Daughter 10 can’t swallow food/liquid, panic attacks, body twitching, now been hospitalised.

[Luna3uk]

Hi please please any help/advice from anyone who has experienced anything like this with their child as I literally feel like my world is falling apart. My Daughter is 10 (who has always suffered with regular croup/sore throat so am not sure if this all stems from that) has ate no food for a week and had no liquids for 3 days now. she can’t even swallow her own spit and had to keep spitting it out, she says she has this choking sensation and nothing will literally go down.

She had a camera down her windpipe and oesophagus yesterday and the surgeon says there’s no physical reason/obstruction to why she can’t swallow. He said she does have a different shaped like entrance to the airway slightly and that’s why she will get croup a lot from any type of cold/virus but it will not affect her being able to swallow.

So 2 weeks ago we was out having a meal for my bday and she had what seemed like a massive panic attack out the blue she couldn’t breath she said she had chest and throat pains her hand was numb I had to take her to hospital As she had never experienced this before. Since then she has just gone down hill. She instantly wasn’t eating much she was eating bits of softer food and drinking but then it led to not being able to swallow at all. She then started having awful anxiety and wouldn’t and still won’t let me leave her side at all, she doesn’t want to go outside, she’s started having body jerks which can be quite severe too. We are in hospital and she’s getting fluids and seeing the psychologist and a doctor who helps with swallowing issues on Monday. If she doesn’t eat in the next 2 days they are wanting to insert a feeding tube and I know she will hate that so I would love to avoid that and try and get her to eat drink even if it’s a liquid diet for now.

this all happened literally out the blue there was no lead up, no traumatic experience. We have a happy home life, she’s my only child and she literally wants for nothing. She always been a very kind child like extremely caring and a bit of a natural worrier and a bit sensitive with things too but I can’t see anything that could have kicked all this off.

please has anyone experienced anything at all like this? I would greatly appreciate any advice I am absolutely worried sick and my heart is broken watching my beautiful little girl suffer through all this.

You're in the right place and be reassured that the medics will help your daughter recover.

If the doctors have checked there's no physical reason, it may simply be linked to anxiety. I've had similar phases of not being able to swallow and it's absolutely terrifying when it happens so I can imagine it must be awful for a child. For me, it's definitely linked to anxiety so the only thing to do is to remove myself from what's making me anxious and tell myself that it will pass and I will get better.

Does your daughter like ice-cream or could she suck an ice-lolly? That might be a good start, as it's soothing and easy to swallow. Obviously check with the hospital first.

The body jerks may possibly be tics? A lot of children start tics at about 10 years old and most of them grow out of them. One of my DCs had terrible tics from about 10 - 15, but now they've pretty much disappeared and only recur in times of stress.

The psychologist you're meeting will be able to talk to you about all of this and suggest ways forward. Hope things improve for you soon.

PANS/PANDAS? Has she had a virus fairly recently?

Look into ARFID, can occur on its own but very common in those with autism or who have PANS

I also wondered if it could be tic related. My DC was absolutely fine, then out of the blue had quite a severe tic attack that lasted for weeks, although not throat related. Really hope you get some answers soon x

Had this exact thing with my son during covid. Couldn't eat and in the end couldn't swallow saliva
It passed off as quickly as it started. He lost a lot of weight and it lasted for about a month
He's been absolutely fine with it since until a couple of weeks ago where I can see it may be starting again. It's very stressful for the whole family.
I hope your daughter recovers from this quickly

Had this over the summer with 8 year old. He had got a fish bone stuck, it had scratched his throat but was dislodged when he was sick. He refused to swallow even his spit and was very distressed. They did an endoscopy and he had a clear scratch on his throat, but no bone. The doctor said it can be fear that caused him to refuse to swallow as it did hurt at the start. It took him about 3 days to regain his functions normally. I hope your daughter gets better soon