Prayer for my daughter

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romanchog Feb 15, 2013

My 16-year old daughter has asked that I post a prayer request for her health.

For the last couple of years she has been suffering from shortness of breath several times a day, to the degree that it has pretty much made it impossible to do things. It took a while to get any doctor to actually consider that this was anything but stress/anxiety. Last Sept. she was diagnosed with acid reflux which has also created vocal cord dysfunction (which closes the vocal cords) causing the shortness of breath because it prevents air from coming into her lungs. (Her heart and her lungs were checked and there is nothing wrong with them.)

She has been receiving speech therapy for the vocal cord dysfunction but it doesn't seem to be helping her. On two occasions it has gotten really bad and she feels like she is going to pass out. I recently initiated her on some holistic treatments for her reflux, and this has helped her get a little better but she is still having several episodes a day of shortness of breath.

She would like prayer that God would heal her of this completely so she would not have shortness of breath anymore. Thank you all for praying.

G

ginnyrose Feb 15, 2013

Natalie, does your daughter know the LORD?

When I was a young woman I had a severe breathing problem. There were times I could not get my breath - I almost suffocated. Doctor did not know what was wrong either but he did give me tranquilizers - that should tell you something because it worked.

However, in time, I learned how one needs to cast all your care upon Him for he cares for us (1Peter 5:7). I did so. I told God my troubles, tried to leave them there for him to fix. In the process of time I noticed I no longer had this breathing problem!!! AND I no longer had sinus problems either. Casting ALL my cares upon Him fixed it! and I do not recall even asking the LORD for healing!

Just thought I would share this hoping it may help you; if not you maybe it will someone else.

God bless.

ginnyrose

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romanchog Feb 15, 2013

Yes, she knows the LORD.

All the doctors thought it was anxiety. This was very insulting to her because she is pretty laid back. I can assure you this is not the issue.

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washad Feb 15, 2013

Sister, I have experienced the frustration of undiagnosed medical conditions. I am thankful that they have uncovered the root of your daughters symptoms if indeed it is the root. I will pause when this is written and petition our Lord not only for management of damage done but for complete abatement of all symptoms and grace to endure until He sees fit to restore full health.

sermonindex Feb 15, 2013

There appears to be three principle areas of consideration to be made before a diagnosis is given to explain VCD episodes. One is neurological and has to do with brain stem compression or cerebral palsy. The other is microbiological allergens or else a post nasal drip. The latter here obviously becomes the source of irritation and therefore on a simple physical level provide the basis for sensitivity of the vocal chords. This can be spasmodic or persistent but is most likely to be when the intake of air is most required, such as walking etc. The final cause of VCD episodes, when these two are ruled out, is oesophageal reflux. In this instance the acid from the stomach refluxes up through the oesophagus into the area of the vocal chords and as a spray produced by coughing, which then serves to irritate the vocal chords themselves and leads to spasm and inflammation.

In the past research has been in favour of assuming a psychosomatic origin. The most recent research now always favours a physical origin for the VCD episodes. It is worth realising that any underlying physical causes do not preclude a psychosomatic element to the possibility of inducing VCD episodes which may not be in that instance physically justified. In other words your daughter has been diagnosed with the third of the three physical ailments as outlined above and so has learned to be concerned about the VCD episodes on real physical grounds. This actually is more likely to produce "reasonable" anxiety as there are preceding physical realities to contend with, i.e. VCD Episodes. Just to make the distinction here sister. Psychosomatic anything usually means that there are no real physical grounds to explain the episode or physical outcome. Learned behaviour can be sympathetically derived however, when there is a real physical pathology attributed to a real physical event, it is also possible to experience psychosomatic sympathetic responses as well as learned responses.

The key to dealing with this diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux is to address that issue and disregard everything else. What cannot be known without endoscopic research is whether the gastroesophageal reflux is a product of anxiety or else a real physical event caused by another underlying physical problem. In this sense if you discern that the Doctors have taken the view that your daughters reflux is itself produced by anxiety and you know your daughter does not suffer from anxiety ordinarily then this will intuitively give rise to offence. This does not help because everything which you vocalise or visually express in such a state of mind is of course communicated to your daughter, who after all has a different perspective on her own circumstances than even you yourself have.

One of the principle reasons why speech and language therapy is used in these situations is to help someone to reassert a formal cognitive attitude to their breathing patterns as well as to teach the brain to formalise control of the vocal chords due to spasmodic disruption. My son Daniel has cerebral palsy and so my wife and I have been dealing with this reality for 25 years. In Daniel' case because he has severe cognitive damage he doesn't experience any persistent or particular anxiety over these things and even after a life threatening attack he recovers and smiles again within minuets. We just have to ask him "where is Jesus?" To which he puts his hand on his heart and smiles. May the Lord bless you sister and you daughter as well.

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romanchog Mar 1, 2013

amrkelley:
Thank you for this information. I am so sorry to hear about your son.

I was wondering if you know of any resources that I can use for my daughter's VCD. I have been taking my daughter to what is supposed to be speech therapy, but in 6 months all they have done is give her one set of exercises, which she does 5 times a day and is supposed to also do whenever she feels an episode coming on. These exercises do not seem to be helping her at all. I am trying to address the acid reflux myself with some herbals and digestive enzymes and it seems to have helped her a little. Would you know where I can locate some other exercises that may be helpful for her that I can practice with her at home? Or perhaps something else that you think may be useful. You obviously have more experience with this than I do.

As you noted, she is hyper-aware of her breathing which makes things worse. Whenever she thinks she is going to have an episode she just does. I can't get her to recognize this because she then thinks that I am thinking she is lying about her condition. It has gotten to the point that she won't do almost anything because she says it causes her shortness of breath, so she spends most of the day sitting around, which of course is not good for her. I try to get her out to run around with her brothers and sisters, but last time they were playing soccer she said she could not even be the goalie (and they are not good at soccer so it is not much of a job).

Today the therapist told my daughter to start using images when she feels an episode coming so she can get her mind off things. I know the purpose of this is to not let her concentrate on the issue and perhaps this will create fewer episodes, or they may resolve on their own. The therapist told her to have images that she think about when these started: something funny, something beautiful, and something peaceful. It seems pretty harmless. However, I am concerned about this. I know this is using psychological techniques, and I know enough about psychology and its origins to know that it is demonic. Could this cause her any harm? My first thought when the therapist mentioned something beautiful was the beauty of Christ, and the same for peaceful which would of course be very useful to meditate upon. But I know these were not my daughter's thoughts.

My daughter is very easily drawn into the things of the world. She has been this way since she was a child. Unfortunately, until she was 12 we (my husband and I) did not have the proper gospel so we permitted a lot of the world to enter her. (Nothing that anyone not in Christ would find evil, but I know it is a love for the world and the things of the world, which is evil in itself.) She is aware of this, and I know it is her desire not to have this in her, and she has gone a long way in working through these. However, it is her weakness. It is my fear that she will be feeding this in her life by using these images. I am of course going to have a talk to her about how the only beauty that exists is in God the Father and His Son and only He is our true peace. I would appreciate prayer on this matter that God will use this to cement her faith in God and not be pulled away from Him. Any suggestions will also be appreciated.

[On a side note, she is aware of the dangers of loving the world and the things of the world. It has been ingrained in her. It is the last teaching that her father gave them before he died, which I have written up and read to them on occasion, and he told them to not let anything of the world touch them, to repudiate all things of the world. It is one thing to know these things mentally, as she does, and another thing to put them in our hearts. We all go through this, she is not unique. It is the same struggle I have in another area, knowing that God is good and that He is with me, but not having that in my Spirit so that I weep and cry over my husband's death and ask Him "why?" and I get scared about the future and about raising these kids by myself to fear the Lord, for which I do not feel equipped. Obviously, I have not made the connection fully that if God is good, this MUST be good for me and for them and He will be with me and take care of us.]

sermonindex Mar 1, 2013

Hello Sister. May I share with you in reverse order to your post.

I know from personal experience as we all do, what suffering and grief can bring. All I can say sister is that in the light of knowing God’ love directly all that grief become the proof of God’ love for us and His goodness in it.

Your daughters inclination to be drawn by the world isn’t so unusual as it seems, if there is a desire to be right with God and to please Him even childishly, God will keep her. In the end she will comprehend what is necessary to turn away from such inclinations and learn how to trust God in all things.

I think your thoughts about visualisation are spot on. The more ability a person has to visualisation of things, the more at risk they are to the air. The mechanism by which we can visualise is God given, but the power by which we visualise must also be God given in disregard of ones own power of the soul. So that we know that God gives visions of the mind which inspire and encourage the one who receives them. It can be reviving grace to the one who desires to know sound and reasonable things, and who meditates upon the Lord. There is also visions and revelations which are not of the natural mind. Yet such visions and revelations, being of the spirit, and which correspond to the mind of Christ in us, are not of the soul and cannot draw on the souls power to present them. These require no effort and come in an instant and pass away in an instant also. They leave the natural mind with understanding and contribute to the renewing of the natural mind. In any event no believer should use their natural mind to visualise the things of God. Neither is it wise to train the mind to visualise, for the very reason you yourself have stated. It attends to psychological theories which are in many instances informed by demonic ambition and knowledge and which are a gate and a way of being led of the prince of the power of the air.

As to your daughters own awareness of the physical symptoms of VCD there is one psychological theory which is not demonic of itself and which a rational understanding of yourself may help you to teach your daughter to break that cycle of response which is presently makes certain the outcome. This theory is called classical conditioning theory. Operant Conditioning Theory, is closely linked where learned behaviour may also become relevant. Stick with the classical model initially, which is a purposeful physical model of understanding reasonable physical response to a physical stimulus. The stimulus is the VCD episode and the response is sympathetic. The outcome is physical deterioration of the breathing cycle which, via the Vagus Nerve, leads to other physical symptoms associated with hyperventilation. The Vagus nerve is the brain stem nerve which links parts of the body, including the larynx as well as the diaphragm as well as the upper colon (amongst other part of the body). The fear which is produced during an episode of VCD is nothing more than an awareness of this nervous response to hyperventilation. Over time this cycle of stimulus and response can lead to behavioural (Operant) conditioning, yet this is nothing more than the person believing they have a reason to be afraid because their stomach and upper colon are responding nervously which then leads to huge releases of adrenaline which itself intensifies the sensation and further informs the mind, which further produces panic. The necessity and importance of dealing with the causality of VCD itself becomes clear therefore. How to deal with that may be many things. Including a diagnosis of the underlying pathology of the cause of the reflux and not simply a symptomatic disorder diagnosis such a VCD. There are several basic ways to deal with the problem of reflux. Neutralise the acid, suppress acid production or else control the upper oesophageal sphincter through a medicine such as Venlafaxine Hydrochloride Extended Release. (Effexor XL). This link will give you the chemical formulae and structure.

http://www.usp.org/sites/default/files/usp_pdf/EN/USPNF/revisions/m88082-venlafaxine_hydrochloride_extended-release_capsules.pdf

I recall you sharing that you had some science training and I realise that you prefer natural remedies. However, if after some time you cant deal with the underlying physical stimulus which triggers VCD episodes your daughter may “learn” how to induce non justified attacks which are entirely psychosomatic and have no basis in physical reality. The point about the Effexor XL is that it is a slow release system, and would probably require just 1 No/ 15 mg capsule once a week for 3 months to control the upper oesophageal sphincter long enough to help your daughter to think ahead of her present reality as well as to find a non chemically formulated way of controlling acid production.

Clearly Sister this is not medical advice. I am not qualified to give such advice whatsoever. It is personal knowledge and nothing more. Your daughters doctor would no doubt have a view of this information if you were to ask him/her.

For a good natural approach see this link

http://www.acidrefluxremediesforall.com

I will pray for your daughter as well trusting that the Lord Himself can help her to overcome.