My 7-year-old Stopped Eating Solid Foods - HELP!

My son stopped eating solid foods a couple of weeks ago. The doctor checked out his throat and nothing appeared to be wrong. He also has not had any traumatic incidents happen that we are aware of that might trigger this reaction, doesn't seem depressed, and he has never choked on food. It began a few weeks ago, he would spit out food occasionally at a meal...this would get worse and he would spit out several times during meals. 2 weeks ago he came home from school without any lunch eaten, this is when I decided to take him to the doctor...strep test was negative, and he doesn't complain of throat pain. He did say it felt like phlegm was in his throat, so we tried Zyrtec in case it was allergies (which he has never been diagnosed with), but the Zyrtec didn't help either. The first few days of this, he would eat certain solid foods, like Cheerios or Goldfish...he has since stopped eating these as well :( He managed to pretty normally chew and swallow an Oreo cookie a few days ago. He is now being treated for possible reflux issues with Prilosec and Pepcid, but I have not seen any changes. If he tries solid food, he visibly chews and chews the food until it is liquid, but then has to still spit it out, can't swallow even though it's liquid!? I know he isn't trying this, and doesn't want to deal with this...he has said, "I feel stupid," and "I hate food." It is heart breaking to see :( He is living off of yogurt pops, Pedisure, and milk. Hopefully they will find out what's wrong, but even if its physical, I think now he will be pyschologically afraid to swallow...I am SO worried about him!

Please let me know if anyone has experienced this with their child, or self...thank you!

Thank you! It is hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel at this point...it's been a very stressful couple of weeks :( he says that it doesn't hurt to swallow, he swallows liquids easily. The only thing that I could get out of him, was that it felt like phlegm was in his throat. He just says that he doesn't know why he can't swallow. Poor kid, the look in his eyes when he tries to swallow solids breaks my heart :( He is feeling full from the liquids that he drinks...he is hungry when he tries the solids, though. Then we will have to resort to drinking another Pediasure. He SO wants to eat and be "normal" again!

Mam, check with the children he plays with, kids don't always tell us
everything, being a little boy myself once I know that sometimes
we get bullied and we don't tell, "this is just a thought", Peace

Larry ***

Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts and suggestions! The reflux meds have still not worked, so I think we're on to the next step in investigation next week. My son does see a pediatrician...the doc wanted to try this reflux idea first, since its less invasive and would be a quick fix. He did order the xray as well, which showed he had a pretty large blockage in his intestines (from not eating much...said the reflux/throat issue might be made worse if my son was so constipated; that issue has been resolved, but didn't help swallowing. I'm sure the doc will send us to specialist/ENT next week... I've heard the barium swallow tests aren't too invasive, I will push for this to try to get to the bottom of the problem. My son has never had allergies, and this came on very quickly...I'm assuming he'd have shown signs before if it was an adenoid/tonsil problem? Or is that not necessarily true??

I spoke with him and his teacher, and there doesn't seem to be an bully issue at school. The doc had asked this as well, as the stress could trigger this response. My son walks in to school fine, and appears to really like school. He fits in well with most kids, very likeable, I just really don't think this is the problem. I have asked the teacher to keep an eye out for signs, however, and asked other moms as well to secretly ask their children (classmates) if they've noticed anything.

This is a complete conundrum...I appreciate all suggestions and will check out anything and everything to get my son some relief! Thanks again!!

No, his teeth don't hurt. Nothing actually hurts, so Advil, etc didn't help. He went to dentist recently...no problems there, and no teeth were even loose. I'm calling first thing Monday to get him in to specialist for testing...and getting him appointment with school psychologist! He said tonight he's "scared to eat" again :(