What is Rumination Disorder and Rumination Disorder Treatments?

People with rumination disorder pull food that hasn’t been digested from their stomach, chew it, and sometimes spit it out or swallow it again. It looks like throwing up, but it’s not the same thing. When you vomit, you feel sick, weak, and like you’re going to throw up. Due to this regurgitation muscles of stomach tightens, make easier for food to rise. Rumination disorder is included in the category of feeding and eating disorders in DSM 5TR. In this article we will also discuss about the rumination disorder treatments. 

This can happen to people of all ages. If you don’t get rumination disorder treatment, it can make you lose weight, get dehydrated, and have stomach problems. This is why it’s so important to know how to help someone with rumination disorder. When the illness is found early, the outlook is much better.

Diagnostic criteria of Rumination Disorder:

According to DSM 5 TR, the diagnostic criteria of rumination disorder is:

Diagnostic Criteria A.

Individual have frequent regurgitation of food. The food regurgitation lasts for at least 1 month. The regurgitated food is re-swallowed, re-chewed, or spit out.

Diagnostic Criteria B.

The frequent regurgitation of food is not due to stomach or gastrointestinal issue.  

Diagnostic Criteria C.

The food regurgitation is not due to anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge eating.

Diagnostic Criteria D.

The above mentioned symptoms are not due to any other mental health condition like intellectual or developmental disorder.
The signs of rumination syndrome are clear. They usually come on soon after eating. Some of the most common signs are:

• Talking about food that hasn’t been digested after eating for a few minutes.
• After regurgitation or throwing food individual feel sick.
• The vomiting shows that there is no sign of effort.
• The muscles in the stomach move on their own.
• Having a full stomach, burping, or a little pain in your stomach.
• Bad breath.
• If the condition lasts for a long time, you might lose weight.

You can have these feelings even when you’re not sick, which is different from acid reflux or other digestive problems. Food tastes fresh because it hasn’t been mixed with stomach acids yet. You should see a doctor if you have any of these signs. On the basis of proper diagnosis mental health professionals can find the best rumination disorder treatments.

What are Causes of Rumination Disorder?

Mantel health experts are still trying to figure out why people think about things over and over again. It’s not always a sign that something is wrong. People often learn how to do it. When you eat, your body starts to react by tightening your stomach and diaphragm in a certain way. Over time, this behaviour becomes second nature. Stress and depression can increase the risk of eating disorders.

What are Rumination Disorder Treatments?

The best way to fix the rumination problem is to change how the body reacts after eating. It also helps with digestion and keeps food from coming back up. Because the illness is behavioral, most rumination disorder treatments focus on teaching the body how to act differently after meals.

1. Diaphragmatic Breathing

Diaphragmatic breathing is the most important part of rumination disorder treatment. This type of breathing helps the diaphragm relax. When the diaphragm is relaxed, the abdominal muscles don’t push food up. People learn to breathe slowly through their stomachs instead of their chests, especially after eating.

2. Behavioral Therapy

Behavioral therapy is most commonly used for rumination disorder treatment. If you keep thinking about the same things over and over, behavioural therapy might help. A trained therapist help you how to spot triggers and respond in a certain way. Therapy can help you stop bad habits, learn how to relax, and deal with stress or anxiety.

Many doctors use behavioural therapy for rumination disorder treatment because it helps with both the physical and emotional parts of the problem.

3. Balance Diet

Some people are more conscious about their physique and weight. Either they do not eat due to the fear of getting obese or eat more to get healthy. Nutritional support helps them regain their strength and avoid not getting enough nutrients. A dietitian may recommend smaller meals or foods with different textures until the symptoms go away.

4. Proper stomach checkups

Doctors may check for stomach problems or other health issues. There are times when medicines are used to calm the digestive system. Drugs alone, though, can’t completely fix rumination syndrome. The main goal is still to get better at breathing and acting.

How to Handle Rumination in Your Everyday Life?

Basic part of treating rumination is learning how to deal with the symptoms. Most of the time, doctors say

1. Eating Slowly.
2. After you eat, sit up straight.
3. Practice breathing from your diaphragm while you eat and after.
4. Not getting stressed out at meal times.
5. Keeping track of when symptoms show up.
6. Doing treatment exercises on a regular basis.

These helpful methods speeds up healing and makes you throw up less often.

When to Ask for Help?

You should see a doctor if you throw up food that hasn’t been digested. Most people don’t ruminate. It can make you hurt, lose weight, and feel bad about yourself. Getting better is easier with early help.

A doctor can tell if someone has rumination syndrome, talk about the symptoms, and make a plan for how to help them get better.