My son has a hangover

[GSOchristie]

A sugar hangover.  That is the only way to describe it.  We eat a pretty clean, whole diet.  I am not militant about it, but I try to stick with whole, unprocessed foods and little to no sugar, even honey or agave.  But it's the holiday season, so I have eased up a bit.  Last night we went to a fund raiser than included a dessert reception.  I *knew* I was going to pay today, but it seemed cruel to not let him eat/drink what he what everyone else was.  So he ate the desserts...and drank cider...and hot chocolate.  I gave him a dinner that he really like beforehand to try to fill him up, but I'm sure he ate more sugar last night than he has the rest of the month.  So now I have written his schoolwork on the board, stacked his books on the table in the school room and am trying to think of a way to get him in there then slowly back out of the room.  

 

Every time he eats junk food, and I include home baked goods with sugar because they cause the same reaction, he acts hungover.  He is grouchy, headachy, emotional, confrontational, just ill in general.  I am dreading Christmas day because we go to family events that will include treats, lots of treats, because it's Christmas.  By 2:00 he will be falling in the floor, crying over every little thing, exploding at everyone who might suggest his behavior is annoying, generally making my life miserable.  But how do you tell a seven year old he can't have treats on Christmas day?  Especially when his brother, sister, and seven cousins are eating whatever they want?  It's not like I can be like, "Hey everyone, let's just stick to oatmeal, turkey, brown rice, and green beans for Christmas.  We can have oranges for a treat after dinner!"  

[NotSoObvious]

I'm so sorry. i have a child that is exactly the same. People who don't have kids like this don't understand and they think you are just mean or they think it is funny to give your kid sugar. 

We went on a 3 night extended family campout and we all took turns cooking, so of course my child was on complete sugar overload, but I figured we were camping and we'd detox afterward. Well, we went straight to stay with my inlaws who wanted to give her buttermilk pancakes and syrup every morning for breakfast. She didn't understand why that wasn't going to work. :/

 

Good luck. Try not to expect too much today. Maybe a bath and a nap? Some extended quiet time? Early bedtime?

[GSOchristie]

My MIL is the same way, and she arrives on Friday.  She texted dh last night that she has baked 9! dozen cookies for us.  I don't even eat cookies, so that is 2 dozen cookies per person.  I already told dh they can choose an afternoon to have cookies and that afternoon will be Saturday because I'm going to be gone on Sunday hosting a baby shower :lol: .  

 

He is currently sitting on the sofa reading Harry Potter with a scowl on his face.  I think I will just let that be school, I think he'll finish it today.  I might throw some math on the driveway in sidewalk chalk.  I just saw that it's supposed to be nice and sunny today, so we will be taking an extended nature walk after lunch :).  

[nrg]

I get a "junkover" like that from eating restaurant food.

[GSOchristie]

Me, too!  I know how he feels, I eat low carb and when I eat a sugary, carby foods, I feel bad, sluggish and irritable.  

[Night Elf]

Could you replace at least some of the sugary snacks with healthier options? Bring a cheese and fruit platter maybe? What about crackers? If you space out the snacks for all of your children, will that cause a problem? Will it look strange to ask him to lay down in the afternoon for a while?

[GSOchristie]

Could you replace at least some of the sugary snacks with healthier options? Bring a cheese and fruit platter maybe? What about crackers? If you space out the snacks for all of your children, will that cause a problem? Will it look strange to ask him to lay down in the afternoon for a while?

 

Yes, those are all good ideas.  We will begin the morning at home, where I plan to make some paleo muffins for him to eat on the ride there, with strawberries, his favorite.  Cheese is an excellent idea, he loves cheese!  Maybe I could find some really yummy new cheeses and fruits he loves, like blackberries and kiwis, and put it on a special kid friendly platter for all of them.  He will lay down if dh or I lie with him, which is a sacrifice I'm willing to make ;).

[Joanne]

Have you read Grain Brain? I bet you find your son in there.

[GSOchristie]

I will have to check that out, any time that he has anything with flour, like crackers, tortillas, loaf bread, he tells me it makes him sick :(.

 

[AK_Mom4]

Water helps!  Really!  If you can get him drinking a bunch of water, that will help with the grouchy headache and meltdowns.  DD12 used to have the same problem when she was about 6 or 7 after Christmas and Halloween.  I would plunk her on the couch with a water bottle to suck down and an animal documentary.  Sometimes she would take a nap, but even if she didn't, the water sort of "flushed out" the toxins from too much sugar and sweets.

[Mandylubug]

My kids always end up vomiting everywhere, and then someone screams "stomach bug" and we are quarantined from everyone for weeks :/ No one believes eating so much junk can actually make some one physically sick if it is food that everyone else eats normally :/

 

I hope he feels better soon!

[GSOchristie]

My kids always end up vomiting everywhere, and then someone screams "stomach bug" and we are quarantined from everyone for weeks :/ No one believes eating so much junk can actually make some one physically sick if it is food that everyone else eats normally :/

 

I hope he feels better soon!

 

Yep, Jax (my middle) barfed after Thanksgiving, when my mom let him eat only dessert because "It's a special occaaaasssssiooon."

[PeachyDoodle]

My kids always end up vomiting everywhere, and then someone screams "stomach bug" and we are quarantined from everyone for weeks :/ No one believes eating so much junk can actually make some one physically sick if it is food that everyone else eats normally :/

 

I hope he feels better soon!

 

Yep. MIL took the kids to her house to decorate gingerbread houses on Friday. They ate at least as much candy as they put on their houses, probably more. Friday night, ds barfed it all up in his bed. Yay. He was fine all day Saturday and Sunday until we (stupidly) let him have a cookie loaded down with icing and candies (why anyone would ever eat such a thing is beyond me, but I digress...). He only even ate a few bites, but same results.

 

Last year, it was dd on Christmas Eve. She had to eat dry Rice Krispies for Christmas breakfast. I might add, we are not even super healthy eaters (one look at dh or me would tell you that), although I do try.

 

Side note: Christie, just curious -- are you in Greensboro, NC?

 

[prairiewindmomma]

Yup, I had a puker after halloween. Everyone had been harping on me because we had previously only allowed 5 pieces/kid. So, I let them eat as much as they want....thinking just once. Yeah, never again.

 

Protein, protein, protein. The only way my kids have a chance at coping with sugar is if we pair it with a good healthy protein.

[Mandylubug]

Yep. MIL took the kids to her house to decorate gingerbread houses on Friday. They ate at least as much candy as they put on their houses, probably more. Friday night, ds barfed it all up in his bed. Yay. He was fine all day Saturday and Sunday until we (stupidly) let him have a cookie loaded down with icing and candies (why anyone would ever eat such a thing is beyond me, but I digress...). He only even ate a few bites, but same results.

 

Last year, it was dd on Christmas Eve. She had to eat dry Rice Krispies for Christmas breakfast. I might add, we are not even super healthy eaters (one look at dh or me would tell you that), although I do try.

 

Side note: Christie, just curious -- are you in Greensboro, NC?

 

we aren't super healthy eaters either. I can only imagine the amounts of puke fests we'd have if I didn't allow ANY sugars, lol. We just try to avoid processed foods. Well, minus cereals. This girl loves her cereal.

[GSOchristie]

Yep. MIL took the kids to her house to decorate gingerbread houses on Friday. They ate at least as much candy as they put on their houses, probably more. Friday night, ds barfed it all up in his bed. Yay. He was fine all day Saturday and Sunday until we (stupidly) let him have a cookie loaded down with icing and candies (why anyone would ever eat such a thing is beyond me, but I digress...). He only even ate a few bites, but same results.

 

Last year, it was dd on Christmas Eve. She had to eat dry Rice Krispies for Christmas breakfast. I might add, we are not even super healthy eaters (one look at dh or me would tell you that), although I do try.

 

Side note: Christie, just curious -- are you in Greensboro, NC?

 

 

Yes, Greensboro :).

[GSOchristie]

Yup, I had a puker after halloween. Everyone had been harping on me because we had previously only allowed 5 pieces/kid. So, I let them eat as much as they want....thinking just once. Yeah, never again.

 

Protein, protein, protein. The only way my kids have a chance at coping with sugar is if we pair it with a good healthy protein.

 

He loves meat and cheese, so that's what we're going to do.  He told me that he wanted to make a fruit and cheese bouquet for Christmas :).

[PeachyDoodle]

Yup, I had a puker after halloween. Everyone had been harping on me because we had previously only allowed 5 pieces/kid. So, I let them eat as much as they want....thinking just once. Yeah, never again.

 

You're generous. We only allow 3 pieces. You can imagine the eye rolls we get...

 

we aren't super healthy eaters either. I can only imagine the amounts of puke fests we'd have if I didn't allow ANY sugars, lol.

 

Ugh, I don't even want to think about it!!

 

Yes, Greensboro :).

 

Hey neighbor! :seeya: We're just south of High Point. DH works over near UNCG, and I worked for a church downtown when I still had an "outside" job.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

AMDG

 

My daughter has been having some troublesome health issues that are serious enough to impact her daily life but not life threatening or anything.  She has pretty bad allergies; a constant, never-goes-away, 5 or above headache ALL THE TIME; lactose intolerant . . . and some other things she wouldn't want the ppl we know irl on here to know about.  We have been to doctor after doctor after doctor.

 

Finally someone irl mentioned sugar.  I can't even now remember how I got that information.  Anyway, willing to try anything to stop that headache, she consented to try to stop the sugar (she LoVeS all things sugar) to see if it would help.  What we actually did was assign one day per week as sugar day.  The idea of a future completely devoid of sugar was a bleak future for her so the idea was that she would go without sugar and if she really wanted something she would get it or accept it from someone, whatever, and then save it for sugar day.  If nothing was really offered that she wanted, she could have the dessert of her choice that day.

 

We started that around the early part of September.  I joined her as a sort of support and we did a good but not perfect job of sticking with the plan.  Every single symptom diminished in severity; every single one.  Some problems went away completely: what we thought was lactose intolerance, for example, as well as fatigue and an all over soreness.  Some were still present but far better: allergies and headache, for example.  Her sleep is far better and she isn't pitifully fatigues all.day.long.  The headache is still almost always present but at a much lower and more manageable level. She can enjoy more activities.  She's not so pale.  She's actually putting on a bit of weight (a good thing).

 

I, on the other hand, saw a complete cessation of symptoms I had no idea were even symptoms at all.  I won't go in to the things that improved with me but, really, remarkable!

 

Or . . . was.

 

We stayed with a good plan all the way through the rest of September, October and to the end of November. It seems that once per week was enough in terms of outsiders really wanting her to have sugar.  Then with all the holiday fuss, there was more company, more end of semester get-togethers, more concerts, more junk everywhere.  

 

Her symptoms have no only returned but returned with a vengeance!  It's really pretty sad.  We had kind of informally decided to just go free for all for the rest of December and back on the wagon in January.  What she has found is that she cant' make it.  She is just too ill, too hurting, too tired to make it.  She told me that we've just got to go back to once/per week and the once just can't turn into a one-day sugar binge.  It has to be like in the beginning, save the most desired item offered over the course of the week or select the homemade dessert for that night.  

 

Our homemade desserts I had made without sugar, too, for the most part: banana ice cream, baked apples/walnuts/raisins/cinnamon, stuff like that, sweet foods but no processed sugars.

 

Anywhoo . . . for what it's worth . . . I see it too and it makes such a huge impact here that it can no longer be ignored.

[OneStepAtATime]

AMDG

 

My daughter has been having some troublesome health issues that are serious enough to impact her daily life but not life threatening or anything.  She has pretty bad allergies; a constant, never-goes-away, 5 or above headache ALL THE TIME; lactose intolerant . . . and some other things she wouldn't want the ppl we know irl on here to know about.  We have been to doctor after doctor after doctor.

 

Finally someone irl mentioned sugar.  I can't even now remember how I got that information.  Anyway, willing to try anything to stop that headache, she consented to try to stop the sugar (she LoVeS all things sugar) to see if it would help.  What we actually did was assign one day per week as sugar day.  The idea of a future completely devoid of sugar was a bleak future for her so the idea was that she would go without sugar and if she really wanted something she would get it or accept it from someone, whatever, and then save it for sugar day.  If nothing was really offered that she wanted, she could have the dessert of her choice that day.

 

We started that around the early part of September.  I joined her as a sort of support and we did a good but not perfect job of sticking with the plan.  Every single symptom diminished in severity; every single one.  Some problems went away completely: what we thought was lactose intolerance, for example, as well as fatigue and an all over soreness.  Some were still present but far better: allergies and headache, for example.  Her sleep is far better and she isn't pitifully fatigues all.day.long.  The headache is still almost always present but at a much lower and more manageable level. She can enjoy more activities.  She's not so pale.  She's actually putting on a bit of weight (a good thing).

 

I, on the other hand, saw a complete cessation of symptoms I had no idea were even symptoms at all.  I won't go in to the things that improved with me but, really, remarkable!

 

Or . . . was.

 

We stayed with a good plan all the way through the rest of September, October and to the end of November. It seems that once per week was enough in terms of outsiders really wanting her to have sugar.  Then with all the holiday fuss, there was more company, more end of semester get-togethers, more concerts, more junk everywhere.  

 

Her symptoms have no only returned but returned with a vengeance!  It's really pretty sad.  We had kind of informally decided to just go free for all for the rest of December and back on the wagon in January.  What she has found is that she cant' make it.  She is just too ill, too hurting, too tired to make it.  She told me that we've just got to go back to once/per week and the once just can't turn into a one-day sugar binge.  It has to be like in the beginning, save the most desired item offered over the course of the week or select the homemade dessert for that night.  

 

Our homemade desserts I had made without sugar, too, for the most part: banana ice cream, baked apples/walnuts/raisins/cinnamon, stuff like that, sweet foods but no processed sugars.

 

Anywhoo . . . for what it's worth . . . I see it too and it makes such a huge impact here that it can no longer be ignored.

Oh my goodness...my daughter has headaches a lot.  And trouble sleeping...And gets fatigued easily....Our pediatrician is a nice lady but not terribly proactive or knowledgeable....

 

I want to try eliminating the sugar, but have never really pushed it because of DH views on sugary things.  I love the idea of trying no sugar all days but one, so it doesn't seem so overwhelming, though.  I will have to wait until after Christmas because of so many relatives bringing food over and us visiting lots of family and friends where limiting or eliminating without some practice at it might single her out and make her feel weird.  The hardest part, really, though will be afterwards because my husband has the worst sweet tooth imaginable.  He has sweet snacks all over the house, in lots of cabinets and all over the counters.  He isn't overweight at all and his physicals show he is in good health so he doesn't see any reason to limit his intake of any sweets (most of them processed, like tons of Little Debbie).  I will try, though.  If it could help our daughter, maybe he would be amenable to locking the stuff up in our bedroom...Thanks for the great idea.  Sorry to briefly shift this thread.

 

And to OP, hope you both survive today.  Big hugs!

[MomOfOneFunOne]

AMDG

 

Just to say . . . if you do give it a try . . . 

 

We initially tried making our sugar day on the weekend but found that on Monday, we were too sluggish for the kind of day we needed to have.  Pushing it back to Friday gave us the weekend to recover and we could function better on Mondays.

[OneStepAtATime]

AMDG

 

Just to say . . . if you do give it a try . . . 

 

We initially tried making our sugar day on the weekend but found that on Monday, we were too sluggish for the kind of day we needed to have.  Pushing it back to Friday gave us the weekend to recover and we could function better on Mondays.

O.k.  Thanks so much for the tip....

[Upward Journey]

AMDG

 

My daughter has been having some troublesome health issues that are serious enough to impact her daily life but not life threatening or anything. She has pretty bad allergies; a constant, never-goes-away, 5 or above headache ALL THE TIME; lactose intolerant . . . and some other things she wouldn't want the ppl we know irl on here to know about. We have been to doctor after doctor after doctor.

 

Finally someone irl mentioned sugar. I can't even now remember how I got that information. Anyway, willing to try anything to stop that headache, she consented to try to stop the sugar (she LoVeS all things sugar) to see if it would help. What we actually did was assign one day per week as sugar day. The idea of a future completely devoid of sugar was a bleak future for her so the idea was that she would go without sugar and if she really wanted something she would get it or accept it from someone, whatever, and then save it for sugar day. If nothing was really offered that she wanted, she could have the dessert of her choice that day.

 

We started that around the early part of September. I joined her as a sort of support and we did a good but not perfect job of sticking with the plan. Every single symptom diminished in severity; every single one. Some problems went away completely: what we thought was lactose intolerance, for example, as well as fatigue and an all over soreness. Some were still present but far better: allergies and headache, for example. Her sleep is far better and she isn't pitifully fatigues all.day.long. The headache is still almost always present but at a much lower and more manageable level. She can enjoy more activities. She's not so pale. She's actually putting on a bit of weight (a good thing).

 

I, on the other hand, saw a complete cessation of symptoms I had no idea were even symptoms at all. I won't go in to the things that improved with me but, really, remarkable!

 

Or . . . was.

 

We stayed with a good plan all the way through the rest of September, October and to the end of November. It seems that once per week was enough in terms of outsiders really wanting her to have sugar. Then with all the holiday fuss, there was more company, more end of semester get-togethers, more concerts, more junk everywhere.

 

Her symptoms have no only returned but returned with a vengeance! It's really pretty sad. We had kind of informally decided to just go free for all for the rest of December and back on the wagon in January. What she has found is that she cant' make it. She is just too ill, too hurting, too tired to make it. She told me that we've just got to go back to once/per week and the once just can't turn into a one-day sugar binge. It has to be like in the beginning, save the most desired item offered over the course of the week or select the homemade dessert for that night.

 

Our homemade desserts I had made without sugar, too, for the most part: banana ice cream, baked apples/walnuts/raisins/cinnamon, stuff like that, sweet foods but no processed sugars.

 

Anywhoo . . . for what it's worth . . . I see it too and it makes such a huge impact here that it can no longer be ignored.

I had this exact same experience when I went off of gluten (I already didn't eat sugar). Not only did the headaches that I'd been having daily for 10 years finally go away, but so did the intestinal issues and chronic fatigue. My sinuses are also much better. It's been two years, and though I sometimes flirt with gluten, I mostly stay off because it just isn't worth the headache (quite literally ;) )

[umsami]

Yes, those are all good ideas.  We will begin the morning at home, where I plan to make some paleo muffins for him to eat on the ride there, with strawberries, his favorite.  Cheese is an excellent idea, he loves cheese!  Maybe I could find some really yummy new cheeses and fruits he loves, like blackberries and kiwis, and put it on a special kid friendly platter for all of them.  He will lay down if dh or I lie with him, which is a sacrifice I'm willing to make ;).

 

There are these cute "grinches" you can make with grapes, strawberries, and bananas.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/260575528413379453/

 

I've seen Santas that involve just Strawberries and whipped cream.  I know my local grocery store carries a full-fat whipped creme that is sugar-free.

 

 

I've also seen lots of Christmas tree fruit platters. :)

[GSOchristie]

Thanks so much for the cute ideas!  He loves strawberries with plain whipped cream!  

 

He has recovered and we're back to our normal diet.  We agreed that MIL would get one cookie day, and that we would have treats Christmas night at my parents.  Hopefully that will be enough to not be deprived, but not torture me for all of Christmas.