Does ADHD look like this in your child?

[Innisfree]

I've been doing some reading since my dd9 was diagnosed with ADHD recently, and found this in Thomas E. Brown's Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults.

 

 

      The diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in the DSM-IV do not include  any items referring to emotions. Yet many clinicians report that patients with ADHD struggle with managing their emotions. Paul Wender (1987,1995) described how individuals with ADHD have "affective lability" and frequently demonstrate a bored or demoralized mood, irritable complaining, angry outbursts, or insufficiently controlled excitability. Wender also noted that individuals with ADHD appear to have a low tolerance for frustration and often find it difficult to persevere through the many stresses of daily life; they readily experience feeling "overwhelmed" or "stressed out".

 

 

This is my dd to a "T". She is very easily overwhelmed, and shows chronic irrritability that frequently flares up into angry outbursts. Once her emotions are roused it takes her much longer than it should to calm down. 

 

I hadn't even seriously considered ADHD as a diagnosis because her anger and general irritability always seemed the biggest problems, but her therapist spotted her distractability. Once we went through the diagnostic questions it became obvious this is at least part of our problem.

 

If you've seen this in your DC, has medication calmed them down emotionally? Hyperactivity is not really an issue for us, but her mood is desperately in need of help. Trying to get through schoolwork is a nightmare, but it's much more far-reaching than that; she has such a hard time with family interactions and everyday frustrations.

 

She was also evaluated for Asperger's and my DH and I think we see some of those tendencies, but on the evaluation she was 2 points away from the borderline, so she didn't get that diagnosis. She has been diagnosed with a mood disorder and is on risperidone and sertraline. I think those have "raised the baseline" of her emotions, and she's happier overall, but not when she hits something frustrating-- which is very frequent. So I'm wondering if the ADHD accounts for a lot of what's left.

 

[Mandylubug]

Yes, my son seems unhappy, easily irritable. Can flip in Anger. The doctor explained it to me as he just has no filters on his emotions. They feel raw and strong. He reacts first. Thinks 2nd. On medication, he's better but he can sometimes hyperfocus and become ocd on some things. I have to remember to help navigate him, to not engage in his emotional waves and wait.

[albeto.]

Yes. The right medication makes a huge difference. 

[PeterPan]

I just ordered Zones of Regulation after someone mentioned it in another thread.  They're saying EF delays can be behind the impulsivity and self-regulation issues, yes.  But I would also look at OT issues, food allergies, etc., just to make sure you haven't missed anything there.  Has she had an OT eval?  She may have sensory issues that you could work on.

[sbgrace]

I just ordered Zones of Regulation too, from the same thread. My son has very poor emotional control. This is exasperated when he's under any kind of physical stress (ie not enough sleep, not eating often enough, sick). You might be able to identify some environmental triggers. But, generally, my son is just reactive. I'm hoping to teach him skills to manage better. My son does have a HFA dx. as well.

[kbutton]

I've been doing some reading since my dd9 was diagnosed with ADHD recently, and found this in Thomas E. Brown's Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults.

 

 

      The diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in the DSM-IV do not include  any items referring to emotions. Yet many clinicians report that patients with ADHD struggle with managing their emotions. Paul Wender (1987,1995) described how individuals with ADHD have "affective lability" and frequently demonstrate a bored or demoralized mood, irritable complaining, angry outbursts, or insufficiently controlled excitability. Wender also noted that individuals with ADHD appear to have a low tolerance for frustration and often find it difficult to persevere through the many stresses of daily life; they readily experience feeling "overwhelmed" or "stressed out".

 

 

This is my dd to a "T". She is very easily overwhelmed, and shows chronic irrritability that frequently flares up into angry outbursts. Once her emotions are roused it takes her much longer than it should to calm down. 

 

I hadn't even seriously considered ADHD as a diagnosis because her anger and general irritability always seemed the biggest problems, but her therapist spotted her distractability. Once we went through the diagnostic questions it became obvious this is at least part of our problem.

 

If you've seen this in your DC, has medication calmed them down emotionally? Hyperactivity is not really an issue for us, but her mood is desperately in need of help. Trying to get through schoolwork is a nightmare, but it's much more far-reaching than that; she has such a hard time with family interactions and everyday frustrations.

 

She was also evaluated for Asperger's and my DH and I think we see some of those tendencies, but on the evaluation she was 2 points away from the borderline, so she didn't get that diagnosis. She has been diagnosed with a mood disorder and is on risperidone and sertraline. I think those have "raised the baseline" of her emotions, and she's happier overall, but not when she hits something frustrating-- which is very frequent. So I'm wondering if the ADHD accounts for a lot of what's left.

 

Is she anxious? My son gets crabby as all get out when he is worried or anxious. Now that we can see it better and talk to him about it, it's a little less angry and a little more anxiety-like. While his little brother was having outpatient surgery, he was just downright mean! Definitely didn't look like worry or anxiety, but it was. DS 9 has all the Asperger's symptoms but is diagnosed formally as PDD-NOS to avoid having his Dx downgraded later. The psych doesn't think we'll be able to sell anyone on an Asperger's diagnosis in a couple of years. I'm not trying to talk you into a Dx, but I thought you might want to know that anger isn't always anger under the hood and give you the context of how we've seen that.

[wapiti]

I've been doing some reading since my dd9 was diagnosed with ADHD recently, and found this in Thomas E. Brown's Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults.

 

 

      The diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in the DSM-IV do not include  any items referring to emotions. Yet many clinicians report that patients with ADHD struggle with managing their emotions. Paul Wender (1987,1995) described how individuals with ADHD have "affective lability" and frequently demonstrate a bored or demoralized mood, irritable complaining, angry outbursts, or insufficiently controlled excitability. Wender also noted that individuals with ADHD appear to have a low tolerance for frustration and often find it difficult to persevere through the many stresses of daily life; they readily experience feeling "overwhelmed" or "stressed out".

 

 

This is my dd to a "T". She is very easily overwhelmed, and shows chronic irrritability that frequently flares up into angry outbursts. Once her emotions are roused it takes her much longer than it should to calm down. 

 

I hadn't even seriously considered ADHD as a diagnosis because her anger and general irritability always seemed the biggest problems, but her therapist spotted her distractability. Once we went through the diagnostic questions it became obvious this is at least part of our problem.

 

If you've seen this in your DC, has medication calmed them down emotionally? Hyperactivity is not really an issue for us, but her mood is desperately in need of help. Trying to get through schoolwork is a nightmare, but it's much more far-reaching than that; she has such a hard time with family interactions and everyday frustrations.

 

I don't know whether this helps, but this sounds very much like my ds10, who does not have ADHD.  The ed psych noted that during the testing, he seemed like he was having attention issues, but that was most likely due to his emotional status at that moment as panic/anxiety can dramatically reduce available working memory.

 

What is my ds's problem?  Maybe we will never know.  He seems to have a little bit of a lot of different things going on (a smitch of sensory issues, perhaps, but not full blown SPD, for example; food allergies, asthma and heavy asthma meds, etc etc.).  He's the one I posted about yesterday with the rhythm problem.  He's 2e-ish and presumably dysgraphic.  He has bigtime perfectionism issues.  But, one thing I am absolutely sure of is that he does not have an attention problem - when he is calm emotionally, he has no difficulty whatsoever focusing on schoolwork or anything else, and it's only in the last two years that the emotional stuff has been a problem.  Unfortunately it doesn't take much to upset the calm, but when it's there, all is well.

 

I would imagine that these emotional things would be helped by meds in a person who does have ADHD.  I just wanted to point out that they're not diagnostic as far as I know.

[bluedarling]

I've been doing some reading since my dd9 was diagnosed with ADHD recently, and found this in Thomas E. Brown's Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults.

 

 

      The diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in the DSM-IV do not include  any items referring to emotions. Yet many clinicians report that patients with ADHD struggle with managing their emotions. Paul Wender (1987,1995) described how individuals with ADHD have "affective lability" and frequently demonstrate a bored or demoralized mood, irritable complaining, angry outbursts, or insufficiently controlled excitability. Wender also noted that individuals with ADHD appear to have a low tolerance for frustration and often find it difficult to persevere through the many stresses of daily life; they readily experience feeling "overwhelmed" or "stressed out".

 

 

This is my dd to a "T". She is very easily overwhelmed, and shows chronic irrritability that frequently flares up into angry outbursts. Once her emotions are roused it takes her much longer than it should to calm down. 

 

I hadn't even seriously considered ADHD as a diagnosis because her anger and general irritability always seemed the biggest problems, but her therapist spotted her distractability. Once we went through the diagnostic questions it became obvious this is at least part of our problem.

 

If you've seen this in your DC, has medication calmed them down emotionally? Hyperactivity is not really an issue for us, but her mood is desperately in need of help. Trying to get through schoolwork is a nightmare, but it's much more far-reaching than that; she has such a hard time with family interactions and everyday frustrations.

 

She was also evaluated for Asperger's and my DH and I think we see some of those tendencies, but on the evaluation she was 2 points away from the borderline, so she didn't get that diagnosis. She has been diagnosed with a mood disorder and is on risperidone and sertraline. I think those have "raised the baseline" of her emotions, and she's happier overall, but not when she hits something frustrating-- which is very frequent. So I'm wondering if the ADHD accounts for a lot of what's left.

 

This sounds a lot like my child with Aspergers.  My child who was borderline for Aspergers and got an ADD diagnosis instead is less like this, though my husband does explain him as "he wears his emotions on his sleeve".  DD12 (Child #3) is also very much like the oldest, though no diagnosis as yet (but I'm ready to take her in for mood issues.)  The difference between the oldest and dd12 is that the oldest became aggressive and perseverated, whereas dd just gets really upset, but left alone will calm down.  As for ADHD meds helping, I don't know.  When my oldest took them when he was very young, it was a rollercoaster ride (with meds helping then not).  What has helped long term is my oldest takes L-tryptophan (for aggression/perseveration mainly) and dd takes 5-HTP (for mood--though I think she was doing better when she took l-tryptophan).   None of their primary issues are attention, though....the things you describe are what I consider the primary symptoms!  Whether that makes them adhd...not sure.

 

[Innisfree]

Thanks to all for your insights.

 

Mandylubug, DD has the hyperfocus/ocd tendency already about some things. It's part of what we saw as Asperger's-ish. I'll have to watch for this getting worse if we medicate for ADHD, thanks.

 

OhElizabeth and sbgrace, I've been watching the other thread with interest, and I've put Zones of Regulation and MindsUp in my Amazon cart :001_smile: .  I do need to look into the sensory and OT possibilities more. My gut feeling is that she has some sensory issues, but they're not strong enough to be driving the primary problems here, kwim? I don't see her going into meltdowns because of them or pulling back from the brink because of them, but they could add to the underlying stress, I know. So many copayments, so litttle time and paycheck... :( !

 

Kbutton, yes, I know what you mean about anger not always being anger really. The sertraline she's on is because the psych had suggested anxiety as a possibility. I'm not really sure if it's helping, but I should try talking her through things as if anxiety is there and see if that helps. Thanks!

 

Wapiti and Bluedarling, it sounds like a lot of these kids (including mine) could end up in various different diagnostic "baskets" depending on what gets emphasized at the moment. One thing for sure, DD has always had her emotional regulation issues. I would never say attention is her primary problem, but it is part of her problem.

 

It will be a couple of months before we can adjust DD's medicine because of other issues, but if we try something for the ADHD and it helps, I'll post about it.

[goldberry]

Medication for DD did help reduce the stress she was dealing with when trying to accomplish tasks, and so those meltdowns decreased.  Obviously, the meds helped her be more capable in those situations, so she was not as overwhelmed by them. 

 

Overall though, I didn't see any change in her getting overwhelmed emotionally by things.  She still does often, and that has increased as puberty and hormones have increased.  We usually don't go a week without an emotional meltdown.  For us, I don't see it related to her ADD.  She has always been that way, and it has continued after medication.

[MistyMountain]

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[mamatohaleybug]

That description is my DD (11) to a T. She struggles SO MUCH to regulate her emotions. She takes metadate CD for ADHD and it helps considerably but doesn't "fix" the problem. Her psychiatrist isn't terribly helpful right now, though we are trying Celexa for anxiety/mood stabilization. She also take an anti-convulsant often used for mood disorders so we're hoping for that side effect. :)

 

My DD almost got an Asperger's diagnosis but as she gets older she fits that profile less. She does have SPD.

 

She just did a new neuropsych eval so we're super interested to get those results.

[RockstarMom]

I sooooo needed to read this today. Just started HSing my 7yo with super-hyper ADHD and he has trouble regulating both emotions and impulses and it's REALLY hard with three neuro-typical baby girls to watch out for, too. It's just nice to be reminded this is typical for ADHD and I am not alone!!!

[PeterPan]

I sooooo needed to read this today. Just started HSing my 7yo with super-hyper ADHD and he has trouble regulating both emotions and impulses and it's REALLY hard with three neuro-typical baby girls to watch out for, too. It's just nice to be reminded this is typical for ADHD and I am not alone!!!

Just as an aside, you might miss adhd in your girls if you think it's going to look like your 7 yo boy.  

[Innisfree]

So, have any of you who have dealt with this found ways to calm things down?

 

I'm getting the MindUp and Zones of Regulation books as soon as I can, but in the meantime, have you ever found enforcing consequences for this sort of problem helpful?

 

DD's therapist wants us to start using significant consequences (like 5 days of no electronics) every time she hits, pushes, slams a door, and so on. In theory I completely agree, and it's not like we haven't tried some serious consequences before. But after the outburst is over DD is always sorry, accepts whatever consequence we require, and I've never seen it keep her from doing the same thing the next time she gets angry... which is so often that by the rule suggested she won't be watching tv until 2015, soon. 

 

In the midst of an outburst she can't really think at all, and the only thing I know of to do is try to limit the damage... make sure older DD is safely away from her and remove items she's likely to target. You'd think after several years of therapy we'd have some workable strategies, right? But we really don't.

 

One therapist said being with me would prolong the tantrums, and I should isolate her in her room. That resulted in hours-long meltdowns and destructiveness. Another said more significant consequences should follow the meltdown, but as I said, nothing changed.

 

During a meltdown she pushes against me with her head and often hands. She may kick and hit. She tears up papers, especially schoolwork. :glare:  The therapist has suggested that if I can't isolate DD in her own room, I retreat into mine to make it clear that DD is not permitted to push and hit me. But that results in a sort of pitched battle in the hallway, with me trying to pull away from her and her desperately hanging on, but still attacking. :crying:  She does not like being separated from me under any circumstances.

 

I feel like the therapist we're dealing with now really doesn't have any experience with this sort of problem, but at least DD is comfortable with her, and she's supportive of our homeschooling, so I don't want to rock the boat.

 

So...  what do you do to cope with emotional outbursts?

[Innisfree]

Thinking some more, and clarifying...

 

I have had better luck preventing meltdowns and identifying certain triggers, like hunger and frustration. But, first, I'm not sure about the value of punishing for meltdowns. Does this sound right to you? The behavior is certainly punishment-worthy, but does enforcing a consequence help the kid avoid the behavior in the future? Open to all answers here... if this child grows up continuing to behave this way, society will certainly provide consequences. Somehow the behavior has to change. 

 

Second, if the kid is crabby, "bored or demoralized," and "irritably complaining," have you found any intervention that helps? How do you get that kid out of a bad mood?

 

 

[kbutton]

So, have any of you who have dealt with this found ways to calm things down?

 

I'm getting the MindUp and Zones of Regulation books as soon as I can, but in the meantime, have you ever found enforcing consequences for this sort of problem helpful?

 

DD's therapist wants us to start using significant consequences (like 5 days of no electronics) every time she hits, pushes, slams a door, and so on. In theory I completely agree, and it's not like we haven't tried some serious consequences before. But after the outburst is over DD is always sorry, accepts whatever consequence we require, and I've never seen it keep her from doing the same thing the next time she gets angry... which is so often that by the rule suggested she won't be watching tv until 2015, soon. 

 

In the midst of an outburst she can't really think at all, and the only thing I know of to do is try to limit the damage... make sure older DD is safely away from her and remove items she's likely to target. You'd think after several years of therapy we'd have some workable strategies, right? But we really don't.

 

One therapist said being with me would prolong the tantrums, and I should isolate her in her room. That resulted in hours-long meltdowns and destructiveness. Another said more significant consequences should follow the meltdown, but as I said, nothing changed.

 

During a meltdown she pushes against me with her head and often hands. She may kick and hit. She tears up papers, especially schoolwork. :glare:  The therapist has suggested that if I can't isolate DD in her own room, I retreat into mine to make it clear that DD is not permitted to push and hit me. But that results in a sort of pitched battle in the hallway, with me trying to pull away from her and her desperately hanging on, but still attacking. :crying:  She does not like being separated from me under any circumstances.

 

I feel like the therapist we're dealing with now really doesn't have any experience with this sort of problem, but at least DD is comfortable with her, and she's supportive of our homeschooling, so I don't want to rock the boat.

 

So...  what do you do to cope with emotional outbursts?

 

I can't copy and paste into this forum right now (isn't working), and I had a lengthy response to edit. I hope the attached is helpful. Feel free to copy and paste into a reply if you want others to see and comment on it.

 

reply.txt

reply.txt

[Bree]

This sounds a lot like my 7 year old. She does have SPD too and meds plus behavioral therapy has been extremely helpful for us

[Jennifer-72]

Have you ever had any success in talking to her after a meltdown about putting together a strategy for next time? Can she articulate anything that helps her calm down and also things that trigger her? Does she have something that always seems to trigger a predictable outburst? What I am picturing is picking out a fairly predictable trigger that she identifies and coming up with three or four calm down strategies she thinks she can use to help herself out. Maybe have her make up a visual for the strategies she thinks she can use sucessfully such as deep breathes, taking a break in her room, listening to a favourite song etc and come up with a way for you signal her to use it before she gets too out of control. With of course the hope being if she can find herself successful in curbing or controlling one trigger she can build on that for other things.

[bluedarling]

Thinking some more, and clarifying...

 

I have had better luck preventing meltdowns and identifying certain triggers, like hunger and frustration. But, first, I'm not sure about the value of punishing for meltdowns. Does this sound right to you? The behavior is certainly punishment-worthy, but does enforcing a consequence help the kid avoid the behavior in the future? Open to all answers here... if this child grows up continuing to behave this way, society will certainly provide consequences. Somehow the behavior has to change. 

 

Second, if the kid is crabby, "bored or demoralized," and "irritably complaining," have you found any intervention that helps? How do you get that kid out of a bad mood?

 

I've started to reply a couple times, and erased my post.  I think your gut feeling here is correct.  Heaping on the punishment does not help (or it would have been effective at this point...it never worked for my child, either.)  For what its worth...things got much better with puberty....his mind developed better self-control, and while he still may boil over, he's now able to remove himself from the situation and calm down (something he was unable to do when he was younger.)  Physical battles (to place him in another room or restrain him) fueled my child, and made things worse.  Calming words made things worse.  There was very little that I found that helped in the midst of it. You simply let it run its course (and removed other children from the vicinity for their protection.) The only thing we were successful in doing was prevent (diet, supplements, and picking our battles.)  It was really tough from about 6-10yo, then gradually got better, so that by 16 he is actually very obedient (rule oriented), and getting nicer every day.  There is hope that things will improve!!  I'd say learn what triggers the behavior, and avoid triggering it if you can.  It may seem to other parents you are being overly lenient, but you can always work on that issue later when he has more self control.  I know other parents will disagree, but this was my experience.  I found most things just weren't worth enduring a rage over, so I picked my battles carefully. 

 

The only thing I found that helped with mood was supplementation.

[wapiti]

The only thing I found that helped with mood was supplementation.

 

Can you expand on this?  What supplements did you use and how did you go about figuring out that part?

[bluedarling]

Can you expand on this?  What supplements did you use and how did you go about figuring out that part?

 

I had mentioned it already in a previous post.  For my Aspie (the one with aggression as well as mood) we use l-trytophan.  The l-tryptophan helps significantly with the aggression/perseveration.  His sister (mood only) uses 5-HTP now (because its cheaper), but it doesn't seem to be working as well as the l-tryptophan (I'm contemplating regular anti-depressant for her or going back to l-tryptophan, or maybe we need another brand!)  I have read some concerning things online about l-tryptophan (i don't recall where), but our np said my son should be on it for life, and to never try to go off of it.  That's just to say, check with your np before starting on it.  It won't be right for everyone....my son's neurotransmitters were all extremely high, and l-tryptophan has a calming effect on them.  My daughter's have not been tested.  I found l-tryptophan I believe by reading on the boards that someone had success with it for a raging child, then trying it.  Our np was surprised we had stumbled onto it, because it was exactly right for that child!  But I'm not recommending that path....what if it hadn't been right?  We were lucky.  If you are able, I'd work with a naturopath (np).

[TechWife]

I just ordered Zones of Regulation too, from the same thread. My son has very poor emotional control. This is exasperated when he's under any kind of physical stress (ie not enough sleep, not eating often enough, sick). You might be able to identify some environmental triggers. But, generally, my son is just reactive. I'm hoping to teach him skills to manage better. My son does have a HFA dx. as well.

Isc it by Leah Kuypers?

[Jennifer-72]

Yes, Zones of Regularion is by Leah Kuypers.

[Innisfree]

Thanks so much, everyone. I wasn't able to get on the boards yesterday, but it's great to get on and find reassurance and ideas this morning. I'm going to look into l-tryptophan. I'm in a rush now, but I'm going to think through all this and get back on later. As many of you know, these rages are draining for everyone around. I really can't say how much I appreciate your generosity with your time and thoughts in these replies.

[Jennifer-72]

I forgot to mention in my earlier post that I believe it is important to step back and look at the child's problem solving abilities. Troubles with problem solving are going to lead to reactive and explosive behaviour. Not sure of the age of your daughter, but you can check out Raising a Thinking Preteen, and also some of the problem solving materials from linguisystems.

 

HTH!

[Tiramisu]

I mentioned this on another thread recently. I started a dc on two of the supplements recommended in Dianne Craft's Biology of Behavior, specifically the probiotic Nature's Way Primadolphilus and Nature's Way EFA for Children. The EFA is a blend of fish oil, evening primrose oil, and vitamin E. I don't know if I'm using them as recommended because I can't spend the money to buy BoB now. Anyway, we've been using them for about three weeks and there has been a positive response in that dd is somewhat calmer overall and definitely less grumpy. Even dh thinks so, and he's skeptical of supplements. I have been thinking about adding 5-HTP once I give the current supplements more time to work their way into her system, but I've also looked at the l-tryptophan after reading this thread.

 

A second dd who does not have mood problems but has focusing issues with schoolwork is just taking the EFA because she does not like the taste of the chewable probiotics. She's started taking Pearls instead. She hasn't been taking them as long but I've had positive feedback about her, too.

 

I have always been cautious about supplements but I feel comfortable with the probiotics and the EFA because they promote general good health and don't have risks if taken in moderation.

 

[Suze]

I have found the Feingold diet, which removes food dyes, preservatives, high salicylates from food and personal care products (toothpaste, soap etc) to be a miracle for my daughter. She had a lot of trouble regulating her emotions and once she was in the middle of a tantrum she couldn't be reasoned with or distracted. I had several professionals recommend various levels of consequences, but the success of punishment is predicated on one's ability to access memory and choose to avoid previous experiences in real time. That wasn't happening; nor did it fit with how I choose to parent. I wanted to access my daughter's desire to do well and I knew this wasn't a learned behavior.

 

Removing chemicals made sense to me, but what was most surprising is learning that some of my daughter's biggest sensitivities are to tomatoes and berries. Unknowingly, I was exposing her everyday to food that made her crazy.

 

We have been eating this way for 6 months and her actions and reactions are consistently neurotypical now and, best of all, she is HAPPY . I'm still pinching myself.

[bluedarling]

We also adhered to Feingold, and it helped us avoid triggers (thus reducing the number of rages).  We also saw some minor gains with fish oil (ds #2 saw a neurodevelopmental chiropractor who told us to use one with twice the EFA to DHA.)  When cost was an issue, though, we dropped the fish oil for the l-tryptophan, because that made a bigger difference.  Both helped, though!  I agree that may be the place to start.  No sense in going with more mind altering stuff if Feingold and fish oil will do the trick!

[mamatohaleybug]

Punishments NEVER work here. We've tried seemingly everything. MY DD sounds SO much like you are describing. Behavioral therapy was somewhat helpful (I think just going made DD feel more in control of her life) but meds were the biggest miracle. We haven't seen changes from diet or supplements but I'm rethinking diet because she's having a lot more trouble with her emotions lately. Some of these supplements sound promising.

 

Just know I can relate. :grouphug:

[Tiramisu]

I have found the Feingold diet, which removes food dyes, preservatives, high salicylates from food and personal care products (toothpaste, soap etc) to be a miracle for my daughter. She had a lot of trouble regulating her emotions and once she was in the middle of a tantrum she couldn't be reasoned with or distracted. I had several professionals recommend various levels of consequences, but the success of punishment is predicated on one's ability to access memory and choose to avoid previous experiences in real time. That wasn't happening; nor did it fit with how I choose to parent. I wanted to access my daughter's desire to do well and I knew this wasn't a learned behavior.

 

Removing chemicals made sense to me, but what was most surprising is learning that some of my daughter's biggest sensitivities are to tomatoes and berries. Unknowingly, I was exposing her everyday to food that made her crazy.

 

We have been eating this way for 6 months and her actions and reactions are consistently neurotypical now and, best of all, she is HAPPY . I'm still pinching myself.

 

This is excellent. I completely agree with what you pointed out in the bolded section above. This is something that only people who have BTDT can realize. Thank you for sharing.

[JumpyTheFrog]

For those of you who found the Feingold diet helpful, had you already tried removing additives. We took Tigger (7) off all additives in October and he seemed much happier for a month. Now he's back to where he was. I'm wondering if there are still other trigger in foods.

[MistyMountain]

For those of you who found the Feingold diet helpful, had you already tried removing additives. We took Tigger (7) off all additives in October and he seemed much happier for a month. Now he's back to where he was. I'm wondering if there are still other trigger in foods.

I haven't gone full Feingold but I noticed a difference taking out all artificial additives. I am noticing set backs in my son though. I do know it is making a difference because when they have something they shouldn't I notice it in their behavior right away and it takes several days to settle down. I have a hard time going full Feingold and cutting out whole foods but I guess it could be something I could try eventually.

[Timberly]

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[Timberly]

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[Suze]

For those of you who found the Feingold diet helpful, had you already tried removing additives. We took Tigger (7) off all additives in October and he seemed much happier for a month. Now he's back to where he was. I'm wondering if there are still other trigger in foods.

When we started Feingold we were already nearly additive free. We still went out to eat occasionally and I hadn't changed any personal care products. With my daughter I've learned that the tiniest of exposures can have her reeling for days (and that can look like anything from irritable to hitting and screaming). She is also very sensitive to salicylates - which I never would have figured out without Feingold. Unknowingly i was feeding her healthy organic food every day that her body just could not handle.

 

We are also gluten free and dairy (casein) free. We had removed those years before and made huge progress with her SPD. From the forums I'm on it appears that a minority families do need to go beyond Feingold like we have, but even those families see improvement from just FG.

 

It sounds like so much work - and it is at first- but now we can get homework done in minutes, not hours, . She does things such as cleaning her room just because it needs it, we can run errands with no melt downs, her grades have improved dramatically, and mostly? She's just fun to be with now. She's who she is meant to be.

[bluedarling]

For those of you who found the Feingold diet helpful, had you already tried removing additives. We took Tigger (7) off all additives in October and he seemed much happier for a month. Now he's back to where he was. I'm wondering if there are still other trigger in foods.

 

We tried to make diet adjustments on our own without much success (we knew red dye was a factor before beginning.)  I don't know if it because it helped get rid of hidden triggers, or just because it formalized the program and helped us to avoid mistakes eating out and such, but it did help.  That said, we only really used it the first year.  Once we adjusted to what foods we could eat, it no longer seemed necessary.

[leeannpal]

That description is my DD (11) to a T. She struggles SO MUCH to regulate her emotions. She takes metadate CD for ADHD and it helps considerably but doesn't "fix" the problem. Her psychiatrist isn't terribly helpful right now, though we are trying Celexa for anxiety/mood stabilization. She also take an anti-convulsant often used for mood disorders so we're hoping for that side effect. :)

 

My DD almost got an Asperger's diagnosis but as she gets older she fits that profile less. She does have SPD.

 

She just did a new neuropsych eval so we're super interested to get those results.

 

Sounds like my daughter almost exactly although she isn't on medication now. She has been on 5 different ADHD meds, all of which caused serious side effects. Like your dd, mine was borderline Asperger's when younger, but she seems to be growing out of that. I am going to check with her doctor about the Celexa because she does seem to need something to help her regulate her moods.

 

[Guest Krista68]

Thanks for info.

[JumpyTheFrog]

I bought the Feingold program. We'll start it next week. I hope it helps.