Minnie
11-13-2006, 10:00 PM
My son has dysphagia. As an infant he had a really hard time with liquids. I thickened his feeds and it helped tremendously. As he grew he started to "out grow" it and was able to handle water by 18 months (after starting a PPI for the first time). As liquids became less of a problem solids became more difficult for him. Right now he is having great trouble with both :(
He is obviously in some pain or discomfort when he swallows. He grimaces with every swallow and chokes (stops breathing and the whole bit) often. He uses liquids to wash it down once he has fought the bolus down (usually it goes down. there's only been a few times I had to help. a handful of times he worked it back out, and he seemed more comfortable when that happened) and can breath again. Then he coughs and sneezes after drinking, and starts the process over again. Needless to say his intake lately has been minimal. Eventually he gives up and just holds the food/liquid in his mouth or chews for a minute and then spits it out. It doesn't matter what the texture is. Even purees are difficult for him. To me as a viewer it looks as though everything is getting stuck. What's really strange is he eventually stops chewing too, and makes his swallow even worse. It's almost as though he teaches himself how to swallow certain things whole during these spells, and the foods he already knows how to swallow whole I have to avoid. He wants to eat, he even asks for foods, but then it goes badly, and he gives up.
Now the crazy part.
His dysphagia comes and goes. His last good eating spell lasted over 3 months (this is or longest good spell EVER:)). He ate perfectly, although there are still some foods he has yet to master possibly out of fear (lot's of choking) he won't even try them. Peanut butter and other thick sticky puree type textures are untouched or spit out immediately. and things like stage 3 and soups, casseroles, he's not very good at either, but he tries.
During his dyphagia spells he smells like rotten food (sour like a garbage disposal that needs to be cleaned), has tummy troubles, gets dehydrated, and constipated. This time he was also able to tell me (because he's older) his mouth hurt, and his chest felt hard.
Every time this happens I take him to see a doc to make sure he doesn't have strep or something viral going on, and he never does. Eventually he will stop eating like he is right now, and then slowly start back up again like nothing ever happened. I'm telling you in a week or so he'll be eating like a champ again. It's the weirdest thing.
My question is can dysphagia come and go? Would Eric benefit from feeding therapy or is this strictly a medical thing that needs to be uncovered? I mean he has the skills. It's almost as though he chooses not to do it right, can't stop himself, and then suffers the consequences. After a few days on feeding strike he's back to eating "normally" again.
He is obviously in some pain or discomfort when he swallows. He grimaces with every swallow and chokes (stops breathing and the whole bit) often. He uses liquids to wash it down once he has fought the bolus down (usually it goes down. there's only been a few times I had to help. a handful of times he worked it back out, and he seemed more comfortable when that happened) and can breath again. Then he coughs and sneezes after drinking, and starts the process over again. Needless to say his intake lately has been minimal. Eventually he gives up and just holds the food/liquid in his mouth or chews for a minute and then spits it out. It doesn't matter what the texture is. Even purees are difficult for him. To me as a viewer it looks as though everything is getting stuck. What's really strange is he eventually stops chewing too, and makes his swallow even worse. It's almost as though he teaches himself how to swallow certain things whole during these spells, and the foods he already knows how to swallow whole I have to avoid. He wants to eat, he even asks for foods, but then it goes badly, and he gives up.
Now the crazy part.
His dysphagia comes and goes. His last good eating spell lasted over 3 months (this is or longest good spell EVER:)). He ate perfectly, although there are still some foods he has yet to master possibly out of fear (lot's of choking) he won't even try them. Peanut butter and other thick sticky puree type textures are untouched or spit out immediately. and things like stage 3 and soups, casseroles, he's not very good at either, but he tries.
During his dyphagia spells he smells like rotten food (sour like a garbage disposal that needs to be cleaned), has tummy troubles, gets dehydrated, and constipated. This time he was also able to tell me (because he's older) his mouth hurt, and his chest felt hard.
Every time this happens I take him to see a doc to make sure he doesn't have strep or something viral going on, and he never does. Eventually he will stop eating like he is right now, and then slowly start back up again like nothing ever happened. I'm telling you in a week or so he'll be eating like a champ again. It's the weirdest thing.
My question is can dysphagia come and go? Would Eric benefit from feeding therapy or is this strictly a medical thing that needs to be uncovered? I mean he has the skills. It's almost as though he chooses not to do it right, can't stop himself, and then suffers the consequences. After a few days on feeding strike he's back to eating "normally" again.