Hi Everyone, sorry I have not posted in awhile. To tell the truth, life has been on the calmer side the first half of the year, so I decided to take a break from writing.
Then March came, and my Michael fell off the cliff. When I mean fell off the cliff, I mean, all of his old behaviors came back full throttle with a vengeance. This time as an 8 year old boy with plenty of arsenal. Now, when I say "came back", what I really should explain is that they heightened out of nowhere in a very big way.
They never really went away. However, with much vested effort to understand my child, and a wonderful Behavior Modification Program by Harold Glasser, The Nurtured Heart Approach, I really achieved a lot. A lot, as you may have read from recent posts.
As long as I was able to hover over him through out much of his day, we were in pretty good shape.
Again. March. All of my child's worst traits reared their angry heads. Opposition, refusal to comply, mean behavior, snarky tones. total disrespect, anger. So much anger.
WTF
The phone calls started coming from school. More phone calls. We had meetings. Then more meetings. Made plans. Made more plans. Nothing worked. I mean nothing worked.
I finally decided to put in a call to a Dr. James Greenblatt. I had my Michael on his waiting list in case I ever needed him. Still, a long wait. I begged. Then I begged some more. God. They were going to find a place for him in his schedule. In 6 weeks.
Meanwhile, because I knew how this doctor operated. In the sense of looking for "root cause" for things like ADHD, ODD, Bi-Polar, etc...And I had a pretty good idea that my Michael fit into his profile of kids that can be treated for the above listed disorders through diet, supplementation, etc, I got to work.
I slowly started eliminating gluten and milk from my child's diet. It took about 2 weeks to get the diet pretty clean.
At the end of the second week, the IGG food allergy blood results came back. HOLY CATS!!! My child was not just allergic to milk/dairy/Gluten. He was OVER THE TOP OFF THE CHARTS allergic. Especially to milk, and every aspect of it: Casein, Whey, and Lactose Intolerant. What really threw me was his allergy to EGGS. EGGS. UGH. Have you ever cooked without eggs? Try it. It is not for the faint of heart.
At the end of week 2, I removed eggs.
Day 18 of diet. My child woke up a different child. I don't mean a little different. I mean, "WHO IS THIS HAPPY CHILD", kind of different. Gone was the edge, the snarky tones, the mean acts towards his brother. He started saying please and thank you like, ten times a day. He started smiling more, and started accepting compliments. He did not fall apart when I reprimanded him. I can reprimand him now!! The bonus is that afterwards, he actually sits down and talks to me about his behavior. This has never happened one time, I mean ONE TIME in this child's life. Over the past week, it has happened several times. Reading...READING. HE IS READING WITHOUT CRYING. But wait, I must add that my son has had a 3 year negative relationship to reading. So, it is still cropping up a little when reading (frustration/avoidance). But he is doing it. His reading has jumped up 100%. Another 50% and he will be ready for 3rd grade. More then ready.
Truly, this child has changed. Now, I am often accused of being too optimistic. That may be true. But so far, for 1 1/2 weeks now, I have consistently seen a different child. I don't even have to use my behavior mod program, although by habit I still do.
We see his new doctor in about ten days. Diet is only the half of it. I believe that cleaning up the gut and then proper supplements to balance neuro brain chemicals from malabsorption issues caused by food allergies will be a 6 month endeavor.
That's okay. I'll take it.
After learning what I have learned. For example learning how certain food allergies can have a different histamine response then garden variety to grass/pollen etc. How the antibodies that are created from these kinds of allergies have the capacity to cross the blood brain barrio and attach themselves to the opiate receptors in the brain and cause things like, irritability, brain fog, ets...I can see how a simple allergy to milk for example, can have such a dramatic neuro/behaviorial response in a child.
I encourage any parent whom has a child whom is dealing with emotional dysregulation issue, sensory issues, odd, adhd, bi-polar to have these IGG blood tests done. They are simple, and can be done through a primary physician.
I will be posting in the near future to share our journey.
Q
