Fear of Food
#84359 - 06/29/04 09:38 AM
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We just found out this past Feb. that our 13 year old daughter has IBS. Thankfully God led us to this wonderful site and we immediately incorporated the soluble fiber into her diet. This resulted in a wonderful change.
However, when we went on vacation and she ate the correct foods at a restaurant - she was OK until our other daughter said her tummy hurt and she needed to go potty. Then our daughter with IBS seemed to panic. And she had one of the worst attacks ever! She took Bentyl, Levisin and Imodium and still the pain lasted for more than an hour.
Now more than a month later, she refuses to eat anything out of the ordinary at home and not at any resturant. She will not even eat something if it is cooked in a different pot than usual. She eats biscuits for breakfast, saltines and a box soup mix for lunch, ritz for snacks and then whatever I cook for dinner - which is usually 1 or 2 veggies, potatoes or rice and a meat. Oh, and she always has sourdough bread before each meal. I bought the souble fiber sold here, but she is afraid to try it.
I'm sorry this is so long, but I'm very worried. Is any of this normal for IBS sufferers? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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I am sorry to hear your child has developed a fear of food. I am an adult and should know better I guess, but I have developed a fear of food too. If we travel I just fast. I do all sorts of bad things like not even drink water. I guess I can't give you help, other than to let you know that this happens to other people. I wonder, for myself sometimes, if a "good results" food diary might help. Each time I do eat and nothing happens, I should make a note of that so I have a whole list of successes to look back on. Good luck.
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Welcome!
#84364 - 06/29/04 09:55 AM
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Stephie
Reged: 03/10/04
Posts: 2696
Loc: Vancouver, Canada
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Hi there,
First of all, I just wanted to say Welcome to the boards. I'm sure you will be able to find helpful information on this site that will hopefully help your daughter out quite a bit. I also wanted to say how great I think it is that you are out there trying to do stuff to help your daughter. I got IBS when I was really young, and never got taken seriously at all about 'tummy aches' and was told for years on end that 'it'll pass', the thought of which makes me hurt and frustrated today still! 
Anyway, I was going to say also that I think it's understandable that your daughter is so scared of food. If she is having severe attacks, and has found a system that seemingly stops the attacks I can understand it being difficult for her to add more things into her diet. Especially with her being so young.. I think it is even harder for children/teens because they have to go to school every day and getting sick at school is not such a nice experience!
One of my suggestions would be, if you haven't already, is to show her this site and different posts from different people so she knows how many of us there are on here who are suffering in a similar way to the way she is. It might be especially helpful to then show posts by the same people made up on the Recipe Exchange board. There are so many recipes posted there that are IBS safe and she might be able to pick and try a few that she thinks seem safe enough for her poor tummy.
As for the fiber supplement, she might also want to read posts from people here who have done so well on them, that swear by them. Additionally, especially because she is so scared, if she is willing to start on it, I would start at the tiniest amount and keep adding gradually. You are supposed to do that anyway, but if she just has to take things in little incriments it might be easier. It also might make the side effects that some people have for the first few days on SFS less, or even non-existent.
For trying her on new foods, I would offer to her to do it on a weekend, or a day when she doesn't have anything she needs to worry about going to the next day. I know one of my fears with food is that if I have _anything_ I absolutely need to do the next day, I won't risk it. I usually will try things on a Friday night at supper or something, so that if i do have a bad reaction, at least I have Saturday and Sunday to recover, before it's back to work on Monday!
If you don't already have Heather's books, those might be a good idea too. I know there are sections in "The First Year" that talk about Children with IBS, and if she has something to actually read right in front of her, it might make more sense and convince her that she can probably try and add in a few more things without problems.
I also think the panicking when her sister got a tummy ache and went to the bathroom is no surpise either. I am 21, but if anyone in the house used to go into the bathroom, I used to go into quite the anxiety attack. As soon as I heard the door shut, I all of a sudden thought I had to go and would freak out. The hypnotherapy program and some anti-anxiety meds I am on helped me with such panic attacks, but I don't know what to suggest for someone so young.
I just think you are a terrific mom! I imagine being the mom of someone who is constantly feeling ill is very stressful and must take a lot out of you at times. As if moms of kids who aren't sick all the time don't worry enough! If you can be patient, you are a better person than I.. but your daughter is very lucky to have you!
--Steph
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~~I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell-I know right now you can't tell~~Matchbox 20
IBS-D,pain.
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I'm sorry your daughter is going through this, and I'm sure you're worried.
She sounds a lot like I did (and to some extent still do). I still do not go out to eat unless I HAVE to, and even then I usually eat before hand and just order a baked potato. I have only been on this diet for about 4 months though, and I know there are many of people who go out to eat on this site with no problems - I just have to work up to that.
You said she was fine until your other daughter had to go to the bathroom - I can definately understand that. That happened to me a lot - if my husband has a stomach ache at any point, I start feeling sick.
What's I'm concerned about is anxiety with your daughter. I struggle with anxiety because of IBS. I never had it before, but it progressively got worse with IBS. If it's at all possible, could you take her to a councelor/therapist for anxiety? I am seeing one right now and he is really helping me. It's just better to try and 'fix' it earlier than later..
I'm sure you'll get some more advice, but I really hope this helps somewhat! Definately have your daughter log in and ask us questions if she wants! It helps to talk to people who really understand what you're feeling.
Take care.
~Cara
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~Cara~
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I am so happy by reading this message board that I could cry. I have had IBS-D for about seven years now. I recently went to the hospital for a bacterial infection and they found that I have high liver enzyme levels most likely due to my use of Immodium. I have taken it every day for around five years. My panic started when my doctor said that it would be best if I tried something that was noninvasive.
It frustrates me since doctors don't know much more about IBS then I do. My IBS-D led to panic attacks as well as fear of riding with someone in a car that I didn't feel comfortable enough with to pull over and use a restroom or the nearest tree.
I eventually went to a psychiatrist who I have been seeing for years that made me feel like it is completely normal to have this panic. I was put on anti-anxiety medication to control my panic attacks which have worked. I originally went into the field of teaching but felt like I could not stand in front of a classroom with this diagnosis. However, I went back to graduate school and am studying to be a school psychologist.
My panic left me after taking Immodium proved successful; however, the damage that this was doing to my body was clear. I found this website yesterday and was so happy to see that people like me had the same fears and "uncomfortable" sitatuations. I am going to try the diet and tried my first FiberCon pill this morning - so far so good. I also had the notion that "laxatives" didn't make any sense with IBS-D until reading Heather's article. When my husband wants to take a walk after dinner and I just cannot do it I feel so out of control of my body. This lack of control with one's body leads to anxiety and in some cases panic attacks. My friend had cancer and she told me the worst part of it was the panic attacks that followed. It is somewhat comforting to know that this anxiety is common when you cannot control your own body.
I think your daughter is using food as her way of controlling her situation. I completely understand. I could go all day without eating and then eat when I get home. I am going to try doing away with "trigger" foods and hopefully things will improve. But this list is truly a life saver and I am so glad that I found it.
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Like your daughter, I was diagnosed with IBS at an early age. My parents did nothing to help change my diet or deal with the anxiety and stress that it caused. I started to think it was normal to get sick several times a week, and my older sister had a similar problem so that just reinforced the idea.
Now that I'm older, I have realized that its not normal live this way. I wish that my parents would have taken a more proactive role in helping me control my diet (even if I resisted at the time).
It may help to take her to a nutritionist so that they can come up with a customized diet for her. If she's hearing the diet from a medical professional, she may be more trusting of the foods.
Also, put your daughter in therapy if she seems to have anxiety symptoms with her episodes. Programs like cognitive behavioral therapy will help her deal with the panic that ensues from a D attack. This would have helped me immensely growing up.
I hope this advice helps!
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she's old enough to be able to help herself, which is really key. The more information she has, and the better she understands IBS and why certain things can help or worsen her symtpoms, the better off she'll be. I'd have her read through the diet section of this site herself, and the soluble fiber page in the supplement section as well.
Have her read the First Year IBS - it's an easy read for a 13 year old, and has lots of sections meant for kids with IBS. I wish someone had handed it to me when I was 13. The info in there will help give her confidence about what she can and can't eat, how to deal with stress, how to help her symptoms in a lot of different ways, etc. With IBS knowledge is really key - and this means knowledge for her, since she's the one with the problem. You can help her out, but she really needs to manage IBS herself. There's tons of chapters from the book excerpted in the Books section of the site.
Have her come by the boards too - she'll be warmly welcomed. 
- Heather
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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!
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