I'm wondering if a childhood of pain and feeling poorly secondary to Crohn's can psychologically change the child to have an aversion to food.
My daughter's GI thinks that her Crohn's isn't in flare (normal labs and calprotectin, no pain, etc), but she has ongoing loss of appetite and frequently feels nauseated or "gushy" in the stomach if she eats. Some days she won't eat at all because of this aversion to food. She has definitely found a hypersensitivity to some textures (lumps in potatoes, graininess of some foods, etc). Her GI is suggesting IBS, but without pain, constipation or diarrhea, I am doubtful of this diagnosis along with her Crohn's. Pumpkin has a history of seizures and the IBS meds she is suggesting (amitryptiline, desipramine) can lower seizure threshold as well as potentially cause suicidal ideation, anorexia, nausea, etc. Pumpkin did get suicidal on two seizure meds, and I am loathe to go back there.
Oh my, that medication sounds bad. So sorry she is having a hard time eating. I can understand if what she is going through would make her skittish about foods. I pray that she can get past those feelings, if they are there, and eat what her body needs.
ReplyDeleteMy 15-yr-old son has crohn's and his ONLY sign of flare is loss of appetite and sometimes a little nausea. We have had some success with periactin for enhancing appetite, and rifaximin for the Crohn's. I've been following your blog for a few months. If you want to talk anytime we can do that.
ReplyDeletemy dtr is the same age as yours and we seem to have both had this diagnosis happen at the same time. My heart goes out to you! We started the Specific Carbohydrates Diet in August 2012 and she seems to be in remission. I highly recommend. We even do allow a few important variations - we use raw cocoa, and sometimes a small amount of milk chocolate just to preserve her sanity!
ReplyDeleteI actually love cooking on this diet. I'm happy to correspond with you about it if it interests you. It intimidated me at first (I am no great cook), but now we love it. There are great recipes. After the first year or so, you don't have to be so super-strict (and frankly, we never kicked the chocolate habit, even though te believers in this diet swear that you have to). http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/