we are in bad shape

[babytay]

Well I have been giving my son supplements for a while now. I stopped concerta completely because the side effects were to great. I saw real good changes in him since we started supplements and the feingold diet. I know I am not the best expert at following the diet but I am trying. Meanwhile my boy is having a hard time in school he is spending lots of time in time-out. He is out of control at times moving and talking and everything. The basketball coach has even told him that he cant play basketball untill his behavior gets better. Oh and he is very loud. Also he has be suspended from the after care program for 5 days. I have kept him home as long as possible just so I could get a plan together. Well yesterday was not good at school.
We are still doing GABA, omega 3, b complex ,a multi vitiamn, and magnisium.
I am going crazy. I havent got an okay from the doc so I can get my son a visit to the neuroligist but I know that is a step in the right direction. In the mean time I dont know what I should change. I hate to go on but we are really in bad shape.

[DenverSarah]

Babytay,
I am sorry you are going through this! For many, it can take a long time to fine tune a child's diet to specifically fit their needs. Some find that the Feingold diet is just the start. I'm one of the lucky ones who really hasn't had to do much other than the basic diet to get good results, but there are numerous people over on the Feingold board who have eliminated things further, such as corn, dairy, molasses etc. The number of things that can be causing this stuff is endless and those parents have made an art out of figuring it out. I would recommend asking on the Feingold board. Other than that I can only offer my support and prayers...I know how hard it is to see your kid going through all this tough stuff and it just breaks my heart! You are not alone! Hang in there and be strong mama bear!

[Kimmers]

Hi babytay-

I can relate...unfortunately, like you, we were seeing great results with the supplements. My son was a sweet kid again, the opposition was (almost) gone, and his hyperactivity had subsided tremendously. Suddenly out of nowhere, he started acting up again, talking/yelling back at us, refusing to do things we asked, and just being plain nasty again. We don't know why it happened and we are now in the process of getting him stabilized again. It has been very, very hard. The results have been very slow and we are starting to lose hope that we will ever get him back to where he was again. As Cat would put it, right now we are back to "before!" Like DenverSarah, I can't give any answers or opinions. Just support in saying I sympathize with you 100%! If you see some improvements, let me know so I can try too!

Take care,
Kimmers

[AustinsMom]

I am so sorry you are at such a hard place. The supplements you are using look reasonable. Did you start them all at once, or have you added one recently? When I see a big behavior change I try to trace my way back and see if anything is different, i.e. new supplement, has been sick so used an over the counter medicine, etc. This is all so hard to figure out anyway and it feels impossible when you have negative behaviors to deal with at the same time. It isn't much help, but I know exactly what you are going through and I understand your desparation.

When we are at a crisis point, we go into what we call "boot camp mode". We don't let our son watch any TV, play videos or computers, or anything like that. Research has shown it winds kids up and he can usually handle it in small doses, but not when he is wired already. We also just pick the most important rules to follow and let everything else go. Brushing teeth, picking up toys, etc. are things you can deal with later; no need to have more battles now. We simplify our schedules as much as we can so we can deal with things. We just do our best tomake it through the day, and then when he is finally in bed, I sit down and cry and surf the internet looking for anything that can help. It was at just such a time that I found this board.

I wish I had a good suggestion for you, but hopefully someone else here will. But I do have a word of encouragement: These tough tough times that have sent me frantically searching for something that can help, have been the times that I found the things that seem to help the most. So we have always ended up in a better place than where we started. Sometimes I think we would never have made the changes that have helped so much if we hadn't had the crisis to begin with. So hang in there; I'll say a prayer that you'll find whatever it is that your little one needs.

[catatonic]

Babytay,
I am really sorry to hear things are going badly for you. I know how discouraging that is, and how unfair it feels when you are trying so hard and you just can't figure out why the heck it isn't working. It can really overwhelm and depress you.

I know that when we started on Feingold, the results were so wonderful for a while that I was completely baffled when my son started regressing to the dreaded "before" behaviors. I read a lot about other things that were common problems that we might need to test and then eliminate and after trying dairy without results, we experimented with corn syrup. Bingo! We found that corn syrup, even in very small amounts, turned him into the Spaz Boy From H*ll for a good 24 hours. This is a hard one to avoid, but we do avoid it religiously. We also found that he needs LOTS of Omega-3 -- he takes 4 capsules per day, the big ones, so that he gets 480mg DHA and 760mg EPA. We also found that most B-complex vitamins provoke behavioral reactions, so I'm very careful never to change brands anymore, even though I have to special order one that our health food store doesn't carry normally.

While your problems may be caused by different specific things, it's likely that your son is reacting to a food or a vitamin. These secondary food problems don't show themselves until the Feingold Diet cleans a lot of the junk out of a kid's system. It helped me a lot to keep a food diary. This doesn't take much time. I just make sure to write down everything my boy eats with a brief note on how his behavior is each day. You might be surprised at how easily a pattern emerges when you do this. (Also, you can post diet diary results on the Feingold support board and get plenty of suggestions and help.)

You might also want to look into the possibility that your son is cheating on the diet at school. I had to threaten to eat lunch with my son every single day (although I only had to go one time to get the message across) to stop him trading for inappropriate foods like Kool-Aid drinks.

You could also get rid of the B vitamin for a while and see if that helps. It took us about 3 days to see improvement when I eliminated a B-complex. You might also want to try a holiday from the GABA and see if that makes a difference. (Just try one at a time, though, or you'll never know what you did that made a difference -- something I had to learn the hard way -- as usual.)

Wish I had some real help to offer, other than you playing nutrition detective. I know how hard you're trying and how upsetting this must be to you. We are here if you need us, for sympathy and strength and anything else you need. Hang in there.

Cat

[babytay]

THank you all I have been having a hard time getting out here lately. I have been thinking about the b-complex pill and I am going to take it away for a while. He doesnt like that pill anyway he thinks it makes his breath smell. As far as the gaba I will try to take it away for awhile to. I think for the last 2-3 days he hasnt had anything. We have just been watching the diet. Well yesterday he did okey at school. Today is the first day he can go back to the afterschool program so lets keep our fingers crossed.
Some good news is he got his report card yesterday also and he made the honor roll. ;D His teacher is very hard I know this because some of my friends had he for their children. I dont understand how he can keep these good grades and spend so much time playing around at school. You will see A's, B's, and outstanding marks in the grades then the behavior is a nightmare checks everywhere?
Well I will keep you guys posted and thankyou again