Holistic tx for overactive child ?

[pandora174]

Hi, I previously posted about my DS (6) issues. Mostly disruptive, loud, argumentative, endless energy etc. Well I took everyone's advice & had him seen by his prior neurologist & I met with this therapists. They are telling me at 6 he is hyperactive. His current ST is going to start next month with someo behavior modification including some sensory therapy.

Here is my question. I've searched & searched online & asked his ESE teacher and therapists if medication would benefit. The Dr. says he does not need any prescription meds but when asked about holistic medical options he seemed to get uncomfortable, so I dropped it. Thing is DS is very bright & the only thing adversely affecting his school is his behavior. All his teachers tell me if we can get him to calm down he would be a A student. Also while school is important at home, it's really hell with the constant disruptive behaviors at home. So while I will continue his therapy his teacher & therapist say that they have parents that go the holistic route with certain vitamins for overactive kids & have positive results, but of course they don't want to make any recomendations.

Here is my dilemma as I am clueless. My DH takes natural remedies for energy & anxiety from GNC he swears by it. I also treat DS with natural remedies for colds & have the same or better results than ODCM. So anyone have any recommendations or websites ? I just would like a credible, reliable source or anyone try a more natural way to treat an overactive child. I briefly went online & there were tons of websites so I am overwhelmed

 

[Schmeck]

What does ODCM stand for?

 

[pandora174]

What does ODCM stand for?

Oh sorry, typo , I meant to abbreviate over the counter medication.

 

[bookwormde]

The best thing you can do is to keep your child as healthy as possible with a multivitamin and good nutrition. There are some treads with information by parents who have used some special diets, which have helped some. There are no special supplements that I have ever seen any reliable information are effective.

I probably said this before but I would be looking for a new clinical team, if there is indication of sensory issues, a full evaluation should be done including an auditory processing evaluation, a look at his social skills level and reviewing his EF system and all the other potential neurological variations which might be contributing the manifestations you describe.

bookwormde

 

[Schmeck]

I have a friend whose son was acting out in kindergarten, but not every day, just on certain occasions. She figured it out - he was allergic to blue food coloring, and on the days he had something with blue in it, he was unable to control himself. No blue coloring, he was fine. Could you eliminate that from his diet and see if it helps? Of course, it might not be blue food coloring, but it could be some food allergy.

 

[ireland_nicole]

A lot of parents of kids w/ ADHD have had at least some success w/ the feingold diet and omega 3 oil.

We use a similar diet for both our children with neuro differences and it has helped. We use no artificial ingredients or colors, organic as much as we can. Particularly we noticed that red dye caused/causes an extreme behavior change in DS; he is literally a "wild child" who cannot seem to calm no matter what we do and just races... Since we've changed his diet, we still work with behavior mod, etc. but the complete inability to focus or calm doesn't happen. FWIW, I have to admit that we do use medication as well, but it wasn't nearly as effective before the changes in diet.

 

[CLR4321]

It is hard to find a Dr that is knowledgeable about holistic and natural options unless you are talking to a holistic Dr, a naturopath or an herbologist. This is mainly because they do not study about it unless they specialize in it, plus most options out there are not proven to be helpful by the FDA, therefore will not be recommended by a Dr. Of course this is because the FDA does not work with holistic and herbal options, they only work with pharmaceuticals. Here is what I was giving my son who has never been officially diagnosed, but has symptoms of ADHD: http://www.nativeremedies.com/produ...pn=Google+Main&ysmgrp=Product+Name&ysmtac=PPC I know it does look expensive, but those little bottles go a LONG way. You can always go back later and get the buy 2 get 1 free deal, if it ends up being something that you will use on a long term basis. Keep in mind, it can take a few weeks to notice a change in your child, so just be persistent about taking it as directed.
Good luck!

 

[pandora174]

It is hard to find a Dr that is knowledgeable about holistic and natural options unless you are talking to a holistic Dr, a naturopath or an herbologist. This is mainly because they do not study about it unless they specialize in it, plus most options out there are not proven to be helpful by the FDA, therefore will not be recommended by a Dr. Of course this is because the FDA does not work with holistic and herbal options, they only work with pharmaceuticals. Here is what I was giving my son who has never been officially diagnosed, but has symptoms of ADHD: http://www.nativeremedies.com/produ...pn=Google+Main&ysmgrp=Product+Name&ysmtac=PPC I know it does look expensive, but those little bottles go a LONG way. You can always go back later and get the buy 2 get 1 free deal, if it ends up being something that you will use on a long term basis. Keep in mind, it can take a few weeks to notice a change in your child, so just be persistent about taking it as directed.
Good luck!

Wow this is the website that was recommended to me. For his symptoms I bought BrightSpark because he can get his work done it's just the talking, going too fast & too much energy & at home disruptive, ants in the pants etc. I started last night & I am patiently waiting for any results though I know it will take several weeks. If BrightSpark works it was recommended that I use it with the Focus vitamin.

 

[CLR4321]

Wow this is the website that was recommended to me. For his symptoms I bought BrightSpark because he can get his work done it's just the talking, going too fast & too much energy & at home disruptive, ants in the pants etc. I started last night & I am patiently waiting for any results though I know it will take several weeks. If BrightSpark works it was recommended that I use it with the Focus vitamin.

That is awesome! I have never heard of BrightSpask myself...I am going to look into it for my son. The Focus formula is actually a liquid that you can mix in with a small cup of juice. It slightly changes the flavor of the juice, but it didn't bother my son at all. I just called it his "special juice".
I also wanted to mention, I don't know what your stand point is as far as sugar goes, but a great substitute for sugar is blue agave nectar. Check it out. You can use it in anything that would normally have sugar in it, and you would not know it didnt have any sugar. The texture is similar to honey, and comes in a bottle just like honey. I love that stuff for a sweetener. Aside from keeping my son more mellow, I like it because it's way better for you and has way less calories.

 

[Schmeck]

Isn't agave syrup just processed fructose? Same stuff you find in high-fructose corn syrup...

 

[LavenderPeach]

You could also look into going to someone who specializes in Traditional Chinese Medicine (one who has experience with kids would be best). I never thought I would be suggesting that to someone but my DS4 has been seeing someone for several months now and it has greatly improved his eating and GI issues. I know your DS doesn't have those same problems but this woman we see treats all kinds of things. DS takes Chinese herbs and he also gets accupressure and accupuncture. It was actually DS's GI doctor who referred us there. He admitted that it sounded crazy but their patients who have seen this lady have seen more improvement than the kids who haven't. It might be worth a try, especially if you get to a point where you feel like you've tried everything with no results.

 

[soccermom17]

I would strongly recommend Reiki. However, you should find a practitioner comfortable workign with chidlren. I have an adopted son with a serious trauma history. I went and was trained and do treatments on both my sons. It really works.

Good luck, Kristen

 

[Swmr359]

My brother is ADHD, he was on medicine but my dad didn't like having to give him medicine. So my parents signed him up for a year round swim team, it was 3-4x a week for an hour in the evenings and it helped. He was worn out from swimming and could concentrate better. I've meet other swimmers who were put on swim team to help with ADD.

 

[momejay]

I recommend doing a food diary & keep track of behavior as it related to foods eaten. I would cut out say corn for a week or two & see if there is any benefit.

My children had severe problems with food allergies especially corn. Both dx with ADHD & ADD. My DS on all kinds of meds starting at age 3...

I switched them off of corn syrup & corn products they calmed down. I now buy candies & cough drops with rice syrup & I use brown rice syrup instead of sugar when cooking. They drink water or seltzer with a few ounces of juice for flavor. I still feed them corn fresh from the field, just no processed corn.

I am not saying it will work with every child, but it worked for mine. It is definitely better to try foods before meds.

 

[bumbershoot]

We caught the diet problems before even getting close to any sort of diagnosis, so what I can say is that DS would have been diagnosed with all sorts of things, but I can't say he *was*.

We started DS off very carefully with foods, not wanting him to be as sensitive as we were. He too started off slowly, not really wanting solids until he was around 18 months or older. Once he did eat things, and was past the scary ages for things like strawberries, eggs, etc, we were pretty open with his diet. And we were open with ours, though we are all vegetarian so there were restrictions.

For about a year, maybe a bit more, he would have the biggest rages sometimes, I couldn't figure out why. We started getting really really nervous.

Then one day he had a DumDum lollipop, his first ever, on a great fun day at a festival. And inside of 20 minutes he was attacking me.

In the time after that, I realized it was the processed corn syrup products. Corn syrup, corn syrup solids (figured that one out with his reaction to Dole Whips and finding out the ingredients), and the big baddie, HFCS.

He can have ANY other type of sugar, any other type of sweet syrup, just not CORN-based.

Agave would be a totally different sort of plant than corn, and while he has not tried it, I am quite certain his reaction would be nil.

HFCS is extra bad because they take normal corn syrup, then ADD a laboratory created oomph to it. It's absolutely NOT natural, and it's NOT the same as normal corn syrup, or agave nectar syrup, or even simple syrup made from sugar and water.

The reaction DS has to these corn-based syrup products is astonishing. Anger, running in circles, inability to listen, lashing out, shaking his head (waggling it is how I think of it), and so on. He loses his core self when he has them.

He's coming up on 5.5 now, so it's been almost 2.5 years since I started the process of figuring it out and cleaning up his diet, and he actually still remembers what it feels like. We live in a building with retired seniors, and they are always offering him food, but he Will Not take any until we've read the ingredients. And you do have to read them.

On Saturday he went trick or treating. When he was done, we ran to the store to get things that are safe for him. Between the KitKat packages of the difference sizes, SOME of them were safe. OTHERS had corn syrup solids. Exact same product, KitKat bars. Different ingredients, even when the same size bar, just different external bag and number of bars in the bag.

Same thing is going on with Reeses PB cups, which makes sense b/c they are from the same company, it seems.

When we got home, every single piece of candy he got was either unknown b/c it wasn't labeled with ingredients on the individual wrapper, or it had one of the baddies in it. We swapped it all out.

He had something like 6 pieces of chocolate (only type of candy safe for him), and came over to me, put his hands on my face (which caused flashbacks b/c he used to do that then SQUEEZE like in that scene in "Of Mice and Men", and hurt me), hugged my face, and said "thank you for figuring that out about me, that I can't have corn syrup."





There also might be a food dye component, but since chocolate doesn't tend to have dyes in it, and since more "whole" foods don't have the dyes, or have vegetable based dyes, we don't know. And he's not willing to experiment.


So I would really really look at his diet. Note: Uncrustables are "evil in a packet". Corn syrup AND HFCS. All those really bad endings to zoo trips, and the one massive tantrum at Disneyland, now make so much more sense, considering what we were giving him as a "treat".

American companies hide it in everything. We read Every ingredient label, Every time.


I wish you so much luck!!!!!!!


Oh Oh oh...an old chiro I worked with was certified in what was called Brain Gym then...really good stuff.

Also, I think Homestead is nearish Miami? If you can find a chiro named Frank Driano, he knows SO much about holistic stuff. He could be a really good resource. Tell him "Molly, friend of Debbie, from Sherman" sent ya.

 

[Schmeck]

Agave would be a totally different sort of plant than corn, and while he has not tried it, I am quite certain his reaction would be nil.

HFCS is extra bad because they take normal corn syrup, then ADD a laboratory created oomph to it. It's absolutely NOT natural, and it's NOT the same as normal corn syrup, or agave nectar syrup, or even simple syrup made from sugar and water.

Agave nectar syrup is processed - and the plants that do it in Mexico are The fructose in it is highly processed, and I wouldn't be surprised if it has some oomph added to it as well.

 

[bopper]

My brother is ADHD, he was on medicine but my dad didn't like having to give him medicine. So my parents signed him up for a year round swim team, it was 3-4x a week for an hour in the evenings and it helped. He was worn out from swimming and could concentrate better. I've meet other swimmers who were put on swim team to help with ADD.

Ya, like Michael Phelps! (Olympic swimmer)