How long can a child go without eating

[PhillyPA]

My older son, age 8 has PANDAS. My second son, age 6 just got PANDAS. He hasn't eaten in 8 days because he is afraid of choking. How long can a child go without eating? He does drink. I am very worried. He was put on augmentin. He started steroids today.

[thereishope]

When my son wouldn't eat, he was was given his steroid burst and it helped. I think it was a combo of taking down inflammation and the fact that a steroid will add to hunger. Will he eat applesauce and yogurt? My son lived on that for awhile then he morphed into a carb phase when he finally began to eat again. If needed, you can supplement with a drink like Ensure, but still try to get him to eat. For a bit, my son wouldn't only eat if he was alone in the room, he had to handle all food himself, and he would only eat individually packaged foods and cold foods.

Edited July 24, 2010 by Vickie

[Worried_Dad]

... I am very worried.

 

Your instincts are wise! Don't want to freak you out, PhillyPA... but this is very dangerous stuff. Our son exhibited severe anorexia with his 2nd PANDAS exacerbation, lost 20+ pounds in a month, and that was the closest we came to hospitalizing him for his own good. Buster and EAMom's ds did require hospitalization at least once, I believe, due to anorexia-triggered malnutrition.

 

You may already know this, but Buster is our resident research scientist and author of many, many key topics on this forum (FAQs, flow charts, etc.). Here's a relevant post of his on this subject:

 

http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=7924&view=findpost&p=64533

 

Again, this is potentially life-threatening. If your ds refuses to eat, you may need to escalate the medical intervention. For our son, the threat of hospitalization was enough to get him to at least eat minimally until we could get more robust treatment (IVIG) for him.

 

Best of luck!

[PhillyPA]

He will eat liquids. I got him to "eat" a frosty this morning. I tried Pedia-sure but he said it was disgusting. He lost two pounds this week. He is so skinny. He doesn't have spare weight to lose.

[Suzan]

My 7 yr old restricts food for fear of choking and also loss of taste buds. It is very scary. I was ready to take her to the doctor last year we were so worried but then we got her on daily zithromax and things got better. I give her protein drinks and fix her the items she feels won't choke her (usually scrambled eggs and oatmeal). I tried to push the smoothies with protein powder and fruit but she does not like them (she hates cold things).

 

I know you don't want to take him to the hospital but if you feel he is in danger and needs help, please take him!

 

Good luck to you guys.

 

Susan

[Mary M]

Our dd12 has had similar issues during exacerbations. Sometimes she would eat if no one else was in the room with her. But more reliably, we found that she would eat foods out but not in our house. So, just to get her to eat, we would take her out. Yes, going out was more expensive but we felt she had to eat and that was the most important thing. We didn't make a big deal out of it...we would just say we were hungry and felt like "such and such" to eat and off we would go...and she would eat. I did explain to our older dds that she wasn't being rewarded, that it was a matter of ensuring that the basic needs of the body were being fulfilled...eating is a specific priority. And since during most of that time she also wasn't able to sleep, meeting any of the basic needs was a priority. Since IVIg on June 14/15 she eats at least twice per day (if not many times more), eats in our home, food we've prepared or my mom has prepared and we are so grateful. The not eating is scary...we always had a very healthy diet but also succumbed to less healthy choices if she'd eat them. During her most difficult eating times, I would agree that it was soft foods that worked well. I can name at least 2 times when she and I ate in the car also. Non-PANDAS parents would balk at any of these suggestions but those of us who have been there know there are times in the course of this disease where we will do anything, even things that seem absurd.

Mary

from Michigan

[AmySLP]

My husband is a dietitian & he often recommends Carnation Instant breakfast as it's comparable to Ensure but costs less. My kids started drinking this in the morning when they don't want to eat-they like the strawberry and vanilla flavor. You can also call a dietitian & they can calculate the calorie needs for your child so you can see what his actual needs. He/she may also be able to give you some other tips for adding to what he will eat without changing the taste.

 

Good luck,

Amy

[momto2pandas]

When I was anorexic as a kid, I lived for quite a while on FROZEN Ensure Plus -- funny that cold items and liquids were mentioned by those above because that's what worked for me as well. I couldn't stand drinking the stuff - the texture or the taste or the "stomach feel" -- but somehow freezing it (like in a popsicle freezer or in a cup) and letting licks and small bites melt in my mouth was very acceptable; I actually really liked it. I couldn't bear anything that made me feel "full" but a steady stream of frozen EnsurePlus over the course of the day felt good. And that stuff has a ton of calories plus protein, vitamin, minerals, etc.

 

I actually knew some anorexics who lived literally for years on that stuff with nothing solid.

[dut]

momto2pandas - (sorry don't mean to hijack but) I was just wondering how your children are doing?

[Buster]

momto2pandas - (sorry don't mean to hijack but) I was just wondering how your children are doing?

Most see 3 types of eating disorders associated with PANDAS.

• Fear of choking.
  
• texture, taste, color/sensory issues
  
• body morphology/anorexia
  

Get on these right away. You can get a lot of calories into drinks, but get him seen by a specialist in OCD and eating disorders. Hopefully the augmentin will help.

[PhillyPA]

Very interesting. He is asking for only frozen foods. He wants me to put yogurt in the freezer so he can lick it.

[Worried_Dad]

Wow - this is intriguing! When our son's anorexia was at its worst, often the only thing we could get him to eat were flurries from a local ice cream stand (kind of like DQ Blizzards). Some days, he'd have 2 of those... although he'd agonize over whether to actually get it or not, obsess over what kind, and if it wasn't absolutely perfect, he couldn't eat it. And he'd often break down with remorse afterward, like eating it was a crime.

 

It was a very unusual food choice for him, because he's vegetarian and extremely health conscious. He won't even consider eating a flurry now that his PANDAS symptoms are 90+% better.

[thereishope]

...and contamination/poisoning fears.

 

momto2pandas - (sorry don't mean to hijack but) I was just wondering how your children are doing?

Most see 3 types of eating disorders associated with PANDAS.

• Fear of choking.
  
• texture, taste, color/sensory issues
  
• body morphology/anorexia
  

Get on these right away. You can get a lot of calories into drinks, but get him seen by a specialist in OCD and eating disorders. Hopefully the augmentin will help.

[thereishope]

They are showing tons of commercials for this. Take a yogurt cups and poke a stick through the foil cover, then freeze it. My kids are also freezing those crush cups and squeeze yogurts. If he'll let you put the yogurt into your own popsicle molds, stir evaporated milk into the yogurt first. This will add calories.

 

 

Very interesting. He is asking for only frozen foods. He wants me to put yogurt in the freezer so he can lick it.

[Mary M]

Prior to the "not eating anything in the house" phase our dd went through, she would eat "shakes" which in our house consist of frozen bananas and other frozen fruits, a bit of yogurt, and a splash of pomegranate juice or some other 100% healthy juice to allow the shake to mix well. To this concoction I then added supplements to enhance her diet. She was unaware of the "other things" I mixed in, of course. Buffered Vitamin C powder, protein powder, carnation instant breakfast (as mentioned in another post) would work, too.

 

During the time she would eat scrambled eggs or omelets, those were also prepared to enhance nutrition and increase fat content...I used heavy whipping cream.