9 year old stops eating fear of allergic reaction and death

[Janetll17]

My 9 year old daughter over the past 21/2 weeks has stopped eating normally.  She will only eat Special K cereal and white rice.  She takes only sips of water a day and I can get her to drink a little bit maybe one cup of milk.  She says she is afraid that she will be allergic to food and is afraid of death.  We have recently moved , she changed schools in which she has adjusted well.  During the month of August she had asked about Bee stings and how do we know if we are allergic to Bee stings.  Her Dad told her you learn the hard way.  At the end of August she got 4 Bee stings which was very traumatic for her but she did not have any allergic reaction and you could barely see them the next day.  She has communicated to me that since her Bee stings she feels like a different person , like her body is changing.  She has started puberty and I have noticed some moodyness, especially when it comes to her little brother.  She was eating normally for a few weeks after the bee stings so I having a hard time making sense of any of this and am looking for a miracle to help her.  We have been to one Doctor and are waiting to go to another one.  I am very worried for her health sake.  She also goes to the bathroom alot just to sit , she says she gets nervous and she goes in there to get away from the situation (usually dinner time)  She also has mentioned that she feels like she has to go to the bathroom all the time.  She has always been a healthy eater, she was heavily into desserts over the summer.  She is on the higher end of the weight chart but not a concern, she is growing and developing normally.  I am finding it real hard to communicate and have it make a difference.  I told her I would give her only the foods that she has been eating in her life.  Or just to pick one food to add to her food intake and we would just add one at a time.  She says she just can't eat anything.  She is too afraid.  I can't even get her to take a vitamin.  I don't know if I need to address eating disorder, medical issue, fear of death.  I guess that would be all of the above.  What steps would head me in the right direction. I have taken her to the library to get books on puberty, allergies, etc.  She doesn't want to talk about it.  

I am trying to be patient but I just want her to eat something.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Children of this age are subject to a condition called Extraordinary Daytime Urinary Frequency Stndrome, also called Pollakiuruia. It is not indicative of any underlying medical problem, and usually is associated with stress. It resolves spontaneously. Now, frequent urination during the daytime can also be symptomatic of urinary tract infection, diabetes, etc., so it's best not to assume it's EDUFS and have it checked medically. Her collection of symptoms don't suggest an eating disorder, but rather a fear of dying of an allergic reaction. It might be best to obtain a pediatric mental health evaluation. She can be helped to correct some cognitive distortions, and the therapist can work with you to develop a behavioral program. Such cognitive-behavioral treatment is the recommended form of treatment for such fears. By the way, is there a family history of anxiety disorders? Such conditions have a strong biological component, and children with a positive family history are more susceptible to developing an anxiety disorder than children without such a family history.