eating disorders

[mkur]

Ms American has started a foundation about eating disorders at kirstenhaglund.com. I think some of you pandas' moms with children who present with eating disorders should contact her and let her know that some of these kids can be treated and the younger the child the more likely it is pans related. My child has the opposite problem - he will crave food - is always hungry. He was very very lucky to have a fast metabolism.

[fightingmom]

My son was diagnosed with binge eating disorder. Craves, sneaks, hoards food. I have locks on doors and stash all non perishables on rooms or my basement. He will sneak down the stairs at night and try to open fridge without us hearing him and gets so angry if we do. Keep an eye on that. He too started out seeming hungry a lot and it manifested.

[mkur]

Thanks for the warning. I looked up binge eating and he doesn't fit. He doesn't overeat but is always snacking. When he was younger, he would beg food from his friend's parents etc. He notices the food that he eats and is still moderately picky. Now that he is older and not as hyper this could be problem.

 

Does anyone know of the vitamin deficiency etc that can cause this?

Does anyone know of a natural herb or OTC supplement that can help?

 

Thanks again.

[LNN]

I'm in the middle of a book "Answers to Anorexia" by Dr James Greenblatt, who's an integrative psychiatrist. he has his own practice and is also an Asst Clinical Professor at Tufts Univ. His argument is that anorexia is a type of OCD that has food as the obsession and restrictive eating as the compulsion. He feels that AN starts with malorexia - a malnutrition of key nutrients that then alter the way the brain functions, triggering the psychiatric behaviors of AN. So the deficiency comes first, then the behavior. Then the behavior leads to further malnutrition, spiraling into this endless cycle.

 

His answer is to test and correct zinc deficiency (which can change the way food tastes and is essential to the immune system and the brain), then test for elevated levels of urinary peptides (which indicate a deficiency of a digestive peptide called dipeptidyl peptidase IV leading to incomplete gluten and casein digestion). Then check for celiac's. He suggests that treating nutitional imbalances can lead to full recovery. However, he doesn't dismiss the usefulness of psychiatric meds to get thru a crisis. It's a fairly balanced approach, IMO.

 

I found it interesting that things like pasta can inhibit the absorption of zinc and my DD with the food issues is heavy on pasta and is also zinc deficient. She's been on a zinc/B6 supplement for 6 months and this alone didn't change her eating habits. But I added a garlic pill to our regimen last week and her appetite is improving. She ate breakfast twice last week - a first since last summer. Garlic apparently increases bile production, aiding digestion.

[fightingmom]

My son is still extremely picky with his choices and doesn't fit the criteria classically for any type of mental illnesses but has some symptoms of many. I feel his binge is more of an obsession and less of a poor relationship with food or body image that accompanies many eating disorders. He also does not emotionally eat, or use it as a coping mechanism. It's simply an obsession and more of a seeking and rewarding type of thing. More of what you'd see in an addiction, which ironically is caused by imbalances dopamine levels a lot of the time. I suspect that if the PANDAS gets under control this too will subside. He's much worse in severe episodes. Not suggesting this is what is going on with you, the last thing any of us needs is someone else tryin to diagnose our kids with something else they don't have!!! Just keep an eye on it. As I said he's very picky, for breakfast he will only eat the granola bars in the green box from trader joes....trying to give him something else could ruin our whole day.

Edited March 18, 2012 by fightingmom