Hi everyone
So much is going on with us I don't have time to write it all out. But here's some highlights:
DD is off all meds.
I am planning on starting Failsafe diet soon-or at least an attempt at the elimination diet and then add foods in one by one to see if there are reactions. I am doing this after someone suggested dyes as a culprit and after watching and realizing dd has BIG reactions after consuming dyes. Here's a synopsis:
ELIMINATE:
1. Around fifty artificial additives including colours (such as a range of azo-dyes or coal-tar dyes like tartrazine (E102) and sunset yellow (E110)), flavours, preservatives and antioxidants (like sulphites (sulfites), nitrates, nitrites, benzoates (like BHA, BHT), sorbates, parabens, and others).
2. Salicylates (aspirin compounds) found in a wide range of fruits and vegetables as well as man-made NSAIDs and COX II inhibitors.
3. Free neurotransmitters and pseudo-neurotransmitters in foods, such as free glutamates (naturally and artificially occurring MSG), and biogenic amines (like histamine, serotonin, dopamine, phenylethylamine, tyramine and others) found in aged proteins and fermented foods like cheese, game, and hung beef and some plant foods, particularly tropical fruits.
4. Environmental chemicals and strong smells like perfumes, including the use of most commercial cosmetics, scented and coloured toiletries and especially mint and menthol products.
DD is really not happy about it. But in the week since I've purged the house of offending foods, she has been meltdown free but still doing the whining thing. There is a period of detox that lasts two weeks so we'll see. We're not GF/CF but will go that route if necessary. I just feel there's so much CRAP in our food supply that is not doing any good to our sensitive kiddos. We didn't have all this artificial stuff when I was growing up-I ate most of my foods that my mom made from scratch. This diet is basically a whole foods diet with elimination of certain whole foods at first-such as some berries, etc high in salicylates-which you can add back in one by one.
We have the babysitter with dd 9am-2pm M-F and she is doing fairly well. The babysitter allows her to "veg" out if she wants or suggest fun crafts, etc. I think it has been nice to have a one on one "friend" that's not mom (me) that she can bond with and be stress free with due to the absence of other children. We had a few bad days when neighbor kids would drop in while I was gone but now there is a no other child allowed rule and this seems to suit dd fine. I hate that we are becoming social "shut ins" but if that is what allows her decompression at maximum potential well who am I to push social interaction? I do have to say it is hard for me-as I am not a "social butterfly" but feel isolated, alone and like I am going crazy sometimes with our inability to get "out and about". The few times I took dd out to the library or grocery she ramped up almost immediately so I do those things during the 9-2 she is with babysitter.
I am turning FORTY (yes, that's right I admitted it
) next month and have been toying with the idea or taking a short 48 hour trip to (where else?) WDW with my friend to do adult dining, thrill rides, and possible backstage tour. She is hemming and hawing on it (even though she loves WDW as much as I do-she's the one who got me into it) and so am I. I would have to leave dd with my mom or her dad which are both not so great options. I foresee the diet going out the window (at the very least) with either of them not to mention other anxiety provoking situations. I am a bit sad that I cannot take 48 hours for MYSELF to celebrate such a milestone but wah wah, that's all the whining I have time for. Move on, put the big girl panties on, and have an uneventful Bday like most all other mothers out there.
Hope all is well with all of you!!!!!
