-Disclaimer for Trisha- don't read this if you are going to be eating. I guess that would apply to all.
So Gavin has been having GI issues. Dr. H has us keeping tabs every time he goes potty. We have to see it before he flushes. We also keep a food log of what he's eating as well.
Gavin had another GI "episode" today. So I asked him if he has been eating anything that we haven't given him to eat? He began nervously pacing so I knew this wasn't going to be good. So I start questioning him. What are you eating? He says "nothing". Eventually he says he has been eating paper. So we start the process again. What else have you been eating, I asked? "Nothing" he says, just paper. Later he tells us he is eating the tags off his stuffed animals. We do the exact same process one last time and learn he is still eating the stuff between his toes.
We were forced to gut his room. All he will have in there is him bed,pillow and blanket. We also found he had been eating some of his blankets so we got rid of those as well. I don't know what the hell we are supposed to do. The scary thing is that these are the only things we got him to admit to. There are also large amount of paint missing off his walls and baseboard (not lead based). We need a "clean room" to stick him in. There is no way we can stay on top of him constantly, which he apparently needs.
I feel bad removing all his things be we have to protect him from himself. Gavin has no real quality of life. We have to control everything because he can't be allowed to endanger himself. Right? Should we let him do what he is going to probably do anyway? Should we let him get sick and need his stomach pumped? Does he have control over this or is he just doing this to push me and his mother over the edge? Honestly I don't know.
Anyone have experience with pica? Can we discourage this some how? Should he be punished for doing this? I have no idea what we should do.
LT
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