. It would also make them have to do a ph study first too. Good luck!

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

DD used to try things but as most things made her gag she doesn't any more. she doesn't like wierd textures or wet things or chewy things.
don't know if she is being stubborn, wierd, phobic or just can't

[desperatehousewifetoo]

It sounds as though she would benefit from a salt assessment too, just to rule out any physical issues. Then maybe a clinical psychology approach if no physical reasons. I doubt she is being stubborn or wierd, maybe phobic or (less likely) can't. Behaviour issues are not by bag so can't really help on that one.

I do know there is a tv programme on tomorrow, I think, about this. Am looking forward to watching. ITV, I think.

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

god yes. DD should have been filmed for that. would have parents up in arms all over mumsnet the country, shouting at me!
interesting though - have never considered the SALT approach - she was quite late talking, still isn't very clear - but not not-understandable IYSWIM.
although if it takes 4 years for someone like Riven's DD to wait to see a SALT there's no way i'd try to jump the queue to try to investigate that line. may do a little investigating of my own though.
and she is 10. do you think i'd have noticed something in that direction? you would hope so.
(oh by the way - i'm a nurse so not totally ignorant of some of this stuff - not that that makes much difference though)

[Twelvelegs]

My sister paid for a child psychologist who went through a full history of eating patterns for my nephew. Really complex stuff which including a mother who was too fussy about cleanliness when he was eating, terrible stomache bug at a really young age which left him associating food with pain, replacing all foods with 'anything' he would eat ie cakes and sweet stuff, anxiety every time he ate..... all of which would have been fine alone and all perfectly reasonable but peiced together it left a child who barely ate but when he did it was crappy food.
This psychologist was £180 for a three hour lot of sessions and worth every penny, he's changed massively.

[Shitemum]

Random thoughts:

Have you considered seeing a nutritionist instead of a dietician? I don't think they are the same thing but I could be wrong.

Abdominal pain sounds like constipation to me.

Has she had any tests to see if there is a physical problem with her throat, stomach or intestines?

If you think it's pyschological, does she not understand that her diet is (probably what is) making her ill?

From the list you have in your OP she must be very vitamin deficient.

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

well i'm not over clean. but eating could well be wierdy psychological for her.
control or something?.
although when she did try stuff I gave her a tomato - one bite and she vomited over her plate.
that was a while ago thugh. she did try dried mango this week.

[mindfulmama]

Hearing more you may want to think about an OT too if there are sensory issues about texture etc. Hav you read The out of sync child? .. may be helpful. YOu should be able to get an NHS referral via your GP for OT SALt and Clinical psych, all of which would be helpful I am sure. Best of luck...

[Twelvelegs]

My nephew gagged too, she's quite old to be having such massive issues with food and would be really concerned as she approaches her teens if this is unresolved. The control/food link is pretty common and usually food stuff is very very complex.
Could you afford a psychologist?

[Twelvelegs]

The vomitting is a pychological response, IMO. During my years of eating disorders (not saying you dd has one, per se) I would wretch when eating anything that tasted of fat (anything with any fat tasted of fat to me) and some days I could not stomache any food.

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

interesting.
unfortunately have drunk too much wine on empty stomach to discuss but i really do value your ideas and responses.
thanks. will check back tomorrow.

go that sounds insincere but it's not - really

[Twelvelegs]

Guzzle away, I should be getting clothes ready for school (dcs not me!!) in the morning!!

[Saggarmakersbottomknocker]

Nigella - my dd is 14 now and has quite a limited diet. We've seen dieticians over the years; some helpful, some not. I suspect that at this stage they'll pretty much tell you what you already know. My dd was ng fed for some time and I basically think she developed a degree of oral aversion and also that there have been some control issues. It is possible that if your dd still has some unclear speech that there might be a palate/dyspraxic type problem which a SALT may be able to help with.

dd has improved alot and one of the main things that has helped has been her cooking for herself - the control thing I think. And also she can see what consituent parts make up a particular food eg realising that as she eats tomatoes in pizza that she might actually like them in something else, so now she'll have a tomato based pasta sauce (but still won't entertain them raw). She eats no fruit either (no juice, no fruit yogurt, not even fruity sweets or milkshake).

Sympathy.

[desperatehousewifetoo]

Hi, sorry dh hijacked laptop last night so couldn't come back.

The reason I was thinking of a salt assessment was for feeding not communication. Just wondering if there was any issue with her swallow that would explain the texture specific foods she chooses. I would think this was highly unlikely though.

I don't know whether a clinical psychologist would require this to be checked first or not.

So we all need to stay sober tonight to watch itv 9pm! Might answer some questions so that you don't end up viiting all the different professionals that we have all recommended on here!

[NigellaTheUndomesticGoddess]

thanks. i don't think there is really a swallow problem - she can eat things she wants to. she's just bloody difficult. will keep appt with dietitian but not expect too much magic wand waving and wait to see what paed says in July. where we go from here i don't know.

[edam]

Hope appointment helps. Top marks for spelling dietitian correctly, btw, very few people do! (And don't go anywhere near a nutritionist, anyone can call themselves one. Dietitians may be good, bad or indifferent but at least they are properly trained so should know what they are talking about.)