The Details of My Daughter's Case

• It took 6 months to diagnose, then it was treated and cured within days.
• She lost 25 pounds, the first 20 over 3 months, then the last5 pounds over 3 months
• It started o March 23rd 2011 with a regular stomach virus which her best friend had the day before she got it.
• The virus symptoms went away other than the vomiting small amounts to liters at a time. She couldn't keep almost any food or water down. She kept enough to not be sickly, and she was able to have normal amounts of energy, etc.
• When the meds for constipation and reflux didn't help and the tests all came back normal  (blood tests, x-rays,some time lapsed thing that I can't recall the name of in which she had to drink cups of borrium, upper GI scope, stomach emptying, brain MRI, eye exam (to check if there is pressure on the brain causing vomiting), various clinical exams, psychological and psychiatric exams) the GI docs decided it was psychological and sent her to a psychologist and psychiatrist, both who said that she seemed normal and like mental illness was not the cause of this, but that they would treat it as such since the tests all came back normal.
• In addition to all of the above, I took her to biofeedback, yoga, and acupressure.
• The key to my friend finally diagnosing it in mid September (and not the GI docs who by this point had given up and said it was psychological) was a video recording of her 'effortless vomiting'. Once he looked up those symptoms he found an article from the Mayo clinic that described similar symptoms. We tracked down the doctor who did the research at a hospital in Ohio. It turns out she had trained with a GI at the same hospital (in a different practice group than the GI who I had been seeing since March) who she said is familiar with these types of cases. He was.
• The treatment was a simple breathing technique (diaphragmatic breathing) taught in less than one hour by a speech therapist. The diaphragm covers the opening on top of the stomach so the food can only go one way. The brain quickly re-learns how it is supposed to work. After a one hour session she threw up once more and never again. This was over one month ago.
• Since she was a 5 year old she was able to articulate that she doesn't like to drink liquids until she has some food in her stomach. Related in some way?