It all started about 4 months ago when we noticed that our 4 yr old daughter was doing a lot of throat clearing, I attributed it to allergies (which I have) and started her on claritan. Then on June 2nd, we were eating dinner a little later than usual, my daughter took a bite of a green bean and all of the sudden started screaming and crying, "it is stuck, it is stuck" while clutching her throat. She was hysterical (poor baby girl) We gave her a couple drinks and she finally was able to get it down. She decided she was done eating and went to lay down.
The next morning she got up, ate yogurt for breakfast and went to preschool. There was an incident there with her snack and the school called me to get her, I thought she had a tummy ache from chronic constipation issues and didn't seek out the necessary info as I should have. I put her on a bowel program to clean her out as she has had issues in the past. She began to refuse all foods and would only drink fluids. I took her to the pediatrician who finally sent us to a GI doc.
On June 8th, the GI doc put her under general anesthesia, scoped her and found nothing structurally wrong. Told me "whatever the reason your daughter is not eating, is not medical...she needs counseling" Really?!? The day after the scope, I was able to get her to take a few bites of pancakes then noodles for lunch and finely cut chicken bites for dinner. The next morning we tried pancakes again because they had worked previously, she took 2 bites, second bite got stuck and has not eaten any solids since.
Our pediatrician continued to agree with the GI doc and thus I took her to an ENT who ordered a swallow study.
The Speech Pathologist did her swallow study and found that pureed consistency food is getting stuck in her esophagus at her heart level and the motility in the bottom 2/3rd's of her esophagus is not working correctly. She said she has never seen this before in a child and she has been doing swallow studies for 12 yrs. Also, she said the throat clearing that started before is directly related to my daughter not being able to get foods down. We then did a cat scan to see if she had a vascular constricture around her esophagus which came back normal.
All our docs are at a loss, no one knows what to do. We have an appt in KC with a GI specialist, but not until August. I did talk to a neurologist who thinks an MRI of her brain would be beneficial to rule out any brain stem involvement and that is in the works.
My daughter is taking pediasure for nutrition and will eat yogurt or pureed consistency, but does have trouble with pureed/pudding consistencies.
Has anyone seen or heard of anything like this before in a child?, The difficulty with swallowing is called Dysphagia, but I am looking for a cause, I have spent countless hours on the internet searching for an answer. Also, she does not have GERD and have ruled out Eosonophilic Esophagitis. Thank you and have a great day.
Have you explored Eosinophilic Esophagitis as a diagnosis? I'm not a doctor, but as a mother of child with food allergies, this is a condition I have been aware of. Here is a link that gives some explanation: http://www.faiusa.org/?page=eosinophilic_esophagitis
I'm sure you probably tried this but I googled 'inability to swallow solid food' and what popped up was dysphagia, which sounds a lot lot your daughter's problem....good luck, keep us posted...also, there's a lot of different frozen pop kind of food, with calories and calcium that she may like
My grandma has this, as a complication of Schleroderma, not that your daughter has that, but the way Grandma deals with it, is that she goes to Rockford to have her throat stretched, periodically.
The idea to take her to a chiropractor is good--they can realign the spine. It's amazing how many "issues" people have that can be cured or vastly relieved by a few adjustments. Not saying it will cure your daughter, but it might offer some relief, even if just temporary.
The other idea is to take your daughter to see a Naturopathic doctor. You said you want to find "the cause." That is what a naturopathic doctor does; he finds the cause of the problems and doesn't just put a Band-aid over it, which is what allopathic medicine does. Perhaps there are supplements or amino acids or even enzymes that she can take that would help with this issue. Most people don't have the right kind or enough of the different enzymes and amino acids the body (stomach, gut, everything connected with that, which includes the throat, since that is where digestion begins, after the mouth/chewing) needs to digest food properly. If that is the case with your daughter, then maybe there is something she can drink or eat (a supplement) before she eats her food that could help aid in the digestion process. Her body is lacking something it needs to break down her food in her mouth/chewing and/or on the way down the throat, which is why when the food reaches that particular spot of her throat/by her heart, it stops and gets stuck. For most people, the food would be digested well enough at that point from all the acids and such the body secretes that there isn't anything solid enough to get stuck there.
Another idea: have your daughter chew every fork/spoonful she puts into her mouth at least 30 times. Most people just shovel in the food and never take the time to properly chew the food so that the digestive juices have a chance to work on starting to dissolve the food. I currently see a naturopath for some issues myself, and that was one of the best pieces of advice I was given--to chew my food more thoroughly.
A naturopath will have the patience and the time to not only uncover what is causing your daughter's issue, but he'll take the time to help you figure out how to cure/handle it and give you tons of advice. I love visiting my naturopathic doctor, and I rarely ever go to see an allopathic doctor any more. I also haven't been sick the last three years--ever since I started seeing the naturopath and getting my body healed. Good luck!
I would totally try chiropractic! The nervous system supplies everything in the body including the nerves to the esophagus. If there is a pinched nerve..it coudl effect the esophagus. I have been a chiropractor for 12 years and have treated many people with many symptoms!
Good luck!
L.
First of all, I'm sorry that you and your family have to deal with this issue. All dysphagia means is "difficulty swallowing". It's not really a diagnosis. Hopefully the MRI will show something. I am an RN and I had a patient recently who had neck surgery for a car accident injury. A complication effected the nerves that controlled swallowing and she has had difficulty ever since. So, perhaps it is a neurological issue. That particular patient was working with speech pathology and it was predicted that her ability to swallow would return. I know this is frustrating but sometimes trial and error are what it takes to discover true diagnoses. I understand people's beliefs in naturopaths and I agree that they can be helpful, but I also don't think you have to swear off Western medicine either. Be patient. Make sure your daughter is getting adequate nutrition, lots of love and continue your research. Good luck!
My husband has this but it only occurs when he eats meat and or rice. He too has no idea why (his father has it too) and there is no pattern.... sometimes he can eat both of those w/ no issues and then boom he's got something caught in his throat.
He has been to the ER and had to be checked in once. One thing that my aunt told him to do (she's an RN) when it is meat is to drink cola as the acid in the drink will eat away at the meat and then it will be able to slide down (or come up - as he often has to try and make himself throw up).
I can't tell you how often this has helped him. I'm not sure what it feels like (probably pretty gross) so I'm not sure how a 4 YO would react to it but one time my husband's episode moved into more of a choking issue and this was the only thing that worked.
Good luck!
My Brother In Law (BIL) has this as did his father. There is no real rhyme or reason that the doctors can find with when it happens or what triggers it. From time to time as he's eating the food will get stuck in his esophagus and he can't get it down. The doctors have finally told him to wait 24 hours and if it doesn't go down to go to the ER where they have to stretch his esophagus (not fun but sounds worse than it is - he's not checked in to the hospital for these procedures). The one thing the doctors did tell him was NOT to drink water to try and get it down. If the food is truly blocking the esophagus the water could back up and then go down his airway causing choking.
I'm sorry I don't have much more help to offer. My BIL has never been told why or how this happens - he just has to live with it. I hope your daughter finds some better answers!
This sounds like what my dad has. Chicken or rice starts the problem. He has had his esophagus stretched a few times. This seems to help for a few years each time.
I have a friend with similar issues with swallowing. Would you like to talk with her? If yes, please email me at ____@____.com.
Oh my goodness my daughter will be 4 this month and the same thing is going on with her. The first thing her dr did was the swallow test and they said it went down fine. They wanted to do a cookie swallow but she refused to eat the cookie. She chewed it up and spit it out. She refuses to eat anything but yogurt and drink pediasure. She said other stuff will get stuck in her throat. Her Dr. is sending her to a GI dr. as well. I just want an answer as to what is wrong with her. And your daughters situation sounds just like my daughters. The dr. at the ER said that she is just being stubborn but that is not my daughter. She went from the kid who loved food and would eat anything to the kids who won't eat at all. She has lost 7 pounds so far. I am so worried.
