Update on our diagnostic journey

[mamashark]

I wanted to post an update on where we are in this crazy process. 

 

Our initial psych eval didn't give us more than "anxiety", OCD and the need for more evaluation... every appointment since then has been canceled due to illness (a couple times our family, a couple times the psych herself) so we're no further on that end, but we've made some interesting steps in other directions.

 

First, he got Bells palsy and was put on prednisone... which cleared up his behavior. Completely. I'm talking eye contact, pleasant, happy, compliant, amazing.  So we started pulling together a team to help us figure it out - his primary Dr. is working on us with diet, we've started OT, and we are seeing a chiropractor.

 

We have had heavy metal testing done, should get results back next week, and it will also include some basic nutrition stuff too. 

 

Had a bust with the first OT, but the second one is a winner. We're figuring out tons of behavior issues and sensory strategies to work with him there. And she caught a shut down so much earlier than I have been able to - helping me know what those very very first symptoms of what overwhelmed looks like and giving me great suggestions for various behaviors.

 

The chiropractor has made the absolute best impact on his sleep - he's actually sleeping now! I mean, in his bed, all night long, not waking early anymore. He actually wakes up rested and in a pleasant mood now!

 

We have allergy testing lined up for this coming week because now that the prednisone is out of his system, we are seeing a pattern of itching on face/neck/ears after eating certain foods. (Right now I may be crazy but my gut says corn is the issue...) 

 

We've started using digestive enzymes, L-Glutamine, Vitaspectrum, Omega-3, and a good probiotic. 

 

We've cleaned up our diet - gluten free, (have not removed casein yet), organic fruits/veggies, eliminated all artificial colors/dyes/preservatives, essentially eliminated all processed foods. I'm making keifer and kombucha and have devised a picture chart for the kids to have healthy food choices when they are hungry.

 

We've replaced our pots and pans (which had exposed aluminum) and got rid of our plastic water bottles for good stainless steel ones. We've started filtering our water, both really good filter for drinking water and a whole house filter for a few less things. And I've replaced all our soaps/stuff with safer stuff after doing tons of research on it all.

 

So, I feel at times like we're shooting in the dark, but I also feel like we are heading in the right direction. We know that inflammation in the body is causing the behavior issues because prednisone cleared them up entirely, but we just have to figure out where the inflammation is and how to eliminate it. 

 

On the to do list for next month (because we are out of money now! lol) are Lymes testing, IGG allergy testing and testing for MTHFR gene mutations. And we're hoping to actually see the psych again, if spring can ever come and everyone can be healthy on the same days again!