bumping hoping that someone will be familiar with this. While we are waiting for the neurologist appointment and possibly taking dd to a place like Mayo I've been doing a lot of research. I came across something called pyroluria a few weeks ago and had daughter tested. We just got the test results back today. They show that my daughter is borderline pyroluric. I may just be grasping at straws but I've found a few google results that pyroluria can cause insomnia as well as a few other neurologic symptoms. My understanding is that pyroluria is basically a chemical imbalance causing an abnormallity in hemoglobin synthesis. Too much kyptopyrrole is produced. It binds to B6 and zinc and causes a deficiency since they are excreted in the urine. It isn't a condition recognized by mainstream doctors. I have a call into the chiropractic neurologist that my daughter goes to but he won't be in until tomorrow. I'm hoping that he can help us. I was hoping that someone might have some knowledge about this.

We have definitely had her ears checked but thanks for the suggestion anyway. The insomnia is the biggest problem but I'm just wondering if it is related at all to the dizziness she had back in 2008 when the insomnia began. Lately she hasn't really had the dizziness like she did in 2008 but has just lost her balance a few times lately (in the past few weeks) and happened to hit her head in the same spot as she did when she got her concussion in August. I have no idea if they are all tied together.

Well it's bit of a complex puzzle. She started with the insomnia about 1 1/2 years ago. She also had a concussion in August but she reinjured the area again in September and has hit her head 3 times in the past month. It's hard to distinguish what symptoms are due to the insomnia and if any are due to the concussion. The chiropractic neurologist we have been seeing also thinks that her gluten intolerance has caused neurological issues and that she basically has temporary damage/swelling in the brain due to it. The problem is that she has been gluten free for almost 3 months and we haven't seen any improvement. Over the past few weeks she seems to lose her balance easy and I think that is why she has hit her head. I don't know whether this is due to being so tired of it there is more going on neurologically. To add even more to the puzzle she also had a problem with dizziness about 1 1/2 years ago. The summer of 2008 she started having dizziness and would lose her balance for no apparent reason. At that time they did a complete workup: cardiac, ENT specialist, eye specialist and an MRI. They couldn't find any cause. The dizziness lasted for about three months and went away basically overnight. I was pulling together all of the medical reports, etc. for our visit to the neurologist next week. I don't know why I didn't realize this sooner but she started with the bout of dizziness in summer of 2008, which is the same time that her insomnia started to be severe. She has always had a bit of trouble falling asleep but she went from falling asleep at 11:00 to not being able to fall asleep until 2 or 3 am and most recently it has gotten even worse and she often can't fall asleep until after 4 am. I'm hoping that the neurologist can offer some insight into the insomnia or at least explain why she seems to be losing her balance more lately and hitting her head.

My aunt and a neighbor of ours went there. Both of them weren't able to get any help. It wasn't necessarily a bad experience but they were both disappointed that they weren't able to get any help. Of course each case is different. At this point I just want someone to help my daughter. Last night we were at a family party. My daughter was on the couch most of the time. She tried but she just didn't have the energy to get up and play with her cousins. She is trying so hard to do things to stay active but is just so exhausted. I have never broken down in front of her but I left the room and started crying. I just feel so helpless and want to help her.

We are taking our 14 year old daughter to another neurologist next week. If the neurologist can't help us then we think that it is time to bring our daughter to a place like the Mayo Clinic. I was just wondering if anyone has had any experience there good or bad. I have heard good things and bad things about it, but at this point I don't know what else to do. We don't know anyone who has brought their child there. I only know a few adults who have gone there. I'm also wondering what other hospitals are similar. We live in the Chicago area. We've tried Children's Memorial (that is where we are going for the neurologist) and I called Loyola but you need to go to a specific specialist there. The way I understand it (and please correct me if I'm wrong) is that a place like Mayo they will have you see several different doctors if necessary. At this point I don't even know what kind of specialist we need. I think it is related to the brain so that is why we're going to the neurologist again, although the first neurologist we saw back in August was of no help. We mostly saw him for the post-concussion headaches that my daughter was getting, but he was no help at all with regards to the insomnia. Is John Hopkins the same kind of Hospital? That is pretty far for us so Mayo would probably be closer. I've heard of the Cleveland Clinic but I think that is more for cancer patients.

I think I mentioned a few weeks ago about our problem with the parking tickets. Several years ago we traded in our car when we bought a new one at a car dealer. Our license plates were pretty beat up so we decided to just get new plates. We made the mistake of just leaving the old plates with the dealer assuming that they would take care of them. Well right before Christmas we got a ticket in the mail from the City of Chicago for several things like parking in a no parking zone, abandoning car, etc. Of course we hadn't been downtown in months and no longer owned that car. We called the city but they very rudely told us that we would have to fight the ticket and somehow prove that the car didn't belong to us. My brother-in-law works for a local police department and they were able to pull up the records of the car, which showed the new owner's name as the title holder. That police department helped us by sending in the necessary paper work to prove that we no longer owned the car. We also called the Secretary of State and filled out more paperwork to permanently severe our name from the license plate. A few weeks later we were still getting more tickets (now totaling over $500!) My husband has talked to the City of Chicago several times. Apparently the paperwork that we gave them proving that we didn't own the car was only applied to the first set of tickets, not the 2nd so now we still have to wait for a decision on whether or not we are responsible for these tickets. It's so ridiculous because we have proof from the Secretary of State and the bill of sale that we haven't owned the car in over 5 years. It was also very easy for the local police department to pull up records and find that our name is no longer on the title. Why can't the Chicago Police department do this? So now it looks like we may have to physically go downtown for a hearing. I just wanted to let all learn from our mistake. If you ever sell a car be sure to take your plates regardless of whether or not you are working with a reputable car dealership. Most likely when they sold our old car they just threw our old plates in the trunk and the new owner put them on when he decided to abandon the vehicle.

I'm so glad that your baby is ok. Take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back for knowing what to do. When my oldest daughter was 2 or 3 she was sitting in her high chair eating a bologna sandwich. I was sitting next to her talking on the phone with my mom. All of a sudden dd was making a clicking noise. I realized that she couldn't breath. I threw down the phone and started the heimlich. A piece of bologna shot out and she started to breath again. My poor mom heard the whole thing and was was in tears wondering if my daughter was ok. It was so scary but thank goodness I knew what to do.

My dh bought me a table top grill/griddle/panini maker for Christmas. Last night I tried to grill chicken breast on it and it was a disaster. First of all I need a good marinade recipe that I can use that is gluten free. I tried making one that I found online but it ended up tasting awful. The chicken ended up tasteless and very chewy and dry. I think part of the problem was that the meat was too thick. Would it work better with those thin sliced chicken breasts? Also I have no idea how long to cook it or on what setting. It has four settings: low, medium, high and searing but I had no idea which setting to use. I tried medium but it didn't seem to be cooking at all so I switched it to high. It went from not being cooked from burnt in just a few minutes. Any suggestions?

I'm just curious on average how often you hear from your kids who are away at college (phone, text, email). When I was in college I only called my parents once a week (if that) and sent an occasional letter. Of course there wasn't email or texting back then but I can't imagine not hearing from my daughter for that long of a period of time. My oldest will be going away to college next year and I'm just wondering what to expect. She is on her senior trip right now and no phones are allowed. She can use a pay phone but I highly doubt she will use it. I know I have to get used to this but 5 days is a long time to not talk to her. She has gone to sports camp for the past few years but I would usually receive a text or two while she was gone. This seems so strange not hearing from her at all.

How long can you keep ham in the refrigerator after it is cooked? I've had 1/2 ham in the refrigerator since Christmas Eve. Is it still safe to eat?

We do the same thing every year, which all of us cherish. We order pizza for dinner. Then all evening we play games, usually games that the kids got for Christmas. Tonight we played Electronic Monopoly, Uno Flip and Disney Scene It. We start watching the countdown around 11:45. At midnight we have hugs all around and then have a sparkling grape juice toast. The kids and I usually sleep in the family room by the Christmas tree but I don't think we are going to do that this year due to my middle daughter's insomnia. We all prefer staying home and just spending time with our immediate family. Since my oldest will be heading to college in the fall I really cherish the fact that she still wants to spend the evening with us.

:party:

I bought the Dive Biology CD to go along with Apologia Biology. I wanted to use the Apologia text and use the CD for the lectures and the labs. I just assumed that the chapters in the Apologia book with line up with the lectures on the Dive CD but they don't. Does anyone have a list of what Dive CD lectures line up with the Apologia text?

My 14 year old dd had a concussion on August 1st. The first week of school she slipped and hit her head on the locker in the same spot. She had headaches for weeks and the doctor said it was "post-concussion syndrome". The headaches finally went away but came back a few weeks ago. In the past week or two she has hit her head in the same spot 2-3 times. I don't understand why should would tend to get hit there. It is the back of her head. The original bump never went away and it has been tender all week. Ten minutes ago she hit it hard again and she was in tears. It's so strange.

We went to Chilli's last night and my daughter had some of the chips and quesa. We thought that the chips were ok because they were corn chips. She also had some quesa sauce. We just weren't thinking about that one. We had been so careful but now dh and I are worried that there was gluten in it. Last night she had a bad stomachache. The gluten doesn't usually cause stomach issues with her but I'm wondering if it did because she has been gluten free for a few months. I went online to check this out. I could only find their gluten free menu. I'm wondering if it isn't on that menu that means for sure there is gluten in it. Does anyone know for sure?

I went to the Runkle Geography website. They say it is appropriate through high school. My freshman daughter could use a semester elective credit, otherwise she will be a bit behind for next year if she is able to go back to the private school. I was thinking about using Runkle Geography with her and asking the school if they would give her 1/2 credit. Would this be appropriate for a freshman? Would it be difficult for her to finish it in a semester? Please keep in mind that due to her insomnia and related neurological issues she probably isn't functioning like a "typical" 9th grader. I don't want to push her too much but I still want the course to be grade appropriate.

yes, I can't believe the Bears won! Yippee!

We are getting so desperate about my dd. I think we are going to look into taking her to a diagnostic doctor. We have gone to her pediatrician, sleep specialist, neurologist, psychiatrist, therapist, endocrinologist and chiropractic neurologist and no one has been able to help with her insomnia. The chiropractic neurologist tested her and found out that she is gluten intolerant but she has been GF for 2 months without any improvement. He says that it could take up to 8 months but my gut feeling is that it is more than just the gluten that is causing the problem. She has had numerous blood tests, MRI, etc. The endocrinologist says that her cortisol levels are peaking at the wrong time but didn't give us any advice. We have tried everything we can think of sleep meds, herbal remedies, supplements, creams, sleep CDs, exercise, diet and nothing will help her. Tonight she was in tears because she is so miserable. She just wants to sleep. Even when she is "sleeping" she doesn't feel like she is ever fully asleep. The sleep study showed this too. Twenty times an hour her brain would go back into alpha waves. The sleep specialist just wants to prescribe more sleep meds. None of them worked and all had bad side effects. This is supposed to be one of the best sleep specialists in our area but she hasn't been able to help. It's also strange because she also seems to still be having trouble with her head. She got a minor concussion (about a year after the insomnia started to get worse) so we know that the concussion didn't cause the insomnia. The chiropractic neurologist says that since the gluten caused inflammation in her brain the brain was already compromised and that is why the concussion caused her so many problems. Even though the CT was normal it still worries me because that area on her head seems to be so sensitive and the bump never went away. She was getting daily headaches back in August, September and October but they finally went away. A few weeks ago her head started hurting again in the same area and she has headaches again. Last night she hit her head again in the same area and the bump is more pronounced and she has a headache again today. I'm seriously thinking about taking dd to someplace like Mayo but I'm not even sure if they would be able to help her. Where can I find a doctor like Dr. House? I really need someone who will just put all the puzzle pieces together.

My 14 year old daughter has really been having a rough time going gluten free. She is already a picky eater and doesn't like a lot of things so it is even tougher. For instance she doesn't like eggs, beans, spaghetti sauce or anything spicy. I feel bad for her since she eats the same thing for breakfast every day-chocolate Chex and pretty much the same things for lunch: GF pasta, mashed potatoes and occasionally PB & J on rice cakes or nacho cheese lunchable. For dinner I try to make our whole dinner GF but find it difficult on those nights that we are just eating something quick like pizza or a microwave dinner. We only eat these once in awhile but I would like to have something similar for her that is very quick. What do your GF kids eat for breakfasts and lunch?

Karen these are great ideas but right now I'm just trying to keep my daughter's head above water as far as schooling is concerned. She has such severe insomnia and other neurological related issues that I'm just trying to do the basics with her. At this point she usually has a limited window during the day where she has the stamina for schoolwork. She will only be getting 5 credits this year for school so we will be concentrating on that. Unfortunately right now volunteer work, jobs or most other outside activities are out of the question. I hope this is enough: I plan on keeping a records of all the textbooks she used, perhaps copying the table of contents. We will also keep a list of all the books she read. I plan on keeping copies of tests and her overall grade for the class. Right now she is only doing very simple writing. She is taking an online class, that is really probably below grade level but I thought it would be good just to keep her writing ability going. Actually this year as a freshman they don't do a lot of writing. She will do more of that sophomore year and if she is still home then I will be sure to keep writing samples. Is there anything else I am missing that I should be sure to keep records of?

I live in Illinois so we are not "required" to keep specific records or grades. I think that it is a good idea for my 9th grader in case we were to move to a different state that required records and also from a college standpoint. We are planning on sending her back to school next year if she is well but just in case I want to be sure to keep the proper records. I plan on keeping test grades and a list of textbooks used but I'm not sure what I would need besides that.

Is there a special website for using accelerated as a homeschooler? I went on their website and I could only find information for schools. This sounds like something that would be good for my 11 year old son but I can't spend hundreds of dollars.

Sonlight looks great but is a lot more than I can spend. Thanks anyway though.

I'm trying to decide between Learning Language Arts Through Literature British Literature and Lightning Literature-Brit Lit. I need something that we can do in a semester. Since DD can't return to school this year like we planned she will be doing 1 semester of British literature this year and the 2nd semester next year at the high school. They will be focusing on the writing portion next year so the school told me to just focus on vocabulary, grammar and British Literature this semester. Since she won't be doing the writing portion of either curriculum I think we can do it in a semester. I will also have to provide tests somehow so I'm wondering which course would be easier to test. Since dd is currently having health problems I don't want anything that is too challenging. If I decide on Lightning Literature I'm also wondering which would be easier-the early to mid 19th century of the 2nd book, which covers a later time period.

My 11 year old son is sick. This is the kid who barely ever gets sick. His sisters have been sick on and off all fall but he never seems to pick up anything. He also has a high pain tolerance and last time I checked on him he had tears in his eyes from the stomach pain. He doesn't have a fever and the pain is pretty high and in the center so I doubt it is something like appendicitis. It worries me though because he never complains about pain. He has gotten hit numerous times in baseball and just shrugs it off. I sure hope he isn't coming down with the stomach flu. He started feeling bad around noon today. If it was the stomach flu wouldn't he have other symptoms by now? He hasn't vomited, etc. He is so upset about the possibility of being sick tomorrow and on Christmas. I'm telling him to try not to worry about it. I'm hoping he can jump back quick from whatever this is. The poor kid rarely gets sick (once or twice a year maybe) but it is usually on some holiday or birthday.